Aircraft & Engines

With the maiden flight on November 28 of China

Arik Air, based in Lagos, Nigeria, received its first A340-500 on December 1st. The new aircraft is the first of three A340-500s ordered by Arik Air for use on international long-haul routes to London, New York and Houston. Powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines, the carrier’s new A340s will offer the best possible passenger comfort

The European Commission has selected Rolls-Royce to lead the development of two engine demonstrators as part of the Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative to accelerate the delivery of cleaner and quieter engine technologies. Rolls-Royce will receive up to EUR53 million from the European Commission and benefit from the work of partners valued at EUR82 million

CFM International has awarded the TRUEngine designation to a total of 70 new and overhauled CFM56-5B engines in the Aer Lingus fleet. The CFM56-5B engines were awarded TRUEngine status following a comprehensive review of the airline’s fleet operational data and maintenance records. These records validated that maintenance of all of the engines is consistent with

Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) has received Transport Canada type certification for its new PW207D1 and PW207D2 engines selected to power the Bell Helicopter 429. New additions to the PW200 family, the PW207D1 and PW207D2 engines are marketed by P&WC Turbo Engines Corp. (P&WCTEC), a subsidiary of P&WC.

Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engine successfully completed its first supersonic flight, reaching a top speed of Mach 1.05, or about 680 miles per hour. The first supersonic flight is a significant program milestone demonstrating the capability and performance of the F135 engine.

North American Airlines, a subsidiary of Global Aero Logistics, is growing its fleet of charter jets. North American has entered into an agreement with aircraft lessor AerCap Group to take delivery of its sixth Boeing 767-300ER in December 2008. This additional B-767 will be used to grow our commercial and military charter business,” said Jeff

TAM S.A. received a Boeing 777-300ER, the second of eight total aircraft of this model acquired by the company. Captain David Barioni Neto, President of TAM, and Commander Fernando Sporleder Junior, the company’s Vice President of Operations, received this B777 directly from Boeing’s factory in Seattle and both piloted the aircraft to Sao Paulo. TAM

Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris has chosen to upgrade its future engine deliveries for 14 aircraft to the V2500 SelectOne standard. In January 2006, Toluca-based Volaris placed an order for V2500-A5s to power 16 firm and 40 option Airbus A319s, all backed by IAE

Ryanair will base a sixth Boeing 737-800 next generation aircraft at Brussels (Charleroi) and launch three new routes from 31st March 2009 after the Belgian government scrapped a proposed