A350 sneak preview
TOULOUSE, FRANCE, 15 May 2013: French aerospace giant Airbus offered a sneak preview of its latest long-haul carrier, the A350, on Monday, rolling out a first model in front of hundreds of staff at its assembly plant in south-western France.
Reporters and photographers were not invited to the event near the city of Toulouse, but still got a brief glimpse of the blue-tailed aircraft from outside the fenced-off area, as it rolled out from the paint shop.
The A350-900 model is due for its first take-off this summer, with the first deliveries to airlines scheduled at the end of 2014.
Turkish splurges on 737s
NEW YORK, 15 May 2013: US aerospace giant Boeing said Tuesday that it had a firm order from Turkish Airlines for 70 Boeing single-aisle 737 aircraft in a deal valued at US$6.9 billion at list prices.
The order, originally announced as a commitment in early April, was finalized Tuesday and “is the largest Boeing order in Turkish Airlines’ history,” Boeing said in a statement.
It includes an option to buy 25 additional 737s, valued at US$2.5 billion at list prices.
Airbus takes the lead
PARIS, 8 May 2013: French aerospace giant Airbus has shot ahead of US group Boeing in terms of net orders booked in the first four months of the year, taking almost twice as many, company data showed Tuesday.
Airbus, given a big boost by a deal last month with Turkish Airlines, said in a statement that it recorded 493 orders between January and April, compared with the 255 announced on Boeing’s website.
The orders represent seven years of production, Airbus said.
ANA tests Dreamliner
TOKYO, 29 April 2013: A modified Dreamliner took to the skies over Tokyo on Sunday with top Boeing and ANA executives aboard, as the planemaker and its leading client sought to reassure passengers the jetliners are safe.
It was the first flight by one of All Nippon Airways’ 787s since the worldwide fleet of the next-generation planes was grounded over safety concerns due to faulty batteries sparking fires on board two planes.
The test flight by ANA, which has the largest fleet of Dreamliners, came a day after Ethiopian Airlines became the first carrier to resume flying the 787s.
Ethiopia flies Dreamliner
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, 29 April 2013: Ethiopian Airlines on Saturday became the first carrier to resume flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliners that have been grounded worldwide since January due to battery problems.
The Ethiopian carrier flew one of the next-generation aircraft from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, a day before All Nippon Airlines (ANA), which has the world’s largest fleet of Dreamliners, is set to conduct a test flight in Japan.
“I am very happy to see the airplane is back in the air now and I am very happy also we are the first one,” Ethiopian Airlines CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam told journalists before take off.
China orders more Airbus aircraft
BEIJING, 26 April 2013: China welcomed French President Francois Hollande, Thursday, with a deal potentially worth billions for 60 Airbus planes as he became the first Western leader to pay court to Beijing’s new supremo.
Hollande came to China accompanied by a planeload of business executives, earning a brief respite from economic woes at home and the aftermath of a corruption scandal that has forced his budget minister to resign.
He was the first Western leader to be received in Beijing by China’s new president, Xi Jinping, who accorded military honours to his fellow head of state on an inspection of People’s Liberation Army personnel in Tiananmen Square.
Public hearing on Dreamliner failure
WASHINGTON, 24 April 2013: US safety officials investigating a battery fire on a Boeing 787 opened a two-day public hearing Tuesday to examine how the pioneering lithium-ion battery system was designed and approved for use.
Meanwhile, Japanese airlines say they may be able to resume 787 services as early as this June.
Three months after the 787 was grounded worldwide because of overheated batteries, the National Transportation Safety Board was reviewing presentations by Boeing, contractors and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Historic flight to Everest
April 4, 2013 by AFP
Filed under Aviation, News, South Asia
KATHMANDU, 4 April 2013: The grandson of a pilot who flew the first flight over the world’s highest mountain, Nepal’s Mount Everest, retraced the route Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the feat.
In 1933 Scottish pilot and army colonel, Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, along with two colleagues flew two biplanes from the northern Indian state of Bihar to help mountaineers gain knowledge about the 8,848-metre (29,029 foot) peak.
“It was very majestic, it was spectacular. I am glad that I was able to retrace the historic flight by my grandfather,” Charles Douglas-Hamilton, 33, said after returning from a morning flight to Everest on Wednesday.
ANA holds on to old aircraft
TOKYO, 25 March 2013: Japan’s All Nippon Airways will delay retiring four aircraft to help maintain services already hit by the grounding of its entire fleet of troubled 787 Dreamliners, Kyodo News reported on Saturday.
International regulators grounded all Boeing Dreamliner jets in January after a battery on a Japan Airlines 787 caught fire and forced an ANA flight to make an emergency landing.
ANA had initially planned to retire a Boeing 747 jumbo jet in April and three other smaller aircraft — including the Airbus A320 — between March and May, but their retirements will be postponed to June or later, Kyodo said.
Lion roars for Airbus
JAKARTA, 19 March 2013: Lion Air, a little-known carrier launched 13 years ago with just one plane, has struck two of the world’s largest aircraft orders in a staggering US$46 billion bet on Indonesia’s air transport boom.
France announced Monday that Indonesia’s fastest-growing airline had agreed to buy 234 medium-haul A320 jets worth US$23.8 billion (18.4 billion euros) from European aerospace giant Airbus.
French President Francois Hollande described the “historic” deal as the biggest in the history of civil aviation.
