FAA approval of routes and aircraft suspended because of U.S. government shut down

With President Trump’s refusal to back down over funding for his US$5.7bn U.S.-Mexico border wall resulting in a partial government shutdown, airplane manufacturers and commercial airlines are beginning to suffer from the knock-on effect of the enforced furlough being taken by FAA groups responsible for the oversight of aircraft approval and new routes. Southwest Airlines has confirmed its plans to launch its service to Hawaii are now on hold until such time as it receives the necessary authorization. According to a Gulfstream Aerospace spokesperson, certification of its new G600 corporate jet has been adversely affected along with other “facets of Read more

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Ardian in talks to acquire majority stake in Revima

Ardian, a private investment house, said that it is in exclusive talks to acquire a majority stake in Revima, a leading MRO (Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul) solutions provider for aircraft equipment, from private equity firm, Argos Wityu. Following the transaction, Olivier Legrand, President of the Group, and Argos Wityu will reinvest alongside Ardian. This transaction is subject to approval from the antitrust authorities as well as the opinion of the works council. Founded in 1952, Revima is an independent company which has become a leader in the maintenance, repair and overhaul of commercial transport aircraft equipment. The group is well-known Read more

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LHT develops first cockpit panel test robot

Robot Controlled Cockpit Electronics Testing, RoCCET ©LHT

Lufthansa Technik AG has developed the first robot for fully automated tests of cockpit controls. The test procedure is called RoCCET, which stands for Robot Controlled Cockpit Electronics Testing. In the future, RoCCET will be used to check the functionality of LED lights and switches on the basis of concrete, standardized measurement data. The robot-based procedure is currently in the integration phase. The robot has integrated sensors to measure the forces that occur when switches are activated. In addition, it is equipped with several industrial cameras with which it captures all display instruments and any outer damage. With another camera, Read more

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Magnetic MRO provides aircraft for fight against terrorism

Magnetic MRO completes teardown project for an Airbus A320 ©Magnetic MRO

Tallinn based Total Technical Care partner Magnetic MRO completed a teardown project for an Airbus A320 aircraft which will be used for fight against terrorism in Germany by special forces. Magnetic MRO obtained the aircraft after an emergency landing in Tallinn at the start of 2018. In cooperation with a Netherlands partner organization XTRAPartners the airframe found its way to the German Bundeswehr for training of its special forces.  The teardown project took place over a course of a few weeks in Tallinn Airport where the aircraft had its stabilizers and both wings removed. Aircraft was transported to Calw, near Stuttgart with Read more

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Finnair introduces CO2 offsetting and biofuel service for customers

Finnair has introduced a service, where its customers can offset the CO2 emissions of their flights by supporting a CO2 emission reduction project or reduce emissions by buying biofuel.  Push for change service is available on Finnair web pages and customers can also use Finnair Plus frequent flyer points to pay for the service.   Finnair offsets the CO2 emissions of its own personnel’s duty travel through the CO2 emission reduction project.  ”We want to offer the best solutions for responsible air travelers,” says Topi Manner, Finnair CEO. ”Aviation has several positive economic and social impacts, and it is important that we work hard to build a more responsible air travel. Many important products we use in our daily Read more

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Airflow Solutions receives EASA Part-145 approval

Airflow Solutions has received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Part-145 approval. Under the certificate the company is now fully authorized to perform repairs on all items within their Operation Specifications. Airflow Solutions provides expert level services in a wide variety of metal and composite repairs. These include bonding, solid laminate repairs, metal-to-honeycomb repairs, metal-to-metal repairs, AOG support, and painting. Founded in 2015, Airflow Solutions is one of the world’s leading providers of asset management, composite aircraft structures, composite repair and support services & solutions. As of today, Airflow Solutions, has a 35,000 ft². MRO facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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HAECO Xiamen performs cabin reconfiguration for Virgin Atlantic

HAECO Xiamen, a member of the HAECO Group, has successfully completed cabin modification work on the first of Virgin Atlantic Airways’ four Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The cabin received a complete makeover with brand new business class suites unique to the A330-200, the addition of premium economy class, re-pitched economy class seats, newly fabricated carpets, an upgraded IFE system, and modified lavatories. The successful completion of this prototype marks another achievement in HAECO Xiamen’s partnership with Virgin Atlantic, following cabin modification programmes for the airline’s Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A330-300 fleets.

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Prague Airport continues to grow

©Prague Airport

Václav Havel Airport Prague has continued to grow without interruption since 2013. In 2018, as per the latest operating results, Prague Airport handled a total of 16,797,006 passengers, which represents a 9% year-on-year growth. Routes to Great Britain were the busiest last year with the greatest number of passengers traditionally heading to London. Barcelona recorded the highest year-on-year increase in the number of handled passengers on the route. Long-haul routes also significantly enhanced their performance, with nearly quarter of a million more passengers compared to the previous year. Nearly 16.8 million passengers passed through the gates of Václav Havel Airport Read more

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Willis Lease Finance closes ten aircraft sale and leaseback with easyJet

Willis Lease Finance Corporation has closed a sale and leaseback transaction on ten Airbus A319 aircraft with easyJet. The aircraft are powered by CFM56-5B engines. The deal combines elements from across the Willis Platform, including leasing, trading, and asset management businesses, to provide a tailored solution designed to support easyJet in the fleet management of its existing aircraft as it introduces the latest generation of Airbus A320neo family aircraft.

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SWISS and Edelweiss Air sign 5-year contract with FLYdocs for ongoing aircraft data and records management

FLYdocs, the aviation data and records management solution provider, has signed a 5-year contract with Swiss airlines, SWISS and Edelweiss Air, who will use the FLYdocs® platform for the ongoing management of their maintenance and engineering records across their entire respective fleets of 90 and 15 aircraft. The FLYdocs® platform provides a centralised cloud-based digital replica of all aircraft technical records – right back to birth. That means, once uploaded into FLYdocs®, the millions of paper records, combined with electronic documents often distributed in different formats around most aviation organisations, are now instantly available in useable, industry standard formats to Read more

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