Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner flight test fleet passed 1,000 hours of testing last month and is now about 40 per cent through the test conditions required to certify the first version of the all-new jetliner. “More work remains but we are seeing excellent progress in flight test,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 programme for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “Even more important than the hours we’ve logged are the test conditions we … [Read more...] about AMERICAS: Dreamliner passes 1,000 hours of flying

Continental Airlines has said it plans to start daily B787 flights between Houston Intercontinental and Lagos in November 2011, launching what will be its first-ever service to Africa. Chairman, president and CEO Jeff Smisek said the IAH-LOS flights “will link two energy capitals and fill the growing demand for nonstop service between the two cities, a route which is currently not served by any other airline.” … [Read more...] about AMERICAS: Continental to start first Africa service in 2011

American Airlines Cargo Division (AA Cargo) has announced it has expanded the weight limit for its international Priority Parcel Service (PPS) to provide customers with additional flexibility in shipping heavier, time-sensitive packages. PPS Heavyweight provides a per piece weight limit increase to 46 kilogrammes for shipments originating in the US to all countries worldwide, with the exception of Japan. … [Read more...] about AMERICAS: AA Cargo ups priority parcel weight limit

US air freight traffic grew 22.1 per cent in the first quarter, aided by strong growth in international markets, according to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. But overall freight traffic for US carriers still remained below that of 2004 after several years of weak or declining cargo traffic for US carriers. The growth in the first quarter included a 9.8 per cent increase in domestic air cargo, helped by 40 per cent year-on-year gains in domestic traffic by Delta Air Lines and … [Read more...] about AMERICAS: US air cargo grew 22 per cent in 1Q

Brazil’s TAM has announced an order for 20 new Airbus A320 family aircraft and five A350-900, bringing the total number of orders for Airbus aircraft to 176 - including 134 aircraft of the A320 family, 15 A330-200 and 27 A350 XWB. The A320 and A350 XWB aircraft will operate on existing routes in TAM’s network. In respect to the 20 orders from A320 (A319, A320 and A321) family, ten shall be delivered in 2014 and the remaining ten in 2015. … [Read more...] about AMERICAS: TAM Linhas Aéreas places 25 aircraft order