Category: Top Stories

London Heliport Sees 5% Increase in Activity in 2017

©The London Heliport

In a news update from London Heliport, 2017 saw the facility handle 11,900 total movements, an increase of 5% on 2016 figures. With Halo and Starspeed now making the Leonardo AW169 available for charter, the heliport has seen a shift towards large twin-engine executive helicopter movements. The heliport is currently undergoing a major communications network upgrade to include a new transmitter and receivers to meet the new 8.33mHz spacing regulations for VHF Ground-Air communications, as well as new voice-switch and recording equipment. A partnership agreement has recently been ratified with the Meteorological Office to upgrade available sensor equipment which will Read more

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One Passenger Dies as Southwest Airlines Jet Engine Explodes in Mid Air

©dallasnews.com

One passenger has died, and seven passengers have been injured as a result of an engine explosion on a Southwest Airlines jet bound from New York to Dallas. The plane, Flight 1380 was a Boeing 737-700 with 149 passengers and crew on board. The plane made a successful emergency landing at Philadelphia just before noon, local time. The engine in question was a CFM56 which is widely used on passenger jets, with over 29,000 engines delivered to over 500 operators worldwide, powering 13,400 single-aisle commercial jetliners. It is understood that when the engine exploded, debris shattered one of the planes Read more

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Rolls-Royce ramps up more rigorous Trent 1000 engine inspections

Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine, © Rolls-Royce

What began as a problem with the Trent 1000 Package C compressor and subsequent problems with turbine blades wearing out sooner than expected, has now seen Rolls-Royce ramp up the number of more rigorous inspections of the engine after liaising with authorities over a separate issue. The engines have needed unscheduled maintenance due to parts wearing out more quickly than anticipated, and last month Rolls-Royce said it would take a hit of around £340m to cover the cost of repairs on existing engines. Boeing has indicated that approximately 25% of their Dreamliners are powered by the Trent 1000 engine Rolls-Royce Read more

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Boeing partners with Hindustan Aeronautics to bid for Indian Fighter Jet contract

Super Hornet taxis to runway, Photo: ©Boeing

The Indian government has been looking for a new source for up to 400 jets for the Indian Air Force after the cancelation of the 126-plane Dassault deal in 2015. While Lockheed has partnered with salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group to bid for the current 110 fighter jet contract with the F-16, and Saab teaming up with Gautem Adani, the Indian billionaire, to bid with its Gripen jet, Boeing has joined the race after teaming up with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. to offer its F/A Super Hornet. The deal is expected to be worth a figure in excess of US$15 billion. As Read more

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Jet Aviation agrees to acquire Hawker Pacific in US$250m deal

Jet Aviation acquires Hawker Pacific, Photo: Jet Aviation

It has been announced that Jet Aviation has signed a binding agreement to acquire Hawker Pacific for US$250 million. Commenting on the deal, Rob Smith, president of Jet Aviation commented: “The acquisition of Hawker Pacific represents a significant step in expanding our footprint, capability and customer offer across Asia Pacific and the Middle East. “Hawker Pacific has a wide range of services including Civil MRO, Fleet Services, FBO Network and Aircraft Sales,enabling Jet Aviation to further expand its current portfolio, enter new markets, and reinforce the company’s position as one of the world’s leading business aviation service providers.” Alan Smith, Read more

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Woodward buys L’Orange from Rolls-Royce in £610m deal

©Rolls-Royce

In a move to further shore up its balance sheet, Rolls-Royce has agreed to sell its subsidiary fuel injection technology firm, L’Orange, to Colorado-based Woodward in a £610m (US$860m) deal. The transaction should be completed by the end of September this year. According to Rolls-Royce, the sale of L’Orange will “improve resilience” of the balance sheet, with the extra capital being used “to pursue opportunities that will drive greater returns”. With a workforce of over 1,000 employees, L’Orange is responsible for manufacturing fuel injection products in areas including marine power and propulsion systems. Last year the operation achieved sales in Read more

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Boeing, American Airlines sign new Dreamliner order for 47 787s

American Airlines will more than double its 787 Dreamliner fleet with a new order for 47 aircraft, Photo: Boeing

American Airlines will more than double its 787 Dreamliner fleet with a new order for 47 of the super-efficient airplane plus 28 options. This new order of 47 787s makes American Airlines the largest 787 customer in the Western Hemisphere. American originally ordered 42 787 Dreamliners and has been using the airplanes to open new routes around the world, including Asia Pacific and Europe, and boost its network efficiency. While American still has more airplanes on the way from its initial order, the airline is buying the additional Dreamliners – 22 787-8s and 25 787-9s – to further modernize and Read more

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U.S.-China Trade War May See China Eastern Change Routes and Aircraft

China Eastern Airlines, Photo: AirTeamImages

As U.S. president Donald Trump ramps up pressure levels on a looming trade war with China, China Eastern has made it clear that if events affect passenger and cargo volumes, it is not afraid to alter routes and also the type of passenger jet it is prepared to purchase. DBS analyst Paul Yong stated that: “If the trade war escalates and is widened, we should expect that international travel, especially between China and the US, will be affected.” China Eastern China’s second-largest carrier by passenger volume, has just released 2017 financial year figures revealing its best profit in 20 years Read more

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GKN loses out to Melrose in hostile takeover

Photo: GKN-Aerospace

Despite only 52.4 percent of shareholders agreeing to the takeover, Melrose Industries has made a successful bid of £8 billion (US$11 billion) to take over the British engineer GKN after a bitter three-month-long battle. This has been seen as the largest successful hostile bid since Kraft took over Cadbury in 2009. Melrose is a UK-based turnaround specialist and the greatest fears have been that if successful, Melrose would divide up the company and sell off individual elements. Among other things, the GKN makes doors for Volkswagen and components for aircraft including the Eurofighter Typhoon. Melrose’s motto is “Buy, improve, sell”. Read more

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Component Control releases Quantum MobileTech™ v2.1

Component Control has released Quantum MobileTech™ v2.1 which will extend the Mobile Solution Suite of the award winning Quantum Control family of aviation software solutions for MRO’s, Distributors and Logistics Management Companies. The new release of MobileTech adds upgraded features to the core functionality of Labor Recording, Reserving Inventory and Managing Work Order Tasks by adding Electronic Signoff and the Mobile Management of Non-routine Tasks, Work Instructions, BoM’s, Notes, and Statuses’. “The real-time data provides us with accurate forecasting as to labor cost and enables us to better queue our work groups so that we know precisely when material will Read more

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