DUBAI — Lufthansa Technik and UTC Aerospace Systems have expanded their Boeing 787 component agreement to include work on interior products , sensors and integrated systems. Their MRO cooperation for Dreamliner components started in 2011 when UTC appointed Lufthansa Technik a licensed 787 MRO provider. Then in November 2013 the two companies expanded their long-term agreement with a rotable-provisioning and MRO service agreement for UTC-manufactured nacelle components. That agreement covers nacelles on GE and Rolls-Royce engines.
The Kuwait National Assembly said Feb. 5 it has asked its legislative and legal affairs committee to investigate a Kuwait Airways Company (KAC) plan to purchase 25 Airbus aircraft. The inquiry, approved 36-21, would see the committee probe all transactions being undertaken by state-owned KAC, including a plan by recently ousted chairman Sami al-Nasef to purchase five used Airbus aircraft from Jet Airways of India, according to a transcript of the parliamentary session.
South African Airways (SAA) will improve its access to the Australian market thanks to a new code share with Virgin Australia, although the deal is not reciprocal and Virgin will still link to South Africa via Singapore Airlines. SAA operates a flight from Johannesburg to Perth, and under the new agreement it will place its code on Virgin Australia domestic flights from Perth to eastern cities Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne.
Virgin Australia has signaled that it will record a substantial loss for the six months through Dec. 31, confirming that upcoming earnings reports for this period will make grim reading for both of Australia’s major carriers.
LONDON — The U.K. National Air Traffic Services (NATS) will introduce a time-based separation system for aircraft arriving at London’s Heathrow Airport. NATS says introduction of the system, set for spring 2015, will help cut delays and reduce cancellations at the city’s busiest airport, particularly during strong headwind conditions, considered the biggest cause of flight delays.
SINGAPORE—Singapore-based SilkAir will use its new all-Boeing fleet as a springboard to expand its route network across Asia as part of its strategy to tap into strong growth in the top end of the intra-Asia market, says Ryan Pua, commercial vice president at the airline. “We see an increasing number of travelers in Asia [who] prefer to fly in comfort and with peace of mind even on short-haul flights,” he tells Aviation Week.
Monarch Aircraft Engineering (MAEL) has completed the retrofit installation of a set of Sharklet wingtip devices on one of the Airbus A321s operated by the group’s airline, Monarch Airlines. A second A321 will be retrofitted at the end of this month.
BRUSSELS — Cyprus Airways and the Baltic regional carrier Estonian Air are facing an additional hurdle in their struggle to keep flying following the European Commission’s decision to open a new in-depth investigation to verify whether financial support measures by the carriers’ respective governments comply with EU state aid rules.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of February 5, 2014, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
BRUSSELS — Europe’s 2013 air traffic was marked by strong growth in Turkey and a steep contraction of traffic volumes in four of the European Union’s key markets.
DUBAI — Saudi Aerospace Engineering Industries (SAEI) is constructing a 12-bay hangar scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2016 that will provide the capacity the MRO needs to grow its third-party maintenance business. By 2017 or 2018, the MRO in Jeddah is hoping to achieve revenue increases of 40% as it sells its services to Middle East and North Africa civil operators, says Ribhi Al-Husseini, director of technical sales and marketing.
LOT Polish Airlines is preparing for a fresh barrage of criticism, after the European Commission released details of its restructuring plan as part of a state-aid probe. Last November, the Commission said it was launching an in-depth investigation into LOT’s PLN804 million ($255.4 million) restructuring package. The Commission has now formally opened the probe and called on LOT’s rivals and analysts to scrutinize the plan and reply within the next month.
The U.S. Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General (IG) says the FAA will not likely be ready to mandate using automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) “In” by 2020, in parallel with the ADS-B “Out” mandate already in place.
Rockwell Collins has made significant improvements to its fully automatic MultiScan weather radar in a new product now available on the Boeing 737NG, which should help airlines avoid not only tough weather but the diversion costs that go with it. Called ThreatTrack radar, the system includes a binary classification of convective-related turbulence to give pilots a graphic denotation of “ride quality” versus severe turbulence out to 40 nm. ahead of the aircraft.
Pins critical to the correct operation of Boeing 777 escape slides are turning up corroded or broken, leading FAA to propose giving operators three years to replace them. Boeing has received reports of at least 23 “corroded, migrated, or broken” girt bar floor fitting spring pins, FAA says in a draft airworthiness directive (AD) set for publication Feb. 6. In at least one case, discovered during a maintenance test, a failed pin prevented a door escape slide from deploying.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carrier: Istanbul - Izmir, January 15-21, 2014, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carrier: Istanbul - Izmir, January 15-21, 2014, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Daily Each Way Departures Share ASKs (000) Share Seats/Dept.
