Author: FlyMarshall Newsroom

Japan Airlines (JAL) is launching a specially-themed aircraft to celebrate Tokyo DisneySea’s 25th anniversary, with its domestic flights set to commence on June 4, 2026. The ‘JAL Jubilee Express’, a Boeing 737-800, features a custom livery designed around the theme park’s anniversary event, ‘Tokyo DisneySea 25th Sparkling Jubilee’.  The aircraft will operate on domestic routes across Japan through April 2027. JAL and Oriental Land Co., the operator of Tokyo Disney Resort, made the joint announcement on April 16, 2026. A partnership dating back to 1983 JAL has been an official sponsor of Tokyo Disney Resort since Tokyo Disneyland first opened…

The world’s first commercial air taxi vertiport has been established at Dubai International Airport (DXB) and is now ready to operate electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. On April 17, 2026, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Skyports Infrastructure (Skyports) showcased the 3,100m² vertiport, spanning four floors and with capacity to service 170,000 passengers. The vertiport, which has reached “technical completion”, by Dubai International Airport is the network’s flagship center and will act as the primary hub. Further developments are currently being built at Dubai Marina, Dubai Mall and Palm Jumeirah. US eVTOL developer Joby Aviation, which holds…

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Australia issued updates for two pivotal planning documents this week – its National Defence Strategy 2026 and Integrated Investment Program 2026 – while simultaneously promising a boost in defense spending.Defence Minister Richard Marles pledged defense accounts would receive an additional A$14 billion (US$10 billion) over the next four years, and an extra A$53 billion over the coming decade.The government is promising cumulative defense expenditure of A$887 billion over the coming decade. It also laid out an aim for defense spending to reach 3% of gross domestic product by 2033-34.This is the National Defence Strategy’s first revision…

Ever wonder how airplanes are able to stay so steady during flight? The answer is yaw dampers. As their name suggests, yaw dampers reduce or “dampen” an airplane’s yaw. The end result is a smoother, steadier flight. To learn more about yaw dampers and how they stabilize airplanes during flight, keep reading. What Are Yaw Dampers? Yaw dampers are aviation systems that control an airplane’s motion around its vertical axis. When an airplane moves around its vertical axis, its nose will swing to the side. It may swing to the left side, or it may swing to the right size.…

New data shows that Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) handled 17.6 million passengers during the first three months of 2026, a 2.3% increase compared to the same period last year.Aircraft movements, which include both landings and takeoffs, reached 95,300 for the quarter, up 1.4% year-on-year. The numbers were released by Changi Airport Group on April 17, 2026. Growth was fueled by strong travel demand to and from North Asia and Europe, which helped offset the impact of ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Passenger traffic between Singapore and the Middle East dropped 80% year-on-year during March 2026. Over the 12 months…

PARIS — France is moving closer to a decision on its future rocket artillery system, with the country testing domestically developed weapons this month that will allow for a comparison with foreign systems in a few weeks’ time, the head of the country’s armaments agency said.The first tests of a French-developed rocket artillery system “went well” on Tuesday, with more testing planned for next week, Patrick Pailloux, the head of the Directorate General for Armament, said in a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday.Safran and MBDA are one of the teams working on a French-made rocket artillery system, with Thales and ArianeGroup…

By Bjorn Fehrm April 17, 2026, ©. Leeham News: We have started a series of articles on the Blended Wing Body (BWB) as a potentially more efficient design for passenger-carrying airliners than the classical Tube-And-Wing (TAW) configuration. In the fifth article last week, we discussed how the drag characteristics of the BWB are different from a classical Tube-And-Wing airliner. The dominance of air-friction drag over induced drag results in a 10,000ft higher optimal cruise altitude compared with an equal-capacity TAW. We compared JetZero’s Z4 project to a 250-seat variant of Boeing’s NMA that we have analyzed several times with our…

US technology giant Leidos was one of the big hitters at this year’s PTE World which gathered stakeholders from the airport sector at the ExCel in London. Spanning a dizzying array of complex specialties including defense, intelligence, health, energy & infrastructure, Leidos was in the UK capital to showcase its airport solutions and talk through its latest innovations. At Leidos’ impressive exhibition stand, AeroTime was given the opportunity to speak with Nik Karnik, the company’s Vice President of Global Security Products Division, who had traveled over from the US to attend the event. Karnik previously spent over 10 years with…

The nation’s Air National Guard adjutants general are making their most unified push yet to recapitalize the U.S. Air Force’s fighter fleet, with 22 generals signing a letter to Congress this month calling for multiyear funding to buy between 72 and 100 new fighters annually. The letter, sent April 1 to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Appropriations committees and their defense subcommittees, calls on Congress to legislate multiyear procurement of F-35A Lightning IIs and F-15EX Eagle IIs at a baseline of 48 F-35As and 24 F-15EXs per year, with a desired end state of 72…

High jet fuel prices are impacting airlines across the globe. If oil prices stay where they are, no airlines will be making any money, and quite a few airlines might be looking at going out of business. We’ve seen some airlines reduce capacity in light of the current situation, since it’s hard to fly profitably. However, we haven’t seen any airlines go quite as far as what we’re seeing in Nigeria, where the country is potentially days from having zero domestic flights… if airlines are to be believed. Nigerian airlines may shut down on April 20, 2026 The Airline Operators…