Heavy rains and windshear created havoc Wednesday at the Abu Dhabi Air Expo, damaging at least one static display aircraft and multiple outdoor exhibits. “It was a very bad day for us and the whole of the UAE,” said Didier Mary of show organizer 4MEvents. “Luckily no one was injured. That was the most important thing.” This weather is not typical for this time of...
GI Aviation is showcasing the Pilatus PC-12 NG aircraft at the Abu Dhabi Air Expo. The aircraft, serial number 1604, arrived in Abu Dhabi on 5 March 2016. The company hoping to get its AOC during the summer. Operations will begin shortly afterwards. A second PC-12 NG is on order and will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2016. GI Aviation has appointed Marios Belidis as general manage...
Qatar Airways has confirmed a December launch for nonstop Doha-Auckland flights, with New Zealand’s most populous city one of 14 new destinations to join the airline’s fast growing network announced overnight. The route, at 7,848nm, will be the world’s longest nonstop passenger flight when the inaugural flight takes off on December 3 with Boeing 777-200LR equipment, eclipsing...
The twelve-year-old plane has taken all the trips it can, and it's time to be scrapped for parts. Touchdown Aviation (TDA), a company that stocks and distributes aircraft parts, just recently got a new arrival in the shop. The Airbus A320—formerly MSN 2137 of Air Asia—was born in October of 2003; the jet has seen some 12 years of active duty but it's stil...
United Airlines confirmed yesterday that it has ordered an additional 25 Boeing 737-700 airliners. This is in addition to the 40 737-700s the Chicago-based airline ordered in January. This marks the second time this year that United has turned down fresher models such as the Bombardier C-Series in favor of the 737-700 that will soon be discontinued. One major driver may be the serious dis...
A WOMAN who flew into Paris from Istanbul was found to have hidden a four-year-old girl in a bag on the plane, Air France have revealed. The airline said the child, travelling without a ticket, was discovered on board the flight “hidden inside a bag”. There are conflicting reports about the age of the girl, with some agencies reporting she was as young as one. A source at Char...
LOW-COST AIRLINE Ryanair has announced that it is set to launch its own private jet charter. The Boeing 737-700 plane will be available for corporate and group hire. Far from the bolt-upright economy seating you might associate with the budget airline’s services around Europe, this for-hire service will come with a touch of luxury. The plane contains 60 business class reclining leat...
Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower Geared Turbofan™ engines successfully completed its first test flight on the Airbus A321neo. The PW1135G-JM engine, a 35,000 thrust class engine, for the Airbus A321neo aircraft, is the most powerful engine on the A321neo. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company. “The PurePower engine continues to meet commitm...
Keeping in line with their strategies to expand their network reach, MASkargo and Silk Way Airlines of Azerbaijan have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation that will strengthen their competitive edge within the aviation industry. The agreement paves the way for greater collaboration between the airlines on cargo space agreements, ground handling and line maintenance. Both airlines will have ac...
Airbus Americas has joined the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) as a premium industrial member. Membership in IACMI aligns the mutual goals of the association and of Airbus as related to composite manufacturing. “We are enthusiastic and energized by the possibilities to work within the IACMI network of member organizations to develop t...
Private aviation membership program JetSmarter is expanding its flight capacity through an agreement with charter operator Jet Edge International to buy all its empty-leg hours and make them available to JetSmarter members at no additional charge above their annual membership fee of $9,000. JetSmarter has agreed to pay up to $350 million over the next seven years to purchase up to 35,000 flig...
Airline carriers are in a highly transformative period in which they are changing their retailing practices to be more customer centric. This shift in retail strategy has proven to lead to an improvement in profitability and customer experience. To fully realize the advantages of a customer-centric retailing approach (improved customer experience, increased product sales, and improved product m...