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France aviation news

VINCI Airports took over the operation of Annecy Mont-Blanc Airport

On the 1st of January 2022 VINCI Airports took over operations at Annecy Mont Blanc Airport, following the signing of the public service delegation agreement with the Haute-Savoie Departmental Council last July. VINCI Airports will now manage and operate the airport for 15 years, extending its network to 12 airports in France. VINCI Airports will support the business and leisure aviation a...

Daher Kodiak 100 aircraft will deploy paratroopers to test military parachutes for France

Héli-Béarn, the first operator of Daher’s Kodiak 100 multi-mission aircraft in France, has been contracted by the country’s defense procurement agency to perform paratroop drops that will test and validate parachute systems for the French armed forces. This contract was awarded by the aeronautical techniques expert center of France’s General Directorate of Armame...

Thales on board France 169 Guépard helicopters

The Thales technologies selected by Airbus Helicopters, industrial prime contractor for the programme, and the French defence procurement agency (DGA), the contracting authority, will provide the 169 Guépard joint light helicopters with a complete set of high-performance solutions relying on innovative connected touchscreen interfaces for all three branches of the armed forces from 2027....

Fifth anniversary Dassault Falcon Service Mérignac marked by an expansion to handle additional Falcon models

Dassault Falcon Service Mérignac celebrates its fifth year in operation. DFS Mérignac opened in 2016 to serve large-cabin, long-range Falcon 7X and 8X trijets. The 7,500 sq meter, six-bay facility has been operating at maximum capacity for most of that time and has completed 35 of the 53 Falcon 7X C-checks accomplished by DFS over that period. The C-check is the most exte...

ATR got EASA approval for extension of Type C maintenance visit intervals by 60%

ATR has received approval from EASA to extend the intervals between Type C maintenance checks from 5,000 to 8,000 flight hours, for all of its aircraft series. Through this 60% increase in intervals, ATR operators will benefit from a significant reduction in aircraft maintenance costs and increased availability. David Brigante, ATR’s Senior Vice President Customer Support and Services, co...

French Sécurité Civile to expand fleet with two Airbus H145s

The French Armament General Directorate (DGA) has ordered an additional two five-bladed H145s destined to equip the Sécurité Civile, an agency of the French Ministry of Interior that performs rescue and air medical transport services throughout France. This contract is a follow-up to the contract signed in 2020 for an initial batch of two H145s which were delivered in December 2021....

H3 Dynamics readies hydrogen propulsion for electric aviation & begins unmanned flight tests in France

H3 Dynamics Toulouse team have completed wind tunnel tests of a long-range unmanned hydrogen test aircraft, in preparation of first test flights within the next 2 months. Pioneered by H3 Dynamics and ISAE-Supaero in 2018, the MERMOZ program received support from the Occitanie Region in France and the European Fund for Regional Development. Next phases of the Mermoz program will add-on smal...

First flight of newly launched ACJ TwoTwenty

The ACJ TwoTwenty launched just over a year ago, completed its first flight from the Mirabel airport on 14 December 2021. The production test flight was performed by Christophe Marchand and Adam Mason as Test Pilots and supported by Romuald Scheling as Flight Test Engineer. The aircraft will be delivered to Comlux in the coming weeks and then outfitted with a VVIP cabin by COMLUX in Indianapoli...

Successful factory acceptance test for the Airliner for the Airports Authority of India

The first of three Airliners being supplied to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has successfully passed its Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) at Alsim’s manufacturing facility in Nantes on Friday the 26th of November. Two senior representatives of AAI travelled to Nantes and performed over 150 tests on the Airliner FNPT II MCC simulator with its collimated visual display system.&nbs...

Sabena Technics recruits and trains 40 aerospace painters

In a sector, which is heavily impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, Sabena Technics site in Toulouse, specializing in aircraft painting, is encountering, like many, difficulties in recruiting with the traditional methods used until then. With the ambition of developing its workforce, Sabena Technics is recruiting 40 up-and-coming Aeronautical Painters for a dedicated event. Interest and motivation for...

Ascendance Flight Technologies unveils design of ATEA hybrid-electric aircraft

Ascendance Flight Technologies builds on the virtues of hybrid technology and distributed propulsion to develop sustainable air travel solutions. After three years of R&D, the French start-up company swiftly swings into action for new, state-of-the-art sustainable and decarbonised air travel: it is unveiling the design of ATEA, its 5-seater vertical take-off and landing aircraft. Conceived to...

Croatia and France finalize Rafale acquisition

At a ceremony attended by the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron and the Prime Minister of the Croatian Republic Andrej Plenković, the French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly and the Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation Eric Trappier signed today in Zagreb, with the Croatian Minister of Defense Mario Banozic, two contracts for the acquisition of 12 Rafale fighters and ass...