Daily Archives: May 13, 2014

Tech Tuesdays: Fuel planning: How much must you carry?

This article deals with how much fuel an airplane must carry, and why it mustn’t carry too much of it. Safety in aviation is primarily due to enforceable regulations and requirements that provide sufficient safety margins. One such requirement is the minimum fuel to be carried on board the aircraft. How much? Let’s assume a Bangalore – Delhi flight on …

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Senior IndiGo pilots leave to join Tata-SIA

The pilots’ under-ground network is abuzz with news of some senior level exits from India’s largest domestic airline, IndiGo, to the new airline being floated by the Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture. Three senior captains, one A320 type rating instructor pilot (typically a captain with over 10,000 hours flight experience), and two check pilots (pilots who supervise route-check flights to certify …

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Airbus celebrates 40th anniversary of world’s first twin-engined widebody aircraft

40th anniversary of first Airbus commercial aircraft delivered. A300B2 to Air France F-BVGA (MSN005). May 1974.

May 10, 1974, European airframer Airbus Industrie delivered to launch customer Air France, the world’s first twin-engined wide-body commercial jetliner, the A300. The delivery was also the very first delivery of an aircraft by the fledgling manufacturer. At a time when wide-body meant three or four engines, Airbus took the risk of developing a two engined widebody aircraft. To reduce …

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Singapore Airlines to introduce premium economy class

Singapore Airlines next generation economy class seat. Image courtesy the airline.

Announcing a $325 million investment in upgrading 19 of its Boeing 777-300ERs to its newest generation cabin product currently in service (read our story with pictures), Singapore Airlines has also announced the airline will introduce a premium economy class in the second half of next year. The new class will be initially offered on the airline’s 777-300ERs and later, on …

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