EADS CEO Tom Enders has given up the once important target of balancing civil and defense revenues. “Maybe it is not a bad time to have a smaller rather than larger defense business,” he said at the EADS annual press conference Feb. 27 in Berlin. The plan to increase defense exposure faltered when the merger with BAE Systems collapsed last year and important potential military contracts, such as the U.S. Air Force tanker program, were lost.
Jetairfly, the Belgium operation of European vacation company TUI travel, has taken delivery of its first new Embraer 190 and will put the aircraft in commercial operations on March 5. The airline, which is leasing two E-190s from Singapore-based lessor BOC Aviation, also will receive its second 112-seat, single cabin E-Jet in the coming weeks as part of a fleet renewal plan that is scheduled to add a Boeing 787 in the fourth quarter to replace a Boeing 767.
The U.S. and Russia will return to the negotiating table in late August to reassess the existing bilateral air services agreement, a source close to the State Department tells Aviation Week. The two sides earlier this month resolved some overflight issues and granting more frequencies to U.S. carriers, although this agreement only is effective until early 2014, so new overflight frequencies must be negotiated, the source says. Negotiators for the two countries next meet in Washington in late August, although final dates have not been set.
Etihad Airways continues to put money into subsidiary Air Berlin after the German carrier yesterday announced a new convertible bond worth €120 million ($157 million) in a new effort to bolster its finances. The bond is due for repayment in six years at a 6% interest rate. Etihad, Air Berlin’s largest shareholder, said it will subscribe to 29.2%, reflecting its current shareholding.
The International Air Transport Association’s Director General and CEO Tony Tyler is calling on governments to improve air navigation and airport infrastructure as part of an industry-wide effort to reduce aviation’s carbon emissions.
The FAA must scrutinize its budget to safeguard against any lapse in safety in advance of the pending sequestration, the top Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee yesterday warned a U.S. congressional panel. If sequestration goes into effect as scheduled March 1, both the FAA and Congress must “make sure we don’t allow safety to be questioned or challenged at all,” Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said during an aviation subcommittee hearing convened to assess the FAA’s implementation of its 2012 reauthorization.
Etihad Airways, which currently is in talks to purchase a stake in Jet Airways, has acquired the Indian carrier’s three pairs of slots at London Heathrow Airport. Under the deal, which is valued at $70 million, Jet will lease the slots from Etihad and continue to operate services to London.
The European Parliament’s environment committee (ENVI) yesterday backed the European Commission’s proposal to temporarily exempt flights between the EU and third countries from the EU’s emission trading scheme (EU ETS).
Click here to view the pdf Aircraft Operating Statistics, 12 Months Ended September 2012, Narrowbody Jets (Sorted By Seats Per Departure) Aircraft Operational Statistics
Top Republicans in the U.S. Congress are calling on Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to validate claims about the effects of sequestration on the FAA.
Airbus will help Thai Airways International become a European certified training organization for maintenance technicians. The European aircraft maker says it has signed a maintenance training collaboration agreement with Thai and will assist the carrier in achieving full European Aviation Safety Agency certification as a maintenance training provider. Airbus also will integrate Thai Airways’ instructors into its global maintenance training organization, it adds.
Having completed a series of indoor tests at Station 30 over the past few weeks, the first Airbus A350, MSN001, has been moved to outdoor Testing Station 18. The aircraft is now structurally complete. Wings, winglets, belly fairing panels and the main landing gear doors are installed. The indoor tests included stability checks for the spoilers, ailerons or rudders. The Station 18 tests will focus on the fuel system, radio equipment and pressurization.
Virgin Australia will not make a commitment to lock in its long-term growth plans for Tiger Airways, even though regulators have hinted that such a promise would help it gain approval to purchase Tiger.
DVB Bank, a major lender for aircraft acquisitions, says it has a preference for financing winglet-equipped Airbus and Boeing aircraft because they hold their value better, but it might make exceptions for certain aircraft that could later be converted to freighters.
Struggling Kingfisher Airlines’ hopes of making a phased restart were dashed further after India’s government decided to withdraw the carrier’s international route authority and domestic slots and allot them to other Indian carriers. “These traffic rights have been withdrawn with immediate effect on account of non-utilization by the airline,” says an official at India’s Civil Aviation Ministry.
Click here to view the pdf Aircraft Operating Costs, 12 Months Ended September 2012, Narrowbody Jets (Sorted By Seats Per Departure) Cost Per Block Hour
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Alitalia is facing intense pressure to improve its financial performance and find a longer-term solution to the uncertainty surrounding its shareholder structure after the airline posted dramatically weaker results for 2012. As a consequence, CEO Andrea Ragnetti resigned after only one year on the job.
Upcoming peak travel periods have prompted All Nippon Airways (ANA) to extend route cancellations caused by the Boeing 787 groundings through the end of May. The latest update from ANA includes more than 1,700 flight cancellations for the March 31-May 31 period. However, an airline spokeswoman tells Aviation Week that ANA is not assuming the groundings will continue through May, but it has no new information about when the 787s are likely to resume service.
Republicans in the U.S. Congress argue that the FAA can absorb budget cuts caused by sequestration without enacting furloughs detailed late last week by the Obama administration. According to a source close to the party, Republicans think the FAA can manage the cuts by using some $222 million in savings generated in the first quarter and reducing non-personnel costs by 7% to generate a further $210 million. A hiring freeze also will save $50 million for the FAA, and help avoid furloughs, say the Republicans.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers - Cairo, Feb. 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Top Carriers - Cairo, Feb. 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Departures Airport Share ASMs (mil) Airport Share Seats/Dept.
Saab says its remote control tower system installed at two airports in Sweden has passed site acceptance testing, a key hurdle on the path to certification by the Swedish Transportation Authority later this year. The system, funded by Sweden’s air navigation service provider, LFV, consists of a remote tower at Sundsvall-Harnosand Airport and another at Ornskoldsvik Airport. Both airports are on Sweden’s east coast.
