Based in London, Tony covers European defense programs. Prior to joining Aviation Week in November 2012, Tony was at Shephard Media Group where he was deputy editor for Rotorhub and Defence Helicopter magazines. Tony has covered avionics, unmanned vehicles, the supply chain and cyberwarfare.
Adding to London's Heathrow Airport is the most cost-effective way of delivering extra capacity to the capital's busiest but most constrained airport, its owners are asserting. In the next fortnight, airport managers will deliver evidence to the U.K. Airports Commission outlining their ambitions to expand the Heathrow site.
Eurocopter is awaiting the final endorsements from regulators on fixes to its EC225 helicopter which could allow a return to flight operations in the coming days. Around 50% of the worldwide fleet of EC225s has been halted from flying over hostile environments since October 2012, following two enforced landings into the North Sea by aircraft flown by U.K.-based operators Bond Offshore and CHC. The incidents were found to have been caused by a failure in the bevel gear vertical shaft—a critical component in the main gearbox that drives lubrication pumps.
Across Eastern Europe, governments are trying to modernize their militaries in the face of the economic downturn afflicting their trading partners to the west. For years, countries like Romania and Bulgaria have remained heavily reliant on the Soviet era-built fighters and aircraft handed to them during the 1970s and '80s. And while most were keen to join NATO, the real focus has been on entering the European Union to benefit from the investment that membership brings. Air arm modernization has been put on the back burner, at least until now.
