Numbers worst in 40 years at Heathrow

One of the world's busiest airports, Heathrow has recorded the lowest annual passenger numbers since 1972.

Heathrow Airport officials in London, the capital of England, announced that the number of passengers fell to 19.4 million last year. This figure was recorded as the lowest level since 1972.

Passenger numbers dropped by 23 percent at Britain's largest airport, which recorded a pre-tax loss of £1.79 billion for 2021.

However, with the activity expected to increase in the summer months, it is aimed to reach the target of 45.5 million passengers this year. CEO John Holland-Kaye announced that they are hopeful for this year

US military helicopter crashed: 4 dead!

Four people were killed in a helicopter that crashed near a US base in Hawaii.

In the statement made by the US military, it was stated that the helicopter supported the training activities of the navy. It was reported that 4 people in the helicopter that crashed during the training exercise lost their lives.

After the incident, it was noted that the security forces and firefighters started investigations at the accident site, and an investigation into the accident was initiated.

 

Etna volcano erupted, air traffic stopped!

Etna, one of Italy's active volcanoes, has spewed ash and lava again.

On the island of Sicily in the south of the country, Etna Volcano, whose height is around 3 thousand 200 meters, experienced the second volcanic activity of this year after the intense volcanic activity on February 10.

It was stated that the air space around the volcano was closed due to the ash cloud, and air transportation at Catania Fontanarossa Airport was stopped as a precaution.

It was noted that many planes were diverted to the surrounding squares.

It was stated that ash fell on the houses in the settlements close to the volcano due to intense ash spraying

Head of FAA Resigns!

Steve Dickson, the head of the US Federal Aviation Administration, announced that he will leave the post with a flash decision.

Steve Dickson, who took over the US Federal Aviation Administration following two fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes, announced his resignation, effective March 31.

Dickson's unexpected decision to resign came midway through his five-year tenure. Announcing that he will leave with an e-mail to the staff, Dickson stated that he has been separated from his family for a long time and now wants to devote all his time to them. "As I wrote in my letter to President Biden, it's time to go home." said.

Dickson lives in Washington DC due to his tenure with the FAA and his family is in Georgia. 

Dickson, a former Delta Air Lines captain and head of flight operations, was appointed FAA Chairman by President Donald Trump, days after the two fatal crashes of Boeing's best-selling 737 MAX aircraft.

Virgin Galactic begins ticket sales

Virgin Galactic announced its plans to open ticket sales to the public as of yesterday. We are looking for 1000 people who are ready to give 450 thousand dollars, including a deposit of 150 thousand dollars for a 90-minute trip.

Virgin Galactic, the commercial space transportation company founded by British billionaire businessman Sir Richard Branson, started selling tickets with a deposit of 150 thousand dollars and a total of 450 thousand dollars as of February 16.

"We plan to get our first 1,000 customers on board at the start of commercial service this year, which provides an incredibly strong foundation as we begin regular operations and scale our fleet," said Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier.

Passengers will make a 90-minute journey at the edge of space for this 450 thousand dollars.

Passengers, who will be transported to an altitude of approximately 49,000 feet by the White Knight Two aircraft carrier, will spend a few minutes in a zero-gravity environment through the 17 windows of the vehicle when the spacecraft reaches a sufficient height.

The ticket will also include several days of astronaut training, a matching Under Armor spacesuit, and membership in the Future Astronaut community. On the other hand, all flights will be from Spaceport America in New Mexico.

While sub-orbital spaceflights may seem expensive, that figure is far less than the $55 million required for a 10-day SpaceX flight. While Virgin Galactic's main competitor is Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' company has yet to set a final price for suborbital tickets. Approximately 700 people, including Elon Musk, have booked this $450 thousand flight of Virgin Galactic

JetBlue and Airbus sign contract for 30 aircraft

JetBlue Airways signed a firm order for 30 more A220-300 aircraft with Airbus, bringing the total number of orders for the A220-300 aircraft to 100. With this latest agreement, the total number of orders for the A220 has increased to 740.

"We are already seeing the benefits of the 8 A220s we have added to the fleet and we are very happy that more are on the way," said Robin Hayes, CEO of JetBlue. “We have seen double-digit increases in customer satisfaction scores, and these fuel-efficient aircraft support our leadership in reducing carbon emissions. With 30 additional A220s on order, we are in a position to accelerate our fleet modernization plans to deliver stronger cost performance and support our focused city network strategy.” said.

Christian Scherer, Airbus Executive Vice President of Trade and President of Airbus International, said: “It is very satisfying to see a satisfied customer arriving with more aircraft orders one year after the first A220 entered service. We congratulate our colleagues at JetBlue for this landmark agreement.” “We have created a strong market for our new single-aisle aircraft, proving this once again, with more than 700 A220 orders to date.” said.

Jetblue began A220-300 operations in April 2021 and currently operates eight A220s in 140-seat configuration with USB-C, USB-A and AC power in each seat. The A220 also offers the largest cabin in its class, the highest ceiling, the largest windows and the largest overhead compartments.

The Airbus A220 is the only aircraft specially manufactured for the 100-150 seat market and flies with state-of-the-art aerodynamics, advanced materials, and Pratt & Whitney's latest generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines. Utilizing the latest technologies, the A220 is shown as the quietest, cleanest and most environmentally friendly aircraft in its category. Compared to previous generation aircraft, the aircraft is 50 percent quieter and has up to 25 percent lower fuel consumption per seat, as well as approximately 50 percent lower NOx emissions than industry standards.

With approximately 15 airlines operating nearly 200 A220 aircraft on four continents, the A220 is cited as the most suitable aircraft for both regional and long-haul routes.

Happy New Year to all 🎉

Arrival date of THY's first Airbus A350 has been announced

 

The arrival date of the first A350 type aircraft ordered by Turkish Airlines (THY) from Airbus has been announced.

The first of the A350 type aircraft orders THY has given to the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus will arrive in Istanbul on 21 October. 

The first voyage was planned for the first A350 in the fleet. THY's first A350 type aircraft will make its first flight from Istanbul to Antalya Airport.

The queue registrations of a total of 5 A350 aircraft that will join the THY fleet will be as follows; TC-LGA, TC-LGB, TC-LGC, TC-LGD, TC-LGE

Turkey's largest aircraft base maintenance hangar opened

Türk Hava Yolları Teknik A.Ş. completed the construction of new hangars, which will be an important part of the aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) complex at Istanbul Airport, and offered the first base maintenance hangars at Istanbul Airport to the service of its customers.

facility which will be Turkey's largest hangar with 60,000 m2 closed area. New base maintenance hangars that can serve 3 wide and 6 narrow body aircraft at the same time; It will further increase the competitive power of Turkish Technic in the ever-growing and developing global MRO sector. Türk Hava Yolları Teknik A.Ş. cares about the environment we live in and observes this sensitivity in all its activities; It also supports this policy with the new hangars opened to service.

The hangars, which will meet their water needs from rain water through cisterns, will also meet their energy needs from solar energy. Thanks to the semi-permeable polycarbonate panels used in the hangar pockets, it is possible to use the sunlight for a longer time in the heating of the hangars; The fuels that are in the tanks of the aircrafts taken into maintenance and that need to be emptied while taking into the hangar will be used. Equipped with the latest technology systems and equipment, all elements in and around the facility will be managed by smart automation systems.

Making statements about the opening of new base maintenance hangars, Türk Hava Yolları Teknik A.Ş. General Manager Ahmet Karaman said, “Türk Hava Yolları Teknik A.Ş. added a new milestone to its success stories. Istanbul Airport; Turkey and believe that the earth was the center of the new aviation and aerospace technical services which we offer we made our new investments, we are moving to a more advanced level. We are determined to make the growth of our country's civil aviation sustainable and to provide the highest quality service to our customers. In these difficult days of the world and our industry, I think the increase in our capabilities and capacity supports this commitment. We achieved a significant growth with our base maintenance hangars that we completed and carried out the first aircraft maintenance. With the completion of all phases in our maintenance complex consisting of environmentally friendly structures, we will be able to provide maintenance services to 45 aircraft at the same time. said.

THY Press Consultant Yahya Üstün used the following statements from his social media account:

"Our aircraft, which have huge dimensions with steel wings, also need attention and maintenance. THY Teknik A.Ş. has built one of the world's largest (60,000 m2 closed area) base maintenance hangars for your comfortable and safe travel. Good luck to our country's aviation."

'Baby Boom' was introduced

 

Boom introduced the new supersonic jet aircraft model. The model, which will host 88 passengers, will make its first flight in 2021.

NEW YORK-LONDON 3.5 HOURS

The aircraft in question will fly from New York to London in 3.5 hours with the help of its engines. With the aircraft used today, this flight takes 9 hours.

Home to three J85-15 engines used by the US military to power warplanes, the model will be able to reach Mach 1.3 speeds.

Nicknamed 'Baby Boom', the model will also go down in history as the first aircraft to fly 50 years ago since Concorde.

A MORE ACCESSIBLE WORLD

"Boom continues to move towards our founding mission. Our goal is to make the world a more accessible place," said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom, at the launch.