Editorial opinion – Page 16
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Opinion
OPINION: UAE fighter contest will be one to watch
A Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and a Sukhoi Su-35 shared a common runway ramp for the first time at the Dubai air show.
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Opinion
OPINION: Airbus, Emirates face off over A380 impasse
To concentrate on the Emirates A380 order saga in anticipation of writing large figures in Dubai air show headlines is to ignore the fascinating high-stakes poker game being played in the background – one involving numbers far greater than a couple of dozen aircraft and a few billions of dollars.
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Opinion
OPINION: ATR 72-600 freighter cements turboprop domination
After a heads-up from ATR of an imminent announcement regarding a new aircraft launch, the speculation was that perhaps the fabled 90-seat turboprop was about to become a reality.
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Opinion
OPINION: A380 needs more customers to match 747's longevity
When the time comes for Emirates Airline to bid adieu to the Airbus A380, let’s hope the double-decker deserves the sweet and sincere farewell that United Airlines gave the 747 for its final revenue flight on 7 November.
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Opinion
OPINION: Why embattled Airbus needs management continuity
Among the few forecasts which Airbus finance chief Harald Wilhelm didn't have to hand during the company's third-quarter briefing was whether the odds were about to shorten on his boss, Tom Enders, staying in the top job.
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Opinion
OPINION: Will Dubai air show bring surprise sales?
The Dubai air show is almost a victim of its own success: previous blockbuster orders have raised expectations that the buying spree will be repeated every two years.
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Opinion
OPINION: After first flight, Airbus must deliver on A330neo promises
Amid the celebrations about another successful Airbus first flight, there was a large, but unmentioned, elephant formating with the A330neo as it swooped over Toulouse. For despite the apparently smooth maiden sortie, the reality is that flight testing should have been nearing completion right now, rather than just beginning.
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Opinion
OPINION: Elderly 767 could offer a mid-market solution
Something seems wrong with this scenario: an aircraft introduced nearly 30 years ago in a market segment now teeming with new technology could still make a comeback with the same engines and metal wing despite a nearly four-year break in production.
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Opinion
OPINION: Is Airbus the winner in CSeries trade dispute?
Whatever Bombardier’s goal was for launching the CSeries programme nearly a decade ago, it certainly was not to shepherd both the CS100 and CS300 into service before handing them over as relatively mature products, free, to Airbus.
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Opinion
OPINION: Why new models are good for airline industry
Compiling Flight International’s annual World Airliner Directory – the first part of which appears in our 24-30 October issue – is often a repetitive task.
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Opinion
OPINION: Can business aviation break cycle of decline?
Two of aviation’s three economies are growing: military aircraft sales are slowly and steadily on the rise, while Airbus’s and Boeing’s biggest problem is ramping up output without breaking the supply chain.
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Opinion
OPINION: Is A380 fleet overtaking 747 a hollow victory?
News that the Airbus A380 fleet now exceeds that of the Boeing 747 will have been met with mixed emotions in Seattle.
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Opinion
OPINION: Light needs shining on other aspects of MH370
While walking along a street one evening, so an old story goes, a police officer noticed a man crouched under a street lamp, scrutinising the ground. When the officer asked whether the man had lost something, he replied that he was searching for his house keys.
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Opinion
OPINION: CR 929 could be an unwelcome widebody rival
It now has a name: the CR 929-600. Say what you will about modern branding strategy, that name certainly works better than the “Chinese-Russian long-range widebody aircraft”, as Comac and United Aircraft (UAC) had previously described the project.
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Opinion
OPINION: EasyJet's electric vision faces steep challenges
Los Angeles-based start-up Wright Electric has a dream that within 20 years every short-haul service in the world will be flown by battery-powered aircraft.
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Opinion
OPINION: Trade ruling poses big questions for CSeries
Despite enjoying the longest bull market run in aviation history, Bombardier’s commercial aircraft division was in a weak position when the day started on 26 September. A cash-critical production ramp-up for the CSeries was plagued by delays, while Bombardier’s sales staff still had not proved – nearly a decade after ...
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Opinion
OPINION: National interests are hard to please
National interests are not always easy to reconcile with other priorities.
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Opinion
OPINION: ATR and Bombardier should heed Embraer's turboprop warning
Bombardier could be forgiven for thinking the world is against it. With Boeing’s anti-dumping claims still ringing in its ears, there comes a strong hint from regional jet rival Embraer that it is serious about a return to the turboprop market.
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Opinion
OPINION: Boeing investment could spark UK manufacturing
Sheffield, in the north of England, has long been famous for steel making. Processes developed in the city helped revolutionise the industry around the world.
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Opinion
OPINION: A350-1000 order swaps are no reason for panic - yet
Airbus would undoubtedly have preferred that two high-profile conversions away from its newest aircraft, the A350-1000, had not emerged within a week of one another. But the big league, with its big money, has no place for those short on resilience.