The World of Aviation

The final Airbus A380 has now completed its initial stages of assembly in Toulouse, including its completed fuselage, as operations wind down at Airbus’ flagship factory in France. This assembly of the final A380 – MSN 272 – marks the end of an era, as the aircraft’s short and sweet tenure comes to an end

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 aviation downturn, Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s Civil Aviation Minister, expects there to be a pilot shortage of nearly 10,000 within the next five years. Puri has said the country will require 9,488 new pilots within the next five years, to keep up with expected growth trends within the nation’s aviation sector.

On 20 September 2020, Boeing announced a firm order from an unidentified customer for two 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighters (BCF), as well as agreements to open additional conversion lines in Guangzhou, China, and Singapore to meet strong market demand. Based on the popular Next-Generation 737, the 737-800BCF offers operators newer technology, lower fuel consumption, and

German flag-carrier Lufthansa has announced it will be reducing its fleet by 150 aircraft – 50 more than previously expected – in light of the ongoing COVID-19 aviation crisis. The airline will also be moving its eight remaining A380 aircraft into long-term storage, and it is expected these aircraft will likely never fly passengers again.

A number of aviation workers unions have now raised concerns over the 737 MAX’s emergency alerting systems within the cockpit, and called for an overhaul on both systems and procedures. The union representing safety engineers at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has joined over 200 other responders in posting a public comment on the proposed

Airlines around the world have renewed their call for governments to implement mandatory COVID-19 tests for all departing international travellers in lieu of border closures and quarantine requirements, which have been blamed for the ongoing air travel crisis. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is advocating for fast and affordable COVID-19 tests that can be