France and India signed the contract for the acquisition of 36 Rafale by India. The conclusion of this contract comes after the announcement by Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, during his visit to Paris in April 2015, of his desire to rapidly equip the Indian Air Force with 36 Rafale. This desire was reiterated during the visit to India by French President, François Hollande, in Jan...
JetBlue has become the launch customer for the first module of Airbus’ “Scheduled Maintenance Optimizer”, following a successful prototyping and demonstration of value. This application, focusing on Long Term Planning, is part of the Airbus Smarter FleetTM solutions. The Long Term Planning module will help decrease maintenance costs through the optimization of...
Cebu Pacific, the Philippines’ largest airline , took delivery of the very first ATR 72-600 High Capacity. Configured with 78 seats, this brand new option of the ATR 72 has ten additional seats compared to the standard configuration of the aircraft (68). It therefore combines reduced seat mile costs for airlines and world class comfort for passengers...
Azores airlines which is fully owned by Sociedade Açoreana de Transportes Aéreos (SATA) is modernizing its short-haul and transatlantic fleet with the A321neo and by 2019 with the longer range A321LR. The decision follows a growth strategy to expand into new transatlantic routes. Azores airlines has been an Airbus customer since 1999 operating seven A310, A320 and A330 Airbu...
Daher announced the completion of its 800th TBM very fast turboprop business aircraft, which has rolled out from the company’s final assembly line at France’s Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport. This milestone aircraft is a TBM 930 – the latest addition to the TBM family of very fast turboprop aircraft, which is in production along with the TBM 900 version. « The 800t...
Air France expects a further decline in bookings over the coming months as a result of terrorist attacks and a cabin crew strike that took place during the summer, the airline’s boss Jean-Marc Janaillac said. Bookings were down 5 per cent in July and August and the drop had accelerated to between 5 and 10 per cent for the remainder of the year, he said in Paris. He said the biggest drop i...
Airbus Helicopters and Denel Aviation have announced their intention to cooperate on a programme to enhance and modernise the Rooivalk attack helicopter. The two organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the biennial African Aerospace & Defence show at Air Force Base Waterkloof this week, in which they agreed to cooperate on a phased programme of enhancements for the Rooiv...
The first A350 XWB for China Airlines (CAL) has completed its maiden flight over the skies of Toulouse in South West France. The aircraft bearing the airline’s distinctive livery will now enter the final phase of production, including further ground and flight tests. This first A350-900 for China Airlines is scheduled for delivery in the coming weeks. China Airlines has 14 A350-900s on...
- Airlines have to reduce capacity by 15%. - ATC strikes cost up to €9.5 billion of European Union’s GDP associated with 131,000 jobs over the last six years. Thousands of European passengers will see their travel plans disrupted again today with another air traffic control (ATC) strike in Europe. Holiday makers and business people’s rights have been infrin...
Dassault Aviation will present its popular large cabin, long range Falcon 7X at the Africa Aerospace & Defence Expo, to be held at Waterkloof Air Force base, South Africa from September 14-18. Dassault’s three engined Falcons are extremely popular among African operators, who highly value their legendary sturdiness, reliability and operating economy. Some 70 Falcon air...
Low-cost carrier Volaris took delivery of its first A320neo, making the airline the first operator of the A320neo in North America. Volaris is Mexico’s largest Airbus customer, having ordered 74 A320 Family aircraft, including 30 A320neo. The all-Airbus operator became a customer in 2006, and since then has become Mexico’s biggest A320 Family operator with 63 A320 Family aircraft in se...
Like a cartoon space alien with a dome-like skull, an Airbus Beluga transport plane arriving from Madrid drops from the sky above this village 200 miles northwest of London and taxis to a stop with its front end tucked inside a large building off the runway. Its bulbous forehead pops open to disgorge massive wing panels — 98 feet long and 20 feet wide — that will soon be assembled b...
