Photo: Boeing COMMERCIAL / TECHNOLOGY Boeing last week announced orders and agreements with leading Asia-Pacific airlines for digital and supply chain solutions to enhance airline crew situational awareness and provide cost savings across fleet-wide operations. The new orders and agreements include an agreement with IndiGo to integrate Jeppesen Ops Control and Tail Assignment solutions to optimise crew schedule management and manage aircraft more efficiently. Cathay Pacific and Philippine Airlines have signed agreements for Boeing 777 Performance Improvement Package 2.0 to support their 777 ..read more

Emily Hughes, chief engineer for Boeing Phantom Works International discussing the AI project with Professor Jason Scholz, Trusted Autonomous Systems Defence Cooperative Research Centre. Photo: Boeing TECHNOLOGY Boeing is partnering with Australia’s Trusted Autonomous Systems Defence Cooperative Research Centre (DCRC) to develop advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to create smarter unmanned systems. Embedding machine learning techniques onboard will help unmanned systems better understand and react to threat environments. Dr Shane Arnott, director of Phantom Works Internationa ..read more

Photo: P Masclet/Airbus COMMERCIAL Air France has taken delivery of its first A350-900. The first jet out of a total order of 28 was handed over to Anne Rigail, Air France Chief Executive Officer and Benjamin Smith, Air France-KLM Group Chief Executive Officer, by Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer during a ceremony held in Toulouse, France. Air France will deploy the A350-900 fleet on its transatlantic and Asia routes. The aircraft features a comfortable three-class layout with 324 seats including 34 full-flat business, 24 premium economy and 266 economy class seats. the all ..read more

                  BUSINESS AVIATION The Cessna Citation Longitude business jet has received Type Certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), paving the way for customer deliveries. Ron Draper, president and CEO of Cessna parent company Textron Aviation, said: “With the broadest line-up of business aviation platforms available worldwide, Textron Aviation welcomes the Longitude into the esteemed Citation family of products and begins a new era of best-in-class solutions for our customers. The Longitude revolution starts now.” FAA Type Certification follows what the company des ..read more

Photo: CAAS TECHNOLOGY The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and Thales have announced the establishment of a S$30 million Joint Aviation Innovation Research (AIR) Lab in Singapore to drive innovation in new air traffic management (ATM) technologies. The agreement to establish the AIR Lab was signed between Kevin Shum, Director-General, CAAS and Jean Ferré, Vice-President Air Traffic Management, Thales on the sidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Innovation Fair in Montreal. The AIR Lab will focus on the development of an Open ATM System architecture mi ..read more

Photo: Elbit Systems MILITARY / TECHNOLOGY Elbit Systems announced on September 24 its wholly owned subsidiary, Elbit Systems-Cyclone Ltd has been selected by Boeing Defense, Space and Security to supply structural components for the F-15. Elbit – Cyclone will supply structural components including detachable fuel tanks, pylons, horizontal stabilisers and adapters to the F-15 aircraft. Yoram Shmuely, General Manager of Elbit Systems Aerospace Division, said: “Elbit Systems is a long-term supplier of Boeing, especially for the F-15 programme, meeting quality, delivery time and cost requiremen ..read more

Photo: DGA via Airbus MILITARY The Airbus A400M has successfully achieved its first helicopter air-to-air refuelling contacts with an H225M. Over the course of four flights, operated in day conditions over the south of France, the A400M performed 51 dry contacts marking a decisive milestone towards its full capability as a tanker. These tests were performed under the coordination of the French DGA Essais en vol flight test centre. An Airbus statement said: “The tests, involving no fuel and performed between 1,000ft and 10,000ft at flight speeds as low as 105kts, confirmed the positive result ..read more

Photo: Boeing             MILITARY / TECHNOLOGY Boeing and the US Navy have successfully completed the first test flight of the MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueller. The MQ-25 test asset, known as T1, completed the autonomous two-hour flight under the direction of Boeing test pilots operating from a ground control station at MidAmerica St Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois, where the test programme is based. The aircraft completed an autonomous taxi and take-off and then flew a pre-determined route to validate the aircraft’s basic flight functions and operations with the ground control statio ..read more

Photo: Kaman Aerospace ROTARY-WING Kaman Aerospace, a division of Kaman Corporation, announced recently that it received a new order for the K-MAX medium-to-heavy lift helicopter, bringing the total number of firm orders since the relaunch of production to 12. The recent order is from Rotex Helicopter AG of Balzers, Liechtenstein, which currently operates multiple K-MAX aircraft focused on aerial construction and logging. Delivery of this aircraft is expected in the fourth quarter of 2019. Urs Riebli, Owner of Rotex Helicopter AG, said: “Rotex Helicopter AG has been a K-MAX operator for over ..read more

Photo: Airbus COMMERCIAL Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s flag carrier, has taken delivery of its first A321LR on lease from Air Lease Corporation. The A321LR will join Air Astana’s Airbus fleet of 18 Airbus aircraft (eight A320s, four A321s, three A320neo and three A321neo). Powered by Pratt & Whitney engines, Air Astana’s A321LR comprises 166 seats in a two-class configuration (16 business class and 150 economy class seats) offering premium widebody comfort in a single-aisle aircraft cabin. Airbus said: “With this new A321LR, the Kazakhstan flag carrier will continue its strategy of growth and ..read more