The first international Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, designated BK-1, and destined for the United Kingdom, rolled out of the airframer’s Fort Worth, Texas factory Sunday evening. The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence will use the short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) jet, for training and operational tests. BK-1 will undergo functional fuel system checks before being transported to the flight line …

It appears that India’s largest carrier, Jet Airways, is heading in a similar direction of financial distress like its full service counterparts Air India and Kingfisher Airlines. A dirty and unwashed Boeing 777 of Jet Airways arrives at Mumbai from London. Reuters is reporting that Jet Airways reported to the Bombay Stock Exchange that its auditors, in a report dated …

Airbus has completed installation of the first set of ‘Sharklet’ wing-tip devices on the company’s A320 development aircraft (MSN 001), preparing for the flight-test campaign in the coming weeks. Update Nov 22, 2011  One more high-resolution picture added with correction for the ultra wide angle. Photo is copyright Airbus S.A.S.

© Kenny Janssens Jet Airways has become the second airline in India to cross the century mark by taking delivery of the 100th aircraft in its fleet – a Boeing 737-800 equipped with the Sky Interior (see interior images here), tail number VT-JBV. The aircraft which was delivered by Boeing on November 15, 2011, is leased to Jet by GECAS …

India’s leading low fare carrier and second largest domestic carrier IndiGo has launched a new TV commercial patterned after a Broadway muscial. Called the world’s first Runway Musical the fast-paced theatrical uses extreme choreography to represent the operational excellence required to make flights run on time. The ad was produced in Los Angeles, California, under the direction of Steven Antin, …

Today’s episode features Boeing heavy aircraft at Bengaluru International Airport, Bangalore. Three freighters — Lufthansa Cargo MD-11F, Singapore Airlines Cargo Boeing 744F MegaArk, AeroLogic Boeing 777F and a British Airways Boeing 747-400 heavily loaded with a full load of passengers, their baggage, and tanks full of fuel for its 11 hour flight to London Heathrow. Observe the steep climb angle …

The normal headline of this article would have included the words reporting and coverage but then that would imply a sense of responsibility on the part of TimesNow TV and some basic adherence on their part to telling the whole truth without perversely twisting it. Below is video shown on national TV but cleverly not on the internet, which can …

Contrary to its claimed cash-starved position, Kingfisher Airlines has actually performed relatively better than its counter-part listed private airlines counter-parts in India. In a perverse silver lining to the ongoing fiscal crisis at Kingfisher, the airline slid from a net loss of Rs. 263 Cr. in the first quarter of fiscal year 2011~12 (FY12) to a net loss of Rs. …

Boeing image. Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental. At a time when every stakeholder, governments to airlines and airports on to tax-payers and everyone in-between is spending obscene amounts of money, loss of privacy, and other resources to make the skies safer, this story is downright scary. The worst part of this story is that this vulnerability exists due to a lack of …

Inaugurating the Dubai air show 2011, Dubai-based Emirates Airline, already the world’s largest operator of Boeing 777s, announced an an order for another 50 777-300ER aircraft with an option for a further 20 more. The order, with a value of $18 billion, makes this the single largest commercial airplane order in Boeing’s history by dollar value. It also makes 2011 …

Gurgaon based low fare carrier SpiceJet has posted a loss of Rs. 240 Crore for the second quarter of fiscal 2011~2012, a sharp increase from the Rs. 72 Cr it had posted in the first quarter. The airline had posted a profit for the same quarter last year. More details shortly UPDATE: Partial financial results below We will be doing …

India’s fun airline which invites you to “fly the good times” is sending shock after shock to all its stakeholders. In the last two days the airline has cancelled almost 80 flights leaving passengers across the country, running from pillar to post as their travel plans went in to complete disarray. From an earlier announcement that the airline would cancel …

Erin Andrews for Reebok. Photo courtesy Reebok. Passengers of RyanAir may encounter sex scenes similar to the one alleged to Keith Clinkscales and Erin Andrews, or the famous sexual romp on-board Kingfisher Airlines, if Michael O’Leary, the irrepressible chief of the low cost carrier has his way. Mr. O’Leary says the airline is planning to show porn on board its …

The Press Trust of India and other media is reporting that the India’s federal investigative agency the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is getting ready to file a criminal case against European airframer Airbus, the erstwhile national domestic carrier Indian Airlines (which is now merged in to Air India), senior civil aviation officials, for alleged irregularities in the 43 narrow …

Ask any plane spotter about the General Electric GE90-155B engines and you will get a universal thumbs-up. The largest engines fitted on any commercial jet, two GE90’s power every Boeing 777 made today; the -300ER, the -200LR, or the freighter. Put the engine size in perspective. Compare the ground engineer near the nose wheel. To give you an idea of …

Last week Bangalore Aviation contributor Vedant Agarwal caught the new started AeroLogic Boeing 777F five times a week service from Bangalore to Leipzig, Germany, and a one off appearance by Indonesia’s Lion Air Boeing 747-400 (not an ER), which has been sub-contracted by NAS Air to ferry passengers performing the Haj. AeroLogic Boeing 777F D-AALD Lion Air Boeing 747-400 PK-LHG …

From January 15, 2012, Singapore Airlines (SIA) will withdraw its last Boeing 747-400 MegaTop service when it upgrades its SQ25/SQ26 Singapore-Frankfurt-New York JFK service to the Airbus A380 superjumbo. Starting today, for five days Singapore Airlines is offering a very special fare to most of its Asian destinations for its New York passengers. That is, except all of its destinations …

Yesterday, US airframer Boeing delivered the first 747-8F Freighter to Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. The delivery is the first of nine 747-8Fs ordered by the cargo carrier. The aircraft is powered by General Electric’s GEnx-2B67 engines. Global Supply Systems Boeing 747-8F G-GSSD in British Airways World Cargo livery. Delivery flight.  The aircraft painted in a British Airways World Cargo …

Lisa, RyanAir, Madrid Irish low cost carrier RyanAir launched the 2012 edition of the Ryanair Cabin Crew Charity Calendar, the fourth year running. The calendar is a swimsuit edition featuring some of the most sexy RyanAir cabin crew (in India they are still called air hostesses). Every year the airline donates the proceeds raised from the sale of this calendar …