Airbus

Although the Airbus-supplied video confirms less than one minute of continuous self-piloted flight, the egg-shaped Vahana electric aircraft did fly on January 31, 2018 in Pendleton, Oregon. Dubbed Alpha One, the vehicle reached a height of 16 feet before returning to the ground and completed a second flight the following day. The Vahana project was […]

Orolia is growing the market for its Kannad ELT-DT unit, which the company launched last summer to improve search and rescue capabilities for commercial and business aircraft. The Kannad ELT-DT complies with ICAO’s Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS) recommendations. Air France Industries and KLM Engineering and Maintenance have signed up to develop supplemental […]

Just days after outgoing Airbus sales chief John Leahy announced the possible end of the A380 production line, because of dwindling orders for the giant four-engine aircraft, came word that Emirates, already operating 101 of the world’s largest passenger aircraft decided it could indeed use another 36 airplanes, 20 firm orders and 16 options. Whether […]

When it comes to creating works of art with flight paths, not every pilot is Vincent van Gogh. Some aviators’ radar drawings wouldn’t even make it on their parents’ refrigerators. Still, it’s the effort that we appreciate, and we’ll always be suckers for something creative and unique popping up on FlightRadar24’s live tracker. On Wednesday, […]

Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Siemens this week announced a partnership that the companies claim will be a “significant step forward in hybrid-electric propulsion for commercial aircraft.” The E-Fan X hybrid-electric technology demonstrator is set to take flight in 2020, with the goal of this new partnership being a revolution in flying that will be clean, efficient […]

Indigo Partners might have made the largest aviation purchase in history. Reports coming out of the Dubai Airshow say veteran airline investor Bill Franke of Indigo Partners signed a preliminary order with Airbus on Wednesday morning for 430 jets, totaling $49.5 billion. The deal includes 273 A320neos and 157 A321neos for four airlines Indigo has […]

Since its inception early last year, the goal for Airbus’ Vahana project was to fly a full-size prototype of the VTOL aircraft by the end of this year, and have a “productizable demonstrator by 2020.” This week, the A³ team took one step closer to that goal by moving the Vahana to its new home […]

Just two weeks after an Air France Airbus A380 enroute to Los Angeles from Paris made an emergency landing at Goose Bay Labrador, following the failure of an engine fan hub, the FAA issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive against the airplane’s Engine Alliance GP7200 series powerplants. The Air France A380’s number four engine on September […]

Okay, so it’s not a flying car in the sense we grew up imagining, but Airbus A^3’s octocopter personal aerial vehicle, Vahana, is still quite impressive. Utilizing eight propellers mounted on rotating wings, Vahana is capable of vertical take-off and horizontal flight. The landing, however, is where it gets tricky. “Takeoff is fairly scripted,” Sanjiv […]

In the latest installment of our Jobs in Aviation video series, Airbus’ Senior Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development Ken McKenzie offers insight into the hiring practices of one of the industry’s biggest companies. In North America alone, Airbus employs approximately 5,300 people, but that’s just a small piece of the pie, as the […]