Boeing's commercial aircraft deliveries through the first six months of 2011 kept pace with 2010 deliveries, with the manufacturer delivering 222 aircraft in the 2011 first half led by 181 737NGs, the exact number of total and 737 deliveries made in the 2010 first half. It delivered nine 767s through June 30, up from six of the type delivered in the first six months of 2010. First-half deliveries of 777s totaled 32, down from 35 in the year-ago period.
US FAA said Thursday that David Grizzle, the agency's chief counsel who had been serving as acting Air Traffic Organization COO, will take over the top ATO post on a permanent basis. Grizzle became acting ATO COO suddenly in April when the controversy over sleeping controller incidents forced Hank Krakowski to resign as head of the FAA unit overseeing the US's ATC system ( ATW Daily News, April 15).
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise's DAE Capital aircraft leasing unit canceled the remaining 45 aircraft it had on order with Airbus, the manufacturer confirmed Thursday.
On the heels of the recent ASTM International Committee on Petroleum Products and Lubricants' approval of bio-derived jet fuel for commercial use, Santa Barbara-based BioJet International announced it will release one billion gallons of renewable jet fuel priced at $2.97 a gallon to airlines to "aid in the development" of biofuel in the commercial aviation market.
UK air navigation services provider NATS, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a public-private partnership, paid £40 million ($64 million) in dividends to its shareholders after posting a pre-tax profit of £106.1 million for its fiscal year ended March 31, a 37.3% increase over £78.3 million earned in FY2009-10.
Singapore-based Tiger Airways Holdings said former SilkAir CEO Chin Yau Seng would take over as acting CEO to allow the company's head, Tony Davis, to focus on overseeing subsidiary Tiger Airways Australia's recovery from its grounding by regulators over safety issues.
UK air navigation services provider NATS, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a public-private partnership, paid £40 million ($64 million) in dividends to its shareholders after posting a pre-tax profit of £106.1 million for its fiscal year ended March 31, a 37.3% increase over £78.3 million earned in FY2009-10.
SR Technics signed a five-year contract with Swiss International Air Lines to extend its cooperation for comprehensive aircraft maintenance and component services, covering heavy maintenance, A and C checks. The agreement also incorporates full integrated component services for the carrier’s Airbus fleet and includes a hangar space sublease in Zurich.
Alliance Airlines acquired two 100-seat Fokker 100s and two 70-seat Fokker 70LRs. The Australian-based charter airline has an agreement with an unnamed “major customer” to operate F70LRs domestically, it said. It plans to use the aircraft “for a range of … tasks on the Eastern seaboard.” Following the delivery of the four aircraft, its fleet will comprise 18 100-seat Fokker F100s, two 75-seat Fokker F70LR jets and five 50-seat Fokker F50s.
Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air said Wednesday it has gained US FAA approval to begin operating the Boeing 757-200 aircraft type, the first step toward its planned launch of flights to Hawaii next summer. President Andrew Levy said in a statement, "The addition of the Boeing 757-200 will play an important role in our company's future growth." The leisure carrier operates a fleet of 51 MD-80s, which don't have the range to reach Hawaii from the continental US.
Boeing this week forecast demand in India for 1,320 new passenger aircraft valued at around $150 billion over the next 20 years, a dramatic increase over Indian market projections made by the manufacturer five years ago. In fact, Boeing's 20-year market value for India has more than doubled since 2006.
Dubai Airports will spend $7.8 billion on new and upgraded terminals to lift Dubai International's annual passenger capacity from 60 million currently to 90 million by 2018. The project is designed to deliver infrastructure to support expected annual passenger and cargo traffic growth of 7.2% and 6.7%, respectively. Dubai Airports Chairman Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum said the elements expected to drive traffic growth are tourism, Dubai’s proximity to the emerging economies of India and China and the emirate's established role as a trading hub.
News from ATW's Airports Today: East Syracuse, New York-based Sensis Corp., the air traffic management technologies company with offerings that include Airport Surface Detection Equipment-X (ASDE-X) and runway status lights, reached a definitive agreement last week to be acquired by Sweden's Saab for $155 million.
UK Civil Aviation Authority said Wednesday it has launched a formal investigation into passenger and landing charges that took effect at London Heathrow April 1.
Air China subsidiary Shenzhen Airlines signed an MOU with Star Alliance Wednesday and is expected to formally join the global airline grouping in the second half of 2012.
LOT Polish Airlines announced that Supervisory Board Chairman Jacek Krawczyk submitted his resignation, though he will remain one of the board's members. Intrepid Aviation, the US aircraft lessor, named Volker Fabian chief commercial officer. He was formerly CO-MD of Amentum Capital and also has worked for HSH Nordbank and CIT Aerospace.
Thai Airways International will launch thrice-weekly Bangkok-Brussels Boeing 777-200ER service Nov. 17. EgyptAir is re-opening its daily Boeing 777-300ER Cairo-Kuala Lumpur service Aug. 1 via Bangkok. The service was pulled in January owing to political and social unrest in the country. Ethiopian Airlines launched Addis Ababa-Malakal, South Sudan, service June 17.
Airbus flight operations services subsidiary Quovadis said it will help develop a Performance-Based Navigation network at 11 airports in the Philippines in cooperation with the French Civil Aviation Authority and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.
US FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. union signed an MOU regarding management of controller fatigue that "reinforces existing FAA policy that prohibits air traffic controllers from sleeping while they are performing assigned duties," according to an agency statement.
Tiger Airways Australia, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Tiger Airways Holdings, was grounded Saturday for five days by Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority over a series of safety issues.
News from ATW's Airports Today: The US Congress last week again passed a short-term FAA funding extension as lawmakers continued to fail to reach agreement on the long-term agency reauthorization bill that airports across the US say is necessary to bring stability to construction project planning.
