WHETHER BY design or by circumstance, the competitive battle between Boeing and Airbus is morphing day by day into a titanic tussle between Boeing/General Electric on the one hand and Airbus/Rolls-Royce on the other. Boeing's 777-300ER/-200LR/-200F and 747-8 are all single-source GE engine programs and the 737NG is exclusively a CFM56 program. Airbus's A350 XWB and A340-500/-600, by contrast, are powered exclusively by the UK engine manufacturer's Trent family.
THAT WELL COULD HAVE BEEN THE headline for the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore as it opened its S$1.75 billion ($1.20 billion) Terminal 3 at Changi Airport on Jan. 9. Impressive is hardly the word. "Stunning" better describes T3's spectacular roof that allows filtered light to enter the terminal, its magnificent gardens and a bright yet soothing color scheme.
LIFE IS RIFE WITH EXAMPLES OF short-term projects turning into long-term templates, initiatives that started out tackling a specific issue and wound up governing the way things would work in general. Southwest Airlines Purchasing VP Ray Sears has seen it happen. The carrier set out not long ago to cut the cost of servicing aircraft at its airport locations. It was spending in the neighborhood of $50 million a year to do things like clean airplanes, verify tickets, provide wheelchair services and employ skycaps.
Star Alliance It is common knowledge that a rising tide lifts all boats, but does that hold true for much heavier equipment? In the spring of 1997, five visionary airlinesLufthansa, United Airlines, Thai Airways, SAS and Air Canadaopted to test those waters, announcing the formation of Star Alliance and setting out to prove that cooperation beyond bilaterals has a place in this most competitive of industries.
Denis Vercherin joined Snecma Services on Oct. 1, 2007, as chairman and CEO. He recently spoke with Airline Procurement about the company's standing and his strategy for future growth. (Edited for clarity and length.) AP: Can you please describe Snecma Services' MRO business and expertise with CFM56 engines?
Flight Safety Foundation It is impossible to overstate the importance of safety in commercial aviation. Despite becoming a routine part of modern life, air travel is still a highly complicated technical exercise in which mistakes can and do lead to catastrophic accidents. Safety always must be the foremost concern of those employed in and around the industry and aviation regulatory agencies.
Winston Churchill famously described Russia as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." It is a formulation that is equally applicable to the Chinese government and particularly to the fluid relationship between the government and the industries and enterprises it both owns and regulates. Over the past few months, the aviation community got perhaps its deepest and most detailed glimpse into that world and how it is evolving as Air China and its parent China National Aviation Holding Co.
A NEW LOCATION AND A PURPOSE-built exhibition hall await visitors to this month's Singapore Airshow (Feb. 19-24). This is the 14th edition of the biennial aerospace exhibition in the Lion City but the first that does not bear the name Asian Aerospace following a falling-out prior to the 13th Asian Aerospace in 2006 between former show organizers Reed Exhibitions, which owned the name, and the Singapore aerospace industry. Singapore Air Show and Events Pte. Ltd., a joint venture between the Singapore CAA and the Defence Science and Technology Agency, is orchestrating this year's event.
Amadeus unveiled a three-year, full-content program in Europe and said 34 airlines have signed up for it. Among them are Air France-KLM, Iberia, Alitalia, TAP Air Portugal, Air Europa and Malev. The new agreement is an extension of the one-year Amadeus Full Content Option introduced in 2005. Similar to the DCA-3 agreements introduced by GDS companies in the U.S. in 2003, the new Amadeus deal provides airlines with lower distribution costs in exchange for the full range of their fares.
When an aircraft gets a major engine overhaul, the disassembly, inspection, testing and other manufacturer-approved services and regulatory mandates typically result in invoices topping seven figures. Engines drive more than 50% of maintenance material spending for aircraft and about 60% of the cost to revamp them is for parts. Given the financial pressures airlines face today, the cost of those parts is becoming a huge issue, pushing many toward sources other than the original equipment manufacturers. Thus we have the PMA proposition.
China Eastern Airlines signed an aircraft purchase agreement with Boeing for 30 737NGs yesterday in Shanghai, according to a statement released by the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Boeing did not acknowledge the specifics of the order, saying only that CEA "announced the selection of additional" aircraft and that it will issue a statement "when the order process is completed." The deal is worth CNY13.98 billion ($1.94 billion) at list prices, but CEA said it will pay less.
The Alitalia board met this week to approve its 2008 budget and said it would look to raise about €750 million ($1.1 billion) over the next five months in order to maintain its cash in hand "at adequate operating levels" as speculation swirled in Italy about the effect that the fall of Prime Minister Romano Prodi's government will have on AZ's merger with Air France KLM.
Scotland's City Star Airlines announced Wednesday that it has ceased operations until further notice. The airline said in a statement that it was forced to ground one of its four Dornier 328s following a November collision with mobile passenger steps. According to press reports, a second aircraft was impounded at Aberdeen Airport Wednesday. "Unfortunately, the [November] incident has had a major knock-on effect and we have simply not been able to recover from this," MD Runar Fossadal Arnason said. City Star served three Norwegian destinations and operated charter services.
Kolej TAFE Seremban signed an MOA with AirAsia to support maintenance engineering training at AirAsia Academy. Program includes EASA Part 66 module 1-17 training for DCA certification. Agreement offers TAFE's workshop facilities for modules 6 and 7.
ANA Group net profit for the fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, 2007, climbed 33.9% to ¥12.4 billion ($115.9 million) from ¥9.3 billion in the year-ago period. Revenue fell 0.9% to ¥378.2 billion against a 2% decline in costs to ¥351.3 billion, resulting in a 17.2% lift in operating profit to ¥26.8 billion from ¥22.9 billion. In the quarter, the air transport segment reported a ¥24.5 billion operating profit, up 28.9% from the year-ago period's ¥19 billion.
Malaysia Airlines unveiled a five-year growth plan dubbed BTP2 (Business Transformation Plan 2) in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, targeting a minimum full-year net profit of MYR1.5 billion ($463.6 million) by 2012.
VLM Airlines carried 745,781 passengers last year, up 9% over 2006. Scheduled passengers rose 6% to 697,781 while the number flying on charter or ACMI flights climbed 62% year-over-year.
Austrian Airlines Group announced that Saudi investor Mohamed bin Iassa Al-Jaber is in talks with airline management about a plan to invest €150 million ($221.7 million) in the flag carrier, which is intent on protecting its independent status. Discussions regarding an investment are ongoing and there are no results to report, AAG said. Al-Jaber owns two luxury hotels in Vienna. According to financial sources, AAG's value on the stock exchange is nearly €450 million.
Qantas will increase Melbourne-Hong Kong service to 10-times-weekly from daily from April 1 aboard an A330-300. Twice-weekly Melbourne-Shanghai begins March 11. It will increase weekly Sydney-Canberra frequencies by 15 to 157 in March and Melbourne-Canberra by 11 in March and an additional four in June to 89. New frequencies will be operated by 737-400s. JetBlue Airways will start daily Fort Lauderdale-Aguadilla Feb. 15 aboard A320s. It launched daily flights to Fort Myers from Buffalo and White Plains scheduled to operate until April 30 aboard E-190s.
International passenger traffic (RPKs) increased 7.4% in 2007, up 1.5 points over 5.9% growth recorded in 2006, according to IATA, which announced full-year traffic figures yesterday. Average load factor was 77% last year, up 1 point from 2006 and an all-time record. "This trend will likely end in 2008 as demand growth is forecast to slow to 5% while capacity rises 5.2%," the organization said.
Virgin Group is in talks with a potential Russian partner about launching an airline in the market, Chairman Richard Branson said in Moscow yesterday. "Now is the time for Virgin to come to Russia," he said at a news conference during an investor conference he is attending. His remarks were reported widely. "We are in discussions with a Russian partner," he said. "We will announce in three months who that partner will be." Branson added that it would be better to do "something from scratch" rather than partner with an existing carrier.
Midwest Airlines parent Midwest Air Group said yesterday that the US Dept. of Justice has completed its investigation of the company's acquisition by TPG Capital and Northwest Airlines, clearing the way for the sale's closing as early as last night ( ATWOnline, Dec. 10, 2007). Trading of Midwest Air Group stock on the American Stock Exchange concluded as of the close of trading yesterday. "Shareholders of record. .
