/site-files/aviationweek.com/files/uploads/2014/07/avd_07_16_2014_dataw.pdf Major U.S. Airport On-Time Arrival Performance, May 2014 “For more data, go to page 6.” Rank May 2014 % On Time 1 Salt Lake City, UT (SLC) 87.59 2 Seattle, WA (SEA) 84.93 3 Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (MSP) 83.69 4 Atlanta, GA (ATL) 83.23 5 Detroit, MI (DTW) 82.81
Airbus plans to make the decision about whether or not it will launch a re-engined version of the Airbus A380 in 2015, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Customers John Leahy told Aviation Week at the Farnborough Air Show.
Within the aviation industry, there exists a long and vigorous history of incumbents doing all in their power to suppress new and innovative competitors from entering the marketplace. One of the most durable examples is that of Southwest Airlines, which was opposed at every turn by its competitors through years of litigation, political pressure, and scare tactics directed at consumers and government regulators. Now history is repeating itself, as we at Norwegian Air International (NAI) are seeking to break new ground to offer everyone affordable flights across the Atlantic.
Newly minted central Asian airline Air Khazakstan is to start flying the first of 10 Bombardier Q400 NGs next March, with a $230 million price tag on the aircraft/operations deal. Bombardier’s director of business development and sales in Russia and the CIS, Mark Gilbert, added that initial pilot training will be carried out in Canada, and that expatriate staff would establish the operation, “but the whole idea is that the Air Khazakstan company is managed by officials from Kazakhstan,” he said.
NEW DELHI — India has not yet decided whether to privatize money-losing national carrier Air India. “The decision will be taken on merit,” Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju says. “Every suggestion will be examined,” he told the upper house of parliament. The state-run airline, which has been losing money since 2007, recorded a 14.5% jump in revenues – from 124 billion rupees ($2 billion) in the fiscal year ending in March 2013 to 143 billion rupees ($2.3 billion) – during the current fiscal year.
Hainan Airlines, China’s fourth-largest carrier, has decided to order 50 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, says an industry official familiar with the company’s negotiations with manufacturers. The privately owned airline, which often struggles to get government permission to acquire aircraft, has not yet signed the order, says the official.
Europe has launched its first call for core partners in Clean Sky 2, its largest ever public-private civil aeronautics research program. Core partners will join the 16 leaders of Clean Sky 2 and make a substantial long-term commitment to the program, which is funded by government and industry. Clean Sky 2 will run from 2014-2024 and, at almost €4 billion ($5.4 billion), is 2.5 times the size of the current Clean Sky program, which began in 2008 and runs until 2017.
U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) officials are meeting with their EU counterparts in Brussels to discuss Norwegian Air International’s (NAI) application for a foreign air carrier permit to fly to the U.S., although industry observers say it could be months — not days or weeks — before the DOT makes a decision on the application.
U.S. company Eastern Air Lines Group, which has not yet begun flying, has signed a memorandum of understanding to order 20 Mitsubishi Aircraft MRJ regional jets and to take options on a further 20. If confirmed, the intended order will take the MRJ backlog to 185. Deliveries are due to begin in 2019, probably taking some or all of the remaining production slots that Mitsubishi Aircraft had to sell. The first delivery of the MRJ is due in 2017.
FARNBOROUGH — Bombardier says modifications to the PW1500G engine are tested which, if proven successful, would allow the test fleet to return to the air in the coming weeks. Mike Arcamone, President Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, says the modifications are being validated and the “testing is progressing well. We are confident.”
Aercap, Airbus’ single largest customer by aircraft numbers, is showing an interest in placing an order for the A330neo. Aercap President and Chief Commercial Officer Philip Scruggs said at the Farnborough Air Show that “we will undoubtedly look at it” and “when it is right we will move.” Of all leasing companies Aercap has the largest number of current generation A330s in its portfolio.
FARNBOROUGH — Pratt & Whitney says it is testing and verifying a “more robust” oil system for the PW1500G as part of company-wide efforts to return the grounded Bombardier CSeries test fleet to the air as soon as possible.
FARNBOROUGH — Airbus has formally launched the A330neo, a re-engined version of its oldest in-production wide-body. The aircraft is to deliver a 14% reduction in fuel burn per seat compared to the current aircraft. Airbus plans to deliver the first A330neo in the fourth quarter of 2017 following a development period of little more than three years.
You can now register online for Aviation Week events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or contact: Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) July 16-20—Farnborough Commercial Manufacturing Briefings and Farnborough Air Show, U.K. Oct. 7-9—MRO Europe, Madrid Spain Nov. 4-6—MRO Asia, Singapore Nov. 19-20—A&D Programs, Wigwam Resort, Liltchfield Park, Ariz.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] . (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) July 14—ISTAT Reception at the Farnborough International Airshow, Grosvenor House, A JW Marriott Hotel, www.istat.org/Airshow July 14-20—Farnborough Airshow, www.farnborough.com/Public/
A recent survey on Chinese travel trends shows tourists are flocking in ever greater numbers to South Korea, with more traditional destinations like Thailand, Malaysia and Japan slipping down the listings as a result of recent domestic upheavals. The survey, compiled by online travel agency Ctrip.com International Ltd, said that some 4 million Chinese tourists visited South Korea in 2013, up 40% year-over-year. Chinese visitor numbers to Korea are expected to jump another 40% this year.
Hainan Airlines plans to order 40 Embraer E Jets, probably for use by subsidiaries such as Beibu Wan Airlines, which the group is now setting up. The planned order, confirmed by two industry officials, is likely to be announced during the visit to Brazil this month by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Another industry official says ICBC Leasing, part of a major Chinese bank, is considering a further order for Embraer regional jets.
Ireland’s Air Accident Investigation Unit is recommending that Ryanair remind its pilots of the importance of “timely communications” with passengers in emergency situations, one of four recommendations the safety agency issued on July 8 in its final report on a May 2011 incident.
