Airliner World – May 2019 Highlights

Hello and welcome to your preview of our May 2019 edition, on sale NOW! We’ve travelled the world to bring you behind the scenes access, exclusive previews, interviews with key players and expert analysis. Here are some of the highlights from the May issue:

After taking delivery of its maiden example last year, easyJet is consolidating its new A321neo fleet in preparation for the peak 2019 season. In the first of an exclusive two-part article, Airliner World chronicles the new aircraft’s entry into service by going behind the scenes and talking to key players involved in the ambitious project.

As far as jumbo jobs go, our next story lives up to the name. For many of these outgoing jumbos, the end is rather undignified – withdrawn from service, stripped of usable spares and then left to gather dust in a desert boneyard or, worse still, they succumb to the scrap man’s axe. But for one former KLM Royal Dutch Airlines example, a very different future lies in wait…

Spanning 11 time zones and stretching 5,600 miles (9,000km) from the Black Sea in the west to the Bering in the east, Russia is vast. The nation also incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms, from deserts to semiarid steppes to deep forests and Arctic tundra. Such diversity holds great appeal for the avid traveller, while for the aviation enthusiast the country remains a veritable treasure trove of rare and classic aircraft. Join us as we experience the ultimate Russian aviation tour and traversing Siberia in the pursuit of rare Soviet-era aircraft.

It’s easy to take for granted the professional cabin crews who ensure the smooth-running of a commercial flight, but high levels of dedicated training and strict assessment are vital before they earn their ‘wings’. We spent the day with cabin crew trainer David Gott and his new class of 18 recruits to get the low-down at Virgin Atlantic.

Air Inuit is one of several remarkable airlines plying their trade in northern Canada. The Inuit-owned carrier began operations with a single de Havilland Beaver in 1978 and today, more than 40 years later, the company has grown into a significant regional player. Our author fulfills a lifelong dream of travelling to Canada to experience Air Inuit’s famous ‘milk run’ routes that connect communities in the extreme north of Québec.

The prolonged disruption caused by low, small and slow unmanned air systems (UASs) at Gatwick Airport between the night of December 19 and the morning of December 21 completely changed the way many viewed drones. No longer considered harmless toys, they have quickly become a menace known for bringing one of the world’s busiest single runway airports to a complete standstill. Airliner World considers the threat posed by small, unmanned air systems to commercial aviation.

For decades, the Gulf region has been enormously important within the global commercial aviation scene. And while the so-called ‘Middle East Big Three’ – Etihad Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways – continue to dominate, a second wave of carriers, including Kuwait Airways, are investing heavily and growing rapidly.

Finally, we bring you our comprehensive coverage of worldwide news, including a full report on this year’s ITB Berlin and a photospread from the biennial Australian International Airshow in Avalon, plus the latest on the global Boeing 737 MAX grounding, details of major orders from the Lufthansa Group and Virgin Atlantic heads to Brazil. We also have all our regular sections covering the latest commercial aircraft acquisitions, up-to-date accident reports and developments from the world of aviation training and MROs.