Russia and China have formally begun a cooperative program to develop a widebody airliner that is expected to go into service in 2023-25. The program appears not to have entered full-scale development, however, since the Russian partner, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), says the two sides will now “define the design of the aircraft’s major subsystems, the sales strategy and the most effective forms of participation from both sides.”
Airbus completed test flights of two A350 XWB aircraft on the same day, flying them side by side at one point, as the French manufacturer heads towards the entry-into-service date for launch customer Qatar Airways at the end of this year.
The NTSB wants the FAA to begin convening a panel of “independent technical experts” to advise the agency how to certify the safety of certain new technologies for new or existing aircraft.
BRUSSELS — Ryanair is short of capacity for the summer 2015 and may take additional aircraft from Boeing if they were to become available, the airline’s Deputy CEO and CFO Howard Millar says.
HOP!, the combination of Air France’s three French regional airlines Brit Air, Regional and Airlinair formed last year, will need to reach profitability before making a decision on its future fleet needs, an executive at the airline said.
Alaska Airlines, seeking to broaden its Pacific Northwest footprint, has asked the Transportation Department (DOT) for permission to operate seasonal flights between Portland, Ore., and San Jose del Cabo and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. If permission is granted, Alaska would be the first U.S. carrier to operate between Portland and the two Mexican cities. By the terms of the U.S.-Mexico bilateral agreement, each government must approve a maximum of three carriers to operate those routes.
People Express has withdrawn its application for an interstate air transportation certificate, potentially signaling an end to its two-year-long attempt to start an airline. The Transportation Department (DOT) notified People Express on May 20 that it would dismiss its application unless the company provided more information on its fitness to operate.
The Thailand army’s May 22 takeover has triggered tighter security and identity checks at airports, and carriers are bracing for longer-term challenges--such a prolonged dips in traffic--if routine travel and tourism slump. The chairman of Airports of Thailand (AOT), Sita Divari, said that “despite the coup d’etat, the operations of all AOT airports are continuing as usual.” Sita said that so far no orders on access to airports have been given, and that AOT “is not aware of such an order, if there is any.”
The NTSB is calling on the FAA to “review the methods of compliance” used to certify all permanently installed, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in the active fleet and “require additional testing” if the results indicate the design and installation do not adequately protect against cell thermal runaway.
