Virgin Australia has taken care of long-term fleet replacement with an order for 23 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, while also reshuffling its medium-term fleet plans. The new aircraft, which are due to be delivered between 2019 and 2021, are intended to replace the airline’s oldest 737-800s rather than grow the fleet, a Virgin Australia spokeswoman tells Aviation Week.
Spirit Airlines is leaving Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Southwest Airlines is emerging as one of the beneficiaries, having acquired four of Spirit’s slots at National to begin service to St. Louis this fall.
Indonesian authorities are planning an expansion of the country’s main airport, Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, but one important element is missing—a new runway. The airport currently is hindered by its capacity limitations, which cause lengthy and numerous flight delays. Airlines based at Soekarno-Hatta also have complained there are too few places to park aircraft.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker says his carrier is talking to Qantas about a code-share partnership, although the Australian carrier is refusing to comment on the subject. Al Baker says that further talks between the airlines are scheduled, and that an agreement between the carriers would allow Qatar greater access to Australian domestic markets, and extend Qantas’s reach into Europe.
Valuable lessons can be learned from the final report by French accident investigation body BEA into the June 1, 2009, crash of Air France Flight 447, which has been attributed to pilot error. Flight 447 was en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport when the aircraft entered a zone of heavy weather in the intertropical convergence zone. It is believed that at the start of the sequence of events, the aircraft pitot tubes iced over and provided unreliable speed indications.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) should be able to fund a large portion of its remaining Boeing 787 deliveries from a planned share issue, which, because of its timing, could weaken the prospects for rival Japan Airlines’ upcoming stock relisting. The share issue is expected to yield up to 211 billion yen ($2.6 billion), which ANA says will be used primarily to pay for aircraft acquisitions.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of July 4, 2012, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
China’s state-controlled ABC Financial Leasing has ordered 45 Comac C919s, bringing claimed orders for the 158-seat jet to 280 aircraft. The actual number of aircraft that the lessor has ordered, however, is unclear because Comac previously has counted options as orders. Comac also counts orders from some contracts that are not binding, according to industry officials who have seen the documents. A Comac representative did not immediately respond to a request for delivery dates and a breakdown of orders and options in the ABC contract.
U.K.-based GKN Aerospace has agreed to buy engine specialist Volvo Aero for $987 million, ending months of speculation over the future of the Swedish aerospace company. Among others, MTU Aero Engines and the Carlyle Group—an investment company—are understood to have been interested in Volvo Aero, but pulled out of the bidding. Volvo Aero is currently part of the broader Volvo Group.
The $105 billion highway funding bill, which cleared Congress June 29, includes a compromise on a provision that industry leaders feared could have devastated the air tour industry, but did not provide relief on the so-called fuel fraud jet fuel tax. The Helicopter Association International, which appealed almost daily to members to contact Congress, says, “Common sense prevailed and lawmakers listened” when passing the highway authorization bill. “We could not have asked for a better outcome,” says HAI President Matt Zuccaro.
African low-cost startup Fastjet has selected the Airbus A319 as its initial aircraft type, with plans to take delivery of the first aircraft in September or October and build to a fleet of five within its first six months. Fastjet is being established by African investment conglomerate Lonrho and Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s Easy Group. Lonrho holds a 73.3% in Rubicon Diversified Investments, the structure behind Fastjet, while EasyJet’s founder has a 5% stake. Haji-Ioannou also will provide consulting and management services as well as the Fastjet brand.
Diehl Group Chairman Thomas Diehl says the company “underestimated” the adverse financial effect of design changes in Airbus’ A350 development program, noting, for example, that the size of baggage bins has been changed several times.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: Barcelona - Madrid, June 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carriers: Barcelona - Madrid, June 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Seats ASKs Daily Each Way
In observance of the U.S. Independence Day holiday, Aviation Daily did not publish an issue dated July 4. Aviation Week Intelligence Network subscribers may visit www.aviationweek.com/awin at any time for news updates.
A nearly two-month strike by Air India’s pilots has ended after the airline assured them it will “sympathetically consider” their concerns about assigning pilots to the carrier’s Boeing 787 fleet and the reinstatement of some 100 pilots fired during the work action. “The strike has been called off with immediate effect. The striking pilots will report to work within 48 hours from July 3 by submitting a joining report,” an Air India lawyer tells Aviation Week. “The flight duties will be assigned thereafter,” he adds.
The engine overhaul bill for CFM International CF34-8 engines that power many of the world’s larger regional jets will top $1 billion over the next three years, presenting a cost challenge to many of the regional carriers that operate them or the major airline partners that help them cover the expense.
The Volga-Dnepr group plans to grow its fleet by more than 50% in the next four years and at least double its maintenance division’s locations around the world, says Victor Sherin, managing director of Volga-Dnepr Gulf.
