Airnews Round Up December 2010
AIRLINE ORDERS
London – Orders for airliners of all sizes continue to flow in as the industry shows signs of recovery. Among the largest ones announced recently were three for Airbus, one of which came from China Aviation Supplies Holding Company which has signed with Airbus for a total for 102 aircraft of which 66 are new orders. The new orders comprise 50 A320 Family aircraft, six A330s and ten A350 XWBs. Another was BOC Aviation, the Singapore-based aircraft leasing subsidiary of Bank of China, which has placed a new firm order with Airbus for the purchase of 30 A320 Family aircraft. Meanwhile, Hong Kong Airlines has finalised a firm order of 10 more A330-200 long range aircraft and converted an existing order for 15 A330s to the A350 XWB.
EGYPT ORDERS C295 AIRCRAFT
Cairo – The Egyptian Air Force has signed a contract with Airbus Military for three C295 aircraft which are to be delivered from 2011 and will be used to increase the Egyptian Air Force’s capacity in tactical and logistic transport.
TWO 190S FOR GULF AIR
São José dos Campos – Two Embraer 190 jets were recently delivered to Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, under a newly ratified agreement with Jetscape, Inc., an aircraft leasing company based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This delivery comes just seven months after the carrier’s first acceptance of two Embraer 170 jets.
BAE SYSTEMS’ SUPPORT STRATEGY
Johannesburg – BAE Systems is to develop a more regionalised African strategy to support the growing numbers of its commercial aircraft now in operation across the continent. The new approach was unveiled at its first African operator’s conference held in Johannesburg recently. Sean McGovern, business director support for BAE Systems regional aircraft, who chaired the conference, said: “We are placing growing numbers of our portfolio aircraft into African countries, and third parties are also finding Africa a very receptive market for our products.
“We have decided to regionalise our support to provide a more responsive service to African operators. We are looking to work with local industry to help support repair and overhaul facilities for components to ensure more convenient access for African operators and continued competitive operating costs and reliability. We are also exploring the possibility of setting up a regional spares centre.” South Africa has proven to be an attractive market for the 70-110 seat BAe 146/Avro RJ regional jetliner in particular and today there are four operators of the type in the country. Two of these provide aircraft and crew for the African operators in different countries, such as Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya and the Republic of the Congo. Additional aircraft are operating in Libya. The latest deals for the aircraft include SA Airlink’s acquisition of four Avro RJ85s for domestic and regional airline services, and the sale of five BAe 146s to African Airline Investments for use in its growing aircraft leasing operations.
A400M PRINCIPLE AGREEMENT
Leiden – The customer nations and EADS have come to a principle agreement regarding the A400M military transport aircraft with the intention to amend the original contract. In this agreement, the customer nations agree to increase the price of the contract by €2-billion; waive all liquidated damages related to current delays; provide an additional amount of €1,5-billion in exchange for a participation in future export sales, and accelerate pre-delivery payments in the period of 2010 to 2014, a new schedule of which will be finalised in the amended contract. Based on this agreement, an estimate at completion of updated revenues and costs including an assessment of risks, reviewed by the EADS Board of Directors, leads to an increase of the A400M loss provision of €1,8-billion pre-tax for the full year 2009.
POWER-ON FOR B747-8-I.
Everett, Wash. – Boeing has completed the poweron sequence for the new 747-8 Intercontinental. This milestone enables the programme to begin functional tests on the airplane. Mechanics connected the 747-8 to an external power cart to energise the flight-deck display and maintenance systems. The electricity coursing through the airplane’s 214 km of wire will be as high as 105 kilovoltampere (kVa). The programme also activated the airplane’s hydraulic and pneumatic systems. Pressurised to 3 000 pounds psi, the hydraulics power the flight control surfaces, landing gear, brakes and steering.
MID-EAST SCOOPS AWARDS
Doha – Airlines, airports and individuals from the Middle East were honoured at the Leaders in Aviation Awards at the second Doha Aviation Summit recently. Among the winners were Air Arabia, named as Low Cost Carrier of the Year, Abu Dhabi Airports Company which took the award for the Green Initiative of the Year by an Airport, and Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways who was honoured for his long term contribution to the economic growth of Qatar. Among other award winners were: Airport of the Year – Athens International Airport; Green initiative of the year by an Airline - Firefly Malaysia; Best Airport and Airline Partnership of the Year - Malaysia Airports Berhad and Malaysia Airlines, and Long Term Contribution to ICAO from the MENA region - Captain Sameh El Hefny, president, Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority.
ASC IN ME FOR DASSAULT
Paris – Dassault Falcon has appointed Jeddahbased Saudia Private Aviation Engineering and Maintenance (SPA-E&M) as a line service centre, expanding the Falcon authorised service centre network (ASC) in the Middle East. SPA-E&M, the business aviation unit of Saudi Arabian Airlines, has more than 35 years of experience in maintaining and inspecting business aircraft of all makes, including Falcons. Dassault’s other ASC in the region, Jet Aviation Dubai, is a line service centre capable of servicing Falcon 900, 2000 and 7X aircraft. A spare parts depot nearby in Dubai houses $1,4-million in spares and tooling. Dassault also established a sales office in Dubai in 2008.
JETLINK’S ROUTE EXPANSION
Nairobi – Jetlink inaugurated a new route linking the Kenyan capital with Mwanza (Tanzania) via Kisumu last month. This route will also open a new connection by offering a direct flight to Mwanza from Kisumu, a route that has demand but which was only offered over 26 years ago and never tried again until now. Jetlink has deployed its Canadian Regional Jet CRJ- 100 on this route with an initial frequency of two flights a day.
The airline also plans to begin flights to Dar es Salaam next year, with Khartoum, Asmara and Hargeisa expected to be the new destinations to follow in the coming year
P&W SUES R-R
Miami – Pratt & Whitney’s jet-engine unit has filed patent-infringement complaints against Rolls-Royce Group Plc, a counterpunch in a dispute that may affect delivery of Boeing.’s 787 Dreamliners. Pratt & Whitney claims the Trent 900 and Trent 1000 engines made by UK-based Rolls-Royce are infringing a patent for a swept-fan blade, according to a recent filing at the US International Trade Commission, in Washington. A complaint making similar allegations was submitted at the UK High Court.
A ruling in favour of Pratt & Whitney by the ITC would block Rolls-Royce from shipping Trent 1000 engines into the US for the Dreamliner, Boeing’s newest passenger jet that has been delayed six times. The UK lawsuit may limit shipments of the Trent 900 for the Airbus A380, now in use by international carriers, and the Airbus A350XWB model powered by another version of the Trent. Airlines that ordered the 787 Dreamliner, which is almost three years late for its first delivery, have a choice of the Rolls-Royce engine or the GEnx from General Electric Co.
WORK STARTS ON PIPERJET FACTORY
Vero Beach – Piper Aircraft has hired a contractor to renovate a 2 125 square metre building at its Vero Beach headquarters that will become the PiperJet factory. Design work will begin immediately and construction should be complete next year.
MOONEY ANNOUNCEMENT
Kerrville, Texas —As Mooney positions itself for the future, the assets of Mooney Airplane Company. have been transferred to Mooney Aviation Company. Mooney Aviation Company has advised customers that it is currently providing service on all aircraft supported by Mooney Airplane Company, including technical support, service parts and the factory service centre based in Kerrville, Texas.
LUFTHANSA ADDS 1100 SEATS TO SA ROUTE
Johannesburg — Lufthansa German Airlines last month increased its capacity between South Africa and Germany by almost 1 100 seats per week by upping the earlier two A380 flights per week to five, effectively boosting capacity by 20%.
NEW EMIRATES MANAGER
Johannesburg – Emirates, the Dubai-based airline, has appointed Hendrik du Preez as sales manager in the airline’s South African office. In his new role, Du Preez will be responsible for controlling and monitoring passenger sales targets and ensuring that the company’s commercial objectives are met.
BOEING’S 737 GETS NEW LOOK
Seattle – Boeing recently delivered the first of its 737 jets outfitted with a new interior as it ponders the future of what it claims to be its best-selling, narrowbody jet. The company’s new “Sky Interior”, is slated to be installed on 1 200 of the more than 2 000 B737s currently on order.
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