FlightGlobal Focus

FlightGlobal's Airlines team looks back on a busy week, which saw Lufthansa Group emerge as the winning bidder for TAP Air Portugal, as well as lots of debate at two IATA events in Brussels on the EU emissions trading system and sustainable aviation fuel mandates.
We also discuss how the recent Houthi attacks on Riyadh and other Saudi Arabian airports are affecting airline plans to fly to the kingdom.

The latest from Toulouse, where Airbus is weighing the option of stretching out its A350 and A220. Plus, we visited turbofan blade maker Chromalloy in Tampa to explore a supply crunch that has the industry tied in knots, and we watched Regent’s all-electric seagliders take flight over Narragansett Bay.

In something of an industrial coup, Boeing has secured government contracts to build both the US Air Force F-47 and US Navy F/A-XX sixth-generation fighters.

It's a stunning reversal for a company whose fighter manufacturing business seemed to be on shaky footing just a few short years ago. What does the dual win mean for Boeing's industrial rivals? And does one company designing both fighters mean the two jets will share a high level of commonality?

FlightGlobal's Americas defence reporter Ryan Finnerty speaks with aerospace analysts Richard Aboulafia of AeroDynamic Advisory and Tony Bancroft of Gabelli Funds to find out.

FlightGlobal's Americas and European Airlines editors take a look at September's air traffic control system failures in the UK, the wind-down of Spirit Airlines in the USA, and what's going on in the US regional aviation sector.
We also examine the age-old issue of whether London Heathrow will ever build a third runway.

The FlightGlobal Focus team explores recent headlines, from Airbus adapting its wing-manufacturing strategy to meet roaring demand, to Boeing navigating ETOPS delays amid a GE9X seal redesign, to Vertical Aerospace opening a Kemble assembly site while seeking strategic partners.