Kannur airport nod in view of Keralites contribution: Patel

Civil
Aviation Minister Praful Patel
said the central government
sanctioned the Kannur airport despite
some legal issues as non-resident
Keralites contribute significantly to India's overall growth with their
remittances. He was speaking at the foundation
stone laying ceremony for the airport. 'People from Kerala make a group
which contributes to the overall
growth of the economy of the country
with their remittances. So with this in
mind and despite the Mangalore and
Kozhikode airports near to this one, the centre decided to waive all such
issues and give the sanction for this
airport,' said Patel. The proposed airport will come as a
boon to the large number of non-
resident Keralites from Kannur and
Kasargode who now have to travel to
either Kozhikode or Mangalore.

GEnx-1B Engine Makes its First Flight on Boeing's 787 Dreamliner

GEnx-1B Engine Makes its First
Flight on Boeing's 787
Dreamliner
The GEnx-1B
engine has completed its first flight on
the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which flew
today at Paine Field in Everett,
Washington. "The GEnx engine program has been
designing, developing and testing the
engine for five years so today's events
are a testament to the team's
extraordinary efforts," said Tom
Brisken, general manager of the GEnx program. The first flight of the Boeing 787
aircraft lasted three hours and 48
minutes and is part of the overall
flight-testing program to demonstrate
the aircraft's capabilities. The first flight
of the GEnx-1B engine follows the February first flight of the GEnx-2B
engine, which has logged more than
1,800 flight-hours on the Boeing
747-8 aircraft. The GEnx is the fastest selling engine
in GE's history with about 1,300
engines on order and more than 800
of these orders are for the GEnx-1B
engine. Based on the proven architecture of
the GE90, the GEnx engine will
succeed GE's CF6 engine. Compared to
the CF6 engine, the GEnx-1B engine
will offer 15 percent improved fuel
efficiency, which translates to 15 percent less CO2. The engine achieves
these improvements with
aerodynamic advancements that
enable higher pressures and
improved energy extraction from a
more compact core architecture that has significantly fewer parts.