Etihad Aviation Training, the specialist training division of Etihad Aviation Group, has become the first aviation company in the Middle East to gain approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to train Boeing 777 and 787 pilots for European operators and carriers elsewhere which adopt Europe’s air safety standards. The approval to train pilots for these two wide-bodied Boeing aircraft types expands the global capabilities of Etihad Aviation Training, which in 2018 also became the first Middle Eastern aerospace business to gain EASA designation as an Approved Training Organisation for pilots of Airbus A320, A330 and A340 aircraft. Captain Paolo La Cava, Vice President and Managing Director of Etihad Aviation Training, said continuing growth in global demand for air travel was driving increased requirements for pilot training. “Some operators have insufficient capacity to conduct training in their own facilities while others do not have in-house capabilities,” said Captain La....
Small satellite launch services provider Rocket Lab announced recently that its Electron vehicle’s first mission of 2020 will be for the National Reconnaissance Office. Named 'Birds of a Feather' (NROL-151) the mission is scheduled to lift off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The launch window opens on Jan. 31. Rocket Lab said in this mission it will attempt a guided re-entry of Electron’s first stage. But the stage will not be recovered after splashdown. This is the NRO’s first launch awarded under a program the agency started in 2018 to use commercial providers to launch small satellites. The program is called Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR). The NRO develops and launches the United States’ intelligence satellites. The RASR program was created to take advantage of emerging services offered by commercial small launch providers as the U.S. government seeks to deploy proliferated constellations in low....
Incoming Boeing president and CEO Dave Calhoun issued the following statement regarding the announcement of a US-China trade deal. He wrote: “Boeing has a long-standing partnership with China that spans nearly 50 years. We’re proud that Boeing airplanes will continue to be a part of this valued relationship, one that has fuelled aerospace innovation and sustained manufacturing jobs. “Boeing applauds Presidents Trump and Xi as well as Vice Premier Liu, secretary Mnuchin and Ambassador Lighthizer for their leadership in building a fair and mutually-beneficial trading relationship between the United States and China.”
A Boeing Co. 737 passenger jet bound for Ukraine crashed shortly after take-off in Iran, killing everyone on board. All 167 passengers and 9 crew died after Ukraine International Flight 752 crashed at 6:18 a.m. local time in Sabashahr near Tehran, Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said on its website. The head of Tehran’s Disaster Mitigation and Management Organization, Mansour Darajati, said early assessments suggest the crash was caused by a technical issue and an emergency meeting will be held in the coming hours, state-run IRNA reported. An official at Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that a Ukraine International Airlines flight crashed and there were no survivors. Television footage showed recovery efforts at the crash site, where metal and other debris was spread over a charred field. The tragedy comes at a tense time for both Iran and Boeing. Iran has just fired more than a dozen missiles at US-Iraqi....
Istanbul's second airport has suspended flights after an incident involving a flight from Sharjah. The Pegasus plane, which left Sharjah International on Tuesday morning for Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, appeared to have slid off the runway after touching down. Images from the scene showed emergency vehicles surrounding the plane, which was apparently stranded on the grass next to the runways. All departures from the airport have been suspended, while the incident is dealt with. The DHA news agency reported passengers used emergency slides to leave the aircraft. The Istanbul governor’s office said there were no deaths or injuries and all 164 passengers left the plane safely, according to DHA. Several planned departures have been cancelled and arrivals have been diverted to other airports. The PC747 flight, a Boeing 737-800, departed Sharjah at 5.15am and arrived in Istanbul on time at 9.30am. Storms and heavy rain have affected transportation in the....
No-frills US airline JetBlue will go carbon neutral for all domestic flights starting this summer, the company announced Monday. The carrier said it will be the first major US airline to do so in a bid to reduce its contributions to global warming. The company also said it would begin using 'sustainable aviation fuel' on flights from San Francisco later this year. “We reduce where we can and offset where we can’t,” JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said in the statement. Offsets are investments in things like planting trees or renewable energy, which reduce or consume carbon and effectively cancel out other emissions elsewhere. While it is “not a silver bullet,” Hayes said that “By offsetting all of our domestic flying, we’re preparing our business for the lower-carbon economy that aviation - and all sectors - must plan for.” Commercial aviation reportedly accounts for about two percent of all carbon emissions....
The number of people killed in large commercial airplane crashes fell by more than 50% in 2019 despite a high-profile Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia in March, a Dutch consulting firm said on Wednesday. Aviation consulting firm To70 said there were 86 accidents involving large commercial planes - including eight fatal incidents - resulting in 257 fatalities last year. In 2018, there were 160 accidents, including 13 fatal ones, resulting in 534 deaths, the firm said. To70 said the fatal accident rate for large airplanes in commercial passenger air transport was just 0.18 fatal accident per million flights in 2019, or an average one fatal accident every 5.58 million flights, a significant improvement over 2018. The fatality numbers include passengers, air crew such as flight attendants and any people on the ground killed in a plane accident Large passenger airplanes in the study are aircraft used by nearly all....
Air Kiribati, the flag carrier of the Republic of Kiribati, received recently its first E190-E2 jet. Embraer announced the contract with the Government of Kiribati, in partnership with its national airline, Air Kiribati, in December 2018. The airline ordered two E190-E2s and has purchase rights for two more. “Aviation is critical for any island nation and Kiribati is no exception. Our Government has made the conscious decision to take into our hands the opportunity to unlock economic prosperity for our people and our nation through the purchase of these two aircraft,” said Hon. Willie Tokataake, Minister for Information, Communication, Transport and Tourism Development of the Kiribati Government. “The arrival of our first jet today is the culmination of three years of vision, strategic thought, government focus, research, evaluation, hard work, commitment, partnership and a good measure of problem solving.” Air Kiribati is the launch operator for the E190-E2 in Asia....
Forbes' expert aviation contributors see the change in the air in 2020. From how the 737 MAX crisis will resolve to the weighty potential impacts of a Chinese economic slowdown, here are their predictions for the coming year. Michael Boyd, head of the aviation consultancy Boyd Group International THE BOLD PREDICTION: The formerly expected boom in China-U.S. air travel is going to deflate in 2020, big time. Traffic between China and the U.S. will fall in 2019 by at least 8%, and in 2020, plan on at least another 20% — or more. The trade war is part of the reason, but in the larger picture, its effects are like putting a bad dent in a car that has just been T-boned at a railroad crossing. It’s the Chinese economy, ben dan. (That’s roughly “stupid” in Mandarin.). Banks are starting to fail. Other financial systems need government bailouts. The real-estate bubble and....
– Boeing suspends 737 MAX production starting in January due to certification moving into 2020 – Reduced production output enables prioritisation of stored aircraft delivery – No layoffs or furlough expected at this time Safely returning the 737 MAX to service is our top priority. We know that the process of approving the 737 MAX’s return to service, and of determining appropriate training requirements, must be extraordinarily thorough and robust, to ensure that our regulators, customers, and the flying public have confidence in the 737 MAX updates. As we have previously said, the FAA and global regulatory authorities determine the timeline for certification and return to service. We remain fully committed to supporting this process. It is our duty to ensure that every requirement is fulfilled, and every question from our regulators answered. Throughout the grounding of the 737 MAX, Boeing has continued to build new airplanes and there are....
Etihad Aviation Training receives approval to train Boeing pilots
Rocket Lab’s new mission scheduled to lift off soon
Boeing’s new CEO makes US-China deal announcement
167 passengers killed as Ukraine bound plane crashes after take off in Iran
#Breaking – Pegasus flight to Istanbul skids off runway, flights suspended
US airline to go carbon neutral for all its domestic flights
Commercial airplane deaths down by 50% in 2019
Air Kiribati receives its first E190-E2 jet
Aviation experts predict air travel in 2020
Boeing temporarily halts 737 MAX production
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