Saturday, June 3News That Matters
Shadow

Airplanes

10 Ways Private Charters Differ from Commercial Flights – Jettly Private Jet Charter Blog

10 Ways Private Charters Differ from Commercial Flights – Jettly Private Jet Charter Blog

Airplanes
Private charters are experiencing a Golden Age of sorts. There’s still a demand for business, family, essential, and even leisure travel. However, people still aren’t comfortable traveling on crowded commercial flights. With a new awareness of how germs and viruses spread, they may never be. Plus, local restrictions still limit non-essential travel – especially for US passport holders on commercial flights. Private jet charters offer a different alternative. It’s no surprise that private flight bookings have skyrocketed by 75% compared to the same season last year. Most of those bookings are from first-timers too. Every aspect of the private charter experience is different than commercial flying: from quotes and booking to aircraft and airports. This puts newbies at...
Wizz Air hits Skopje with fresh round of route suspensions

Wizz Air hits Skopje with fresh round of route suspensions

Airplanes
  Wizz Air is further reducing its network from its base in Skopje this coming winter season, with the airline to temporarily suspend another seven routes. The carrier will not be resuming flights to Barcelona, Bremen, Hannover, Laranaca, Sandefjord, Skavsta and Vaxjo until late March 2021. It follows the budget airline's decision to suspend flights from Skopje to Salzburg until the spring of next year. As a result, Wizz Air currently plans to maintain services from the Macedonian capital to 23 destinations during the winter, however, this is likely to change. The airline will run flights from Skopje to Basel, Baden Baden, Brussels, Bratislava, Berlin, Beauvais, Budapest, Copenhagen, Cologne, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Friedrichshafen, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Hahn, Malta, Malmo, Memmi...
We Fly: Embraer Phenom 300E

We Fly: Embraer Phenom 300E

Airplanes
The updated 300E gained triple type certification from the FAA, EASA and Brazil’s ANAC in late March 2020. (Courtesy Embraer/) On the outside, Embraer may look like just another bottom-line-driven international aircraft manufacturer—and the recent headlines covering its courtship breakup with Boeing regarding the joint venture involving its commercial aircraft division only seem to add to this image. But when you pull back the layers, at the heart of the company stands a person who worked hard to build it from his dreams of designing aircraft. In the Portuguese-speaking world, the title “Engenheiro,” or engineer, is one of respect conferred in a similar manner to that of a doctor—and from the very beginning, Engenheiro Ozires Silva wanted more than anything to be an aeronautical ...
EASA advises carriers to switch off recirculation fans

EASA advises carriers to switch off recirculation fans

Airplanes, Flight Technology
Europe’s safety regulator is advising commercial aircraft operators to adopt new procedures to switch off air-conditioning system recirculation fans regularly, as part of measures to limit the risk of coronavirus contagion. Supplementary procedures to turn off the fans periodically would “accelerate cabin air exchange”, says the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. Its advisory is part of a series of operational recommendations to operators of passenger and cargo aircraft in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Carriers should provide a sufficient supply of surgical-standard face-masks for the intended operation, and these should be worn at all times by crew members having direct contact with passengers or non-crew individuals – and be replaced every 4h. Hand disin...
Maverick Release Date Delayed to December Due to COVID-19 Crisis

Maverick Release Date Delayed to December Due to COVID-19 Crisis

Airplanes
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a delay in the release of "Top Gun: Maverick" until December 23, 2020, according to Paramount Studios. (Photo: via Paramount Pictures) In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Paramount Pictures has announced they will delay the worldwide theatrical release of the new sequel “Top Gun: Maverick” until December 23, 2020. The move was announced across entertainment media on Thursday, April 2, 2020 and follows a similar announcement about the delay of the upcoming release of the new James Bond movie, “No Time To Die” until November 25, 2020. The Hollywood entertainment outlet Variety wrote that, “’Top Gun: Maverick’ cost over $150 million to make, so Paramount is counting on massive ticket sales in order to turn a profit. The delay gives Paramount...
Flight Centre starts pitch for $500m rescue

Flight Centre starts pitch for $500m rescue

Airplanes
Flight Centre Travel Group is attempting to secure support for a $500 million equity raising, which would likely take place at a huge discount to its last traded price. The Australian Financial Review claims the business is now in front of a small group of fund managers working to secure a deal, priced at just $7.20 per share. The sources claim Macquarie Capital and UBS started crossing funds, including existing institutional shareholders, on Friday, with the two banks expected to underwrite the offer. Shares in the company last traded at $9.91, down from a 52-week high of $49.14, before a suspension. Last week, Flight Centre Travel Group announced that 3,800 sales and support employees would be either stood down or made redundant in Australia. The business also said i...
U.S. Marine Corps releases video showing AH-1Z’s air-to-air missile capability

U.S. Marine Corps releases video showing AH-1Z’s air-to-air missile capability

Airplanes, Flight Technology
The U.S. Marine Corps has released footage that showing air-to-air missile capability of the AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter. A few months ago, the U.S. Marine Corps demonstrated the power of Viper attack helicopter through exercise “Viper Storm” that was held at Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton. The Viper Storm exercise took place in Southern Calif. Dec 11, 2019. The attack helicopters flew from two separate locations – one on the coast and one inland – and struck simulated enemy targets representing peer and near peer threats capable of denying naval and joint forces the freedom of navigation essential to maritime control and enhancing operational-level flexibility. A feature of the exercises was the demonstration of the AH-1Z’s little-known capability to attacking dr...
Smaller Southeast Asian carriers operate reduced schedules

Smaller Southeast Asian carriers operate reduced schedules

Airplanes, Breaking News
Smaller Southeast Asian carriers are operating on reduced schedules, alongside significant cuts by the region’s major operators. Vietnam Airlines’ domestic services are largely suspended, for two weeks until 15 April, except for five routes out of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This comes after the government issued a directive on 27 March detailing measures to control the spread of coronavirus, which includes curtailing the number of flight operations. Bangkok Airways is suspending all international flights from 29 March till 24 October, and 10 domestic routes from April to October. It continues to operate seven domestic routes, either with reduced frequencies or by deploying the smaller ATR 72 turboprops. To mitigate the impact of lower revenue, the airline is reducing sa...
The aircraft that shaped private jet travel

The aircraft that shaped private jet travel

Airplanes, Flight Technology
Business jets have created a world of opportunity for businesses and high wealth individuals around the world, allowing them the ability to fly themselves or send predominant staff to places that commercial flights can’t reach. They allowed these executives to attend imperative meetings and be home for dinner. The social status of owners increased as well, showcasing to others that they were long on financial resources and short on time. The following are four aircraft that changed the world in regards to time efficiency, business productivity, and social status.  What is most interesting is that all four originated from military contracts with the intent of being quicker and more efficient than predecessors. Lockheed JetStar – L329 Deliveries: 202 (1961-1980) Lockheed create...
NSFW A pervert’s guide to the 10 best-looking British aircraft

NSFW A pervert’s guide to the 10 best-looking British aircraft

Airplanes, Flight Technology
In 2020 we chose the 10 best looking aeroplanes from Britain.  In 2020 we handed over list to the most misanthropic man to be type-qualified on the Twin Otter, Geoff  G. Visser. Here in startling mordancy, is his assessment of our choices.  The following views may be considered offensive and should not be read by children or Air Chief Marshals. All complaints should be addressed to Mr Visser directly, and not this site. Over to Mr Visser: “Among all the high-altitude hypoxic autoerotic asphyxiation slash-fiction scribbled by those chosen few, not many words stick out as sharply as those written by the late John Gillespie Magee Jr, the writer of the poem High Flight.  It should come as no surprise that the delirious ecstasy of early flight was sexualised by the horny young ...