Also: Skydiving Museum, Nature Air Suspended, IAC 2017 Collegiate Program, StandardAero Ceases LAX Ops

You can hear the sigh of relief from across the Atlantic... After several months of questions about the viability of the A380 program, and whether Airbus would continue to manufacture the Super Jumbo airliners, new life has been breathed into the program with an order from Emirates.

Analysts have been saying since an agreement between Emirates and Airbus hit a snag last year at the Dubai Airshow that the deal was "make or break" for the A380. Now, the carrier has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to acquire up to 36 additional A380 aircraft. The agreement was signed Thursday morning at the airline’s headquarters. The commitment is for 20 A380s and an option for 16 more with deliveries to start in 2020, valued at $16 billion at latest list prices. The FAA has been hit with another lawsuit over its drone registration database, and this time the agency is facing nearly $840 million in penalties. Drone attorney Jonathan Rupprecht writes that the case has been brought by Robert Taylor -- the brother of John Taylor, who won a case against the FAA that temporarily suspended the FAA's drone registration requirement. Rupprecht says that this case is a Class Action suit of at least 836,796 members. Nearly four years after it was initially denied in 2014, the FAA has told the city of Casa Grande, AZ that it must allow the establishment of a drop zone at the Casa Grande Municipal Airport (KCGZ). Skydive Coastal California has been operating out of the airport as Phoenix Area Skydiving, but that the drop zone used by the company is outside the city limits. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!

Airborne 01.19.18 is chock full of info in this Daily News Episode, Friday, January 19th, 2018... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Hosts Brianne Cross, Christopher Odom, and Laura Hutson, and is supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, and Aero-Journalist Tom Patton, this episode covers:

• New Life For The Airbus A380
• FAA Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Drone Registration
• FAA: Drop Zone Must Be Allowed At Casa Grande Airport In Arizona
• Skydiving Museum HOF Launches New Website
• Nature Air Operating Certificate Suspended
• IAC Releases 2017 Collegiate Program Competition Results 
• StandardAero to Cease Operations At LAX Repair Station By End Of March

Get Comprehensive, Real-Time, 24/7 coverage of the latest aviation and aerospace stories anytime, at aero-news.net. And be sure to join us again tomorrow, for the next edition of "Airborne Unlimited" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, tomorrow!

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