AeroTime - Aviation News, Insights, and Analysis

French Rafale fighter jets are said to have shot down around 60 Iranian drones over the United Arab Emirates.
France had already confirmed its Rafale jets were intercepting Iranian drones. On March 4, 2026, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stated that French jets had neutralized drones targeting the UAE during a defensive mission....

Loganair and BETA Technologies have begun a series of demonstration flights to showcase the capabilities of the ALIA CTOL electric aircraft.
Specifically, the BETA Technologies ALIA CTOL electric aircraft is being used to inform how the UK’s Royal Mail could use the plane as part of their essential daily mail flights delivering post to remote Scottish communities....

The National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) has ordered an investigation into a ‘close call’ between Alaska Airlines and FedEx jets at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).
In a statement on March 19, 2026, the NTSB said that an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 “overflew a FedEx Boeing 777 while both jets were attempting to land on crossing runways”....

The US Army’s 12th Combat Aviation Brigade (12th CAB) has used the AH-64E Apache in a counter-drone role during an exercise in Germany, in what the unit described as a first for the European theater.
In a release published on March 19, 2026, the brigade said that soldiers from the 2-159th Attack Battalion had used the helicopter’s existing weapons to engage and destroy drones in air-to-air engagements during Operation Skyfall at the Grafenwoehr Training...