Abu Dhabi based Empire Aviation Group has joined with Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), to supply and operate Cessna 208 Grand Caravan planes between the UAE and major TDIC destinations in the emirate.
Lebanon's Daily Star reported today that Middle East Airlines (MEA) chairman Mohammad Hout has said the time is not ripe to sell the airline's shares in 2009 due to the unfavourable market conditions.
An agreement signed between the Lebanese Canadian Bank and MEA (Middle East Airlines will help MEA expand its fleet by part funding the purchase of a new Airbus 330-200 airplane. The value of the loan is believed to be $65million.
The super-heavy Antonov An-225 ``Mriya'' transport, which has been converted for use as a freighter, completed the first of 10 test flights on May 7 from an airfield near Kiev, Ukraine. It is scheduled to appear at Le Bourget next month for this year's Paris air show. Antonov paid $20 million to convert the aircraft, which was originally designed to transport the Soviet Buran space shuttle. The upgrade included the addition of modern navigation and communication avionics, a collision avoidance system and changes to reduce the aircraft's noise signature.
Rep. Bob Dornan (R-Calif.), a member of the House National Security Committee, vows to press the issue of sustainability of operations during the 104th Congress. Instead of readiness to fight, the real issue is "how long can we hang on to fight," he says.
Germany's Deutsche Aerospace Dornier subsidiary will be- gin flight tests in mid-November on an advanced low-cost laser radar system that will enable helicopter pilots to detect and avoid power lines and other hazards that cause numerous helicopter accidents. The program is being coordinated with France for application to the NH-90 helicopter program. Researchers in Switzerland are also interested in the effort. The lightweight laser radar (ladar) system also could be retrofitted into numerous other helicopters.
