All air transport news – Page 9
-
NewsRolls-Royce revs up UltraFan test plan, including narrowbody-sized engine
Rolls-Royce intends by 2028 to be running two versions of its UltraFan demonstrator engine – one for widebodies and the other for single-aisles – with flight tests to follow by the end of the decade.
-
NewsRyanair bolsters Leap spare-engine pool for 737 Max fleet
Budget carrier Ryanair is aiming to reinforce its operational resilience with the acquisition of a large batch of spare engines for its Boeing 737 Max fleet. The airline has agreed to purchase 30 new CFM International Leap-1B powerplants. Ryanair says the engines – which it values at $500 million at ...
-
NewsReaction Engines’ administrators line up sale of hypersonic technology
Pioneering propulsion technologies developed by failed UK firm Reaction Engines could live on, with the sale of its assets to a preferred bidder now seemingly in its final stages, the insolvency specialists handling the company’s winding-up have disclosed.
-
NewsGE nears completion of more GE9X dust-ingestion tests amid broader industry durability push
GE Aerospace expects it will soon complete a second round of GE9X dust-ingestion tests, insisting the efforts will help ensure the massive powerplant does not suffer the dust-related durability issues that have affected earlier engine models.
-
NewsNew fuel-saving ‘EP’ variant of Trent XWB-84 engine enters service as improvement plan gathers pace
Delta Air Lines has become the first carrier to take delivery of an Airbus A350-900 powered by the new EP variant of the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 engine.
-
NewsEU shelves Iraqi air safety assessment visit until more progress made
European air safety assessors have shelved a potential on-site inspection of Iraq’s civil aviation regulator, citing insufficient demonstrative progress on improvements. Flag-carrier Iraqi Airways and another airline, Fly Baghdad, each remain blacklisted by the European Commission. The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority presented updates on its efforts to enhance legislative and ...
-
NewsP&W reaches new GTF compensation deal with Spirit Airlines
Pratt & Whitney has reached another agreement to provide financially struggling US discount carrier Spirit Airlines with additional compensation for jets grounded due to problems with PW1100G geared turbofans (GTFs).
-
In depthWhy airframers have throttled back from hydrogen propulsion
The collapse of Universal Hydrogen – and Airbus pushing back work on its ZEROe concept – have seen hydrogen’s potential as a fuel source move to the fringes of aviation’s 2050 net-zero target.
-
NewsAirbus chief supports counter-tariffs on Boeing but not US aerospace subsystems
Airbus is seeking to reduce its potential exposure to US tariffs on aircraft, but chief executive Guillaume Faury is opposed to a sweeping European Union retaliation. While Faury supports the EU’s considering tariffs on US aircraft imports, he believes extending them to components and subsystems would be counterproductive. “We are ...
-
NewsBelarusian carrier Belavia confirms introduction of A330s for long-haul operations
Belarusian carrier Belavia is stepping up to regular widebody operations with the introduction of three Airbus A330s, obtained despite international sanctions on the airline. Belavia states that it has entered a “new era” with a “completely new type of aircraft” with the A330-200s. It states that this will give it ...
-
NewsFinnair reaches tentative labour agreement with pilots after 10 months of talks
Finnair appears to have reached a breakthrough in its drawn-out negotiations with cockpit crew representatives. The collective labour discussions have been taking place since August last year. Finnair chief people officer Kaisa Aalto-Luoto says the two sides “reached a result” on 8 June. “This agreement is a platform on which ...
-
NewsWrongly-fitted vane actuator parts found after American 737 engine fire
US investigators found a number of flaws in the right-hand engine of a Boeing 737-800 which caught fire at Denver after a diversionary landing, having exhibited vibration during flight. The fire in the CFM International CFM56 powerplant ensued after the American Airlines jet had taxied to a gate and the ...
-
NewsExecutive order instructs US FAA to repeal ‘outdated’ overland supersonic ban
President Donald Trump has ordered the US FAA to take steps to repeal a long-standing prohibition on overland supersonic flight within six months. Trump has issued the executive order to rescind “outdated and overly-restrictive regulations” – originally imposed in 1973 – banning civil flight at speeds exceeding Mach 1. It ...
-
NewsWizz negotiating for spare engines and shop visits in A321neo powerplant tender
Central European budget carrier Wizz Air is holding crucial discussions on contingency and maintenance for engines as part of a powerplant selection tender covering nearly 180 aircraft. The airline states that the negotiations – relating to additional engineering shop-visit slots and increased access to spare engines – will conclude by ...
-
NewsAll Tanzanian carriers blacklisted six months after EU ban on Air Tanzania
All airlines from Tanzania as well as Suriname have been blacklisted by the European Commission, banning them from operations within EU airspace. The Commission says the prohibition has been imposed because the civil aviation regulators in both countries are “unable to ensure compliance” with international safety standards. “This decision is ...
-
NewsBreaking barriers: engine start-up Ursa Major powers US return to hypersonic flight
One of the Colorado manufacturer’s Hadley rocket engines propelled the Stratolaunch Talon-A test vehicle to speeds beyond Mach 5 in May, the first US-made aircraft to hit that mark since the 1960s.
-
NewsAirbus delivers 51 jets in quiet May before Paris air show
Airbus delivered 51 aircraft in May, a month absent of order activity ahead of the Paris air show in June. The airframer handed over three A350-900s and three A330-900s, plus 40 A320neo-family jets and five A220s. Overall deliveries for the first five months of this year reached 243, still lagging ...
-
NewsGKN scales back hydrogen projects in reaction to Airbus ZEROe delay
GKN Aerospace has significantly scaled back its research and technology activities related to hydrogen propulsion in the wake of Airbus’s decision to delay the launch of any hydrogen-powered aircraft by at least five years. While one project related to an entire fuel cell powertrain will run its course – ending ...
-
NewsSeveral cabin crew struggled with protective equipment during Swiss A330 incident in cruise
Swiss investigators have found that cabin crew on board an Airbus A330-300 experienced considerable difficulty with using protective breathing equipment during an incident in cruise over the English Channel. The Swiss-operated jet (HB-JHL) had been flying at 34,000ft en route from Zurich to Newark on 11 July 2023. Both pilots ...
-
NewsStandardAero and Green Taxi Solutions to drive certification of electric taxi system on E175
Certification of a new retrofitable electric taxiing system capable of generating a claimed $250,000 per aircraft annual saving through lower fuel burn, is to be led by StandardAero through a partnership with developer Green Taxi Solutions.