Air Data News
• Ricardo Meier
Airbus delivered 57 commercial aircraft in August, taking its first-eight-month total 9% above 2025 and keeping the manufacturer broadly on course for its 2026 goal of about 870 handovers. An A330 production snag and August’s slower pace, however, increase pressure on deliveries later this year.
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Airbus is nearing a narrowbody order from Egypt’s Air Cairo as the low-cost carrier seeks to secure delivery slots and expand operations. The deal would add to Airbus’s commercial backlog, but the aircraft type, quantity and timing were not disclosed.
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Airbus delivered 57 commercial aircraft in August, taking its first-eight-month total 9% above 2025 and keeping the manufacturer broadly on course for its 2026 goal of about 870 handovers. An A330 production snag and August’s slower pace, however, increase pressure on deliveries later this year.
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American Airlines’ replacement decision for its 777-200ER fleet has narrowed to two widebody aircraft. The evaluation turns on range, fuel burn, delivery timing and fleet commonality, with AirInsight identifying a preferred option and suggesting Boeing faces a potentially significant loss.
ST Engineering iDirect demonstrated a pilot version of its INT3000 user equipment modem at the European Space Agency’s 5G NTN Forum. The multi-waveform 5G New Radio Non-Terrestrial Network device is intended to extend iDirect’s satellite networking technology into the broader 5G ecosystem, including aircraft connectivity applications.
Israel Aerospace Industries has completed the maiden flight of its first Airbus A330-300 passenger-to-freighter conversion, beginning airborne testing for the aircraft’s certification campaign. The flight advances IAI’s planned expansion into A330-300 freighter conversions and adds a new widebody platform to its cargo-modification portfolio.
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Airbus reached a preliminary agreement with four unions representing workers at its Spanish plants after more than two months of strikes and government-mediated talks. The dispute included demands for an 18% pay increase; the agreement marks a potential breakthrough but does not yet establish that the industrial action has ended.
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Airbus nearly halted A330neo deliveries for about three months after identifying a quality issue involving the horizontal tailplane, including a stray tool found in one aircraft’s tail section. Inspections and corrective work have allowed handovers to resume, but some deliveries will slip into 2026.
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KLM’s first A350-900 has completed its initial test flight in Toulouse, marking a milestone in the aircraft’s production and handover process. The flight advances KLM’s introduction of Airbus’ long-haul widebody into its fleet.
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