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Airbus Helicopters offers 240 new apprenticeship positions in France

Airbus Helicopters is launching a drive to offer 240 new apprenticeship positions at its headquarters in Marignane, France as well as other regional offices. The positions are in various fields and for all educational levels. The chosen apprentices will study the production lines at close quarters and the initiative will include courses from of between one and three years. The apprenticesh...

Air France makes new cost-cut proposals to pilots

Air France has made fresh cost-cutting proposals to pilots' unions that would see a rise in the number of flying hours and more flexibility in return for a share of the resulting productivity gains, the French carrier's head said on Monday. The plans by Air France, which were sent to unions on Sunday, with a May 2 deadline to respond, would also see it hire more than the 600 new pilots...

Airbus ACJneo Family wins first Asian customer

An Asian customer has become the first in the region to place a firm order for an Airbus ACJ319neo , delivery of which is planned for the second quarter of 2019. The client, which is upgrading from a large, traditional, business jet, is also the first new  customer for the ACJneo Family. Engines and cabin outfitter have yet to be announced. Airbus has now won firm orders for six ACJneo...

France's La Compagnie mulls A320neo, B737 MAX for TATL ops

La Compagnie (B0, Paris Le Bourget) is in advanced talks with Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) and Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare) over the planned acquisition of new transatlantic-capable aircraft due for delivery in either 2018 or 2019. “We’re thinking about the A320neo and the B737 MAX 9 and exploring all the best finance options for that purpose right now,” CEO Fr...

Air France Is Trying to Woo Young Travelers with a Discount Loyalty Program

Air France will introduce loyalty cards offering 30 percent discounts on domestic routes to passengers aged 12 to 24 as it seeks to lure young travelers away from trains, long-distance buses, and low-cost carriers. The cards will sell for 49 euros ($56) and run for a year, Air France President Frederic Gagey said Friday at a Paris briefing. They’ll be valid for bookings with Air...

Airbus Helicopters advances Panther MBe deliveries

Airbus Helicopters will accelerate deliveries of its AS565 MBe Panther anti-submarine warfare rotorcraft following requests from the Indonesian and Mexican navies – its sole customers for the new variant. Initial examples were due to be handed over to the services in mid-2017, but this has now advanced to late-2016, says the manufacturer. Airbus says this has been enabled thanks to cha...

Airbus A400M Makes a Daring Landing on an Unpaved Airstrip

The A400M is a tactical four engine turboprop military plane that was designed for military cargo transport and is capable of refueling in flight. Primarily flown by the French and German Air force, the plane is put through rigorous tests before the completed machines are handed off. Oftentimes there isn’t a paved runway for the plane to land on, so Airbus Defense and Space routinely...

Air France Sticks with Struggling Vendor for Lie-Flat Seats Upgrade

Air France will invest 140 million euros ($159 million) extending a cabin refurbishment to its Airbus Group SE A330 fleet that will include lie-flat business-class seats from Zodiac Aerospace, the embattled supplier that has struggled to fulfill orders. The upgrade will begin late next year and finish in 2018, the airline said in a statement. Each of the twin-aisle planes will be equipped with...

Airbus Helicopters begins tests of fire-detection system for Germany

Airbus Helicopters has begun test flights for its German armed forces customer as part of a research and technology programme to develop a hostile fire indication (HFI) system. Using a modified German army Sikorsky CH-53G helicopter, the manufacturer performed the first evaluation sortie on 30 March, from Manching, to study the integration and effects on handling qualities of a number of sensor...

AFI KLM E&M Consolidates Dedicated A350 MRO Service Offer

AFI KLM E&M has signed an agreement with UTC Aerospace Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) covering aircraft maintenance services in connection with Airbus A350 components supplied by the North American OEM. The go-to partner for A350 operators  The powerful ties it has forged with the leading OEMs mean that AFI KLM E&a...

Daher presents its new range of TBM aircraft: the TBM 900 is joined by the TBM 930

Daher unveiled the expanded range of its TBM very fast turboprop aircraft family, which now consists of the TBM 900 and the TBM 930 version – each of which retain the performance and technical features that have made the TBM 900 a business aviation success, with more than 110 sold since its launch two years ago. Daher has introduced the e-copilot® function on Model Year 2016 aircraft fo...

De Juniac To Leave Air France-KLM To Lead IATA

Air France-KLM chairman and chief executive Alexandre de Juniac will replace Tony Tyler as the next director and CEO of the International Air Transport Association, the airline said Tuesday. De Juniac indicated to the Air France-KLM board of directors that he would accept IATA’s offer to lead that organization at its general meeting, scheduled for June 1 to 3 in Dubl...