Aer Lingus’s determined efforts to steer clear of a Ryanair takeover and remove Europe’s largest low-cost carrier as one of its biggest shareholders received a boost from the U.K. Competition Commission, which asserts that Ryanair’s 29.8% stake in Aer Lingus could reduce competition on routes between the U.K. and Ireland. Consequently, the commission says, “Ryanair may have to reduce its shareholding in Aer Lingus Group.”
There is no shortage of candidates for feedstocks from which to make biofuels, from camelina to poplar and switchgrass to wood chips. But it is taking time to find ones that can be sustainably cultivated, harvested and transported in the quantities required to make commercial volumes of jet fuel.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has committed to buying 30 Boeing 787-10X aircraft, but only if the airframer formally launches the program. The deal, unveiled on May 30 by the airline, calls for all 30 787-10X deliveries to be made in the Star Alliance member’s fiscal year starting April 1, 2018. SIA also announced a follow-on order for 30 Airbus A350-900s with options for 20 more that can be converted to the larger A350-1000. The latest A350-900 firm orders are scheduled for delivery in SIA’s fiscal year starting April 1, 2016.
Competition in Malaysia’s medium-haul market is set to intensify, with Malindo Air disclosing that it plans to operate some of the Boeing 787-8s that its parent company, Indonesia’s Lion Air, has on order.
Sun Country Airlines wants to increase its fleet size by at least two aircraft per year for the next three years as part of a “conservative” growth plan, and the Minneapolis/St. Paul-based low-cost carrier is asking the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) to remove a fleet-size restriction that would prevent it from doing so.
Airbus is expecting to book more than 800 gross orders in 2013, an increase of more than 100 over its previously stated target for the year, EADS CEO Tom Enders told the company’s annual general meeting in Amsterdam. In 2012, the airframer targeted 650 orders and booked 914 gross orders for a net order intake of 833 aircraft after cancellations. Rival Boeing booked 921 net orders in 2012.
Airworthiness directives issued this week by U.S. and Canadian authorities are targeting unrelated yaw and pitch control-system problems experienced by certain Bombardier regional jets. Transport Canada has issued an airworthiness directive (AD), requiring operators of all Canadian-registered CRJ100/200/700/705/900 regional jets to incorporate new emergency procedures into the aircraft flight manual by July 11, instructing pilots how to deal with uncommanded rudder deflections.
Boeing says it has completed all 50 of the retrofit installations of battery containment systems on 787s that had been grounded for safety reasons. All 50 aircraft are expected to operating revenue service by the end of this week.
Regional Express (Rex) has acquired a FlightSafety International Saab 340 full-flight simulator to expand its Australian Airline Pilot Academy (AAPA) into simulator type-rating training. “This full-flight simulator was the last Saab 340 simulator built by FlightSafety, and is the youngest of its type in the world,” says a statement from Rex. FlightSafety also will provide product support services and spare parts for the simulator.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of May 29, 2013, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
Aviation Week 2013 Commercial Fleet & MRO Forecast! The MRO Fleet, Forecasts and Data you need to accurately plan and strategize for the future. See for yourself with a free demonstration: AviationWeek.com/FleetMRO Aviation Week Intelligence Network Click here to view the pdf
Malaysia’s AirAsia X could establish a medium-haul carrier based in Jakarta as soon as this year. CEO Azran Osman-Rani declines to say when AirAsia X’s Indonesia venture will launch, but notes that the company is applying for the relevant business license, after which it will need to apply for an air operator certificate. This application coincides with similar plans to launch a carrier in Bangkok. Azran says arrival of the licenses will dictate which venture launches first, and that the second airline will follow six-months later.
An interim report released by German investigators reveals that a Lufthansa A330-300 that departed Chicago O’Hare International Airport for its hub at Munich Airport the night of March 5 had experienced significant damage to its aft structure following a tail strike. The pilots continued the flight to the Munich, where the aircraft landed without incident.
Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have launched trials of a wireless inflight connectivity system. The Panasonic Avionics system, which is installed on two Boeing 777-300s, will be tested for the remainder of the year. Passengers will be charged €10.95 ($14.20) per hour or €19.95 for the entire flight to access the Internet above 20,000 ft. The two Wi-Fi equipped aircraft will operate on several long-haul destinations during the trial.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: Chicago O’Hare - New York LaGuardia, May 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carriers: Chicago O’Hare - New York LaGuardia, May 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Daily Each Way Departures Share ASKs (000) Share
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued a proposed policy change that would shift the responsibility for monitoring passenger exits to airport operators—a plan that airports and airlines are condemning as an “unconscionable” effort to push national security costs onto the private sector without Congressional approval.
EADS subsidiary Premium Aerotec is exchanging almost its entire executive board as the company struggles with inefficiencies in the ramp-up of key programs, particularly the Airbus A350. Premium Aerotec’s CEO Kai Horten, CFO Helmut Kretschmer and Head of Human Resources Wolfram Sauer are leaving the company. Horten and Sauer stepped down with immediate effect, Kretschmer will remain in his position until the end of June.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA)—committed to monthly meetings with the FAA on sequestration’s ongoing impact following a flurry of conclaves since mid-April—still is expecting some delays this year in the progress on NextGen and the constitution of the controller-inclusive teams that help push the air traffic modernization program forward.
American Airlines’ parent company AMR Corp. lost $104 million in April but posted an operating profit of $14 million, which it says portends a strong operating profit for the second quarter. “Excluding reorganization and special items, we posted a very strong improvement to our bottom line. And, if current trends continue, we are well on our way to a strongly profitable second quarter,” Chairman and CEO Tom Horton says in a May 29 message to employees.
The Pentagon has selected three companies for cost-sharing projects to build refineries capable of producing biofuels at costs competitive with petroleum-derived aviation and naval fuels. Emerald Biofuels, Fulcrum BioEnergy and Nature’s BioReserve will receive contracts totaling $16 million, funded under Title III of the Defense Production Act (DPA). They will be matched by more than $17 million in company investment.
