Drones to Require Compulsory Registration
Drones weighing little more than half
a standard tin of baked beans must
be registered by operators, following
safety calls from the British Airline Pilots
Association (BALPA).
New government rules – involving
drones of eight ounces (226 grams) or
more – were announced on July 22.
Full details of how the registration plan
will work have yet to be issued, but theintent is to make it easier to track drones
own in an allegedly risky manner or that
have infringed protected airspace
BALPA has previously warned of a
catastrophe unless drones are subject to
tougher regulations. The number of reported
near misses has increased dramatically over
the last year as the popularity of drones has
grown, and three aircraft narrowly missed
being in collision with drones near HeathrowAirport in just three weeks during 2016.
After Gatwick Airport brie y closed its
runway and diverted four ights on July
1, when a drone penetrated its airspace,
BALPA called for mandatory registration of
drones. This view was supported by a report
published by the Department of Transport
on July 22, which showed readily available
drones can penetrate an aircraft windscreen
or shatter a helicopter rotor. David Smith.German start-up AZUR air began ying from Düsseldorf to Palma, Spain in early July after receiving its Air Operator Certi cate (AOC) on June- Other proposed destinations include Greece, Egypt, Turkey and the Dominican Republic. Azur Air Germany currently has two Boeings 767-
300ERs, D-AZUB and D-AZUC, and operates from Düsseldorf and Berlin-Schönefeld. Javier Rodríguez
CIVIL NEWS
14 Aviation News incorporating Jets September 2017AZUR air Starts Operations
JetMagic’s Boeing 757-23A, 9H-AVM (c/n 24527), is supporting Irish rock band U2 on the
European legs of The Joshua Tree tour. It has been given special markings to promote the tour,
which celebrates the 30th anniversary of their 1987 album of the same name. This is not the
rst time 9H-AVM has been linked with a rock band, having previously carried US rockers Guns
N’ Roses during their European tour. Paul DoyleThe Joshua Tree
and JetMagic
Airbus Secures Major Chinese Order
Airbus has signed a General Terms
Agreement (GTA) with the state-owned
China Aviation Supplies Holding
Company (CAS) for 140 aircraft. The deal
comprises 100 A320 Family jets and 40
A350 XWBs.
Tom Enders (Airbus CEO) and Sun Bo
(EVP of CAS) signed the GTA in Berlin in
the presence of visiting Chinese PresidentXi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela
Merkel.
“This is a great endorsement for our
leading products in both single-aisle and
widebody segments,” said Enders. “China
is today one of the world’s most important
markets for aviation, and we are honoured
to support the development and rapid
growth of the nation’s civil aviation with ourcompetitive product portfolio.”
The in-service Airbus eet in China
numbered 1,440 aircraft at the end of
May, with A320 Family jets accounting for
1,230 of those. The European aerospace
giant has a nal assembly line for the
A320 Family in Tianjin and is also opening
an A330 cabin completions centre in the
northern Chinese city.LOT Goes
Long-haul
from Budapest
The Polish Airline LOT intends to launch
long-haul services from Budapest. The
year-round links – four times a week to
New York and twice-weekly to Chicago- are due to introduced next May and
will be the rst direct services from the
Hungarian capital to the US since 2011.
They will be operated by a Boeing 787
Dreamliner will be permanently based at
Budapest/Ferenc Liszt.
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