Bulking up its military spending due to concerns over ISIS and Russia, the UK announced that it placed an order with Boeing for nine P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. In order to beef up Britain’s defense capabilities, Prime Minister David Cameron stated in his Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) speech that the British government expects to spend $270 billion on defense equipment over the next decade-$18 billion of which will be going towards purchasing aircraft such as the nine Boeing P-8 Poseidons. Read more >>

Boeing introduced a new single-aisle 737 business jet also known as the BBJ Max. The BBJ is considered a modernized version of the 50-year-old twinjet. The four orders came from two companies. One of the companies is a Middle East operator who ordered three BBJ Max aircraft, while the other one is an Asian operator who ordered the remaining one. Read more >>

At the 2015 National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Convention & Exhibition in Las Vegas, Gulfstream debuted its new G500 business jet. After a touchdown at Nevada’s Henderson Executive Airport, the G500 joined the G650ER, G550, G450, G280, and G150 in the manufacturer’s static display. Read more >>

Airbus released a statement about how IAG is planning to convert two of its A330-200s, two of its A330-300s, and fifteen of its A320neo aircraft into solid orders. If this order was combined with the total amount of Airbus aircraft that IAG operates, this would bring the total to almost near 470. Read more >>

Aircraft maker Bombardier announced that Latvian carrier airBaltic will be the first client to operate CS300 aircraft when it takes delivery of the plane in the latter part of 2016. The Latvian national airline has 13 firm orders for the CS300 and retains options for seven others. Read more >>

Air New Zealand has signed and agreed to buy a fleet of ATR72-600s for $373m. These ATR72-600 are used to replace the existing ATR72-500. Fifteen of these will be bought and delivered approximately in the late 2016s. This purchase will replace 11 of the old ATR 72-500s. Read more >>

Airbus announced that China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (also known as CAS) has signed a General Terms Agreement for 130 Airbus aircraft. Of the 130 Airbus aircraft, 30 are A330 family aircraft and 100 are A320 family aircraft. Read more >>

General Electric Aviation is getting ready to construct two new factories, designed to mass-produce silicon carbide (SiC) materials used to manufacture ceramic matrix composite components (CMCs). The factories will be built on one-hundred acres of land in Huntsville, Alabama, which will also make it the first operation of its kind in the United States. Construction will cost over $200 million for the pair. It will begin sometime in the middle of next year, and is expected to be complete within two years of that. SiC-based power devices are trending upward, and look like they will take over for silicon-based chips that are currently used for numerous applications. With a higher demand for SiCs and CMCs, officials at GE Aviation felt the need to mass-produce them domestically in order to fulfill their requirements. Read more >>

Philippine Airlines has major plans to allocate up to $700 million for the acquisition of new aircraft and spare parts in 2016. According to PAL President Jaime Bautista, the budget is estimated to be anywhere between $500 to $700 million. The budget includes a previously announced order for five Airbus A321 aircraft and two Boeing 777 aircraft, which are due to arrive in the coming year. Bautista noted that some of the aircraft would be leased, while others are purchased. The company is also evaluating a plan to purchase new aircraft to replace its Airbus A340s as the planes consume more fuel and are costlier to maintain with Bautista maintaining that PAL would want to make a decision on whether to get the A350 or