Author: FlyMarshall Newsroom

Pilots working for the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have been conducting test flights of the C919 commercial airliner from Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) in Shanghai. According to The South China Morning Post, the flights form part of COMAC’s bid to have the C919 certified by Western regulators and open new business avenues in foreign markets. EASA confirmed to Reuters that “validation activities” involving the C919 had been carried out by way of test flights. The South China Morning Post learned details of the test flights from a source with knowledge of the development, who also claimed that…

BERLIN — The European Commission this week formally proposed a €90 billion ($104.4 billion) loan package for Ukraine spanning 2026 and 2027, with a novel condition that Kyiv must prioritize purchasing weapons and military equipment from European manufacturers.The package allocates roughly €60 billion for military assistance and €30 billion for “general budget support,” according to the Commission’s announcement. The European preference clause − which requires Ukraine to buy from EU member states, associated countries like Norway and Iceland, or Ukrainian producers when available − represents Brussels’ most explicit attempt yet to leverage aid flows to bolster Europe’s defense industrial base.…

An Israeli Air Force UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed on the morning of January 16, 2026, after becoming detached mid-air during a recovery operation in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).  According to the IDF, the helicopter, known in the Israeli service as the ‘Yanshuf’ (Owl), had made a precautionary landing earlier in the week in an open area of the Etzion Brigade sector due to difficult weather conditions.  Damaged helicopter falls to the ground  During a recovery effort, the damaged aircraft was being airlifted when it became detached and fell to the ground. There were no injuries in the incident, the IDF said. …

European countries have begun airlifting reconnaissance teams into Greenland under Danish leadership, with C-130 Hercules transport aircraft flying the first contingents into Nuuk on January 14, 2026, amid what one source described as a “political emergency” over the island’s future.  Two Danish C-130s landed late on January 14 at Nuuk airport, carrying Danish soldiers and the first European personnel, including five French troops. By the morning of January 15, the multinational group had gathered at the headquarters of Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command (Arktisk Kommando) in Nuuk to assess the conditions for a possible wider allied deployment.  Normally focused on maritime pollution prevention, fisheries…

HONG KONG – Military rivals China and Taiwan are both seen as benefiting from military training activities conducted with Singapore, which, in turn, also gains from the cooperation.China’s People’s Liberation Army and Taiwan’s armed forces are getting tips from Singapore’s relatively advanced armed forces but, more so, long-standing political ties with a mutually trusted third country – which is especially critical for Taiwan – experts say. “Both Taiwan and China work with Singapore because if you want influence, you need to engage,” said Yun Sun, East Asia Program senior associate at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington. Taiwan has…

Sydney Kingsfordsmith International Airport (SYD) experienced significant disruptions on January 15, 2026, with dozens of domestic flights being cancelled or delayed due to a shortage of air traffic controllers. At least 30 Qantas and Jetstar flights were cancelled, along with approximately 10 Virgin Australia services. Upward of 25 flights scheduled between 06:30 and 21:40 local time were affected, primarily impacting domestic routes. Sydney Airport was forced to implement severe restrictions on departures, limiting takeoffs to one per runway every six minutes. Last-minute staff absences  Airservices Australia, the government agency responsible for managing Australian airspace, attributed the disruption to last-minute staff…

By Bjorn Fehrm and Henry Tam January 16, 2026, ©. Leeham News: We do a series about ideas on how the long development times for large airliners can be shortened. New projects talk about cutting development time and reaching certification and production faster than previous projects. The series will discuss the typical development cycles for an FAA Part 25 aircraft, called a transport category aircraft, and what different ideas there are to reduce the development times. We will use the Gantt plan in Figure 1 as a base for our discussions. We have looked at the production preparations and the…

By The Leeham News Team Jan. 16, 2026, © Leeham News: Boeing won more orders than Airbus last year. Airbus delivered more airplanes, given its higher production rates and Boeing’s long, slow path to recovery. But a dissection of the numbers also shows positive results for Boeing. Boeing 737 MAXes awaiting delivery at Boeing Field. Credit: Leeham News. On top of Delta Air Lines’ breakthrough order for the 787-10, its first for any 787, United Airlines converted 56 787-9s to the 787-10. The 787-10’s seat-mile costs are the lowest in its class. If an airline doesn’t need the longer range of…

In March 2025, Korean Air revealed a major rebranding, which follows the merger between Korean Air and Asiana being finalized. What’s exciting is that changes at the airline go way beyond just branding, as the airline is also investing in the passenger experience, like launching a new first class product, and adding premium economy.Korean Air is also hugely investing in its premium ground experience at Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN), which includes renovating existing lounges, while also increasing capacity. We’re continuing to see more of these lounges progressively open, so I’d like to cover the full details of the project, and…

As we all know, loyalty programs are a major profit center for airlines nowadays, and make up a key part of the commercial strategy. While the “big three” carriers are already generating billions of dollars in (high margin) revenue from these programs annually, they still see a lot of upside. Along those lines, United Airlines has just announced some major changes to its MileagePlus leadership, and there’s a lot to unpack here! United hires Jarad Fisher and Vasu Raja (sort of) United Airlines has announced that Jarad Fisher will become the new President of MileagePlus. Fisher previously worked at Apple,…