Tajikistan Gets Its First 737 MAX

Tajikistan Gets Its First 737 MAX

Share this story For the first time, a Boeing 737 MAX wears the colours of Tajikistan. On 3 August 2026, Somon Air rolled a brand-new 737-8 onto the apron at Dushanbe International Airport — the first aircraft of its type ever to join a Tajik fleet, and the...
Wizz Air Plants Its Flag in Sicily

Wizz Air Plants Its Flag in Sicily

Share this story Sicily just became the latest front in Europe’s low-cost air war. On August 1, 2026, Wizz Air based its first aircraft at Palermo’s Falcone Borsellino Airport, and two days later threw a launch party with the mayor and a planeload of...
One Last Photo Before the Boneyard

One Last Photo Before the Boneyard

Share this story It was never glamorous. It never dropped a bomb, never dogfought, never broke the sound barrier. But for 32 years the T-1A Jayhawk did the quiet, essential job of turning student pilots into the people who fly America’s tankers and transports...
Starlux Reaches Europe for the First Time

Starlux Reaches Europe for the First Time

Share this story Just after midnight on August 1, 2026, an Airbus A350-900 lifted off from Taipei and pointed its nose at Central Europe. In the left-hand seat sat K.W. Chang — not a rostered captain, but the chairman of the airline, flying his own inaugural....
Two J-20s Escort a Very Big Missile

Two J-20s Escort a Very Big Missile

Share this story Chinese state television does not show its most sensitive hardware by accident. So when the final episode of the CCTV documentary Zhisheng (“Victory”) aired on August 4, 2026, one sequence was clearly meant to be seen: an H-6N bomber...
AI Flew 27 Live Intercepts by Itself

AI Flew 27 Live Intercepts by Itself

Share this story An artificial-intelligence agent just strapped into a fighter, stared at an enemy jet through an infrared eye, and ran it down twenty-seven times — and no human touched the stick.Lockheed Martin Skunk Works pulled the curtain back on August 4,...
A New Engine War for the F-15EX and F-16

A New Engine War for the F-15EX and F-16

Share this story For decades, if you wanted to put an engine in an American F-15 or F-16, you had exactly two phone numbers to call: Pratt & Whitney and GE. That cozy arrangement may be about to end. On August 4 the U.S. Air Force went public with a Request for...
IndiGo and Norse Rip Up Their 787 Deal

IndiGo and Norse Rip Up Their 787 Deal

Share this story For a few months, the world’s cheapest big airline flew the world’s trendiest long-haul jet. It did not last. IndiGo — India’s low-cost giant, and the largest airline in the country by a country mile — is tearing up its damp-lease deal...
The Tanker That Flew Home on a Borrowed Tail

The Tanker That Flew Home on a Borrowed Tail

Share this story Look closely at the KC-135 that touched down at RAF Mildenhall on the afternoon of August 2 and something does not add up. The fuselage wears the serial 63-8017. The tail wears a different one: 63-8002. This is one airframe stitched together from two...