By Garth Calitz Airbus has officially put its newest freighter into the air, with the first A350F completing its maiden flight from Toulouse on 29 September 2026. It is a significant moment not only for Airbus but for the entire heavy air-cargo market, where Boeing has enjoyed something approaching squatter’s rights for decades. The 747 Freighter became an icon, the 777F has been enormously successful, and Airbus has never really managed to loosen Boeing’s grip on the upper e

By Garth Calitz Nothing sticks — not controversy, not court cases, not government investigations. Apparently, not even R85 million. There are companies that occasionally have a bad experience with a government tender. There are companies that have an unfortunate contract dispute. There are companies that discover, usually to their considerable annoyance, that regulators actually read the paperwork. And then there is Flyfofa. We have all heard some details about the many isola

By Pieter van der Sandt South Africa has one of Africa's richest aviation histories: a story of pioneering flights, wartime courage, ingenuity, and an enduring fascination with flight. It survives in museum aircraft and private hangars, but also in fading photographs, logbooks, letters and personal memories. Too much of that history, however, remains scattered and vulnerable. Important collections are often held privately and known only to a small circle of enthusiasts. When

Embraer’s C-390 Millennium has added another flag to its growing list of international operators, with Uzbekistan taking delivery of its first aircraft on 25 September. The handover, conducted at Embraer’s facility in Gavião Peixoto, Brazil, makes Uzbekistan the first C-390 operator in Central Asia and represents another significant step in the Brazilian manufacturer’s increasingly successful assault on the medium military transport market. The aircraft was formally handed ov

By Garth Calitz Aviation has produced plenty of aircraft that found themselves doing jobs they were never originally designed for. Agricultural aircraft became fire bombers, military transports became firefighting tankers and even airliners have occasionally found themselves converted into rather enormous flying buckets. Now, Game Aerospace is trying something different: build an aircraft specifically for fighting fires from the drawing board. The company's GB2 Stormbird comp

There is a slightly strange thing happening in South African aviation. The country's major airports are now handling almost as many passengers as they did before COVID-19 brought the aviation industry to its knees, yet there are fewer aircraft movements taking place. In other words, the passengers have largely come back, but quite a few of the aeroplanes haven't. According to Airports Company South Africa's latest figures for the financial year ending 31 March 2026, passenger

By Garth Calitz Swedish company unveils 36-seat hybrid-electric regional aircraft as JSX commits to up to 100 aircraft. The regional airliner may be about to get an electrical makeover. Swedish aerospace company Heart Aerospace has unveiled its new ES-36, a 36-seat hybrid-electric regional aircraft that represents a substantial redesign of the company's earlier ES-30 concept. At the same time, US regional carrier JSX has signed a deposit-backed agreement for 50 aircraft, with

South Korea has taken a major step into the increasingly crowded world of indigenous fighter-aircraft development, with the Republic of Korea Air Force formally receiving its first production KF-21 Boramae on 22 September. The aircraft, serial 26-001, was accepted from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) at its Sacheon facility before being flown to Yecheon Air Base, marking the beginning of a new chapter for a programme that has taken more than a decade to reach this point. The