The first air carrier certificate for a commercial drone delivery service in the US has been awarded by the FAA to Wing, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet.
Nevada-based LCC Allegiant Air has filed an application with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to offer non-stop scheduled flights between the US and Mexico, which would be its first scheduled international service.
Philippines’ Clark International Airport has closed temporarily following a strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the main island of Luzon the night of April 22.
After a four-month suspension because of a dispute between Malaysia and Singapore, Malaysia LCC Firefly has resumed scheduled service between the two countries, with the first flight landing at Singapore’s Seletar Airport on April 21.
Emirates Airline and Indian LCC SpiceJet signed an MOU April 22 for a reciprocal codeshare agreement aimed at opening new routes and destinations between India and Africa, Europe, North America and the Middle East.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) appears to have changed its policy on how Chinese airlines will be split between Beijing airports after the new Daxing International opens, allowing China Eastern Airlines to maintain Beijing-Shanghai flights from Beijing Capital International.
Chinese LCC Spring Airlines overcame higher fuel costs and a weakened currency to post a 2018 net profit of CNY1.5 billion ($218.1 million), up 19.1% from CNY1.26 billion in 2017.
American Airlines has invested more than $25 billion in its fleet, operation and staff over the last five years and has completed the bulk of integrating US Airways into its operation.
Integration of the former Bombardier CSeries program into Airbus is progressing well, the head of Airbus in Canada said. “We will deliver more aircraft in the second half of the year than we did in the first half as we continue to ramp up,” said Philippe Balducci, CEO of the Airbus-led partnership that now builds the narrowbody airliner as the A220.
Nine groups representing commercial and general aviation are calling on FAA not to follow through with a proposed pilot drug testing study, saying “deceptively and unknowingly” testing thousands of pilot urine samples does not comply with legal requirements and would “further erode the trust” between the pilot community and FAA aviation medical examiners (AMEs).
Representatives from nine civil aviation authorities—including the four major state-of-design agencies and China—have accepted invitations from the FAA to conduct a partial review of the Boeing 737 MAX certification, FAA announced April 19.
Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. is close to finalizing a refined design for the MRJ70, the shorter version of its MRJ regional jet, and by the end of June, two additional MRJ90 prototypes will be ready for MRJ flight testing, Mitsubishi Aircraft president Hisakazu Mizutani said.
United Airlines has done well compensating for the absence of its 14 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft by adjusting its network and maintenance schedules, but the gaps created will become harder to fill as the peak summer season approaches, the airline’s executives say.
The Russian chairperson of the Chinese-Russian commercial aircraft consortium (CRAIC) board expects the consortium to receive initial orders for its CR929 widebody airliner no earlier than 2023—a differing assessment compared to the late-2019 timing recently suggested by the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC), the Chinese partner in the program.
Responding to allegations by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines that Air Italy’s US service additions violate the US-Qatar Open Skies agreement, the Italian carrier said, “We are puzzled (but slightly flattered) that the three very largest US carriers … claim to be threatened by us.”
If the CEOs of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines get their way, US Congress will hold yet another set of hearings this year on the seemingly never-ending quarrel over the US Open Skies agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Russian state-owned Air Traffic Management Corp. (ATM Corp.) will invest RUB881.9 million ($13.8 million) to develop a new control tower at Simferopol International Airport in Crimea.
French airline Aigle Azur has launched a direct flight from Paris Orly to Kiev’s Boryspil International Airport, the capital of Ukraine, as part of an ongoing drive to expand its network.
Air Mauritius received the first of two Airbus A330-900s it has on order at Airbus’s Toulouse final assembly plant April 18; the aircraft are provided under contract with US-based Air Lease Corp. (ALC).
Boeing has taken several major steps toward completing upgraded 737 MAX maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) flight control law software in recent days, giving the company confidence that it is “making steady progress” in its bid to get the grounded MAX fleet operating again, its top executive said.
Officials from French aerospace industry association GIFAS are predicting the ongoing safety crisis around the Boeing 737 MAX will cause certification costs to increase.
