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☆ European airlines are adding up to 2 hours to flights to go around Niger after the African nation suddenly closed its airspace
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

This means airlines flying between Europe and southern Africa have to detour around the volatile nation. Carriers like British Airways and Air France are impacted, the latter adding up to two hours of flight time. Airlines like Virgin Atlantic Airways, Lufthansa, and Swiss International Airlines are also avoiding Niger. With the closure of Niger's airspace, airlines are now grappling with an even wider section of no-fly territory in north-central Africa. This map shows the African territories that European airlines cannot fly over.

Persons: —, FlightRadar24, they're Organizations: Carriers, British Airways, Air, Morning, Bloomberg, juntas, BCC, KLM, Cape Town, Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines, Japan Airlines, Finnair Locations: Europe, Africa, Air France, South Africa, Ghana, Niger, Johannesburg, London, Mali, Burkina Faso, Burkina Faso's, Ouagadougou, Cape, Entebbe, Uganda, Accra, Lagos, Nigeria, Russia, Helsinki, Tokyo, Germany, France, Libya, Sudan

☆ Lucid's second quarter deliveries fell short of estimates amid demand concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( John Rosevear | In Jrosevear | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Visitors walk at the Lucid Air during the Mobile World Congress 2023 (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering on February 28, 2023 in Barcelona, Spain. Luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Group said Wednesday that it delivered 1,404 of its Air sedans to customers in the second quarter, a bearish update amid demand concerns. Lucid's second-quarter deliveries compare with 1,406 deliveries in the first quarter of 2023 and 679 in the second quarter of 2022. Wall Street analysts polled by FactSet had expected Lucid to deliver about 2,000 Airs in the second quarter. Lucid's stock has fallen about 58% in the last year through Tuesday amid growing concerns about demand for the Air luxury sedan.

Persons: FactSet, Wall, Peter Rawlinson, Lucid, Aston, Aston Martin Organizations: Mobile, Lucid, Wall Street, Air, Aston Martin, British, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund Locations: Barcelona, Spain, U.S

☆ Air taxi firm Lilium says in funding talks, defends battery design
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Tim Hepher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

PARIS, March 28 (Reuters) - German air taxi developer Lilium said on Tuesday it was in "active and constructive" discussions for new funding as it ramps up battery-cell production. But the challenge of securing certification and funding innovations such as batteries weigh heavily on the new sector. In November, Lilium raised $119 million from existing and new shareholders and partners such as Honeywell. Headed by former Airbus executive Klaus Roewe, Lilium is initially targeting contracts with large corporations and private individuals. Critics say the more radical design may be harder and take longer to certify than other eVTOL models.

☆ Boeing 767 freighter, KC-46 tanker face delivery snags due to fuel tank problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Valerie Insinna | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - A new supplier problem has stymied deliveries of Boeing's (BA.N) 767 freighter and KC-46 tanker, the company confirmed on Tuesday. On Monday, Leeham News reported a software problem had delayed some 737 MAX deliveries by up to a year. A Boeing spokesperson told Reuters the issue "does not affect the timing of Boeing airplane deliveries and has no impact to our delivery outlook." Boeing characterized the problem as a documentation issue that will not require rewriting software, and which mostly impacts aircraft that have already been delivered. Boeing has not changed its delivery target of 70 to 80 Dreamliners this year.

☆ FAA chief tells Senate that new procedures will avoid repeat of outage that halted U.S. flights
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Senate Commerce Committee hearing comes amid growing safety concerns about aviation safety after several close calls involving major U.S. airlines. The system failed when a contractor unintentionally deleted files during an update, the FAA has said. "After the incident, we implemented a synchronization delay to ensure that bad data from a database cannot affect a backup database," Nolen said in prepared remarks ahead of the hearing. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the committee's highest-ranking Republican, pressed Nolen on improvements to the NOTAM system: "Can a single screwup ground air traffic nationwide?" Nolen replied: "Could I sit here and tell you there will never be an issue on the NOTAM system?

☆ A United Airlines flight plunged within 800 feet of the Pacific Ocean on the same day severe turbulence injured 25 people, data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A United Airlines flight plummeted to just 800 feet above the Pacific Ocean late last year, data shows. The incident occurred the same day 25 people were injured from extreme turbulence on a Hawaiian Airlines flight. United Airlines said in a statement that after the pilots landed the plane at San Francisco International Airport, they filed "the appropriate safety report." The incident came on the same day that a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Phoenix to Hawaii experienced extreme turbulence that injured dozens of people. According to the Hawaiian Airlines pilot, a cloud suddenly "shot up," causing severe turbulence.

☆ Former CIA Director says it'd be 'impulsive' to try to shoot down China's spy balloon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Former CIA Director John Brennan said it'd be "impulsive" to shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon. Brennan told NBC News that China may have sent the balloon to test the US' response. The US defense department said it was a spy balloon, possibly flying over sensitive US sites to collect information. The former CIA director also questioned whether Chinese President Xi Jinping was "personally aware of this balloon flight." As of Saturday afternoon, the balloon had been spotted soaring over North Carolina as it drifted east on air currents.

☆ Factbox: High-altitude spy balloons: old concept, new applications
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Using high-altitude balloons for spying and other military missions is a practice that dates to the middle of the last century. No military targets were damaged, but several civilians were killed when one of the balloons crashed in an Oregon forest. * Just after World War 2, the U.S. military started exploring the use of high-altitude spy balloons, which led to a large-scale series of missions called Project Genetrix. * Such balloons typically operate at 80,000-120,000 feet (24,000-37,000m), well above where commercial air traffic flies - airliners almost never fly higher than 40,000 feet. * The U.S. military has tracked other spy balloons in recent years, including before President Joe Biden's administration, according to a senior U.S. defense official.

Early on Friday, the core of the cold air mass, driven from Arctic Canada into the United States by high-altitude air currents, was centered over the U.S. Plains, said weather service forecaster Bob Oravec. International Falls, Minnesota, was the coldest spot as of 7 a.m., with temperatures hovering around -36 F (-38 C). "It's moving into the Northeast" and temperatures will drop throughout the day on Friday, he said. By comparison, air temperatures in Eureka, Canada's northernmost Arctic weather station, were hovering at -41 F (-41 C) on Friday morning. Boston was about 22 above zero F (-6 C) on Friday morning, with temperatures expected to plummet throughout the day and hit -3 F (-19 C) by midnight.

☆ Lilium aims to build 400 air taxis a year, seek grants
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

PARIS, Sept 28 (Reuters) - German air taxi developer Lilium Air Mobility plans to set up industrial capacity to make some 400 of its electrically powered Lilium Jet flying shuttles a year, while tapping schemes that provide public research support, its new chief executive said. But the challenges of securing certification and funding the innovations such as fresh battery technology have weighed on the new sector. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"I am pushing hard (for) a production system for 400 aircraft. "Let's size it and let's see how we have to design a production system including the whole supply chain for 400 aircraft," Roewe said after a quarterly shareholder update. The company is planning for the first time to tap standard public sources of funds such as research grants, Roewe said.

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