I would be lying if I didn’t admit sadness that our wonderful airline is merging with another. Because I’m not American, the US Department of Transportation stipulated I take some of my shares in Virgin America as non-voting shares, reducing my influence over any takeover. So there was sadly nothing I could do to stop it. Richard Branson has shared a post with his thoughts on...
Bombardier Commercial Aircraft today welcomed Kinshasa-based Congo Airways, the flag carrier of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the family of Q400 aircraft customers and operators. The airline, which started operations in October 2015, joined the Q400 aircraft family when it launched service with a previously owned 76-seat aircraft that was acquired from a third party. “Since...
Brazil’s Sorocaba Airport will be a “bedroom community for business jets” during the Olympics Games this summer in Rio, according to Embraer, which established an FBO and MRO facility at the São Paulo-area airfield two years ago. Dassault Falcon and Gulfstream also selected the airport, which is 22 nm from São Paulo and 240 nm from Rio, as the lo...
The Bulgarian government gave the long-delayed go-ahead to a new fighter procurement on 30 March, which will eventually see 16 aircraft acquired to replace the air force’s ageing Russian fleet. An acquisition plan for an affordable Western multi-role design to replace Sofia’s fleet of Russian Mikoyan MiG-29 ‘Fulcrums’ and Sukhoi Su-25 ‘Frogfoots’ has been app...
Boeing is to unveil its latest economy class seat for its top-selling narrowbody at the Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) which opens tomorrow in Hamburg – which it developed with the product’s inventors after meeting them when they unveiled a prototype at last year's show. The LIFT by EnCore seat for the 737 NG and Max will be available as a factory fit and retrofit, and...
Fitch Ratings agency today initiated coverage of Embraer, assigning its BBB- Foreign and Local Currency long-term issuer default ratings (IDR), which corresponds to investment grade. The same ‘BBB-’ grade was attributed to unsecured ratings to debts issued. Fitch has also assigned a ‘AAA(bra)’ National Scale rating to Embraer. According to the agency, the rating outlook...
Flying Colours Corp., the North American MRO, completion and refurbishment specialist, has announced the first of eight CRJ 200 conversions, will be re-delivered to Joint Venture partner Sparkle Roll Jet (SRJ) before the end of April. The multi-class format required a new STC for China which the Civil Aviation Administration of China, CAAC, certified at Flying Colours Corp.’s Peterboroug...
The boost in corporate jet bookings to European destinations has been reflected in the latest internal figures from charter company Victor, released to Corporate Jet investor. The company recorded an increase in booking requests in the first two months of 2016 for select European destinations. It has seen requests in the first two months for flights in June and July for Ibiza up by 441%; Cann...
Global currency provider Centtrip is to take on the corporate jet market turning its services to the sector to help save a “fortune by offering live rates with no spreads through one central global currency account to manage numerous aircraft” according to co-founder and managing director Tony North. Internal research from the company has suggested that there are now 594 business ai...
As business aviation activity in North America continues to rebound from the depths of the downturn, that has meant good news and growing prosperity for many of the companies that service those aircraft. According to industry data provider Argus, in its 2015 Business Aviation Review, the industry posted a year-over-year rise in flight activity in 24 of the 25 months since December 2013. Last year...
DC Aviation Al-Futtaim (DCAF) has received CAR145 approval from UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority for providing maintenance services for the Bombardier Global Express and Challenger 604/605 type aircraft. “This is a major milestone for DCAF as it means we are now in a position to provide comprehensive maintenance services to our fleet of managed aircraft,” said Michael Lind...
Boeing expects orders for its commercial aircraft from Turkey this year, a senior company executive said on Monday. The aircraft manufacturer expects a growth in orders from the Middle East to top 6 per cent – beating the global average – despite the dip in oil prices. “In the Middle East, yes, we are seeing some issues related to the oil prices right now, but we are still...
