The online helicopter booking portal EvoLux now has 200 helicopters enrolled in the system in eight major metropolitan areas, among them New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami, and now founder Ray Leavitt says he is readying the company for the “next level” as he seeks an investment seed round of $5 to $10 million. Sikorsky Innovations selected EvoLux the winner of its second...
Los Angeles-based air charter firm Zetta Jet has signed a deal with Bombardier Business Aircraft for up to five Global 6000s worth a potential $318 million at list prices. The agreement, announced today, is a firm order for one Global 6000 and options for four more of the ultra-long-range jets. The airplane will operate out of the company's Asian hub in Singapore and will join Zetta Jet’...
Air New Zealand has opened a fifth gateway in North America with the start of flights to Houston, Texas. The airline’s inaugural service to the heart of Texas, flight NZ28, departed Auckland at 1830 local time on Tuesday and landed just over 12 and a half hours later at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport a little after 1230 the same day. The Boeing 777-200ER, ZK-...
Like its Gulfstream G650s that will enter service next year, Flexjet's supersonic Aerion AS2s—slated for delivery starting in 2023—will be part of the fractional provider’s Global Access program, Flexjet chairman and parent company Directional Aviation Capital principal Kenn Ricci told AIN. This means that Flexjet will not be selling shares in either of these long-r...
The third flight-test AW609 is expected to fly by the middle of next year as work continues on AgustaWestland's civil tiltrotor program following the fatal crash of Ship 02 on October 30. “With regards to the AW609 tiltrotor anticipated certification date, Finmeccanica-AgustaWestland is fully committed to mitigating any delay that our recent tragic accident, and the subsequent investigat...
Uzbekistan Airways (HY, Tashkent Yuzhny) is studying the A320neo family of jets as potential replacements for its ageing fleet of six B757-200s. An airline source, who spoke to Russia's Sputnik news on condition of anonymity, said the issue of fleet renewal has become urgent given company policy not to operate passenger aircraft older than twenty years of age. As such, the B757s, which t...
StandardAero recently completed its first certified ADS-B solution for an Embraer Legacy 650 aircraft at the company's Los Angeles International Airport MRO facility. Along with the ADS-B installation, StandardAero also completed a full Wide Area Augmentation System GPS upgrade. Both upgrades were performed through Embraer Service Bulletins. "We continue to see an increasing nu...
Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) has announced the full programme of aerobatic activities for the Ain Air Championship 2015, taking place from 17-19 December. At a press conference at the Al Ain International Airport was attended by Sultan Al Dhaheri, acting executive director of tourism sector at TCA Abu Dhabi and alongside the captains of the participating teams inclu...
Bombardier Commercial Aircraft has welcomed Arab Wings, Amman, Jordan, and Iraq Gate into the family of operators of the CRJ Series. Iraq Gate entered service in March with its first CRJ200 aircraft, adding two more since, initially operating the aircraft purchased by Arab Wings on domestic routes from Baghdad. "The excellent economics of the CRJ200 regional jet are ideal to m...
Qatar Airways Cargo was the official transportation company for Disney's Beauty & the Beast production as it moved from Bucharest in Romania to Doha's Qatar National Convention Centre on board the airline's B747 Freighter this December. The 70-tonne shipment, which was arranged by Qatar Airways Cargo’s dedicated charter team, took up the entire capacity of the B747 freight...
Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide and its Greek partner Copelouzos Group signed contracts with the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund for the 40-year concessions to operate, manage, develop and maintain 14 regional airports in Greece. The transaction closing is expected during the autumn of 2016, at which time full payment of the €1.234 billion upfront concession f...
The year saw airline disasters caused by human frailty and terrorism but also celebrated some milestone industry moments, with Airbus and Boeing initiating unprecedented production rate rises, China and Japan stepping onto the world stage and Lockheed Martin and Dassault breakingfighter barriers. Technology shone, too, with solar- and electric-power records falling in dramatic fashion and ast...
AeroCRS, an innovative and advanced supplier of reservation and operation systems for airlines (PSS & OPS), has joined forces today with Damarel Systems, a world leader of aviation solutions. This partnership between the two companies will now allow AeroCRS customers to use Damarel Systems solutions such as Weight and Balance, L-DCS, and more, and to integrate the systems together. As of to...
Northrop Grumman Corporation has delivered on a commitment to the U.S. Air Force to increase the availability of the B-2 stealth bomber fleet by completing a periodic "wingtip-to-wingtip" overhaul of the jet in a record 359 days. The company returned B-2 Spirit of Kitty Hawk to the bomber's operational home at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, on Sept. 23. The shorter cycle for p...
Following the acquisition of Fokker by GKN Aerospace, which completed on 28 October, several changes have been announced to the Fokker Supervisory Board. Peter Hartman has been appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board, effective from 28 October 2015. Hans Peter Ring retains his current position on the Supervisory Board. Additionally, Kevin Cummings, CEO GKN Aerospace, Andrew Harvey, Senior V...
Etihad Airways has announced a new strategic agreement with Information Technology consultants Cognizant to transform its digital platforms and improve the passenger experience throughout the journey with personalized product offerings and services. The three-year, multi-million dollar deal, will have Cognizant take over the management of Etihad Airways’ existing web applications and...
Boeing today announced an agreement with China Postal Airlines for 10 Next-Generation 737 Boeing Converted Freighters (BCFs), pending a program launch. Through its converted freighter programs, Boeing extends the valuable service life of a passenger airplane by modifying it to function as a freighter. "This is a historic order both for China Postal and Boeing," said&n...
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is facing another challenge from regulators. Canadian and Australian authorities have instituted restrictions on the type based on a bug in its implementation of Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) technology, which has been found to transmit inaccurate positional data while declaring the data as high integrity. After receiving data from a number...
The Russian Defense Ministry will purchase about 200 aircraft and helicopters, up to 30 surface ships and submarines and up to 600 armored vehicles annually, Russian General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov said at a briefing conference for foreign military attaches. "There are plans to purchase 70-100 aircraft, more than 120 helicopters, up to 30 surface ships, submarines, special ships and s...
Emirates will start flying to two new cities in China as the Dubai carrier taps rising demand for travel in the world’s most populous country. From May next year, Emirates will start flying four times a week to Yinchuan and Zhengzhou. The airline already flies to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou on the mainland. Yinchuan, the capital of Ning xia, is west of the Yellow River and east of...
It was less than smooth for the country’s aviation sector this year, having mustered drawbacks like retrenchments, failed start-ups, foreignexchange (forex) losses and slowing growth. The industry was seen to continue carrying pessimistic views from travellers since 2014, where three massive air tragedies involving Malaysian airlines occurred. While Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) is repor...
