Emirates Airline is to be the launch customer of a new bit of kit from Honeywell. The Dubai carrier has committed to installing SmartLanding for the majority of its fleet.

Martin Johnson looks at how industry cooperation in Qatar could change the face of avoiding fuel.

In recent years, environmental issues have become a stick with which pressure groups beat the airline industry. In particular, green campaigners castigate carriers for their contribution to global warming, which they say will only worsen as aviation grows, Alan Dron reports.

EgyptAir has selected Rockwell Collins avionics for five A330 aircraft with an option for three additional aircraft. Deliveries are scheduled from August 2010 through 2012.

The Engine Alliance's GP7200 engine has marked a successful first year in service with Emirates. Since entering service in August 2008, the GP7200-powered Airbus A380 has had no in-flight shutdowns, and the engine has demonstrated a departure reliability rate greater than 99.9%.

Qatar Airways has been elected as a member of the International Air Transport Association's Environment Committee (ENCOM), one of IATA's six groups focusing on different industry-related issues.

Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments and Virgin Group announced today that they have agreed to enter a strategic partnership, which will see Aabar take an equity stake in the world's first commercial spaceline - Virgin Galactic. To date, Virgin Galactic has been wholly owned and funded by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group.

SITA, an aviation IT company, said the Arab Air Carriers Organisation is endorsing its newly-developed software that accurately measures carbon emissions from aircraft operations, reported the Khaleej Times.