All articles by David Kaminski-Morrow
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NewsAir China becomes latest carrier to reveal A320neo top-up agreement
Air China has become the latest Chinese operator to disclose a purchase agreement for additional Airbus aircraft, with a deal for 60 A320neo-family jets. The flag-carrier states that it entered the agreement on 30 December. Air China will start receiving the aircraft in 2028 and the deliveries are scheduled to ...
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NewsChinese lessor CALC firms order for 30 more A320neo-family jets
Chinese aircraft leasing firm CALC has ordered 30 additional Airbus A320neo-family jets, taking its overall commitment to the type to more than 200. CALC says the aircraft will be delivered in batches up to 2033, and that its agreement includes conversion options between A320neo variants. It states that the additional ...
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NewsIraqi start-up Basra Airlines secures air operator’s certificate
Iraqi start-up carrier Basra Airlines has been granted an air operator’s certificate by the country’s civil aviation regulator. Basra Airlines says the approval by the Iraqi civil aviation authority means it becomes a “fully authorised and certified” operator. “This achievement marks the culmination of years of continuous effort and dedicated ...
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NewsChinese airlines Spring and Juneyao disclose A320neo purchase agreements
Chinese carriers Spring Airlines and Juneyao Air have each disclosed agreements to purchase Airbus A320neo-family aircraft. Both operators are based in Shanghai. Spring Airlines states that it signed an agreement to acquire 30 aircraft, deliveries of which will take place over the course of 2028-32, subject to approval. Juneyao says ...
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NewsApproval of substituted Tu-214 clears path to serial production
Russia’s United Aircraft has secured regulatory approval of its modified Tupolev Tu-214, enabling the ramp-up of production for the revived twinjet. The company plans to build up to 20 Tu-214s per year by the end of 2027. Federal air transport regulator Rosaviatsia has issued a certificate of approval for “major ...
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NewsKazakh wealth fund discloses sale price of controlling stake in Qazaq Air
Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, Samruk-Kazyna, has disclosed that it sold a majority share in regional operator Qazaq Air for 1.02 billion tenge ($2 million). The fund revealed the figure in financial results for the third quarter ending 30 September. Samruk-Kazyna states that it completed the sale of a 49% share ...
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NewsUZGA conducts maiden flight of LMS-901 with domestic VK-800 engine
Russian airframer UZGA has carried out the maiden flight of an LMS-901 Baikal aircraft fitted with its VK-800 engine. The single-engined Baikal is a new nine-seat utility aircraft design which was originally powered by the GE Aerospace H80. But UZGA has been testing the domestically-built VK-800 as a substitute, mounting ...
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NewsEVA Air board approves 787-9 purchase plus 777-300ER leases and upgrades
Taiwanese carrier EVA Air’s board has approved the purchase of four Boeing 787-9s, as well as measures relating to its Boeing 777-300ER fleet. The board approved the 787 transaction on 26 December, valuing the agreement at up to $1.94 billion. EVA Air’s brief statement to the Taiwan stock exchange confirming ...
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NewsAzerbaijan E190 crash probe still hazy over precise origin of missile damage
Kazakh investigators are still analysing the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash at Aktau a year ago, stating that the exact origin of suspected missile fragments has not been determined. The aircraft aborted an attempt to land at Grozny on 25 December last year, but was crippled by two explosions and ...
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NewsFlight recorders found after Libyan army chief’s Falcon 50 crashes in Turkey
Recovery personnel have retrieved flight recorders from a Dassault Falcon 50 executive jet which crashed some 40min after departing Ankara on 23 December. The Maltese-registered aircraft was transporting figures including Libyan army chief of staff general Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad. Turkish interior minister Ali Yerlikaya states that the aircraft departed ...
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NewsHawker 900XP spun and crashed during stall test after ice contaminated wings
US investigators believe the pilots of a Hawker 900XP were insufficiently prepared for a post-maintenance stall test, during which the aircraft encountered icing and entered a fatal spin.
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NewsCoulson unveils plans to develop firefighting tanker based on 767
Aerial services specialist Coulson Aviation is embarking on development of a firefighting aircraft based on the Boeing 767. The company’s US division states that the retirement of older widebody models threatens a reduction in firefighting capacity. This has been underlined by the grounding of Boeing MD-11 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10s ...
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NewsArif Habib consortium emerges as successful bidder in long-running PIA privatisation
Diverse Pakistani investment firm Arif Habib Group has emerged as the successful bidder for flag-carrier Pakistan International Airlines. Its bid of Rs135 billion ($480 million) for a 75% share of the carrier follows a drawn-out privatisation programme. Pakistan’s ministry of privatisation confirms Arif Habib and its partners – which were ...
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NewsRyanair vows to appeal Italian regulator’s $300m fine over travel agency ‘obstruction’
Budget carrier Ryanair has vowed to appeal after Italian competition regulators imposed a fine of €256 million ($302 million) on the airline, accusing it of exploiting a dominant market position. The regulator, AGCM, states that the carrier implemented an “abusive strategy” to hamper travel agencies relying on Ryanair flights. It ...
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NewsCivil aviation design needed rethink from Soviet-era military influence: Putin
Russian president Vladimir Putin says building a modern civil aircraft industry has required a strategic rethink from the Soviet era, when civil aircraft design was largely influenced by military considerations. Speaking during a year-end review on 19 December, in response to questions over the future of the 50-year old Aviastar ...
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NewsInvestigators strive to understand crashed Citation’s low approach to Statesville
US investigators are still trying to understand why a Cessna 550 Citation II was flying at a low height as it attempted to return to Statesville regional airport, before the jet collided with lighting and trees. It had departed the airport about 10min beforehand and the inquiry has yet to ...
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NewsMunicipal government entity to take 20% of Shenzhen Airlines under equity financing plan
China’s Shenzhen Airlines is to receive an initial capital injection for a proposed equity financing, following the selection of a candidate investor identified as Shenzhen Kunhang Investment Partnership. Kunhang Investment is a Chinese enterprise controlled by the state-owned assets supervision commission of the Shenzhen municipal government. Air China already holds ...
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NewsA319 aborted low approach to Paris Orly after ILS signal ‘not switched on’: inquiry
French investigators have indicated that an absent ILS signal for a Paris Orly runway preceded a Volotea Airbus A319’s aborting its approach after triggering a low-altitude warning. The aircraft had been operating a domestic service from Rodez to Orly on 4 December. Provisional findings from investigation authority BEA state that, ...
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NewsLufthansa Group to upgrade A320-family jets with 4D trajectory-based navigation capability
Lufthansa Group is committing to upgrading over 130 Airbus A320-family jets with the advanced navigation system already being delivered on new-build A320neos in its fleet. The company opted last year to take the FANS-C technology on new aircraft, which is intended to support trajectory-based operations through a version of ADS-C ...
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NewsSJ-100’s PD-8 engine passes blade-out containment tests
Blade-failure tests have been carried out on the Aviadvigatel PD-8 engine for Russia’s import-substituted Yakovlev SJ-100. United Engine says the PD-8 passed the test “successfully” on a rig at its Saturn facility in Rybinsk. This brings the engine for the twinjet closer to certification, it adds. The test involves fitting ...