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US president signs FAA reauthorization bill into law
US President Donald Trump on Oct. 5 signed a bill into law to reauthorize the FAA until 2023, marking the first long-term reauthorization for the agency since late 2015 and its longest since 1982.
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Airbus names Faury as next chief executive
Airbus directors have named Guillaume Faury as successor to Tom Enders as chief executive. Faury currently serves as president of Airbus Commercial Aircraft. He will succeed Enders, who will remain chief executive until the company's next AGM on 10 April 2019. At that point Faury's appointment as executive member of the board will be submitted to shareholders.
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ANALYSIS: Booming US economy lifts business jet market
The business aviation community will converge on Orlando, Florida, from 15 to 17 October for the industry’s largest annual showcase, the NBAA Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (BACE). That this year’s venue is in the “Sunshine State” reflects the upbeat mood of a market that is finally daring to believe that a turnaround is finally underway – a decade after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and global financial crisis brought the industry to its knees.
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Conversions trim A319neo backlog
Airbus has trimmed the backlog for the A319neo after a customer converted orders for three jets to the larger A320neo. The original order, ascribed to an unidentified customer, was placed in December 2013.
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Analysts test cabin materials for shrunk Superjet 75
Analysts are conducting acoustic and vibration tests of panels as part of the initial development effort for the shrunk version of the Sukhoi Superjet 100. Sukhoi disclosed earlier this year that it was working to create a shorter variant of the Superjet, with just 75 seats.
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A380 crews told to perform additional fuel-quantity check
Airbus A380 operators are being instructed to introduce an additional fuel-quantity check after a discrepancy observed during pre-departure preparations. The fuel quantity indicated by on-board instruments had differed from the expected figure, calculated by combining the initial fuel with the uplifted fuel.
LinkAirlines
United to target business travelers at Denver airport
Chicago-based United Airlines will adjust its flight banks at Denver International Airport (DEN) early next year, creating a larger first bank that targets business travelers. The new schedule, loaded in early October and effective Feb. 14, results in United’s daily DEN schedule being spread over nine departure banks, down from 10.
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Frustrated Al Baker threatens Qatar Oneworld withdrawal
Qatar Airways will pull out of the Oneworld alliance if certain partner airlines continue with unfounded accusations and blocking tactics, warns group chief executive Akbar Al Baker.
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PICTURE: Air Tahiti Nui receives first Boeing 787-9
Air Tahiti Nui has received the first of four Boeing 787-9s it has on order, which will replace its ageing Airbus A340-300s. The first aircraft bears the registration F-OMUA (MSN 39297), and is on lease from Air Lease (ALC). Out of the four 787s the airline is planning to take, two are leased from ALC, while the other two are ordered directly with Boeing.
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Hawaiian closes GEnx purchase and services deal for 787s
Hawaiian Airlines has finalised deals with General Electric to purchase at least 20 GEnx engines to power its Boeing 787-9s, and to have GE maintain those engines. The purchase, finalised in a definitive agreement reached by the companies on 1 October, also gives Hawaiian options to purchase another 20 GEnx and "a number of spare engines", Hawaiian says in a regulatory filing.
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ANALYSIS: Spirit 'nowhere near' finished in Orlando
Spirit Airlines has big plans to bring more low fares to Orlando International airport, its latest gateway to Latin America. The Miramar, Florida-based carrier launched services to four Caribbean and Latin American points – Aguadilla, Guatemala City, Panama City and Santo Domingo – from the airport on 4 October, and will add six more – Cartagena, Medellín, St Thomas, San José (Costa Rica), San Pedro Sula and San Salvador – by November in its latest Latin thrust.
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PICTURES: First Delta A220-100 conducts maiden flight
The first Airbus A220-100 bound for Delta Air Lines has conducted its maiden flight from Mirabel Airport in Quebec. Crewed by programme test pilots, the 6 October flight lasted two hours and 53 minutes, says Airbus in a statement.
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PICTURES: Scoot receives first A320neo
Scoot has taken delivery of its first Airbus A320neo out of the 39 jets it has on firm order with the manufacturer. The low-cost arm of Singapore Airlines says the first A320neo bears the registration 9V-TNA (MSN 8441), and marks the start of the carrier's narrowbody fleet renewal plan.
LinkAirports
Average security processing time reduced at Belfast City Airport
A new security search system is part of a £15 million infrastructure investment which includes a major upgrade and redevelopment of the departure lounge.
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Helsinki Airport to get Plaza Premium Lounge in early 2019
Helsinki Airport is to open a Plaza Premium Lounge in the non-Schengen area of Terminal 2 in February 2019. The new lounge operator was selected through a public tendering process.
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People Pleaser
Gensler’s Keith Thompson and Terence Young and Heerim’s Byungkoo Lee tell us more about the concepts behind the design of Incheon International Airport’s impressive new Terminal 2.
LinkMilitary
Boeing frets about unit cost outlook for Chinook upgrade
Boeing is concerned that US Army modernization efforts may shift funds away from the CH-47 Block II upgrade programme, costing it business and driving up the aircraft's unit costs.
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Despite delays, SB-1 Defiant on track for 2018 first flight
The Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant compound helicopter is still on track for its first flight before the end of 2018, despite difficulties setting up automated fiber placement tooling to manufacture the aircraft’s composite rotor blades.
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Textron demos thrust-vectoring tech for possible RQ-7 Shadow replacement
Textron Systems continues to develop its thrust-vectoring X5-55 unmanned air vehicle (UAV), adding propulsion pod enclosures and a landing platform, as well as improving its flight control software, with an aim of demonstrating technology that could be used on a replacement aircraft for the US Army’s RQ-7 Shadow.
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OPINION: Can Boeing use T-X win to revive fighter prospects?
It may seem premature, given that the champagne corks have only just finished popping in St Louis, Missouri – home to Boeing’s fighter business – on the back of its win in the US Air Force’s T-X trainer contest, but thoughts must surely be turning to what comes next.
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Aviation Quote
Too late. No time, no.
- Captain Christian Marty, Air France 4590 Concorde, last recorded words. ATC had just warned, "Concorde zero ... 4590, You have flames. You have flames behind you." 25 July 2000.
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