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Saudi Arabian Airlines planning own IPO

Airline chief Saleh Al Jasser says paperwork for a 30% listing of the cargo unit is being finalised. Saudi Arabian Airlines Corporation, the holding company of Saudi Arabian Airlines, is planning an initial public offering of the state-owned carrier, the airline’s director-general Saleh Al Jasser said on Monday. The listing is part of a five-year strategy to make the airline, also know...

Textron Aviation records modest rise in first quarter profits and deliveries

Textron Aviation recorded a modest increase in business aircraft deliveries for the first quarter of 2016 on the back of rising output for the Citation Latitude. For the period ended 31 March, the Cessna and Beechcraft owner delivered 34 business jets and 26 King Air turboprops, up from respective totals of 33 and 25, for the same period in 2015. Speaking on a first-quarter earnings call on...

Airline industry steps up baggage handling performance says SITA

The airline industry is celebrating its best ever performance for successfully handling baggage according to a report issued by SITA this morning. According to the report, the rate of mishandled bags was 6.5 bags per thousand passengers in 2015, down 10.5% from the previous year and less than half the rate in 2003. “This improvement comes despite an 85% rise in passenger numbers since...

Quickstep deliveries of F-35 vertical tails components expected to start by June

Quickstep Holdings says deliveries of vertical tail components for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project are expected to begin by the end of June. The Australian manufacturer says the qualification process for the vertical tail fairings components, vertical tail spars and vertical tail skins have been approved. “Following completion of qualification for vertical tail fairings component...

Pakistan orders Cessna turboprops for aeromedical evacuation

Cessna has secured an order for two Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX and four T206H Stationair turboprops from Pakistan via the US government. The aircraft will be modified to perform aeromedical evacuation missions, the US Defense Department says in a contract announcement posted last week. Worth $14 million, the aircraft package will be delivered by December. “A 24-month sustainment pack...

General aviation in Europe is both inspiring and frightening

Fiedrichshafen, nestled on the banks of Lake Constance in southern Germany, is no stranger to aviation innovations. This picturesque town is best known as the birthplace of the Zeppelin, a huge flying ship that once promised to revolutionize air travel. While the future of trans-Atlantic air travel turned out to be both less glamorous and more practical than Count Zeppelin imagined (I’m writ...

Operators Survey: Dassault Falcon 7X

More than 260 Falcon 7X trijets have entered service since mid-2007 and the fleet has logged more than 440,000 flight hours, according to Dassault Falcon Jet officials.  BCA is conducting a second 7X Operators Survey now that the aircraft has had time to mature and dozens of product improvements have been made. Consistent with our findings in our March 2011 Operators Survey, Falc...

Airbus to Level Playing Field with Boeing With New Financing Partner

With a production plant in the US, Airbus customers will have the added facility of financing facilities through the US Export-Import Bank. In the form of US Export-Import Bank, Airbus Group SE will take a new financing ally on board, reports Wall Street Journal. The publication highlights financing from an “unlikely source” upon delivery of the first A320 jet from the company&...

Belarus to North Korea: Ultimate tour for aviation geeks

Ilyushin. Tupolev. Antonov. For aviation fanatics, opportunities to fly in Soviet-era commercial jets built by one of these companies get fewer by the year. Which is why an annual tour operated by one UK company has become incredibly popular with hardcore plane-spotters from around the world. Stopping in Belarus and North Korea,Juche Travel's upcoming DPRK Aviation Tour, which ru...

Airbus delivers first aircraft from Alabama plant

Airbus officials say the company has delivered its first aircraft to be produced in the United States. Officials say employees at the company's manufacturing plant in Mobile, Alabama, presented the Airbus A321 to JetBlue on Monday. CEO John Leahy said in a statement that delivering the first aircraft after breaking ground on the facility three years ago is an amazing accomplishment and a...

Lufthansa strike to impact 'tens of thousands'

A German trade union has called for a strike at airports across the country on Wednesday. All intercontinental flights to and from Munich will be canceled; Düsseldorf, Cologne, and Frankfurt airports will also be hit. A Lufthansa official said the upcoming strike shows "that we desperately need rules for labor disputes in the air transport industry," as six airports across German...

Passenger's suicide attempt thwarted by crew during Cathay Pacific flight

On Saturday night, a passenger aboard a Cathay Pacific flight reportedly tried to slash his own throat and then hang himself as the plane was landing in Hong Kong. According to The Standard, a 31-year-old Nepalese man was flying on Cathay Pacific Flight CX411 as it traveled from Incheon International Airport in South Korea to Hong Kong when he locked himself in a bathroom as the aircraft was ab...