The sun-powered plane Solar Impulse 2 has made a successful test flight in Hawaii, where it has been grounded for repairs on its round-the-world trek, the Swiss-based project said Saturday. "The first Solar Impulse 2 maintenance flight took place on Friday 26 of February (and) was uneventful. The plane took off from Kalaeloa airport at 4:32PM UTC [GMT] with our test pilot, Markus Scherdel,...
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer wants to require the Federal Aviation Administration to establish seat-size standards for commercial airlines, which he says now force passengers to sit on planes "like sardines." The New York Democrat told The Associated Press the airlines have been slowly cutting down legroom and seat width. "One of the most vexing things when you travel on an airpl...
East African Aviation, a private company, has inaugurated Ethiopia's first air ambulance transport service. The company owned by Captain Mulat Lemlemayehu, a former commercial pilot who served the Ethiopian airlines for 39 years, also inaugurated its newly established aviation school and air charter service at a ceremony late Thursday in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. The company ha...
MANPADS are by definition "man-portable." But just one -- like this Iranian Republican Guard "Strela" -- can bring down a large aircraft. Image source: sayyed shahab-o- din vajedi via Wikimedia Commons. Around the world, the use of cheap and deadly shoulder-launched infrared guided missiles is "growing in popularity among terrorist groups and in thirdworld countries.&qu...
Republic Airways Holdings Inc had outstanding orders for 24 Embraer E175 passenger jets when it filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in a U.S. court last week, Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer SA said on Sunday. Embraer has already delivered four E175 jets to the U.S. airline out of 28 total firm orders. The remaining 24 were scheduled for delivery between August 2016 and December 2017....
AN AER LINGUS flight has been evacuated after fireworks were found on board. This happened on a flight bound from Dublin to Paris earlier on 28 of February. Flight EI 523 was stalled on the stand and passengers left the plane after the discovery was made. It is understood that the fireworks were children’s paper bangers, sold popularly as ‘Fun Snaps’, and not a serious t...
Indian airlines are fiercely debating proposed policy changes which they fear could result in Arabian Gulf carriers being given an unfair advantage to expand in the country. The areas of India’s draft civil aviation policy which have raised concerns include plans to liberalise and auction bilateral flying rights and raise the cap on foreign direct investment in Indian carriers,...
The first Solar Impulse 2 maintenance flight took place on Friday 26 of February was uneventful. The plane took off from Kalaeloa airport at 4:32PM UTC with our test pilot, Markus Scherdel, in the cockpit, and landed at 6:05PM UTC. Bertrand Piccard was following this long-awaited flight from the other side of the world and confessed that it was a true relief to see Si2 back in the sky of Hawaii...
Willie Walsh's British airline group has placed a value on one of Ireland's most distinctive brands. His International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) has valued Aer Lingus' brand and image, one of the most recognisably Irish company brands in the world, at €110m. The Aer Lingus brand is around 80 years old. IAG gained control of it with the purchase of Aer Lingus last Aug...
Air France told a workers’ council it will eliminate 1,605 jobs this year, with all cuts to come through voluntary departures, people familiar with the situation said. Ground staff, including mechanics and airport workers, account for the vast majority of the cuts, with 1,405 jobs set to go, or 3 percent of their total, the people said declining to be named because the talks are private....
Aviation experts are speaking out over repeated Allegiant Air safety concerns, Pinellas County's largest air carrier. Dozens of Allegiant Air flights have been involved in emergency landings or diversions in recent months, brining accusations the airline is struggling to manage maintenance of its aircraft. "It's an accident waiting to happen," Brauchle says....
London-to-Bratislava flight is forced to land in Germany to expel passengers for their aggressive behaviour. A pilot was forced to land his plane in Berlin when members of a British stag party reportedly became aggreesive after they were refused more alcohol. The latest disruption comes amid a sharp rise in alcohol-fuelled incidents in the air, prompting some airlines to launch a crackdown o...
