The World of Aviation

Brunei has signed a contract to purchase 12 Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk multi-role helicopters with options on ten more. Deliveries of the aircraft are expected to begin in early 2013, Sikorsky said. As part of the deal, the US based company agreed to locate a Black Hawk simulator in Southeast Asia to allow Brunei aircrew

Lockheed Martin says it is developing a new lower cost version of its C-130J Super Hercules tactical airlifter. The C-130XJ will include the same Rolls-Royce AE2100 turboprop engines and Honeywell avionics suite as the C-130J but will drop its automated cargo system in favour of a manual system, the UK magazine Flight International reported, citing

Boeing says its 787-8 Dreamliner has set speed and distance records for its weight class during an around-the-world flight this week. The sixth 787, GEnx powered ZA006, departed Boeing Field in Seattle at 11:02 am on December 6 and flew eastbound to Dhaka, Bangladesh, a 19,144 km flight that broke the Airbus A330’s previous distance

The first US built Embraer Phenom 100 business jet has made a successful maiden flight, Embraer said. The aircraft flew to 41,000ft and reached its top speed with no anomalies during the two and a half hour flight, the company said. The Brazilian aircraft maker opened its production facility in Melbourne, Florida, in February and

Jetsar has denied a report that Jetstar Pacific is on the verge of being taken over by Vietnam Airlines, though it says it would support such a takeover. The Ho Chi Minh City based budget carrier has struggled since Jetstar parent Qantas bought a minority stake in the airline in 2008 and rebranded it under

Boeing and Los Angeles based Air Lease Corporation (ALC) have finalised a deal for four 787-9 Dreamliners as ALC also exercised options on four 737-800s. The deal, first announced at the Paris Air show in June, has a total value at list prices of $1.2 billion. The 787-9 is the larger version of Boeing’s new