Aerospace

The Bell-Boeing team took the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor to the Dubai airshow for the first time, giving aerospace industry visitors an opportunity to see the revolutionary aircraft that is expected to be playing a role in the region. Alan Dron reports.

The Gulf is to be home for a new helicopter type following investment by the UAE's Al Ansari family. Jon Lake looks at the prospects for the future.

Kelly Green examines the reasons why uniforms are starting to reflect the talents of top designers to recapture the golden age of flying.

German and Austrian regulatory authorities have given their approval to the deal announced last month in which Etihad Airways increased its shareholding in airberlin to 29.21 per cent.

Oman Air has been announced as the Official Carrier of the month-long Muscat Festival 2012, which takes place between January 26th and February 23rd.

The MENA region has seen its fair share of new airlines starting up over the past few years and one or two collapsing, but as Kelly Green finds out, a new workshop may help old mistakes from being repeated.

In a first for the two groups, Libyan Airlines and AFI KLM E&M have signed a long-term contract covering component support (pool access and repairs) and maintenance checks for the Libyan carrier's A320 and ATR 42-500 fleets.

Low-cost carrier flydubai is going from strength to strength. Alan Peaford meets CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith to talk about the airline's innovative approach.

With the ongoing threat of submarine activities across the Gulf, GCC states are eyeing the latest militarised version of the Boeing 737. Alan Dron reports.

The fourth edition of the successful MRO Middle East is just over a week away and registraion numbers are growing.

Shares in Turkish Airlines have risen among speculation that the airline may acquire a major shareholding in the Polish national carrier LOT.

Engine maker CFM has reported a record year for 2011, logging orders for 1,500 commercial, military and spare CFM56 engines and commitments for 3,056 LEAP engines for a combined value of $51.7 billion at list price.

Fujairah International Airport has joined Brazilian manufacturer Embraer in confirming participation in the Abu Dhabi Air Expo, the general aviation show which runs from the 6th to the 8th of March 2012 at Al Bateen Executive Airport.

An IATA pilot project saw Emirates and Delta Airlines chosen to test the potential uses of more efficient flight paths – but it wasn't quite that straight forward. Jill Stockbridge reports.

As Abu Dhabi Airport Company battles to keep up with the ever-increasing numbers wanting to use the facility, Alan Peaford meets CEO James Bennett, the man behind a number of ambitious plans for the future.

Plans are under way to build and develop a cost-effective, state-of-the art passenger terminal at Saudi Arabia's Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Medina. Keith Mwanalushi talks to TAV chief executive Sani Sener about the strategy for developing Islam's second holiest gateway.

Mubadala Aerospace is developing a wide-ranging footprint in the region's MRO scene with the latest success story – Sanad Aero Solutions – demonstrating it has a big part to play. Alan Dron reports.

With the stability, security, and business development in the Kurdistan region of Iraq opening the doors to domestic and international business prosperity, it is no surprise that private aviation traffic into Iraq is growing. Kelly Green meets one of the top men making it happen - Dori Abouzeid, who used to fly Frank Sinatra.

The Dubai Airshow heralded the celebrations of the nation's 40th year. Halls, pavilions and chalets displayed the colours of the UAE national flag in celebration of the anniversary. But, running in parallel, there were also darker discussions and dire warnings surrounding the murkier aspects of business aviation.

In September Raytheon and Emirates Advanced Investments (EAI) conducted testing for their jointly developed Talon Laser Guided Rocket (LGR) system on the AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter, bringing the flight test programme to a successful close. The system is now fully qualified for the AH-64D and ready for production contracts. Claire Apthorp reports.

Though the UAE closed down its US-based F-16 training operation in October 2010, the Emiratis continue to maintain a small fleet of Block 60 F-16s in the USA for testing new systems, weapons and capabilities.

One of the success stories of last year's air operations over Libya was MBDA's Brimstone missile, especially in its dual mode form. Jon Lake looks at how the hardware performed.

Saudi Arabia has faced challenges introducing the Eurofighter Typhoon into service, not least in establishing local production – which has yet to start. But, as Jon Lake reports, despite this the Royal Saudi Air Force is pushing hard to adopt new capabilities and is believed to have been driving the pace of the development of new air-to-ground capabilities for the tranche 2 aeroplane.

In the eight months since it opened, Wallan Flying School, based at Thumamah Airport near Riyadh, has trained 40 pilots – despite not advertising at all.

Gulfstream Aerospace is showing a G450 here at the static park. The aircraft has proved a popular choice with private aviation users in the region because of its range and cabin size.