In the fall of 2004, the Scaled Composites team captured the $10 million Ansari X Prize with two historic flights of SpaceShipOne. At the same time that this remarkable vehicle was earning its pilots the nation’s first commercial astronaut wings, it was also laying the foundation for new markets and opportunities in the commercial space flight industry. Based on the success of SpaceShipOne, Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, Burt Rutan, founder of Scaled Composites, and Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, recently announced a partnership to operate the world’s first suborbital commercial space tourism flights in 2008. At the same time, a number of new prizes and incentives are being offered to entice further development within the industry. These include an annual X-Prize Cup, the America’s Space Prize, offering a $50 million award for the first commercial orbital reusable launch vehicle, and NASA’s Centennial Challenges, created to foster the development of space exploration technologies. In addition, current government space initiatives will continue to progress as embodied in NASA’s space exploration agenda and the nation’s expanding national defense capabilities for responsive access to space.

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Singapore Changi Airport’s status as an air hub received a boost with improved connectivity in the Northern Winter Season 2006, which spans from 29 October 2006 to 24 March 2007. Changi Airport now handles a record number of more than 4,160 weekly scheduled flights, an increase of 168 flights compared to the same period last year. The year-on-year growth can be attributed to the strong expansion of operations by both existing airlines and new airlines at Changi Airport.

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Amateur photographers have the chance to win big with 2006 race photographs.

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Representing a brand new international route for the Qantas Group, Vietnam is one of Australia’s fastest growing international travel markets. According to ABS original data for the 2005 calendar year, international visitors from Vietnam to Australia rose 23 per cent, whilst the South East Asian nation’s appeal saw a further double digit rise of 15 per cent in Australian residents visiting Vietnam last year, now representing 120,000 annually. Jetstar Flight JQ7 was today farewelled in celebratory style at Sydney Airport by Jetstar executives, Sydney Airport Chief Executive Officer Russell Balding and tourism leaders, and did so by capturing some of the culture, flavour and unique attractiveness of Vietnam.

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The largest multi-air sport championship to ever be held in one location was today (29 November) launched at New Zealand’s Parliament with the promise of groundbreaking media technology and a new era in spectator sports.

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EAA AVIATION CENTER, OSHKOSH, Wis. - (Nov. 28, 2006) - The new, exciting way to get involved in flying with less time and expense is coming to Southern California early next month! The Experimental Aircraft Association’s “Sport Pilot Tour” rolls into to Flabob Airport in Riverside, Calif., on Saturday, Dec. 2, and Brown Field in San Diego on Saturday, Dec. 9, ready to introduce people to the growing sport pilot revolution.

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ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang is about to become the first Swedish and the first Nordic astronaut in space. During the night of 7/8 December, he will board NASA’s Shuttle Discovery as Mission Specialist on flight STS-116. With his six crewmates, he will fly to the International Space Station on a mission to add a new section to its truss structure and to reroute electrical power supply and thermal control from its new set of solar arrays and radiators. Discovery will lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida at 03:36 CET (02:36 UTC) on 8 December. Docking with the ISS is scheduled for 00:00 CET on 10 December (23:00 UTC, 9 December).

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Brussels, 30 November 2006. At it’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Brussels today, the International Air Carrier Association voiced serious concerns about the direction of EU air transport policy and called upon European decision-makers to urgently adopt a more balanced approach. The Annual General Meeting which brought together senior executives from leisure airlines to engage in a dialogue with the European Commission and European Parliament, addressed the perception that air transport is frequently treated as the EU’s ‘least favourite mode of transport.’

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NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2006 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) — JetBlue Airways Corporation (Nasdaq:JBLU) today begins new nonstop service between Cancun, located on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, and its home base at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The low-fare carrier is currently offering a $59(a) sale fare each way. Regular one-way fares between New York and Cancun will range from $129 to $349 each way when booked at www.jetblue.com or by calling 1-800-JETBLUE or 800-861-3372 if calling from Mexico.

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To70. is pleased to announce that it has been accepted by the IACA Board of Directors to join the IACA Associate Membership programme. Prior to To70’s staff participation at their first IACA Annual General Meeting in Brussels on 30 November, To70’s Managing Director, Harjan Boering, said, “Associate Membership of IACA is an excellent opportunity for To70 to broaden its understanding of operational issues and expand it aviation activities by addressing the needs of a new customer base”.

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The world’s largest commercial airliner, the 555-seat Airbus A380, has successfully completed a series of technical route proving missions, receiving an enthusiastic welcome at each destination. Technical route proving is the last of the trials required for Type Certification, which is expected in mid-December. Returning from its final route that took it over the North Pole, the MSN002 landed in Toulouse, France today at 1.30 pm local time (12H30 UTC). This final flight left Vancouver, Canada under heavy snow conditions, on Wednesday 29th November at 4.25 pm local time (00H25 UTC)

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Dieter Kaden, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH, was today presented with the Single European Sky (SES) certificate by the Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs in Berlin. This certificate confirms that DFS provides its services in compliance with European legislation. DFS needed to receive SES certification in order to continue to provide air navigation services in Germany in the future. The SES regulation of the EU stipulates that all air navigation service providers must demonstrate by the end of 2006 that they can provide safe and efficient air navigation services in Europe. Mr Kaden commented: “We are proud to say that we are fully certified and conform to all European requirements.”

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Lagos has a certain reputation but there is serious business to be done rhere. Airline serving the city need to pick up the catering for their return flights but the quality was not available until now. Lagos is a major destination in West Africa and many well-known airlines serve the city. Until now they have had to carry the catering for the return flight in the cargo holds, transferring it to the cabin as part of the turnround procedures at the airport. As well as adding to the complexity of the turnround it also took up cargo space and so reduced the revenue potential of every flight. British Airways had invested in a facility to wash and prepare the hardware but this was not a satisfactory answer.

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WASHINGTON, 29 Nov. 2006 — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) a contract to produce the Advanced Route Evaluation System (ARES) that will perform risk analysis on aviation routes to help planners determine the best routes for aircraft to use during an emergency. The ARES contract was awarded under the Rapid Technology Application program (RTAP) and is valued at $1.9 million. ARES is an integrated solution for aviation route risk analysis that assesses factors such as aircraft type, fuel loads, and flight route, as well as modeling the relative vulnerability to terrorist activity for any planned flight.

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Paris, November 30, 2006 – Alcatel Alenia Space announced today that it has signed a contract with the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC), the state-owned satcom operator, to provide telecommunication payloads for the Express MD-1 and Express MD-2 satellites built by Khrunichev. Express MD-1 and MD-2 will each be fitted with eight C-band and one L-band transponders, along with a repeater panel and an antenna farm, to provide TV, voice and data transmission and radio broadcasting services over an area spanning Russia and most of the CIS countries. Express MD-1 is slated for launch at the end of 2007 jointly with the Express AM44 satellite.

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General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), says its Altair unmanned aircraft system (UAS) recently completed a long-endurance fire mapping mission in combating the Esperanza wildfire started near Banning, CA. “In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorized Predator and Predator B to fly in direct support of disaster relief, and with this latest emergency mission we have been able to demonstrate the ability of GA-ASI aircraft to respond to short order tasking for exactly this purpose,” said Thomas J. Cassidy, Jr., president, GA-ASI.

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IAI is Israel’s largest aerospace company and a world leader in developing and selling UAV Systems. The contract provides for two phases of activity. The first phase, which covers a six month period, provides for Medis to develop a demonstration system which would pass functionality tests and which can be demonstrated to be redesignable to achieve the weight (six kilograms) goals of the final system. The first phase is funded by IAI paying Medis $400,000. Upon the successful completion of the first phase, the second phase would require IAI to pay Medis approximately $1.5 million to complete the development in 18 months.

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A Brigham Young University team, funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), recently demonstrated increased consensus capabilities among unmanned air vehicles. “This research on cooperative control involves developing methods to enable multiple UAVs to coordinate with one another,” said Professor Tim McLain, one of the research team co-leads. “We want to figure out how to coordinate the activities of a team of UAVs to accomplish the overall objectives of the team in a way that is optimal for the team as a whole.”

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The Defense Security Cooperation Agency has notified the U.S. Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to the United Kingdom of MQ-9 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could reach $77 million. The U.S. Air Force has dubbed the MQ-9 the Reaper.

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OAG, the global travel and transport information company, announced today its involvement as a key content provider to the AVIS Rent a Car reservation system enabling Avis to provide a better user experience for its business and leisure customers. Online bookings made on the Avis web site, or those of its travel partner sites, will automatically link to the OAG flight schedules database that contains details of all direct and connecting flights worldwide including those of the Low Cost airlines.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA senior managers today unanimously recommended launching the Space Shuttle Discovery on December 7. Commander Mark Polansky and his six crewmates are scheduled to lift off at 9:35 p.m. EST on the STS-116 mission, one of the most challenging flights to continue building the International Space Station. During the 12-day mission and three spacewalks, the crew will work closely with flight controllers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, to install a new segment of the station’s girder-like truss and activate the station’s permanent, complex power and cooling systems.

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SEATTLE, Nov. 29, 2006 — Boeing [NYSE: BA] Business Jets today delivered its 100th “green” — unfurnished — airplane. Representatives of the government of India accepted the milestone airplane at the Boeing Delivery Center in Seattle. “One hundred business jets delivered in 10 years is an amazing testament to the BBJ’s wide market appeal and the great work of the Boeing team members who design, sell, build and support these airplanes,” said Steven Hill, president of Boeing Business Jets.

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ST. LOUIS, Nov. 29, 2006 — The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] this week dedicated a new Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Technology Center (MROTC) in Oklahoma City, Okla. The center will provide readiness capabilities and upgrades to the U.S. Air Force E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) fleet. The MROTC development project is a joint venture between Trammell Crow Company and Battelle Memorial Institute with the support of state and local government and private industry. In 2005, Boeing signed a lease with the MROTC development partners to construct three hangars that will be used for the AWACS upgrades.

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Switzerland will tomorrow officially become a member of the European Aviation Safety Agency. It is the fourth non-EU country to adopt European Union aviation safety legislation after Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Patrick Goudou, Executive Director of the Agency, said: “I welcome Switzerland’s membership. It is an in important step towards a more integrated safety system in Europe and underlines the key role of the Agency in this system”.

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São José dos Campos, November 29, 2006 - Embraer announces that Finnair has confirmed its four remaining options of the initial order placed in July 2004. The airline has opted for four additional EMBRAER 190 jets, thus reaffirming its confidence in this model. The total value of the deal, at list price, comes to US$ 135 million. Finnair initially placed an order for 12 EMBRAER 170 jets, plus eight options convertible to other models of the E-Jets family. Today’s announcement marks the confirmation of all of Finnair’s options. When completed, the Finnair E-Jets fleet will consist of ten EMBRAER 170 and ten EMBRAER 190 jets.

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