Garmin announces G1000 NXi integration with Blackhawk Engine+ Upgrade for King Air 300 and King Air 350

Garmin® International, announced this week that the G1000® NXi flight deck is now available for integration with the Blackhawk Aerospace XP67A Engine+ Upgrade for the King Air 300 and King Air 350, adding a significant benefit to those looking to maximize these aircraft. Additionally, Garmin has expanded its Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) approval to now include King Air 350 aircraft with a max gross weight of 16,500 lbs.1, bringing enhanced capability to operators looking to maximize payload and efficiency.

“We are pleased to offer this new Blackhawk engine interface with the G1000 NXi flight deck for the King Air 300 and 350 models,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing. “In doing so, we’ve answered our customers’ requests to include this engine upgrade interface to our system, which will even further improve performance for the King Air 300 and 350 models. Additionally, we have now certified the G1000 NXi flight deck in the high gross weight configuration for the King Air 350, which will significantly benefit special missions operators, or any other operator who has been seeking this higher gross weight capability, along with G1000 NXi in the cockpit.”

Boom Supersonic Goes All-In on AWS

The aerospace company Boom, leverages AWS’s unmatched breadth and depth of services and proven infrastructure to design and manufacture the world’s fastest and most sustainable commercial aircraft

Amazon Web Services, part of the giant Amazon brand has announced this week that Boom Technology, Inc. the Denver-based aviation company that is bringing commercial supersonic flight back to the skies, is going all-in on AWS. 

Boom Supersonic is leveraging the world’s leading cloud to provide the company with the virtually unlimited compute power, storage, security, and comprehensive set of services that it will take to reinvent supersonic commercial travel. The company is designing the first supersonic airliner in decades, called Overture, which will roll out in 2025, and will fly more than 500 transoceanic routes in half the time. For example, Overture will take passengers from Tokyo to Seattle in four and a half hours. Since its inception, Boom has leveraged AWS’s unmatched portfolio of services to accelerate the design and construction of its aircraft, including XB-1 – the demonstrator aeroplane for Overture and the world’s first independently developed supersonic aircraft – which Boom unveiled on October 7, 2020.

Canada’s Flight Attendants Union Disappointed by the Federal Economic Update

The Canadian government's fall economic statement on Monday represents another opportunity squandered by the Liberals to help tens of thousands of airline workers left jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the union that represents Canada's flight attendants.

The Airline Division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) represents about 15,000 flight attendants at nine different airlines across Canada, two-thirds of whom are currently laid off.

"For months, we've been sending proposals and requesting meetings with the federal government, only to be swept aside," said Wesley Lesosky, President of CUPE's Airline Division. "Despite that, our members who are laid off at home wondering if they'll have a career to return to once COVID subsides were hopeful Monday would bring good news for them. Instead, they were left disappointed by this government once again."

Travellers show support for safety measures

airBaltic as a member of the Aviation Association of Latvia invited its customers to participate in a study by Oxford Research Baltics about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on travel habits. The results show that 80% of travellers believe that wearing a mask, keeping a distance and washing hands are the most efficient ways to fight the Covid-19 spread.

58% of travellers believe that the electronic survey for people entering the country is an appropriate and a good control measure to track and limit the transmission of the Covid-19. In a response to an open question about safety measures, respondents also indicated that they consider flying safe because of the introduced safety measures during flights.

79% of respondents indicated that they travel less because the border crossing is restricted, continuing only essential travel to maintain business connections and meet family. 54% of travellers admitted that travel restrictions have a major impact on their job.

Two British Airways 747s in iconic liveries saved for posterity.

 British Airways' Queens of the Skies will continue to inspire aviation enthusiasts across the UK for years to come, after permanent homes have been found for its remaining retro-liveried Boeing 747 aircraft – the last to leave the British Airways fleet.

The aircraft, registrations G-BNLY and G-BYGC, are this month due to depart from British Airways’ engineering base in Cardiff, where they will be waved off by the British Airways engineers who for many years have proudly maintained the 747 fleet. The pair were among several aircraft painted in heritage liveries to mark the airline’s centenary last year.

Adorned in the iconic Landor livery, used between 1984 and 1997, G-BNLY has been given a new lease of life as a permanent exhibit at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey. It will join its sister 747, G-CIVW, which was retired in late October and features the current Chatham Dockyard livery.

Intelsat completes take over of Gogo Commercial Aviation with a major leadership shuffle

Intelsat has completed its acquisition of the Commercial Aviation business of Gogo creating the world’s leading provider of inflight broadband connectivity to the commercial aviation industry.

The closing of the $400 million cash deal brings together two complementary enterprises — the world’s largest satellite operator with the leading provider of commercial inflight broadband and entertainment services — to deliver unprecedented innovation and long-term value to commercial airlines.

“Combining Intelsat’s next-generation global telecommunications network with Gogo Commercial Aviation’s leading capabilities and airline relationships will create unprecedented innovation in inflight digital connectivity, unlocking exciting new growth and brand loyalty opportunities across the airline industry,” said Intelsat Chief Executive Stephen Spengler. “With our powerful, integrated offering, airlines will no longer need to trade off speed, reliability or availability for coverage, even when flying at full capacity in and out of the busiest airport hubs.”

From the UAE to the world: Local flavours, culture and music proudly take flight on Emirates

As customers take to the skies for the UAE National Day holidays, Emirates will be celebrating the occasion by serving local delicacies, proudly crafted in the UAE to help make travel a little sweeter. Customers travelling in all classes from 2 December will be able to savour chocolates from Dubai’s only bean-to-bar chocolate maker, Mirzam.

Partnering with a business like Mirzam allows the airline to offer locally-sourced sweet treats that present traditional Emirati flavours with a modern twist, all at 40,000 feet.

Customers travelling in Emirates First and Business Class will enjoy white chocolate Emirati aseeda caramels, inspired by the texture and flavours of the local dessert, as well as dark milk chocolate Emirati ragag truffles, echoing the qualities of the traditional crispy pancake. Economy Class passengers will be able to sample a taster box of bites consisting of single-origin India dark chocolate, dark milk chocolate with sea salt, and aseeda caramelised white chocolate with cardamom.

Etihad Guest reveals exciting offers for UAE National Day

Etihad Guest, the award-winning loyalty programme of Etihad Airways, has launched exciting offers for shoppers to enjoy, including the chance to enter a raffle draw and earn triple Etihad Guest Miles.

To celebrate the 49th UAE National Day, Etihad Guest members who shop and earn with any of the programme’s partners will receive an automatic entry into a draw to win one of 49 prizes. These include Etihad Airways return flights for two in Business class, 500,000 Etihad Guest Miles, shopping vouchers, Yas Island theme park vouchers, seven-day car rental from Avis, one-year free motor insurance from Al Wathba Insurance and more. Transactions made between 1 and 31 December 2020 will be entered in the draw.

airBaltic starts direct flights between Vilnius and Kyiv

Latvian airline airBaltic has this week started performing direct flights from Vilnius to Kyiv, Ukraine. The new flights will be performed two times a week on an Airbus A220-300 aircraft. The scheduled flight time to Kyiv will be one hour and 15 minutes.

Currently airBaltic performs direct flights from Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius to various European business hubs and a selection of leisure destinations. A complete schedule of airBaltic flights can be found on the company's homepage at www.airbaltic.com.

The safety and health of our passengers is airBaltic’s top priority. airBaltic has introduced strong health measures and the new flight operations follow the recommendations issued by authorities.

 

BOC Aviation has confirmed the delivery the first two of five new Airbus A321NEO aircraft for lease to Middle East Airlines. The aircraft will be powered by Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower® PW1100G-JM engines.

Robert Martin, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, BOC Aviation, said: “We are very pleased to deliver our first pair of new Airbus A321NEO aircraft on lease to Middle East Airlines, with whom we share a long-term relationship that spans more than 20 years. This delivery is testament to the strong cooperation we share with industry-leading airlines such as Middle East Airlines, especially in this challenging environment. We look forward to working with our customers to provide more fuel-efficient and technologically advanced aircraft solutions in the future.”

Mohamad EL HOUT, Chairman – Director General, Middle East Airlines, said: “We are pleased to work with BOC Aviation, our long-term partner who has confidence in MEA’s capability and potentials. The new arrival in our fleet will further enhance our commitment to offer our passengers the best product and continued modernization of the fleet despite the local and international challenges.”

 

 

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United Raises Miles for Dozens of Non-Profits that Rely on Travel

United is inviting MileagePlus members to give back on Giving Tuesday and throughout the holiday season by donating miles to nearly 40 non-profits through United Airline's crowdsourcing platform, Miles on a Mission. Non-profits like Thurgood Marshall College Fund, College to Congress and Compass to Care are attempting to raise a total of more than 11 million miles to be used for travel for life-saving health care, continued education, humanitarian aid and more. United will match the first 125,000 miles raised for each of these organizations to help ensure they meet their goals.     

UAE National Day spirit spreads to six continents - thanks to the passion of Emirates staff.

Just as the UAE celebrates its 49th National Day, flags in all shapes and sizes were waved to mark the occasion across six continents by Emirates ground operations employees.

Emirates airport operations employees at the hub also joined in the celebrations, holding their flags and making a formation in the number ‘49’ in front of an aircraft at Dubai International Airport.

With patriotic shades of red, black, green and white, the shows of national pride by Emirates employees were inspired by the achievements of the UAE, as well as its significant place on the world stage as a transport, tourism and trade hub.

See more photos below. 

Chile Becomes the First Latin American Country to Trial Digital Health Pass for American Airlines Customers, Preflight Testing to Launch for US Virgin Islands

American Airlines will expand mobile app trial to include customers flying between Miami and Chile beginning Dec. 7. Customers will be able to utilize VeriFLY in both the U.S. and Chile to make travel easier end-to-end. 

American is also expanding its preflight COVID-19 testing program for American Airlines flights from Miami to Santiago.

 

Starting Dec. 9, American will be the first carrier to offer preflight COVID-19 testing to flights from the U.S. to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

American Airlines and the government of Chile are partnering to offer customers access to VeriFLY, a new mobile app designed to help travellers understand coronavirus (COVID-19) documentation requirements and enable them to securely store and display their test results digitally. In addition, the airline is the first to provide customers travelling to South America with a convenient at-home testing option through LetsGetChecked. Travellers to the U.S. Virgin Islands will also be able to take advantage of the at-home testing option in December.

Since American announced its preflight COVID-19 testing program in October, the airline has continued to expand customer access to its at-home testing partner, LetsGetChecked, now available for all of the carrier’s flights to Belize, Grenada, St. Lucia and the Hawaiian Islands.

“As we continue to reopen travel throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, we have been looking for ways to simplify our customers’ travel experience. Our preflight testing program and our recently launched mobile app trial are essential tools that will help our customers return to the skies,” said Juan Carlos Liscano, Vice President of Operations for Miami, the Caribbean and Latin America. “American is the leading U.S. airline in the region and we are committed to helping restart travel and tourism in the countries we serve.”