Boeing is courting airlines for firm launch orders of its proposed reengined, rewinged 777X derivative, following board of directors' approval on May 1 of the overall design and program plans. The new twinjet is a radical revamp of the 777, more ambitious in scale than even the development of the 747-8, and is designed to open new space in the long-haul, high-capacity market, compete with the Airbus A350-1000 and replace the 747-400.

Composites manufacturing is proliferating through the supply chain, but the technology is far from new. Carbon fiber was introduced into aircraft production in the 1970s, and it will have taken more than 40 years of researching, testing and scaling up to reach the levels of composites manufacturing expected when the Airbus A350, Boeing 787 and Lockheed Martin F-35 reach full-rate production.

The European Commission's decision to suspend its Emissions Trading System (ETS) for flights into and out of Europe for a year was published in the EU's Official Journal on April 24. Consequently, the “stop-the-clock” decision is now in force, and aircraft operators do not have to surrender carbon dioxide allowances and project credits to account for their emissions on flights operated out of Europe in 2012.

Aviation takes an iterative approach to safety. The logic is that even the most thorough analysis and testing will not uncover all the “unknown unknowns” of a new technology or design.

Aims to drive large-aircraft advances into smaller regional airliners

Advanced manufacturing will be key focus for new U.K. institute

An opportunity may be slipping from South Korea's hands—if it was ever there. Since at least 2010, the country's government and industry have been working to begin developing a 90-seat turboprop regional airliner, but talks with the latest prospective partner, Bombardier, have failed.

Subsidies drive growth of unprofitable regional routes