Airframe manufacturers face an uphill climb to capture consistent revenues from the aftermarket, but hold several advantages over traditional maintenance suppliers that—if leveraged correctly—could lead to market-share gains, a PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) analysis concludes.
An agreement that will bring Ukraine into the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) could be concluded at the end of November, Aviation Week has learned. European Commission officials say the initialing of the comprehensive air services agreement will take place during the third biennial Eastern Partnership Summit, which will be held in Vilnius Nov. 28-29. During the summit, Ukraine also is expected to sign an association and free-trade agreement with the EU. Some unresolved political issues, however, still could halt the deal.
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The FAA, in a step toward developing a consistent source of regulatory interpretations, is reviewing all guidance and plans to ensure that still-relevant documents are available in an existing electronic database, while duplicative and irrelevant guidance is canceled, the agency’s certification director says.
China will have the capability for performance-based navigation procedures at all of its airports by 2016. Speaking yesterday at the Flight Safety Foundation’s International Air Safety Summit in Washington, Wang Zhong of the China Academy of Civil Aviation said there currently are 196 airports in the country. He noted, however, but only a limited number of facilities are able to offer area navigation (RNAV) or required navigation performance (RNP) approaches or procedures.
As the only all-new engine developed for one of the most ambitious aircraft models built in the jet age, General Electric’s GE90 family has more than held its own.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers - Buenos Aires, Oct. 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Top Carriers - Buenos Aires, Oct. 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Departures Airport Share ASMs (mil) Airport Share Seats/Dept.
Estonian Air’s drastic restructuring and downsizing efforts are starting to bear fruit, and the airline now has reached sustainability in its core business as a result of resizing operations, says CEO Jan Palmer says. The airline came close to bankruptcy at the end of 2012, owing to an over-ambitious growth strategy as a hub-and-spoke operator. However, it has now reduced its fleet to seven regional jet aircraft. Two Saab 340s were sent back to lessors during the second quarter and a Boeing 737 was returned in July.
The much-delayed maintenance, repair and overhaul facility jointly established by Air India and Boeing in India will be operational by mid-2014, the U.S. aircraft maker says. “The handover of the facility will be done by the end of this quarter or the next,” says Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president-sales, Asia Pacific and India, Boeing Commercial Aircraft.
Inefficient certification processes are delaying hundreds of new applications for aircraft operations and repair stations, says Jeffrey Guzzetti, assistant inspector general for aviation audits for the U.S. Transportation Department.
Efforts to better understand wildlife strike patterns and translate that knowledge into reducing the risk of strikes with aircraft are paying off, the latest FAA wildlife hazard report shows. The recently released report—Wildlife Strikes to Civil Aircraft in The United States, 1990-2012—shows that strike reports, which mainly involve birds, are rising at about 4% per year, hitting a record 10,726 in 2012. This is not unexpected, as officials have focused efforts on expanding reporting in an effort to build the knowledge base.
The Spanish government in the next two weeks is expected to decide on the planned privatization of Aena Aeropuertos and is reviewing a government report that recommends selling up to 60% of the equity in the airport operator in two phases.
JetBlue Airways is targeting high-density markets as part of an effort to control costs, and has initiated a significant fleet revamp and a major retrofit program to reach its goal. The fleet plan, which upgauges and expands the airline’s Airbus narrowbody order book and defers 24 Embraer 190s, dominated the conversation during JetBlue’s Oct. 29 third-quarter earnings call, both in its scope and its financial implications.
Brazilian airline GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes plans a campaign of 200 biofuel flights when the country hosts the FIFA World Cup in 2014. News of the plans emerged as the airline made the first commercial biofuel flight by an airline in Brazil. GOL has signed a memorandum of understanding with biofuel developer Amyris that could lead to the airline using renewable jet fuel produced from Brazilian sugar cane by Amyris once the company’s direct sugar to hydrocarbon feedstock-to-fuel pathway is approved for use in aircraft.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker says he would be interested in a further stretch of the Airbus A350. Such an aircraft “could meet our requirements” if it has the right payload and range characteristics, even in the very hot Qatar summers, Al Baker said yesterday on the sidelines of an event in Doha marking the airline’s formal membership in Oneworld. Al Baker, however, did not specify the range requirements for the aircraft.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers - Mexico City, Oct. 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Top Carriers - Mexico City, Oct. 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Departures Airport Share ASMs (mil) Airport Share Seats/Dept.
Better-than-expected aerodynamic results from tests of the engine installation and advanced split winglet have prompted Boeing to increase its fuel-burn performance improvement predictions for the 737 MAX over the current models by one percentage point to 14%. The final performance audit follows the completion of firm configuration and systems definition this summer, and comes as Boeing continues to battle for market share equality with the Airbus A320neo.
