By Garth Calitz An aviation safety investigation, a pilot’s career on the line, and an uncomfortable question: how do you challenge a finding when the evidence you want to examine is no longer available? South African aviation has no shortage of regulations, procedures, committees and people whose job descriptions suggest that every conceivable eventuality has already been anticipated. Yet when something goes wrong, the system occasionally produces a result that leaves everyo

By Garth Calitz Saudi Airports Return to Operations After Missile and Drone Attacks, but Airline Suspensions and Conflict-Zone Warnings Continue to Threaten Regional Aviation Commercial aviation has spent decades refining its ability to manage turbulence, technical failures, airspace congestion and the occasional passenger who believes cabin crew are employed as personal servants. Its latest challenge is considerably more serious: operating in a region where missiles and dron

The European manufacturer is weighing an expansion of its flagship wide-body programme as airlines seek more long-haul aircraft. The challenge is turning strong demand into deliverable airliners. Airbus is preparing to make an earlier-than-expected decision on increasing production capacity for its A350 wide-body aircraft, as demand for long-haul jets puts pressure on the manufacturer's existing industrial capabilities. Speaking on 14 October, Airbus Commercial Aircraft CEO L

TAAG Angola Airlines CEO Miguel Caneiro takes the chair, with Air Botswana’s Bao Mosinyi as deputy. Their challenge? Turning Africa’s endless aviation promises into something passengers and airlines can actually use. The Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA) has elected new leadership for the next 12 months, with Miguel Caneiro, Chief Executive Officer of TAAG Angola Airlines, appointed Chairperson and Dr Bao Mosinyi, General Manager of Air Botswana, elected Deputy C

After three years of testing, Airbus UpNext’s Optimate demonstrator has completed its campaign, exploring how automation, artificial intelligence and advanced sensors could make aircraft taxiing and flight operations more efficient. The technology may be promising, but the final decision-maker in the cockpit remains reassuringly human. For three years, airports in Toulouse and Paris witnessed an unusual sight: an electric truck cruising around taxiways carrying a virtual repl

By Garth Calitz Airlink will launch twice-daily flights between Lanseria and Cape Town in December, giving Gauteng travellers another way south and, for some, the considerably more attractive prospect of avoiding the cross-city expedition to O.R. Tambo. Airlink is spreading its wings at Lanseria International Airport, announcing that it will launch twice-daily services between Lanseria and Cape Town from 4 December 2026. The new route will be Airlink’s first scheduled domesti

The Boeing 777-9 has returned to the aviation headlines for all the wrong reasons, with the aircraft's final certification campaign facing another potential delay as Boeing and GE Aerospace offer different explanations for what is holding up the start of the crucial ETOPS testing programme. Boeing says the Federal Aviation Administration has not yet authorised the start of the ETOPS flight-test campaign, with the process linked to additional work on the GE9X engine and, speci

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

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 South African Airways has been handed another uncomfortable reminder that decisions made years ago have a rather irritating habit of coming back to collect the bill. The Special Tribunal has declared unlawful SAA’s decision to extend an approximately R85 million dry-lease agreement with local aviation company Flyfofa Airways, ordering that any profit or unjustified enrichment arising from the arrangement be recovered, together with interest. The case is partic