Aerospace Archives

British airline EasyJet said it had pushed back the delivery of 24 aircraft to between 2025 and 2027 and secured additional flexibility on orders from planemaker Airbus as part of its planning for a smaller travel market.

Belgium's capital has all the attributes needed to establish itself as Europe's hub for night-trains, according to a group in favour of resurrecting the services, which also sees the coronavirus crisis and the EU Green Deal as opportunities for rail's most romantic of journeys.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) granted this week an electric aircraft worldwide certification to operate, in what the regulator hailed as a massive step forward in battery-powered flight.

The French government on Tuesday (9 June) lifted the lid on a €15 billion support package for its lucrative but embattled aerospace sector. The scheme involves a €500 million investment fund for smaller companies and a plan to debut a carbon-neutral plane by 2035.

A French emergency plan for the aerospace industry to be unveiled this week could be worth up to €10 billion, including an expected €1 billion investment fund, business newspaper Les Echos reported on Sunday (7 June).

Coronavirus has hastened the demise of the Airbus A380 - the world’s largest airliner - as the aviation industry scrambles to adapt to lower demand for air travel, which has essentially made the double-decker super-jumbo a plane out of time.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Monday (4 May) started advising airports on how to resume operations properly, after the coronavirus outbreak grounded a majority of flights. Operators will have to check for debris and wild animals, among a slew of other points.

Developments in the aerospace industry are falling by the wayside because of the coronavirus outbreak’s huge impact on the sector: US planemaker Boeing has abandoned international joint venture plans while European rival Airbus has nixed a project aimed at producing electric-powered aircraft.

Portugal may need to nationalise its flag carrier TAP and other companies badly hit by the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Tuesday (14 April).

The European Commission approved Sweden’s half-billion euro support scheme for airlines on Saturday (11 April), in what is one of the first major forays into bailing out Europe’s coronavirus-hit airlines.

Airbus has shelved plans to add a French assembly line for its A321neo aircraft just 10 weeks after the expansion was launched, as the coronavirus fallout spreads to its best-selling jetliner.

German flag-carrier Lufthansa will send six of its 14 A380s - the world’s largest commercial airliner - into early retirement, due to massive disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The decision comes just as airlines gear up to request bailouts from governments.

The economic crisis caused by the coronavirus is also threatening the aviation industry. While Boeing's production of commercial aircraft is virtually at a standstill, Airbus intends to downsize production. EURACTIV's partner La Tribune reports.

The European Commission announced a €100 million investment in a prototype rocket programme on Tuesday (21 January), as Europe aims to keep a firm hold in a space industry predicted to be worth €1 trillion in the coming years.

With the European Commission under pressure to deliver on its green commitments and increase funding for research and development in the field, aerospace companies are slowly starting to recognise Europe as a trail blazer towards greening their sector.

Europe's CHEOPS planet-hunting satellite is set to leave Earth Wednesday morning (18 December) a day after its lift-off was delayed by a technical rocket glitch during the final countdown.

The European Space Agency (ESA) will enjoy a budget of €14.4 billion over the next five years, after the agency’s 22 member states agreed on Thursday (28 November) to increase funding for space exploration.

Boeing on Monday said it expects the 737 MAX airplane, which was grounded after two crashes killed 346 people, to resume flying in January, delaying its return by one month.

The European defence market is looking towards two sixth-generation aircraft programmes – the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Aircraft System (FCAS) and the British-led Tempest fighter project. While pressure is mounting on EU member states to pick sides, the question of whether both projects can ultimately coexist remains.

As it looks to return to the Moon, NASA is open to the idea of international participation, which could mean a non-American setting foot on Earth's natural satellite for the first time in history, global space chiefs said Monday (21 October).

A newly created Commission department dedicated to the defence and space industries has given new momentum to the EU's defence union project. Nathalie Loiseau, head of the European Parliament’s defence committee, answered questions about where the sector is heading.

Air travel is not the only threat to life on earth, but it is a useful barometer of runaway economic growth and development that, if allowed to continue unmitigated, will irreparably harm the planet, writes Jonathan Gornall.