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Snecma kicks off construction of new world-class engine test stand in southern France

First Finnair A350 conducts maiden flight

Finnair’s first Airbus A350-900 has carried out its maiden flight, just a few weeks before the carrier becomes the first European customer to introduce the twinjet. Having performed its first sortie, at Airbus’s headquarters in Toulouse, the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered aircraft will...

Lufthansa Expects EUR500 Million Profit Boost from Board Overhaul

Lufthansa is stepping up its cost-cutting overhaul with a streamlined management structure it said will boost profit by EUR500 million (US$564 million) a year and provide a new boss for the Eurowings budget brand that has raised tensions in its long-running dispute with pilots. The German airline...

Boeing to Welcome China President Xi Jinping

Boeing confirmed today that China President Xi Jinping will visit the company's Everett, Wash., factory on Sep. 23 during his visit to the U.S. Boeing Chairman Jim McNerney will be on hand to welcome President Xi, along with Boeing President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg and Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. "We're honored that President Xi will see our facto...

Airbus: Beluga XL programme achieves design freeze

The new Beluga programme, christened Beluga XL, has successfully passed the latest maturity gate milestone – marking the end of the ‘concept phase’ or design freeze ‘at aircraft level’ which is a key step in any development programme. The maturity gate review demonstrated that the Beluga XL programme is robust and mature enough to move to the next phase of developm...

Bell 505 Jet Ranger X makes Polish debut

Bell Helicopter has continued its sales push for the developmental 505 Jet Ranger X, displaying a mock-up of the light single-engined rotorcraft at the MSPO defence show held in Kielce, Poland between 1-4 September. Bell says it exhibited the four-seat, civil rotorcraft at a military exhibition "to promote its capabilities as a training platform" for the region's air forces....

Bombardier Mounts Engines on First Global 7000 Test Vehicle

Investors were rushing to pick up shares of Bombardier Inc. last week, as rumours swirled about a takeover offer for its transportation division and another report marked steady progress on its CSeries aircraft. Bombardier has now made several announcements regarding its long-range business jet program. Bombardier Business Aircraft has mounted the engines on its first flight test vehicle for th...

U.S. Air Force warns F-35 order review could damage program

U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh on Tuesday warned that short-term moves to revise downward the Air Force's planned purchase of 1,763 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighters could damage the program and scare off foreign buyers. "Let’s delay this discussion for a little while until we see what happens in the world," Welsh told reporters at the annual Air F...

Etihad Airways and Key Equity Partners Complete Successful Platform Financing Transaction

Etihad Airways, its airport services business and five of its equity partners have today successfully completed an innovative new platform financing transaction, raising $500 million on the international markets. Etihad Airways, Etihad Airport Services, airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Alitalia and Jet Airways have together taken a new step forward in their strategic business development...

FL Technics introduces technical asset management for aircraft owners and investors

FL Technics, a global provider of one-stop-shop aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services, is pleased to announce the recent launch of technical asset management services. The company shall provide comprehensive technical support and consulting for aircraft buyers, owners and investors with little or no knowledge in technical aspects of aircraft operation. With the introduction of tec...

Airbus Factory to Add 300 Jobs in Tianjin

The Airbus factory in Tianjin will create 250 to 300 jobs in the port city, when its A330 completion and delivery center is operational in the fourth quarter of 2017, said a top company executive. Philippe Pezet, vice-president for human resources of Airbus Group China, said many will move over from the A320 aircraft final assembly line, with 10 percent of the final total expatriate workers. Bu...

Ukraine Ends Aircraft Cooperation with Russia

Kiev has forced Ukrainian plane maker Antonov to sever its contract with Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). This decision is likely linked with Kiev's move to include Antonov as part of Ukroboronprom, a state-owned strategic conglomerate, Ukrainian media reported. In October 2010, Antonov and UAC signed a deal to form a joint company. The firms agreed to cooperate in...

Estonia Says It's Preparing to Set Up New National Airline

Estonia is ready to create a new airline should the European Union rule that the existing national flag carrier illegally received state aid, a decision that would put it out of business. Economics Ministry spokesman Mihkel Loide said Tuesday that EUR40.7 million (US$46 million) have already been earmarked as an initial capital for a new, fully state-owned carrier. Under the plan,...

APIS Now Mandatory in Colombia

Before departing for Colombia, aircraft operators must now file an advanced passenger information system (APIS) manifest for all crew and passengers. The Colombian Department of Immigration (Migración Colombia) has been enforcing since April the mandatory submission of APIS following the passage of a law in January. The new regulation applies to all commercial, non-scheduled commerci...

Mubadala Takes Full Ownership of Piaggio Aerospace

Piaggio Aerospace announced today that Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Co. purchased the minority 1.95-percent share held by Piero Ferrari and it is now the Italian aircraft manufacturer’s 100-percent shareholder. Mubadala started with a 35-percent share in Piaggio Aero in April 2006, but in May last year this ballooned to 98 percent when India’s Tata Industries relinqui...

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Top of the week

Electra and The Atlas Group formalize airframe agreement for EL9 ultra‑short

Electra and The Atlas Group today announced a landmark airframe agreement for the EL9 Ultra‑Short aircraft, uniting Electra’s next‑generation design with Atlas’s established aerospace manu...

HondaJet Echelon advances to next phase with successful wing assembly

Honda Aircraft Company announced the completion of the first wing structure for the HondaJet Echelon test aircraft, marking a pivotal advancement in the program and moving the new light‑jet platform i...

Airbus is expanding its delivery capacity for the A320 family in Toulouse with a new integrated center

Airbus has officially unveiled a new delivery center at its Jean‑Luc Lagardère site, northwest of Toulouse, marking a significant milestone in the industrial ramp‑up of the A320 Family. Purpose...

Qantas unveils Adelaide Product Innovation Centre, accelerating growth, employment and skills pathways

Qantas has inaugurated its new Product Innovation Centre in Adelaide, with South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas joining Qantas Group Chief Technology, AI and Transformation Officer Rachel Yangoy...

Ten years of Riga Aviation Forum — insights from Zigmars Vestfals on growth, milestones and the road ahead

As the 10th edition of the Riga Aviation Forum was getting ready to open, 50SkyShades — a long‑standing Media Partner of the event — took the opportunity to sit down with Zigmars Vestfals,...

Drukair, Royal Bhutan Airlines selects CFM LEAP-1A engines to power 5 Airbus A320neo family aircraft

Drukair – Royal Bhutan Airlines, the national flag carrier of the Kingdom of Bhutan, has announced its decision to equip five Airbus A320neo‑family aircraft with CFM International LEAP‑1A engine...

Boeing, American Airlines complete first 737 MAX landing gear exchange

Boeing and American Airlines announced the successful completion of the first landing gear exchange for a 737 MAX, marking a key milestone as the company extends its longstanding Landing Gear Exchange...

Samson Sky secures $80 million to launch switchblade flying car production

Samson Sky, developer of the Switchblade Flying Car, announced it has secured an $80 million investment from Dubai‑based Matin Group. According to Sam Bousfield, CEO, Founder...

Global Jet Capital releases its annual 2026 Business Jet Forecast

Global Jet Capital has released its sixth annual Business Jet Market Forecast, outlining a confident outlook for the sector. The updated analysis anticipates steady expansion over the next five years,...

Uzbekistan Airways signs long-term support agreement

Uzbekistan Airways and Lufthansa Technik have renewed their cooperation with a long‑term agreement extending comprehensive component support for the airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A3...

Gol connects Europe to El Calafate and Ushuaia through its network in Brazil

Gol Airlines continues to expand its South American reach, leveraging its Brazilian network to open new travel possibilities. European passengers can now access southern Argentina through São P...

flydubai Launches dedicated freighter operations to accelerate regional trade growth

flydubai unveiled the launch of its dedicated freighter operations, a dynamic expansion that advances the airline’s diversification strategy and further elevates Dubai’s standing as a glob...

TAROM took delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX

Boeing, TAROM and CDB Aviation have celebrated the delivery of the airline’s first 737‑8, marking the arrival of Romania’s first Boeing 737 MAX and a key milestone in the national carrier&...

ExecuJet MRO Services to showcase MRO capabilities at AAD 2026

ExecuJet MRO Services South Africa, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dassault Aviation, will be exhibiting at the Africa Aerospace & Defence (AAD) Expo 2026 at Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria (1...

KVE celebrates 30 years of innovation and accelerates its growth within the Daher Group

KVE by Daher is marking its 30th anniversary with the inauguration of a significant expansion of its production facility in The Hague — a development that signals the start of a new acceleration...

TARMAC Aerosave and AerFin deepen their partnership, processing over ten new‑generation aircraft for dismantling and recycling this year

TARMAC Aerosave, Europe’s leading specialist in aircraft storage, maintenance, dismantling and recycling, has announced an expanded collaboration with AerFin, the global aviation asset‑managemen...

Air Charter Expo achieves third consecutive year of record‑breaking attendance

Global trade body The Air Charter Association (The ACA) celebrated another record‑setting edition of Air Charter Expo (ACE’26) on Tuesday, 8 September 2026, delivered in partnership with Busines...

F1 Spanish Grand Prix Week | EHang showcases EH216-S and a 3,000-drone light show at the FIA Sustainable Innovation Series

EHang announced its extensive involvement in the FIA Sustainable Innovation Series held in Madrid during the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix week. Organized by the Fédération Internationale...

Is Australia’s regional turboprop fleet aging well? Why OEM support matters more than build year

Regional turboprop fleets show stark disparities in age, reliability, and economic viability. Many aircraft are approaching end‑of‑life, while others are increasingly difficult to operate as spare‑par...

BGS begins fueling cooperation with Airest at Kaunas and Riga airports

Baltic Ground Services (BGS), a global provider of ground handling and aircraft fueling services, has initiated cooperation with Airest, taking over into‑plane fueling operations at Kaunas (KUN) and R...

Vista House makes exclusive Asia debut amid Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix excitement

Vista is set to debut its signature hospitality concept, Vista House, in Singapore, elevating one of Asia’s most anticipated sporting weekends with a refined, members‑only experience. Conceived...

FlyBy Aviation Academy opens new pilot course (batch 26500) with 44 cadets from 14 nationalities

FlyBy Aviation Academy, one of the largest and most international EASA-approved pilot training organisations in Europe, is pleased to announce the start of a new pilot training course — internal...

Qantas charters NFL teams to Melbourne ahead of historic first game

The Los Angeles Rams have touched down in Melbourne on a Qantas charter flight ahead of Friday's NFL game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the first regular season game the league has played in Au...

AIRCAIRO places order for 15 Airbus A320neo aircraft

AIRCAIRO, Egypt’s National growing Air-carrier, has signed a firm order for 15 Airbus A320neo aircraft at the El Alamein International Airshow 2026. The agreement marks an important mi...

Daher Aircraft is ranked No. 1 in Pro Pilot magazine’s Product Support Survey for the sixth consecutive year

Daher Aircraft has reaffirmed its leadership in turboprop aviation, securing the No. 1 position for the sixth consecutive year in Professional Pilot magazine’s Product Support Survey. In the 202...