In January, Airbus and Iran Air agreed to a landmark deal for 118 aircraft with a total value rising to as much as $25 billion. One of the most significant parts of the deal is an agreement for 12 A380 superjumbos worth upwards of $5.2 billion at list prices. However, this portion of the deal may be in jeopardy according to Tim Hepher of Reuters. Sources within Iran told the publication t...
Daher has delivered a TBM 930 to the corporate flight department of an Italian-based industrial group this month, the fourth TBM family aircraft this customer has acquired. The operator’s first purchase of a TBM family aircraft was a TBM 700A 17 years ago, followed by a TBM 700B variant in 2003 and a TBM 850 in 2006, leading up to the all-new TBM 930 version. The TBM 930 is the latest memb...
Dassault Aviation’s new flagship, the 6,450 nm Falcon 8X, has been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), preparing the way for service introduction of the big new trijet. Receipt of the approval is right in line with the established program schedule. FAA certification is expected in the coming weeks, with entry into service in the early fourth quarter. “We&rsqu...
Safran Helicopter Engines (née Turbomeca) has designed a new kind of combustor for the Arrano turboshaft, thus allowing for better operability and a simpler arrangement, the engine manufacturer announced in May. Keeping the flow swirling is key, head of combustion department Claude Bérat told AIN. The 1,100- to 1,300-shp Arrano powers the in-development Airbus Helicopters H...
A boutique airline has launched an all-you-can-fly pass for travelers who make frequent trips between New York, Paris and London. It’s kind of like an all-you-can-eat buffet for frequent fliers: For $35,000, travelers can purchase the L’Unlimited flight pass on the all-business-class carrier La Compagnie for unrestricted travel on routes between New York and Paris and New York and L...
French investigators have detailed a serious incident involving a Boeing 777-200ER which suffered a wing-strike and tail contact while attempting to land at Le Bourget airport outside Paris. The privately-operated aircraft (N777AS) had been conducting a positioning service from the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh on 5 June. French investigation authority BEA says the General Electric GE90-power...
Airbus Helicopters has recently completed a first round of firing tests with HForce, a generic weapon system in development for the company’s commercial helicopter range. The innovative system, which includes a central core unit, Thales’ Scorpion monocular helmet mounted sight display (HMSD), an electro-optical system (EOS) from Wescam as well as gunner armament weapon grips and weapon...
Zodiac Aerospace shares rose as much as 13 percent Wednesday after the biggest supplier of seats to Airbus Group SE said a logjam in the production of premium berths for the manufacturer’s latest A350 model is beginning to ease. Zodiac, which has struggled to meet Airbus and Boeing Co. delivery schedules for two years after taking on too much work, has achieved certificatio...
Air France said on Tuesday the last four days of strikes by French pilots would cost the airline more than 40 million euros. A spokeswoman for Air France, who confirmed comments given by chief executive Frederic Gagey to AFP, said the company plans to meet unions by the end of the week. "Air France managed to conduct 80 percent of flights," the spokeswoman said. Air France...
Airbus has modified its A320neo to eliminate the characteristic ‘barking dog’ noise generated by the A320’s power transfer system during ground manoeuvring. The noise has been a familiar feature of the A320 family and originates in the power-transfer unit, a bi-directional device enabling the green and yellow hydraulic systems to pressurise one another. It typically activat...
A Chinese consortium made up of China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (CAS), Qingdao United General Aviation Industrial Development Company (Qingdao United) and CITIC Offshore Helicopter Co. Ltd (COHC) has ordered 100 H135 light-twin helicopters, becoming China’s first customer to form an industrial partnership to launch a H135 final assembly line (FAL) in Qingdao, Shandong province. This...
How do you calculate the cost of an accident? Beyond, that is, the simple, unquantifiable human tragedy of the event. But as more details emerge on the fatal April crash of an H225 helicopter on Norway’s west coast, some of those costs are also becoming clear. With the Super Puma fleet now grounded for safety reasons, operators are faced – again – with a potentially long-te...
