By Garth Calitz South Africa’s long-running general aviation battle over the so-called 12-year engine rule appears to be approaching a significant turning point. After years of consultation, debate, technical arguments, regulatory reviews, and enough paperwork to probably qualify as an aircraft component in its own right, the 36th Amendment to the Civil Aviation Regulations has finally been signed off by Transport Minister Barbara Creecy. The Minister signed the amendment on

By Garth Calitz South African Airways can appoint an Acting Group Chief Executive Officer. There is nothing particularly unusual about that. Companies do it all the time when a permanent executive leaves, goes on leave or becomes unavailable. But SAA is not simply another company filling an empty executive chair. It is the holder of an Air Operator Certificate and operates large commercial passenger aircraft under South Africa's Part 121 regulations. That means there is an im

By Garth Calitz The court battle over South Africa’s Working on Fire programme may have appeared to have reached a finality when the Pretoria High Court cleared the way for Tefla Group to take over the R1.8-billion contract, but it may not be over. While Working on Fire/Kishugu has already failed in its urgent attempt to stop the transition, AfriForum is now pursuing a different route — one that could potentially expose the procurement record behind the controversial award. A

Textron Aviation has announced the delivery of the 500th Cessna Citation CJ4, marking more than a decade of production for the light business jet and providing a milestone for the programme as development of the next-generation Citation CJ4 Gen3 continues. The milestone aircraft, a Citation CJ4 Gen2, was delivered to a customer in the Philippines. The delivery also reflects the international customer base for the CJ4, which has been used for corporate transportation, owner-op

By Garth Calitz Air Botswana, Botswana’s national flag carrier, is facing a growing operational challenge as two of its Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets remain grounded in Namibia, despite earlier expectations that they would return to service by July 2026. Their continued absence has contributed to schedule reductions and the cancellation of routes including Gaborone–Windhoek and Maun–Windhoek. The situation highlights a familiar problem in African regional aviation: owning or

The arrival of electric air taxis in the United Kingdom has moved another step closer to reality, with Joby Aviation and Virgin Atlantic signing a definitive multi-year agreement to develop and launch commercial electric air taxi services across the UK. Announced at the Farnborough International Airshow on 22 July 2026, the agreement turns a partnership first announced in 2025 into a binding commercial framework and establishes Virgin Atlantic as Joby’s exclusive airline part

Brazilian approval clears the way for deliveries of Cirrus Aircraft’s latest-generation Vision Jet, bringing greater cabin capacity, enhanced avionics and additional safety and convenience features to the South American market. Cirrus Aircraft has secured an important regulatory milestone for its latest-generation Vision Jet, with Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) granting type certification for the G3 Vision Jet. The approval, announced on 6 August 2026, clears

Alaska Airlines has taken delivery of its 100th Boeing 737 MAX, marking an important step in the airline’s ongoing fleet renewal and expansion programme. The milestone comes as the carrier prepares for further growth in both its domestic network and international operations, supported by an expanding fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and 787 Dreamliners. The latest delivery took place in Seattle, Washington, where Alaska Airlines employees joined Boeing personnel to mark the a

By Garth Calitz If South African aviation had a frequent flyer programme for regulatory amendments, many aircraft owners would already qualify for lifetime platinum status. After months of uncertainty, countless meetings, legal opinions, media statements and enough paperwork to keep several forests in business, there finally appears to be a glimmer of light at the end of the regulatory tunnel. Whether that light is the sun, an approaching train, or simply another committee me

By Rob Russell I remember writing an article, albeit in November 2018, talking of the consequences of there only being one runway available at Cape Town. Should it become blocked, there would be diversions all over the country. And passengers stranded at Cape Town that could not fly out. Read it here Well, it happened on a grey, misty and overcast day, Tuesday the 4th August 2026 to be precise An international operator due to land mid-morning on a scheduled flight had to dive