The first issue of this year includes our annual airline safety review, with detailed analysis and a full listing of 2025’s fatal accidents and notable other incidents.
Airbus and Boeing landed gross orders for a combined 2,175 commercial jets last year, while completing deliveries of 1,393 aircraft – we assess their performance, and detail the lifetime narrowbody sales lead now held by the A320 family.
Also this issue: the US Navy advanced work ahead of its future fielding of Collaborative Combat Aircraft; NASA prepares for its second flight with the X-59 quiet supersonic demonstrator; Vertical Aerospace unveils new-look Valo; Beta Technologies flies further; and Tekever puts the AR3 Evo through its paces.
We look ahead to the Singapore air show, with a preview piece looking at fighter contests in Southeast Asia. And our environment special report details the raft of new projects being proposed for inclusion in the next phase of the EU-led Clean Aviation effort.
Use the links below to access our latest issue’s content in web-optimised format, and subscribers can view our “page-turner” digital replica of the magazine and download a pdf version at the foot of the page. Subscribers can also access our archived issues by clicking on the filing cabinet drawer symbol next to the search icon.
Airbus and Boeing faced different – and in Spirit AeroSystems, common – challenges last year as they battled to raise rates and satisfy market demand, while Seattle also received a sales boost from the ‘Trump effect’.
The US Navy has digitally integrated autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft with Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters inside the Joint Simulation Environment, as the service begins a fleet transformation that will see uncrewed fighters operated alongside conventional aircraft.
Boeing issued a 2011 service bulletin warning MD-11 operators about potential spherical bearing assembly failures in engine pylons, the same component now at the centre of the NTSB investigation into November’s fatal UPS MD-11F crash in Louisville that killed 14 people.
NASA’s X-59 supersonic demonstrator sits partially disassembled at Armstrong Flight Research Center following its October maiden flight, with engineers removing dozens of panels to complete required inspections before resuming flight tests this spring.
As the 50-year anniversary of British Airways’ and Air France’s launch of supersonic operations passes, the air transport sector remains relegated to the subsonic realm.
If you could see past the dry ice and lasers the Valo, the aircraft Vertical Aerospace intends to bring to market, was surprisingly beautiful. The rough edges – metaphorical and literal – of the VX4 prototype have been sanded off, leaving an elegant aircraft. However, not everyone is impressed with the new design.
US developer’s chief executive Kyle Clark explains why hitting 100,000nm flown has offered critical lessons as the company pursues multiple certification milestones in 2026.
With more than 50,000h of operational experience having been accumulated by its uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) over the battleground in Ukraine, Tekever is certainly no stranger to its equipment being flown in challenging conditions.
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While the total number of deadly airliner accidents remained statistically low last year, two high-profile commercial losses in India and the USA contributed to a major spike in fatalities, which reached 420.
Regional air forces are recapitalising combat fleets as geopolitical tensions prompt governments to prioritise defence capabilities, with Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand leading procurement efforts despite funding constraints and fragmented acquisition strategies.
Up to three engine makers could share €60 million ($70.3 million) in EU funding to build ground demonstrators of hybrid-electric narrowbody powerplants under Clean Aviation’s next round of projects.
Kerstin Mumenthaler, the chief executive of Axis Aviation, is a 6,000h commercial pilot and was a risk-management consultant before taking the top job at the Swiss aircraft management and charter company.
The lighter side of Flight International.
The spoils were very much shared between the ‘big two’ airframers last year, with Boeing securing more sales but Airbus prevailing on deliveries. But 2025 was more notable for a change of leader in their decades-old narrowbody battle.
Militaries eager to introduce unmanned Collaborative Combat Aircraft will fail to gain a combat edge unless they transform their entire operating concept, argues Fahad ibne Masood.
