Airbus

Airbus has announced that its A400M Atlas military transport turboprop has received its automatic low-level flight certification. The certification covers operations in visual meteorological conditions with a second certification phase to include instrumental meteorological conditions planned for 2021. The certification campaign involved transitions from low-level flight to operations such as aerial delivery and flights down […]

Air France announced on Wednesday that it is retiring its Airbus A380 fleet due to the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on anticipated activity levels at the airline. The company operates nine A380s, five of which are owned by Air France or on finance lease and four of which are on operating lease. Prior […]

Airbus has announced that it is developing a modification for A330 and A350 aircraft that will allow airlines to install freight pallets directly onto cabin floor seat tracks. According to the company, the solution will reduce wear and tear on airliner seats and facilitate faster loading and unloading along with adding additional fire protection and […]

Airbus has turned to a new “e-Delivery” aircraft handover process designed to keep the company’s delivery system moving while meeting heightened healthy and safety requirements during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Pegasus Airlines became the first Airbus customer to adopt the process, taking delivery of three new A320neo family aircraft over the last few days. According […]

Airbus announced on Friday that it has successfully conducted the first-ever fully automated air-to-air refueling (A3R) operation with a boom system. According to the company, its A3R system was flight tested earlier in the year using an Airbus tanker with a Portuguese air force F-16 acting as a receiver. A total of 45 flight test […]

Airbus announced on Wednesday that it is reducing average production rates for the A320, A330 and A350 by approximately one-third due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Monthly A320 production will drop to an average of 40 units. A330s will be produced at a rate of two per month and A350s at six per month. “We […]

Airbus has started using its additive manufacturing (3D-printing) facilities in Spain to produce visor frames for hospitals in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. According to the company, it has already produced hundreds of visors using more than twenty 3D printers. The equipment is being distributed to hospitals near Airbus’ facilities in Spain. “Overnight, we […]

Airbus has closed the doors on its Voom urban air mobility (UAM) project, according to an announcement from Voom CEO Clément Monnet on Monday. The on-demand helicopter “air taxi” booking platform officially launched in 2016 and has been operating in São Paulo, Brazil, since 2017, Mexico City, Mexico, since 2018 and California’s San Francisco Bay […]

Airbus has announced that it will halt production and assembly activities at its facilities in France and Spain for four days due to “the implementation of new measures in France and Spain to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.” According to the company, it is also working to maximize work-from-home options where possible for employees in those […]

Struggling Bombardier has divested itself of its minority share of the Airbus A220 program, moving it another stop closer to leaving aviation altogether. On the heels of suggestions that Bombardier bizjet division could end up with Textron, it has divested itself of the A220 airliner program that it shared with Airbus. Airbus and the government […]