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 the launch customer for Boeing's new highly fuel efficient 787 type. The first aircraft delivered to the fleet; a Boeing 787-8 arrived in 2011. Subsequently the carrier has accepted another 35 Boeing 787-8 along with 14 stretched 787-9 variants. The 787-9 started being delivered from 2014. This 50th aircraft delivered is a stretched 787-9. To date the carrier has outstanding order for another 30 Boeing 787-9 plus 3 of the even larger Boeing 787-10. Curren...

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 km short of Rostov On Don Airport Runway 22, visibly due to gusts of wind approaching 67 km/hr.  At this juncture it appears that the aircraft was put on holding pattern nearby for close to two hours before pilots began to re-initiate another landing attempt. During the same time, another aircraft that had aborted two landings had already been diverted to Krasnodar. This second attempt to land failed tragically when the FlyDubai aircraft plummeted sudden

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 European plane maker. The A320NEO (New Engine Option) represents Airbus latest incarnation of the highly successful A320 family which has sold nearly 6,900 since the late 80's with 4,500 NEO destined for some 80 airlines since its plans were finalized in 2010. The aircraft characteristically differs from regular A320 aircraft due to the addition of the new blended wing extension christened "sharklet" (similar to boeing "Winglets"), as well as with their new larger ...

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 a 777-200ER that disappeared somewhere probably in the Indian Ocean on March 8th 2014 with all 239 people on board. MH17 incident involved another Boeing 777-200ER being shot down by a surface to air missile while cruising over battle- scarred Ukraine, killing all 298 on board. Despite the recovery of a small number of aircraft parts, the aircraft involved in the MH370 tragedy is missing to this day. The effort marks a dramatic new ...

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 taken from the current backlog of 63 A350-900XWB on order with Airbus, and receive special modifications to increase their endurance. Re-designated as Ultra Long Range, the new A350-900 aircraft variant will incorporate an increase Maximum Take Off Weight sufficient to accommodate the extra fuel needed for the longer cruise, along with necessary modifications to the fuel system. In addition the aircraft is set to receive aerodynamic improvements which have not yet been spec...

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 Boeing together with another 5 Boeing 777F. The introduction of the stretched 787-10 in EVA Air fleet alongside the workhorse 777-300ER will provide a more profitable -fuel efficient- alternative on marginally less dense routes.