The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Air Force has become the latest air arm to see its entire fleet of Boeing E-3 AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System) aircraft undergo Boeing’s Radar System Improvement Program (RSIP) upgrade. This follows in the footsteps of the AWACS fleets operated by the United States, NATO, the United Kingdom and… Read more »

ANA, Japan largest carrier has reached a milestone when taking delivery of its 50th Boeing 787 Dreamliner on August 17th 2016. The new aircraft was handed over by manufacturer Boeing that day at an official ceremony held at the Everett facility near Seattle, Washington state. By initiating a 50-aircraft order back in 2004, ANA become… Read more »

A Boeing 737-800 operated by United Arab Emirates low cost carrier FlyDubai crashed while attempting to land at Rostov-On-Don in southern Russia this Saturday March 19th 2016. The aircraft had departed Dubai six hours earlier with 55 passengers and 7 crews on board. Operating as Flight 981, the 737-800 first aborted its landing while 6.7… Read more »

  A very unusual aviation event took place on Wednesday January 5th 2016. A Qantas Boeing 747-400 (VH-OJH) normally powered with four Rolls Royce RB211-524 turbofans was seen flying with a 5th engine under its left wing. The event was commented by a Qantas spokesperson  via the web, indicating that due to another Qantas 747-400… Read more »

Lufthansa the launch customer for Airbus new A320NEO aircraft began operating the type this January 25th 2016 with its maiden flight on the Frankfurt – Munich route. The aircraft registered D-AINA (MSN 6801) was delivered to Lufthansa on January 20th 2016 ahead of another 70 A320NEO and 45 A321NEO ordered by the group from the… Read more »

Malaysia Airlines is ending Boeing 777 operations immediately, the Independant UK reported. The government-owned carrier has announced that the new restructuring plan being currently executed imposed to do away with the aircraft that was involved in the two MH17 and MH370 tragedies. Both incidents had involved two of the carriers 6 Boeing 777-200ER. MH370 is… Read more »

Air France has now officially turned the final page on its 45 years old history operating the Boeing 747. The farewell festivities began January 11th 2016 as the last commercial revenue flight arriving in Paris from Mexico was operated by one of the fleet’s 3 surviving 747-400. Upon its arrival at Paris Charles De Gaulle… Read more »

On October 13th 2015, Singapore Airlines has announced it was adding 4 more A350-900 to its current outstanding order of 63 with Airbus. On that occasion, the carrier detailed new plans to fly direct non-stop flights to the US once it takes delivery of 7 specially configured new Airbus A350-900. The 7 aircraft will be… Read more »

EVA Air has manifested its intention to acquire another 2 Boeing 777-300ER along with 24 Boeing 787-10. The new build aircraft package compounds a list price of $8 Billion. The October 15th 2015 statement by manufacturer Boeing Company reminded that the Taiwan-based carrier already operates 21 Boeing 777-300ER with another 15 due for delivery from… Read more »

Thai Airways International, Thailand main’s carrier has finally introduced its flagship A380 on the coveted Bangkok-London Heathrow on July 1st 2015. The move comes more than two years after the aircraft became operational in Thai service. The route had been traditionally operated by Boeing 747-400s up until the middle of 2012 when the aircraft were… Read more »

Dubai-based Emirates Airlines recently announced it is beginning daily service with its A380 between Dusseldorf and Dubai replacing Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The new destination marks the carrier’s 12th service to a European city, and its 84th globally. Dusseldorf will also be the third German city to receive the A380. Emirates which now operate 62 Airbus… Read more »

Zurich Airport and Etihad Airways officials along with the media gathered at the gate of the re-fashioned daily flight offering between Zurich and Abu Dhabi, the carrier’s home base in the United Arab Emirates. The route that has previously been served with an Airbus A330-300 is only the third, beginning July 6th 2015 where the… Read more »

An Iraqi Air Force Sukhoi Su-25 ‘frogfoot’ attack plane returning from a bombing mission against ISIS targets on Monday July 7th 2015 accidentally dropped a bomb while overflying Baghdad.  The bomb fell on inhabited properties causing the death of 12 residents among which at least three were children and two women. Another 25 people were… Read more »

The Paris air show 2015 saw EVA Airways order 5 new Boeing 777F, a $1.5 billion list price investment towards building its future cargo fleet. The move highlighted the Taiwanese carrier effort towards modernizing its cargo fleet yet consolidating most economically its entire long haul passenger and freight mission on 2 variants of a single… Read more »

Vietnam Airline has taken delivery of its first Airbus A350-900 aircraft on June 30th 2015 in Toulouse, France. This aircraft is the first of 14 A350-900 ordered from Airbus part of major plan to revamp the long haul fleet product. Qatar Airways is the only other carrier to date having received a A350XWB. The new… Read more »

The Indonesian Air Force Lockheed C-130B aircraft that crashed into a neighborhood on Tuesday June 30th 2015 and was carrying near maximum payload had been built in 1951. While no one from amongst the 122 passengers nor 12 crew members survived the air disaster, another 7 people on the ground had also reportedly been killed…. Read more »

by Karim Toure The crash of a lone F-16 flying a night training mission over the Arizona desert  Wednesday June 24th 2015 did not initially hint of a setback for a major security program between the US and Iraq. The following day, a Iraq Defence Ministry spokesperson Brigadier General Tahseen Ibrahim revealed that Iraqi Air… Read more »

The $4 billion deal between Delta Airlines and Boeing announced June 10th 2015 is contingent on the ratification of a new tentative agreement with the airline’s 12,000-strong pilot union. This investment highlights a major effort by the airline to revamp its aging narrow body fleet. This latest order for 40 737-900ER comes in addition to… Read more »

In a stunning reversal of commercial fortune, Dassault Rafale scored its third customer in as many month this year alone. The year has proven pivotal for an aircraft that had yet to find a foreign customer after more than 10 years of service in its home country. The latest order sealed May 4th during French… Read more »

Emirates has announced that it would begin deploying a new seating configuration on its flagship A380. The new aircraft cabin configuration, capable of seating 615 passengers would be the largest yet among all in-service A380s and is set to enter operation on the Dubai – Copenhagen route this coming December. To date the route had… Read more »