Saudi Arabia has a new airline. It is called Riyadh Air. On 10 June 2026, it flew its first passengers from Riyadh to London.
Continue reading Riyadh Air Flies Its First Passengers to London
Riyadh Air Flies Its First Passengers to London
Roleplay: Hydraulic Failure on Approach to Manchester
Pre-brief
Aircraft: Airbus A320
Callsign: Easy 23
Route: Amsterdam Schiphol (EHAM) to Manchester (EGCC)
Current state: You are descending through 8,000 feet on the arrival into Manchester when the green hydraulic system fails. The ECAM shows a loss of normal landing gear extension, normal brakes and nose wheel steering. The Captain is working the ECAM and QRH. You are on Manchester Approach.
Souls on board: 156
Endurance: 1 hour 10 minutes remaining
Your role: First Officer, working the radio (Pilot Monitoring)
Aviation History: The First Non-Stop Flight Across the Atlantic
On 15 June 1919, two exhausted British airmen climbed out of a wrecked biplane half-buried in a bog in County Galway — and into history. The day before, John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown had taken off from Newfoundland to attempt something no one had ever done: fly across the Atlantic Ocean without stopping. Our series Defining Moments in Aviation begins, fittingly for an Irish school, with a landing in Ireland.
Continue reading Aviation History: The First Non-Stop Flight Across the AtlanticStructure: ‘Cleft sentences’
What is a cleft sentence?
A cleft sentence takes a single idea and splits it into two clauses so that one element is thrown into sharp focus. (Cleft simply means “divided.”) Compare the flat statement The redesigned fuel system makes the route possible with the version a journalist might actually write: It is the redesigned fuel system that makes the route possible. The facts are identical; the second sentence just decides what you notice first.
Continue reading Structure: ‘Cleft sentences’Picture Description: VIP Flight on the Apron
Describe the picture
Look at the photograph above and describe what you can see. Try to speak for about a minute, moving from a general overview of the scene, to the details, and finally to speculation about what is happening and why. Use the words in the box to help you. If you are not sure how to structure your answer, read our guide on how to describe a picture.
dispersal · air stair · APU · ground crew · baggage · visibility
Qantas A350 Completes First Project Sunrise Test Flight
Qantas has edged closer to operating the longest commercial flights in the world. On 2 June 2026, the first Airbus A350-1000ULR built for the airline’s “Project Sunrise” took off from Toulouse on its maiden flight, an event that marks the beginning of the end of a programme the carrier has been pursuing for the better part of a decade.
Continue reading Qantas A350 Completes First Project Sunrise Test Flight