NewsCommercial
Almost 18,000 FAA workers furloughed in US government shutdown
Roughly 18,000 FAA employees have been furloughed as part of the partial US federal government shutdown that began Dec. 22, affecting non-essential personnel in posts ranging from airman certificate issuance to aviation rulemaking.
The partial federal government shutdown is the third in 2018 and stems from an impasse over funding for a security wall on the US-Mexican border that President Donald Trump made a campaign issue.
Link
Brazil court revokes injunction against Embraer-Boeing deal
A Brazil appeals court judge has struck down a second injunction issued last week against the proposed commercial aviation joint venture between Embraer and Boeing.
The move marks another legal victory for Embraer as it seeks to get Brazilian government approval for the tie-up with Boeing, although it remains to be seen if there will be further legal challenges against the deal.
Link
PICTURES: Third assembled MC-21 moves to flight line
Irkut has transferred a third MC-21 to the flight-test station after completing assembly of the twinjet at its manufacturing plant.
The Russian airframer says the transfer took place on 25 December.
Link
CALC exercises options to buy 25 more 737 Max jets
China Aircraft Leasing has exercised purchase options for 25 Boeing 737 Max jets.
It expects the additional aircraft to be delivered in stages until 2025, but did not state the variant that has been selected.
LinkAirlines
ANA releases A380 Hawaii flight schedule
All Nippon Airways (ANA) will begin its Airbus A380 flights to Honolulu May 24 with a 3X weekly service, taking them to a daily service from July 1.
The Japanese carrier announced its A380 Hawaii schedule Dec. 26. It already operates two daily flights between Tokyo Narita and Honolulu using other aircraft but will transition most of these to A380s designed specifically for the Hawaiian market.
Link
PICTURE: Severstal takes delivery of first Superjet 100
Russian operator Severstal Aircompany has taken delivery of its first Sukhoi Superjet 100.
The airline is leasing the twinjet from state transport lessor GTLK.
Sukhoi’s civil aircraft division identifies the initial aircraft as RA-89117. Flight Fleets Analyzer indicates that this jet was originally ordered by lessor Ilyushin Finance.
Link
China Southern and Finnair aim to codeshare from April
China Southern Airlines and Finnair have signed a memorandum of understanding to start codesharing from next April, after securing the necessary regulatory approvals.
Under the deal, China Southern will codeshare on Finnair’s flights from Helsinki to 15 European points including Copenhagen and Stockholm. Finnair will meanwhile place its code on China Southern’s services from Guangzhou to eight Chinese cities including Chongqing and Nanjing, as well as eight Australian and New Zealand points.
LinkAirports
Dostoevsky's name written into Russian airport history
St Petersburg Pulkovo airport is to receive the name of writer Fyodor Dostoevsky while Moscow’s Vnukovo is to be named after legendary Soviet aircraft designer Andrei Tupolev.
The hubs were among nearly 50 airports formally granted names under a national Russian scheme, but whose initial favoured choices were rejected because they had already been assigned to other airports.
LinkMilitary
Surion resumes flight as KAI eyes KAH development
The South Korean Army has lifted the grounding of the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KAH-1 Surion helicopter that followed the fatal crash of a variant operated by the marines in July.
According to a report by official news agency Yonhap, the type re-commenced operations on 24 December.
Link
Boeing, Sikorsky Debut New Army Helicopter
Sikorsky and Boeing offered the first look at their new military utility helicopter this week. According to Boeing, the SB>1 Defiant was designed to “fly at twice the speed and range of today’s conventional helicopters” as well as offering “advanced agility and maneuverability.” The Defiant was developed for the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator program, where it will be competing with Bell’s V-280 Valor tilt-rotor.
Link
Aviation Quote
Air power is indivisible. If you split it up into compartments, you merely pull it to pieces and destroy its greatest asset - its flexibility.
- Field Marshall Bernard Mongomery
Daily Video
Editor's Choice
Trivia
Google Airports
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
