50 SKY SHADES - World aviation news

United Kingdom aviation news

Manchester flight delayed after woman 'punched pilot in face'

A flight was delayed after a woman allegedly punched an easyJet pilot in the face at Manchester airport. Police were called to the airport around 2.20pm on Wednesday after a disturbance on a flight due to leave for Paphos in Cyprus. A 25-year-old woman was asked to leave the flight due to her behaviour. While being escorted from the aircraft by flight attendants the woman allegedly assaulted...

Rolls-Royce despatches first set of engines as part of largest ever order from Emirates

Rolls-Royce has despatched the first ‘shipset’ of four engines as part of its largest ever order, for Emirates. The Trent 900 engines left the Rolls-Royce site at Derby, UK, where they were assembled, for Airbus in Toulouse, France, where they will be fitted to an A380 aircraft. Rolls-Royce is providing Trent 900 engines and TotalCare® service for 50 Emirates A380...

New mayor removes obstacle from London City Airport’s expansion path

London’s new mayor, Sadiq Khan, has dropped an objection raised by his predecessor, Boris Johnson, to the planned expansion of London City Airport (LCY). The airport is located on a physically constrained site in the capital’s old Docklands district. Its owners have been trying for some time to expand it through a £300 million ($435 million) plan that would enlarge the termina...

Boost for JETS MRO as Dassault extends authorised service centre approval

JETS Biggin Hill has gained a new five-year extension approval as a Dassault authorised service centre for the Falcon 900 and 2000 business jets series.The company is currently expanding their maintenance capability. Growing market demand for minimum down-time for hard-working business jet aircraft has also enabled JETS to introduce a seven-day a week, 12 hours per day shift pattern for the eng...

Aviation experts baffled after British Airways A380 lands at Heathrow with a SQUARE tyre

An astonishing picture has emerged of a square-shaped tyre on a British Airways A380 that touched down at London's Heathrow Airport. Aviation experts have been left baffled by the misshapen deflated wheel, which was part of the landing gear on a flight that arrived from Hong Kong on Friday. The Civil Aviation Authority described the incident as 'curious', a serving pilot admitted...

EasyJet braced for financial blow from Brussels attacks

EASYJET is expected to take a hit from this year’s spate of terrorist attacks after a fall in bookings led to “very tough” conditions for airlines. Analyst Wyn Ellis, of Numis, believes the bombings in Brussels, as well as renewed violence in Egypt, will have cost easyJet around £45m in the first half of its financial year. Since the attacks in Belgium, which left...

UK parliamentary committee backs Heathrow expansion

An influential UK parliamentary body has backed recommendations that London Heathrow Airport should be the site for much-needed extra runway capacity in South East England. The UK government is once again delaying a decision on where to site the new runway. A two-year investigation by an independent body, the Davies Commission, recommended last year that a third runway at Heathrow was the best...

Take the kids to … the National Museum of Flight, Scotland

In a nutshell Stretching across the former East Fortune airfield, this feels less like a museum and more like a full day out. The jet black hangar housing Scotland’s supersonic retiree, the G-BOAA Concorde, sticks out like a sore thumb against the rolling fields, but it is home to a real jet-age 1970s experience. Climbing the steps and boarding Concorde still gives a buzz. Kids will make st...

EasyJet reports passenger boost as Ryanair chases UK dominance

Budget airline easyJet has reported a 6.1pc increase in passenger numbers but a slip in the number of occupied seats on its flights. The FTSE 100 airline flew 6.37 million customers last month, up from 6 million in April 2015. EasyJet’s load factor - an industry measure of the percentage of seats that were actually occupied - fell from 90.8pc a year ago to 90.4pc last month. The res...

IAG boss calls for register of drones after near misses with aircraft

Chief executive of British Airways’ owner says drones may become serious risk to air passengers. The boss of British Airways’ owner IAG has called for a register of drone users after a series of near collisions between passenger planes and unmanned aircraft. Willie Walsh, IAG’s chief executive, said that “without question” new restrictions should be brought in b...

Pilots report more than 1,400 laser incidents in 2015

More than 1,400 incidents of lasers being shone at aircraft were reported to the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 2015. The number was slightly lower than in 2014 - but reports by police helicopter pilots more than doubled. The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) said the increasing power of lasers raised the possibility of a serious accident. One pilot called for the sal...

Magellan Aerospace Secures Multi-Year Airbus Contracts

Magellan Aerospace (“Magellan”) announced a contract extension between Magellan Aerospace (UK) Limited (“Magellan UK”) and Airbus for the supply of aluminium and titanium structural wing components from Magellan UK’s facilities located throughout Europe and its joint ventures in India. This contract, valued at approximately CDN $700 million, is comp...