Eco-Aviation Conference Report

The Air Transport World-Leeham Co. Eco-Aviation Conference last week produced a great deal of news, most notably the test results from Air New Zealand on its biofuel test flight made in cooperation with Boeing and Rolls-Royce. ANZ announced… Read More

A330 vs 787

Another in the continuing reports from the Airbus Innovation Days…. Airbus provided an A330/A340 market update during its Innovation Days presentations in Hamburg earlier in May. The A340 has become irrelevant to the new airplane market, with only… Read More

BWB a big challenge

To some, the Blended Wing Body airplane seems like a great idea. We like it, too. It’s highly fuel efficient–estimated to be up to 30% more so than the Airbus A380. The body acts as lift, providing a… Read More

A350 vs 787, 777

Another in a series of the Airbus Innovation Days in Hamburg, Germany, earlier this month…. Airbus predicted that the A350 will capture 50% of the medium twin-aisle market forecast of 5,900 aircraft over the next 2o years, company… Read More

787 Update, Week of May 26

Testing continues on the 787 as it prepares for first flight in June. Speculation is rampant over whether the airplane will be ready to fly before, during or after the Paris Air Show (but for clarity, “during” does… Read More

USAF regains tanker competition

Update, May 28: Three KC-767Js are now operational with the Japanese Defense air force. The fourth and final tanker has yet to be delivered. Update, May 26: India reportedly has decided to buy the KC-330 MRTT. It’s widely… Read More

Oil doubles, it’s good for Airbus and Boeing

The price of oil has doubled off its low of only a few months ago, closing Friday (May 23) at around $61bbl. This is actually good news for Airbus and Boeing (and Bombardier and Embraer) as these companies… Read More

777 answer to A350

Flight International has a May 14 story we’ve just seen (we were out of town) about Boeing’s possible response to the Airbus A350-1000. This may be found here. The most interesting thing to us is the timeline: within… Read More

787 program update

Boeing today (May 21) gave aerospace analysts an update on the 787 program at the annual investors’ day. Key points: There are now more engineers working on the -9 than on the -8, a major change; Executing the… Read More

Can split tanker buy save money?

Here is an interesting think piece about the controverisal proposal by some Members of Congress to split the KC-X tanker procurement between Boeing and Northrop Grumman. Aviation Week reports the FAA has certified Boeing’s Wedgetail, the 737-based electronics… Read More