Category Archives: Airbus

Production of French-German fighter jet threatened by rivalries, chief executive says

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Relations between French company Dassault and the German unit of Airbus are reportedly ‘very strained’

The leaders of France and Germany have a “strong willingness” to build a new fighter jet together despite bitter internal rivalries, according to the chief executive of engine manufacturer Safran.

A row over who should lead between French aerospace company Dassault and the German unit of Airbus has threatened to break apart the countries’ efforts to make a next-generation fighter jet.

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New Zealand to spend $3bn upgrading helicopters and ‘embarrassing’ defence planes

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Government says country will buy five Seahawk helicopters and two Airbus A321XLR aircraft

New Zealand will spend nearly NZ$3bn ($1.7bn) upgrading its ageing defence fleet, including replacing its “embarrassing” planes that have left multiple prime ministers grounded during international travel, the government has announced.

The defence minister, Judith Collins, said NZ$2bn would be spent buying five MH-60R Seahawk helicopters and another NZ$700m to buy two Airbus A321XLR aircraft.

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Airbus workers vote to strike for 10 days next month in pay dispute

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Unite says stoppages at Broughton and Filton factories could disrupt production of wings and delay deliveries

Thousands of Airbus workers in the UK are to go on strike for 10 days in September in a row over pay that threatens to disrupt the production of aircraft wings.

A series of two-day strikes are planned to begin on 2 September and continue throughout the month at the company’s factories in Broughton, north Wales, and Filton, near Bristol, according to Unite.

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Boeing hopes to find new buyers for up to 50 planes returned by China

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Airplane manufacturer says it is lobbying Donald Trump over ‘unfortunate’ decision to impose tariffs

Boeing will try to divert as many as 50 planes ordered by Chinese airlines to customers elsewhere after steep tariffs prompted by Donald Trump’s trade war.

The US manufacturer said it was confident it could find other buyers for the planes, but said it was lobbying Trump personally to resolve an “unfortunate situation”.

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Space probe to map carbon content of world’s remotest tropical forests

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Revolutionary scanner to be fired into Earth orbit this month to measure effects of deforestation

Scientists are about to take part in a revolutionary mission aimed at creating detailed 3D maps of the world’s remotest, densest and darkest tropical forests – from outer space. The feat will be achieved using a special radar scanner that has been fitted to a probe, named Biomass, that will be fired into the Earth’s orbit later this month.

For the next five years, the 1.25-tonne spacecraft will sweep over the tropical rainforests of Africa, Asia and South America and peer through their dense 40m-high ­canopies to study the vegetation that lies beneath. The data collected by Biomass will then be used to create unique 3D maps of forests normally hidden from human sight.

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Europe’s first Mars rover will have UK-built lander

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Airbus also built the Rosalind Franklin rover, due to launch in 2028 to search for signs of past life

Europe’s first rover to be sent to another planet is back on track to reach Mars, with the lander that will deposit it on the surface lined up to be built in the UK.

The Rosalind Franklin rover – named after the scientist who played a key role in the discovery of the structure of DNA – is part of ExoMars, a European Space Agency (Esa) mission to probe whether life once existed on the red planet, and features a drill to retrieve samples, up to 4bn years old, from two metres below the surface.

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Passengers and crew evacuated as plane catches fire on South Korean runway

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All 176 people onboard escaped safely after blaze began inside Airbus jet preparing to take off from Gimhae airport

An Airbus plane belonging to South Korean carrier Air Busan has caught fire on a runway at Gimhae international airport in the country’s south while preparing for departure to Hong Kong, fire authorities said on Tuesday.

All 169 passengers and seven crew members were evacuated, with three having minor injuries, fire authorities in Busan said.

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What happened to Cathay Pacific’s A350 and how will it affect Rolls-Royce?

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British manufacturer’s share price slumped 6.5% after engines failed on Cathay Pacific flight on Monday

• Cathay Pacific says 15 jets need new part after Rolls-Royce engine problem

An engine failure on a Cathay Pacific flight on Monday has put the spotlight on the British manufacturer Rolls-Royce, which makes and maintains the power plant on the Airbus A350.

As airlines that operate the twin-aisle plane inspect their fleets, investors are trying to establish whether there will be broader implications for Rolls-Royce. The A350, which carries up to 410 passengers, is used mainly on lon-haul routes.

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Top pilots’ union sounds alarm as regulators consider smaller crew sizes

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Firms accused of putting profits over safety as EU group weighs cutting minimum number of pilots from two to one

Aerospace giants have been accused of putting profits ahead of safety as officials consider cutting the minimum number of pilots required on commercial flight decks from two to one.

The move, which is currently being evaluated by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), would weaken standards to the “lowest common denominator”, the world’s largest union of airline pilots has warned.

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Europe is unprepared for risks from Russia and Trump, says Airbus boss

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Aerospace group chief executive urges UK and Europe to pool efforts and merge fighter jet programmes

Europe is unprepared for war with Russia or the risk that Donald Trump could withdraw the US from Nato and needs to ramp up spending on defence equipment, the boss of Airbus has said.

Guillaume Faury, the chief executive of Europe’s biggest aerospace and defence company, said it was a “defining moment” for the continent’s defence industry, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 brought war to western Europe’s borders.

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Japan jet crash: passenger plane was cleared to land, say officials

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Smaller plane on runway was not cleared for takeoff, however, say authorities as investigations begin

A passenger jet that collided with a coastguard plane at Haneda airport in Tokyo had been given permission to land, but the smaller plane was not cleared for takeoff, Japanese authorities have said, as police reportedly prepared to investigate whether the crash involved professional negligence.

Five people on the coastguard aircraft died but all 379 passengers and crew escaped to safety down emergency slides minutes before the Japan Airlines Airbus was engulfed in flames on Tuesday.

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Air France and Airbus cleared of involuntary manslaughter over 2009 crash

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Paris court clears aviation giants over disaster that killed 228 people flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris

A Paris court has cleared Air France and Airbus of involuntary manslaughter over the crash of flight 447 in 2009 that killed 228 people.

Giving its verdict on Monday, the court said if there had been faults committed, “no certain causal link” with the accident could be shown.

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Manslaughter trial over 2009 Air France crash begins with cries of ‘shame’

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Anger as airline and Airbus plead not guilty to charge 13 years after flight AF447 crashed, killing 228 people

A manslaughter trial over the 2009 crash of Air France flight 447 has opened in Paris, with the courtroom falling silent as a judge read out the names of 228 passengers and crew who died in the airline’s worst ever accident.

The grief of the victims’ families quickly erupted into anger as the chief executives of Air France and Airbus pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and offered their condolences.

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Farnborough airshow to focus on cleaner flying and potential fighter jet deal

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Manufacturers to emphasise their efforts to reduce environmental impact of planes

Low-emission air travel and a potential deal for Japan to help build the UK’s next-generation Tempest fighter jet are set to take centre stage at the annual Farnborough airshow this week.

Executives from global aerospace manufacturers and airlines will gather at the airport in Hampshire after a four-year gap. The show, which begins on Monday, normally happens every two years but was cancelled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, as the aviation industry faced potential collapse.

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‘Very, very modest’: Johnson vs Trudeau on whose private jet is smaller

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With the official UK plane in use by Prince Charles, Canada Force One pips prime minister’s stand-in Airbus A321 by 2 metres

If you are a billionaire, it is standard to insist your private jet is the larger. For prime ministers, however, it is seemingly more politically expedient to argue the opposite.

Such was the narrative as Boris Johnson met the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, for a bilateral meeting on the first day of the G7 conference of major industrialised nations in southern Germany.

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Johnson dumps ‘amber watchlist’ plan as it emerges top adviser has quit

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Proposals for tougher quarantine rules for some holidaymakers killed off after cabinet revolt

Boris Johnson has ditched plans for tougher quarantine restrictions for some holidaymakers after days of chaos, as it emerged the chief of the Joint Biosecurity Centre that advises on travel rules has departed the job leaving it “rudderless”.

After a revolt in the cabinet and a backlash from the travel industry, government sources said the prime minister would not be going ahead with proposals for a new “amber watchlist” to warn travellers which countries were at risk of turning red.

Cabinet sources said the plans were killed off by the Treasury and Department for Transport, as ministers grow in confidence about the drop in cases, which fell to 21,052 on Monday.

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Appeal court says Air France and Airbus should be sent to trial over 2009 crash

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Judgment overturns lower court’s decision to dismiss case of flight AF 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in which 228 died

An appeal court has ruled that Air France and Airbus should be sent to trial for “unintentional manslaughter” over the crash of a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in 2009 in which 228 people died.

The judgment, which overturned the decision of a court to dismiss the case, was welcomed by victims’ families, who expressed their “immense satisfaction” at finally having their voices heard.

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US tariffs on Scotch whisky ‘have cost £500m in lost exports’

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Single malt sales to US have fallen more than third since retaliatory regime was imposed, says industry body

Losses to Scotch whisky exports after tariffs were imposed by the US have reached £500m, according to an industry body.

New figures suggest exports of single malt Scotch whisky have fallen by more than a third – amounting to more than £500m – since a 25% tariff was imposed in October 2019.

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EU accused of abandoning migrants to the sea with shift to drone surveillance

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Border agency Frontex accused by campaigners and MEPs of evading its responsibilities towards people in distress

The EU has been accused of condemning migrants to death by critics of its recent €100m (£90m) deals for drone surveillance over the Mediterranean Sea.

Campaigners and MEPs have accused the EU’s border agency Frontex of investing in technology to monitor migrants from afar and skirt its responsibilities towards people in distress.

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Airbus to operate drones searching for migrants crossing the Mediterranean

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European aerospace giant and two Israeli arms firms win EU contracts totalling €100m

Airbus and two Israeli arms companies will be paid €100m (£91m) to operate unmanned drones to spot refugees and migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean sea to Europe, according to EU contracts.

Drone operations over the Mediterranean will start next year, after testing carried out on the Greek island of Crete.

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