André Turcat, who has died aged 94, was the chief test pilot for the Concorde programme and was at the controls of the supersonic airliner on its first flight; a few weeks later he took the jet through the sound barrier for the first time. The idea of a supersonic transport (SST) was first conceived in the late 1950s and led to an Anglo-French agreement to develop an airliner – Con...
You've probably never thought too much about how to quickly transport a 10-tonne plane engine, but Qantas has the answer. Just strap it to the wing of a Boeing 747. Qantas Flight 63 took off from Sydney with an extra Rolls Royce turbofan attached to the left wing between an inner engine and the plane's body. The engine was not powered; it just came along for the ride to Johannesburg,...
Malaysia Airlines will retire and sell B777-200 planes from its fleet after axing loss-making Amsterdam and Paris routes and partnering Emirates for European destinations, Malaysia Airlines says in e-mail to Bloomberg News. * Some of these planes are 20 years old * Mutual separation scheme offered to pilots of this aircraft on case-by-case basis; 40% of B777 pilots requested for separat...
Associated Air Center , through its in-house Organization Designation Authorization delegation, has obtained a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the installation of a Controller-Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC) System — as part of the requirements for Future Air Navigation System (FANS) — on a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) VIP ...
Boeing delivered 762 commercial airplanes in 2015, 39 more than the previous year and most ever for the company as it enters its centennial year. “The Boeing team has worked hard to achieve strong performance,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. “Our team did a fantastic job achieving higher deliveries and getting our products to our custo...
The Royal Australian Air Force is spending more than $90 million to convert luxury corporate jets into state-of-the-art spy planes. PM can reveal the high-tech surveillance aircraft are due to come into service at the end of next year. Here's defence reporter Andrew Greene. ANDREW GREENE: The Gulfstream G550 is a luxury corporate jet boasting the ability to fly more than 12 hours nons...
BOC Aviation has announced an additional order for 18 A320neo and 12 A320ceo family aircraft. The lessor says in a statement that the order was placed in late December 2015, and will help it to fulfil customer demand. “This order underscores our continued confidence in the reliability and operational efficiency of the A320 family aircraft, and reflects its popularity among our customer...
Indonesian national carrier Garuda Indonesia has taken a huge step forward in business class with the selection of B/E Super Diamond outward-facing herringbone seats, which will set a new standard in regional ASEAN business. Many of the airline’s competitors — including more highly regarded carriers like Singapore Airlines — offer less impressive products, like SQ’s Webe...
Ronkonkoma, N.Y.-based ExcelAire has become the latest operator to receive FAA authorization to fly charter service to Cuba. ExcelAire, which is authorized to fly directly to the island nation from 19 gateway U.S. cities, completed its first trip late last month from New York JFK International Airport to Havana. ExcelAire joins a small but growing number of operators that have obtained FAA appr...
Dassault Falcon sales declined by 72 percent last year compared with 2014, according to preliminary numbers released today by the French aircraft manufacturer. In 2015, Dassault reported 45 gross Falcon sales, but a NetJets cancellation of 20 Falcon 2000s brought the net tally to just 25 aircraft. The previous year totaled 90 net Falcon orders. For 2015, Dassault cited “the economic...
The Cessna Citation CJ2+ is no longer in production, as the Citation M2—an upgraded CJ1 with Garmin G3000 avionics—and CJ3+ “have proven to be a great fit for our customers in this space,” a Textron Aviation spokeswoman confirmed. The CJ2+ (Model 525A) has been built on the same production line as the CJ3+ and CJ4, so “we could build it if required for a customer miss...
Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Wednesday Russia's refusal to issue visas to crew members working for budget carrier Pegasus was an "arbitrary" measure and violated international aviation rules. İstanbul-based Pegasus said on Tuesday it suspended flights to and from Russia until Jan. 13 after authorities in Moscow failed to give its crew visas. Turkey would use...
