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Airbus called the unexpected vote of confidence the largest commercial aircraft order by dollar value ever. It came as EADS showed off the capabilities of its embattled A400M military transporter plane and as it faces a dispute with German military bosses over problems with two of its new helicopters. Emirates' EMIRA.UL order would be worth just over $11 billion at a list price of $346.5 million per plane, though airlines typically receive discounts for large orders. It brings the airline's total A380 order to 90 planes. Emirates Chief Executive Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum said he expected all 90...

Airbus Military has begun bench testing systems for a signals intelligence variant of the A320, as part of a drive to expand its offering of military derivatives of Airbus commercial platforms. Equipment is being tested at one of the company's facilities near Madrid under a self-funded feasibility study, says Miguel-Angel Morell, senior vice-president engineering and technology. He confirms that applications being tested "are electronic,communications and signals intelligence". Senior vice-president commercial Antonio Rodriguez-Barberán says: "We have initiated preliminary conversations with some potential customers with regard to an application of this type. We will do this with the same philosophy as our...

Airframer data for the crashed Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330-200 shows that it had accumulated just 1,600 flight hours before the accident. Airbus has confirmed the carrier's identification of the airframe as serial number 1024, adding that it had conducted some 420 flights since delivery in September. "Preliminary reports indicate that the aircraft crashed short of the runway threshold during approach," it adds. There is no information on the level of experience of the cockpit crew. Afriqiyah confirms that a child was the sole survivor from among the 93 passengers - mainly Dutch nationals - and 11 crew on board. Video...

Airbus Military successfully conducted the first torpedo launch from one of its C295 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA). This represents an important milestone in the development of the antisubmarine version of the C295 MPA. It is also a significant entry for Airbus Military into the market of Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) aircraft, currently dominated by veteran aircraft such as the P-3 Orion and the Atlantique. The C295 MPA/ASW includes two under-wing pylons for the installation of torpedoes and other external loads. It also incorporates a Store Management System (SMS), integrated with the Airbus Military Fully Integrated Tactical System (FITS), to control...

France has found what could be the first concrete clues to the location of black boxes missing from last year's Atlantic jet disaster, but warned on Thursday there was no guarantee the breakthrough would lead to their recovery.The defense ministry said the boost had come through detailed follow-up analysis of sonar readings taken in the first few weeks after an Air France jet crashed into the Atlantic killing 228 people on June 1 last year. Finding the black boxes is seen as essential to help crash experts and relatives understand exactly what caused flight 447 to plunge into a remote...

MEXICO CITY (BNO NEWS) -- A large cargo plane crashed near Monterrey International Airport in northern Mexico on late Tuesday, killing at least several people, reports said. The Airbus A300 belonging to AeroUnion went down shortly after 11 p.m. local time and crashed near the airport, causing a major traffic chaos. The Milenio newspaper reported that five crew members were believed dead. The newspaper reported that most of the aircraft crashed on the grounds of the airport, although a turbine and wing fell off and landed on a highway near the airport. There were conflicting reports on if there were...

Defense Department officials here March 31 informed companies interested in bidding on the KC-X aerial refueling tanker contract that if the European Aeronautics Defense and Space Co. formally expresses an intention to compete, the bidding deadline would be extended 60 days, the Pentagon press secretary said March 31. "We are committed to a fair, open and transparent competition in order to get the best airplane to our warfighters at the best value to the taxpayers," Geoff Morrell announced in a late-afternoon news conference here. Officials announced the final request for proposals, the Air Force requirements for the refueling tanker and...

The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that it would extend the bidding deadline for the Air Force's new refueling aircraft by 60 days if EADS North America formally notifies the Defense Department that it wants to compete.
 The move, announced by Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell, could essentially allow EADS North America to compete for the lucrative contract against Boeing. EADS is a European conglomerate that serves as the parent company of Airbus, which is headquartered in France. The Pentagon's announcement comes a day after President Barack Obama addressed the tanker competition in a press conference with his French counterpart Nicolas...

European plane-maker Airbus will decide in two to three weeks whether to compete for a US military contract to build an aerial refuelling tanker, its chief said in an interview published Monday. Airbus's parent company, EADS, and its US partner Northrop Grumman dropped a joint bid for the contract earlier in March as the companies alleged that the Pentagon's requirements were skewed in favour of US aerospace giant Boeing. "The Pentagon has asked us to decide if we would like to participate, but this time as the main contractor," Airbus chief executive Thomas Enders told the Financial Times Deutschland. "It...

Boeing’s biggest supporters roared out of the gate Tuesday after the World Trade Organization issued a final ruling that Airbus enjoyed unfair subsidies from European governments. “Enough is enough. For too long, workers in Washington state have had to fight an uphill battle. Instead of competing just with Airbus, they’ve been forced to compete with the deep pockets of European governments that supply Airbus with illegal launch aid,” Sen. Patty Murray of Washington said in a statement. Then she aimed straight at the tanker competition. “It’s clear that the A330, the very plane Airbus would offer our military, has received...

European airspace giant EADS has called for a 90-day extension to the tendering process for a multi-billion-dollar deal to supply the US air force with tanker jets, a Pentagon official said Friday. "They've indicated to the department that they would like to see us extend the time frame 90 days," spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The tendering process is due to close around mid-May. "We would consider reasonable extensions," Whitman said, adding that the "next step is for them to give us some specifics in terms of what they need the additional time for." He confirmed that EADS could put in...

Europe's EADS has told the Pentagon of its possible interest in continuing to vie for a multibillion-dollar contract for a new U.S. aerial refueling fleet despite the end of a trans-Atlantic partnership formed to bid, the Pentagon said on Thursday.The Defense Department would welcome an EADS bid and would consider a "reasonable extension" to the May deadline for bids if necessary, said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, in an emailed statement. Absent a bid involving Airbus parent EADS , rival Boeing Co is poised to win a sole-source contract to build up to 179 refueling planes and compete for...

Resumption of the search for the flight recorders from crashed Air France flight AF447 has been delayed, but French investigators expect a US detection vessel to arrive in Brazil next week. The Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses states that the vessel, the Anne Candies, is predicted to reach Recife around 24 March. Its departure for the scene had been held up by "administrative and technical difficulties", says the BEA, as well as poor weather conditions. Recovery teams are planning to use deep-water search equipment in a bid to find the wreckage of the Airbus A330 which came down in the South...

Boeing has unveiled today the 'NewGen Tanker', the aerial refueling aircraft being proposed for the U.S. Air Force KC-X tanker competition. According to Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, the Boeing NewGen Tanker will satisfy all mandatory Air Force requirements and offer an American-made tanker that will be capable, survivable, and combat-ready at the lowest cost to the taxpayer.

The 132 passengers aboard Lufthansa Flight LH 044 had experienced the fright of their lives by the time their plane rolled up to the gate at the Hamburg airport in Germany. But they weren't yet aware of just how much danger they'd been exposed to. snip. . . The cause of the incident was a quirk in the Airbus A320's flight computer.

Air Force launched a new competition Wednesday for a contract to begin replacing the nation's aging fleet of aerial tankers, but it's not clear whether Northrop Grumman and its European partner will bid against Boeing for the $35 billion deal. The initial contract is for 179 new tankers, but the deal eventually could be worth $100 billion as the Air Force replaces its fleet of about 600 Cold War-era tankers in what could be one of the largest Pentagon purchases ever. There apparently were few major changes from an earlier "request for proposals" that drew sharp criticism from the Northrop...

The US Air Force will release on Wednesday the final terms for a 35-billion-dollar competition to replace the country's aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers, a US defense official said. The move marks the latest attempt by the Pentagon to build new tanker aircraft in a project marred by controversy and scandal dating back to 2001. The final request for proposal was expected to be issued on Wednesday after the close of US markets, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Tuesday. The lucrative competition pits Airbus parent EADS and its partner Northrop Grumman against arch-rival...

EADS North America has offered a plan for the US Air Force to purchase 118 Airbus A400Ms using savings from retiring most Lockheed Martin C-130Hs and all C-5As. The EADS proposal was submitted last year to the Air Mobility Command (AMC) upon their request, says Neil F. Smith, director of A400M programme for EADS NA. The concept proposes to stand-up about eight squadrons of A400Ms within the US mobility force structure, Smith says. "We get a very good reception" at AMC, Smith says. EADS has been seeking to introduce the A400M in the US market for several years, arguing that...

The biggest potential threat to the dominance of Western aircraft makers has been unveiled at the Singapore Air Show. China's answer to Boeing and Airbus is showing a slender, blue-and-white model of the Comac C919 aircraft for the first time outside the mainland. Its introduction was low-key, a move consistent with how Chinese firms prefer to operate overseas. The aircraft, designed and built entirely in China, will compete directly against industry stalwarts A320 and Boeing 737 after completing flight trials in four years. It should be available commercially by 2016. "That's our plan," an official from the Commercial Aircraft Corporation...

NEW YORK (AFP) – For sale: second-hand Airbus. Condition: total wreck with possible traces of goose feathers. The US Airways plane that Captain Chesley Sullenberger landed safely in the Hudson River a year ago after smashing into a flock of geese is on the auction block. Insurers AIG are hosting online bidding until March 27 for the Airbus A320, which is stored in a shed in New Jersey. Pictures on the website of the AIG subsidiary handling the sale show the intact fuselage, spooky rows of empty blue seats and the hastily abandoned cockpit. Engines are not provided and a...