Deserts could become sources of biofuel, based on research conducted by Boeing and partners in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The research has shown that saltwater-tolerant plants called halophytes, grown in coastal deserts and fed by seawater, can produce biofuel “more efficiently than other well-known feedstocks,” Boeing says.
Strong fourth-quarter and full-year financial results are a sign of things to come at Delta Air Lines, its executives believe, as key developments—including strong business traveler bookings and a favorable response to the carrier’s joint venture with Virgin Atlantic—have executives bullish on 2014.
BAE Systems won EASA certification to use a 3-D printed part on its BAe 146 regional airliner. The component—a plastic window breather-pipe used as a vent to stop cabin windows from misting—is now being produced by the company using a printing technique known as additive manufacturing.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) says its preliminary data shows that 2013 was the “safest year ever recorded” for fatalities on scheduled international passenger and cargo air transport operations for turbojets and turboprops weighing more than 12,500 lb.
Several regional airlines have contacted Etihad Airways to see if they can conclude a deal similar to that made by Lugano-based Darwin Airlines and start operating as Etihad Regional affiliates, Etihad’s president and CEO James Hogan says.
Etihad Airways is expected to announce a new U.S. codeshare agreement this week, marking its third North American partnership after Air Canada and American Airlines. “We will make an announcement in America, with a U.S. airline,” Etihad President James Hogan told Aviation Week affiliate Air Transport World in Zurich on the sidelines of the Etihad Regional launch event. He declined to comment on the identity of the new partner, adding only that the deal would be revealed during this week.
Moody’s cites risk in a planned loan that Atlantic Aviation is seeking for its $195 million acquisition of Galaxy Aviation, but says an improving operating environment this year should help offset that risk. Atlantic Aviation announced late last year that it had reached a deal to acquired five fixed-base operations from Galaxy Aviation for $195 million. The acquisition will provide Atlantic Aviation with a foothold in Florida, with four of the five Galaxy FBOs in the state. The fifth is located near Steamboat Springs, Colo.
In this era of ostensible federal austerity, flat budget lines or those that are congressionally increased are the new “up.” In that sense, most federal aerospace, civil aviation and defense programs were seeing blue skies for now as the fiscal 2014 omnibus appropriations bill moved through the Capitol last week.
Airbus hopes to wrap up a new contract with its Chinese final assembly line (FAL) partners this year, potentially extending its remit to A320neos, and is progressing towards the operational opening of its new U.S. facility in Mobile, Ala. The Airbus A320 FAL in Tianjin, China, is a joint venture with a Chinese consortium, including Tianjin Free Trade Zone (TJFTZ) and China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC). It began line operations in September 2008 and delivered its first aircraft in June 2009, becoming the airframer’s first FAL outside Europe.
NASA expects almost $800 million over post-sequestration 2013 funding levels under the 2014 omnibus, allowing the agency to maintain its ongoing space and aeronautics activities without an apparent need for major changes. One question remains: whether $696 million for the Commercial Crew Program is enough for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) beginning in 2017 as planned. NASA managers have said they need the full 2014 request, $821 million, to stay on schedule.
A project to provide a remote U.K. territory with an airport is entering its most critical year. Work to build an airport for the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic hit the halfway mark in November, with contractors making significant progress on the Dry Gut program to fill a valley with rubble to support the construction of the airport’s 1,550-meter (5,085-ft.) runway.
A European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) order to inspect Airbus A380 belly fairings could disrupt maintenance schedules for about 110 aircraft because of its tight compliance window. The airworthiness directive (AD), issued January 17, mandates checks along the belly fairing leading edge for fatigue cracks and, if necessary, repairs.
The U.K. Airports Commission is calling for more detailed proposals on the four options selected as potential solutions to increase airport capacity to serve London. The commission is also asking for the promoters of an airport in the Inner Thames Estuary on the Isle of Grain to provide more information, so that all the capacity growth options can be examined with the same set of specific data.
FAA is asking a U.S. district court to dismiss a lawsuit by the city of Santa Monica, Calif., seeking control over Santa Monica Airport, saying the case is invalid because it exceeds a statute of limitations. The agency further argues that the city is bound by a post-World War II agreement (a 1948 Instrument of Transfer) that requires the continued operation of SMO as an airport, and that the city agreed with that assessment long ago in its own legal findings.
Airbus has completed modification work on fewer than one-quarter of the in-service A380 fleet, fixes that are required to strengthen wing rib-feet and ribs. Moving all 122 aircraft through the retrofit program will likely take until the end of 2015.
A new controversy has surfaced over the transatlantic skies, and it is not about Europe wanting to change ownership and control rules of U.S. airlines or British Airways-parent International Airlines Group plotting a takeover bid for American Airlines. The hullabaloo is about the plans of Oslo-based low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle to operate transatlantic services via a separate company to be known as Norwegian Air International (NAI) using an Irish air operator's certificate (AOC) and several Boeing 787s leased and registered in Ireland.
