By Garth Calitz After years of talking about building a twin, Sling Aircraft is finally turning the dream into aluminium — with the prototype now taking shape in Cape Town and a maiden flight planned for June 2027. South Africa's Sling Aircraft is taking a major step beyond its successful single-engine aircraft with the development of an entirely new twin-engine Sling, a project that the company says has been made possible by a fundamental shift in the regulatory environment.

By Garth Calitz There are airline-manufacturer relationships, and then there are relationships that become so deeply embedded in an airline's operation that separating the two starts to look rather like trying to remove an aircraft engine with a butter knife. Airlink and Embraer fall firmly into the second category. Over more than two decades, the South African regional carrier and Brazilian aircraft manufacturer have developed a relationship that extends well beyond the trad

By Rob Russell Not a horror movie gone wrong, but a stunning, moving display to remember a horrendous and shocking event in our history. On the evening of Wednesday, 9th September, months of planning culminated in downtown New York, as the sky filled with drones watched by thousands who had gathered to see the unique event. To mark the 25th anniversary of the destruction of the Twin Towers, it was decided to do something unique, never seen before and very appropriate to the l

Angola is taking another step into the rapidly evolving world of unmanned aviation, with the delivery of six ANAVIA HT-100 NAVAL unmanned helicopters for its new generation of naval corvettes. The six aircraft, built by Swiss manufacturer ANAVIA, have completed Factory Acceptance Trials and have been handed over to the Angolan Navy. Two systems will eventually be carried by each of Angola’s three new BR71 MK II Combattante-class corvettes, providing the ships with an organic

General Atomics AeroTec Systems (GA-ATS) has brought the iconic twin-turboprop back into production in Germany with the Do228 NXT, an extensively modernised evolution of an aircraft whose combination of STOL performance, ruggedness and versatility has made it a familiar sight in remote and demanding operations around the world. The programme reached a major milestone on 2 May 2026, when the Do228 NXT demonstrator completed its first flight from Oberpfaffenhofen. The flight ca

By Garth Calitz Africa’s aviation industry is entering a period of unprecedented fleet growth, with airlines expected to more than double the number of aircraft operating across the continent over the next two decades. But behind the headline numbers and multi-billion-dollar aircraft orders lies a less glamorous, and potentially more important, question: Where will all those aircraft be maintained? The issue is already becoming visible in South Africa, where regional carrier

By Garth Calitz The South African Air Force’s (SAAF) top man will take centre stage at AAD 2026, where Lieutenant General Carl Moatshe will deliver the keynote address on the final day of the conference at Air Force Base Waterkloof. From 16 to 18 September, Africa’s defence chiefs, policymakers, industry executives and assorted people selling solutions to problems that governments have not yet found the money to solve will gather at Waterkloof for the AAD 2026 Conference. The

By Garth Calitz Bombardier’s flagship Global 8000 has secured approval to operate into London City Airport, adding one of Europe’s most challenging business aviation destinations to the aircraft’s growing list of capabilities and giving operators direct access to the heart of London. Bombardier has announced that the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has approved its Global 8000 business jet for operations at London City Airport (LCY), with the designation taking

By Garth Calitz International flags are everywhere at Africa Aerospace and Defence 2026. There are expected to be delegations from more than 50 countries, hundreds of exhibitors and a considerable international defence industry presence on the ground. So, naturally, you might expect at least a respectable collection of foreign military aircraft to accompany all those international visitors. Well… about that. The AAD 2026 flying programme released yesterday makes for rather in

By Garth Calitz Rumours are circulating ahead of Africa Aerospace and Defence 2026 that a European country could bring an Airbus A400M Atlas to South Africa for this year's show. Nothing has been officially confirmed, and for now the A400M should remain firmly in the "watch this space" category. But if the rumours prove correct, the aircraft's appearance at AFB Waterkloof would carry rather more significance than simply adding another impressive military transport to the stat