Sanad Aero Solutions, the component and engine financing solutions group of Mubadala Aeospace, has partnered with Abu Dhabi National Leasing (ADNL), a wholly owned asset based lease finance arm of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, to provide up to $169 million in lease financing to Etihad Airways for spare engine sale and leaseback transaction. ADNL will provide Sanad with a fully underwritten long term lease facility in support of the purchase and leaseback of five General Electric GE90 and six Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines.
Jordanian Aircraft Maintenance Co. Ltd. (Joramco), the former Royal Jordanian Airlines maintenance division that was spun off as an independent company in 2000, is weighing the addition of Boeing 787 maintenance capability. Royal Jordanian plans to take delivery of its first 787 in about a year, according to Joramco CEO Simon Tate, and the maintenance company would like to support it, but needs to find other 787 operators needing maintenance support to justify the investment.
Biofuels will no doubt bring the next step-change in jet fuel reduction, and airlines have continued to push development forward since Virgin Atlantic operated the first commercial airline flight powered by a biofuel blend in February 2008. As Alaska Airlines CEO Bill Ayer has professed, “To the biofuels industry, we say: 'If you build it, we will buy it.' “
No longer relegated to supplying mere nuts and bolts, parts manufacturer approval (PMA) is providing more of the flight-critical constituents of some of the industry's most popular powerplants. Many carriers are not just accepting the non-OEM parts, they are actually pleading for more product. Still, persistent pushback to that product persists. For all the strides the industry has made, PMA market share is mired at about 5%–even in the face of robust growth.
Aelux specializes in lighting retrofit projects and audits for warehouses, offices and any type of industrial or commercial setting. Aelux offers a specialized on-site survey for each customer to learn about which type of energy saving solution is best for their facility before performing an installation. Often, that means metering the current light load first to establish a baseline for savings. Aelux models each area of the facility to simulate different lighting options to find the best arrangement.
Two years ago, as Congressional negotiators were cooking up the latest iteration of the long awaited, multi-year FAA reauthorization bill, the repair station world—and the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) in particular—was quickly losing its appetite.
Chromalloy's Windsor, Conn. engine component repair station received an approved organization exposition certification from the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau. The certificate allows the Chromalloy turbine repair station to provide component repairs, including FAA approved designated engineering representative repairs for All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines.
Atlantic Fasteners has appointed two new hires to direct new business. Tony Orvis has joined the firm's industrial fastener division as a purchasing representative. Bruce Bonzey has been appointed as the wholesaler's director of quality.
Canadian tourism airline Air Transat has saved more than 410,000 tons of carbon dioxide and up to 6% of its annual fuel bill since 2003 by sticking to a disciplined fuel saving regimen. These results may seem surprising, but the airline's strategy is straightforward—find as many ways to conserve fuel, lighten aircraft and conserve resources in corporate offices as possible, and then train employees to embrace the changes.
Applications come and go, but aircraft and maintenance data is forever. That rule is becoming more important in the digital age. Correlating maintenance with operational data can yield big gains in reliability, revenue and cost reductions. New aircraft will yield much more data helpful to maintenance. Unstructured data such as pilot and mechanic notes also can be exploited. New maintenance models, with technicians ready for problems as aircraft hit gates, require speed as well as power.
SuperJet International is expanding the stock list of Sukhoi Superjet spare parts at its warehouse in Sheremetyevo, Russia to its main warehouse in Frankfurt. In addition, it is working with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. and operator Aeroflot to improve technical support for the Sukhoi Superjet and furnish the airline with more ground equipment and control devices. Joint Ventures/Acquisitions
Fokker Services has signed a multi-year MRO landing gear services agreement with OceanAir, which does business as Avianca in Brazil. The agreement covers the airline's Goodrich landing gear on its Fokker 100s.
Mxi Technologies has implemented its Maintenix aviation maintenance software for Airod. The Malaysian MRO has chosen a comprehensive footprint that covers maintenance planning, execution, engineering and materials functions.
PPG Aerospace's chromate-free metal pretreatment and chromate-free exterior decorative primer are now standard on Boeing 737NG production aircraft. The Desogel EAP-9 metal pretreatment and Desoprime CF/CA 7502 epoxy primer can be used with any qualified topcoats on Boeing 737NG aircraft.
Lufthansa Technical Training has posted a selection of more than 250 open courses and seminars on its website. Now these offerings are available to individual participants in the online training finder at www.ltt.aero for viewing and booking requests.
AFI KLM E&M has appointed Paul Chün as managing director of KLM UK Engineering, a wholly owned subsidiary of AFI KLM E&M that specializes in regional aircraft maintenance solutions. Chün comes to the position after five years at the helm of Epcor, another subsidiary of AFI KLM E&M.
When an Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300ER completed a Los Angeles-Auckland flight in December, it was the first time an airline operated under 240-minute extended operations (ETOPS). But the new 240-minute limit is no longer the edge of the envelope, as a 330 minute time is now poised to become the new ETOPS gold standard. That's because in November Boeing received type design authority from the FAA to offer a 330-minute ETOPS “option” on the GE90-powered 777 family.
AeroMechanical Services has signed a contract with a Canadian airline for seven automated flight information reporting systems (Afirs 220) and 12 next-generation model Afirs 228B for 19 aircraft. AeroMechanical Services will install the equipment on Boeing 737-200, 767-200F and ATR-42/-72 aircraft.
Swiss-AS will provide its Amos MRO software to Transaero Airlines, the second Russian airline to choose the software. The implementation project is planned to last 14-16 months. Transaero will use Amos' interface landscape that links the software to Boeing toolbox functions, which allows for electronic transfer of taskcards between the programs. Swiss-AS added 11 new customers from Europe, Asia and the Americas in 2011. Training
Suppliers that make aircraft composite components likely have a substantial amount of leftover composite fiber material, such as pre-impregnated scraps and laminates. Until recently, the only thing to do with this excess waste was to dispose it. Now, a handful of companies have developed highly specialized processes to transform this trash into recycled treasure, and aerospace companies are doing their part to give back to the environment by utilizing this capability.
Universal Avionics has entered into an agreement with Air Creebec to fit its entire Bombardier Dash 8 fleet with its wide area augmentation system/satellite-based augmentation system flight management systems and terrain awareness and warning systems. Mid-Canada Mod Center, an authorized dealer for Universal Avionics, will undergo the conversion. Parts/Components
