Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker says the state-owned carrier will be receiving a demonstration of the Gulfstream G650 and that the carrier is interested in the new aircraft for its executive jet division. Earlier this year, Qatar signed an agreement with Bombardier’s fractional jet provider, Flexjet, to provide access to more than 5,000 destinations that can be reached by private jet.
WestJet will begin taking delivery of the first Bombardier Q400s for its proposed regional feeder in June 2013 as the Canadian low-fare operator prepares for the new subsidiary’s launch. The carrier will take one or two of the turboprops in the first month for its WestJet Encore operation “and one or two every month after that, essentially,” a spokesman tells Aviation Week.
Business jet sales are expected to reach $250 billion over the next 10 years as a growing number of customers gravitate toward long-range, large-cabin models. But 2013 is shaping up as another flat year as lingering market sluggishness continues to hold down deliveries of small and mid-sized business jets, says Honeywell Aerospace.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is challenging a new report that recommends diverting funds from general aviation airports to commercial airports. The Brookings Institution’s analysis of international commercial aviation in U.S. metropolitan areas is pushing for an overhaul of federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants that takes changes in travel flow and type into consideration.
Brazil’s domestic airline market saw demand rise in September, mainly on the strength of its smaller airlines. Demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), rose almost 8% year-over-year in September for the industry, according to data from the country’s civil aviation regulator. Avianca Brasil added 56% more capacity to the system and reported a 56% growth in RPKs, the ANAC data show. Azul Linhas Aereas, meanwhile, added 22% more capacity compared with 2011, and reported a 16% growth in demand.
Etihad Airways has ordered another two Airbus A330-200s and converted part of an earlier A320 order into A321s. The airline currently operates 17 A330-200s, six A330-300s and two A330-200Fs from previous orders that also include two more A330s scheduled for delivery. All A330-200s, including the two new orders, are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines. Etihad operates 15 A320s and has an outstanding order for 12 more. Seven of these aircraft are now turned into the larger A321s, which are added to a backlog of seven more A321s.
SAS Group is launching another cost-cutting program and plans to sell SEK3 billion ($447 million) in assets as it tries to return to profitability. The airline on Oct. 30 said the board of directors is close to signing off on a SEK3 billion cost-savings program in addition to an asset sale worth a futher SEK3 billion, although details of this sale were not revealed.
Cessna Aircraft next year hopes to bring to market a new Citation Sovereign that incorporates many of the same upgrades found on the Citation Ten, now called the X, along with improved range and performance.
Delta Air Lines’ decision in recent years to reduce its scheduled service flying during off-peak seasons is boosting the carrier’s charter revenue. “Seasonal pull-downs of the commercial schedule have freed aircraft that can be effectively used for charter operations,” says Bill Wernecke, the airline’s charter operations director. “However, Delta does not pull down the schedule so that we can do more charter operations; we do more charter operations because the schedule got pulled down and there is more aircraft time available for us to sell.”
Honeywell, named the exclusive wireless airtime reseller for Inmarsat’s Global Xpress Ka-band for business aviation, is partnering with Arinc Direct and OnAir to distribute the connectivity services to the market.
The anticipated surge in domestic use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) poses a potential threat to U.S. constitutional privacy rights that federal agencies have been slow to address, experts last week said at a policy forum. The expected increase in UAV flights is being bolstered by national security and environmental interests, local law enforcement, industrial surveillance as well as private owners. Legislation passed in February requires the FAA to integrate drones into the federal airspace by December 2015.
Introducing the Aero 100 Airfare Benchmark Index Designed for anyone with risk on the future level of airfares – for example Airlines, Banks/Credit Card Companies, Corporate Travel Managers, etc. The Aero 100 Airfare Benchmark Index tracks daily airfares within the domestic airline market. The Aero 100 delivers financial risk mitigation and protection against constant fluctuation of airline ticket prices by providing the price settling mechanism for Commodity Futures Contracts.
Worldwide demand for Boeing 737 Classics as cargo haulers is on the rise, say a Dublin-based aircraft lessor and a Miami-based aircraft conversion specialist. The increase in demand led Ireland’s Aergo Capital to sign a deal with Pemco World Air Services in late October to convert up to 20 737 Classic aircraft to freighters and create a new subsidiary called Aergo Cargo Solutions. The deal with Pemco, which specializes in conversions and maintenance, repair and overhaul, also includes aircraft acquisition and bridging maintenance.
Oneworld has decided that Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will formally join the alliance on Feb. 1. The date has been set following a thorough review of MAS’s readiness, conducted by Oneworld member Qantas Airways, which is sponsoring MAS’s entry into the alliance, Oneworld says in a statement. “Its alliance implementation program is on track for completion in the coming weeks,” it says.
Gulfstream is a few weeks away from delivering the first completed G650 and G280, awaiting only the supplemental type certification approvals on the interior installations before handing over the first aircraft, company executives say. The company obtained full type certification for its G650 in early September, one week after receiving similar approval for the G280. “We’re marching along smartly . . . We’ll be delivering aircraft here within weeks,” says Jay Johnson, chairman of Gulfstream parent General Dynamics.
While the Aviation Daily team will make every effort to supply our readers with industry-leading news during Hurricane Sandy, production of the newsletter may be adversely affected in the coming days. In that event, subscribers to the Aviation Week Intelligence Network will still be able to access updates at www.aviationweek.com/awin.
Responding to strong interest from customers, Boeing Business Jets is launching a VIP version of the 737-8 from its new MAX range. The BBJ MAX 8 will have the fuel-efficient CFM International Leap-1B engines and Boeing advanced technology winglets, coupling the BBJ2-sized cabin of the 737-8 with a more than 14% improvement in range.
Further delays in delivery of United Airlines’ Boeing 787s has forced the carrier to cancel most of the domestic routes planned to showcase the new widebody before the first batch is assigned to international duties in early 2013. Few details are being disclosed, and neither United nor Boeing was available for comment. But United’s own online reservations system shows that all but one of the six hub-to-hub routes destined to receive 787 flights in November no longer will offer the service.
Despite applying lean manufacturing methods to its 777 final assembly line about seven years ago, Boeing considered its goal of producing 100 of the widebody jets per year unrealistic without a significant capital investment. But a combination of automation, process improvements from its mechanics and a push on hiring is making that goal possible.
