Air Transport

A National Academies study of advanced aerial mobility requested by NASA concludes the commercial cargo market is likely to be an early adopter of autonomous air vehicle technology for rural cargo operations, including “middle mile” distribution and “last mile” package deliveries.

The provincial government of Hainan, China, is moving to take control of HNA Group’s Hainan Airlines, of which it is already a major indirect

Air France-KLM said the COVID-19 outbreak would have a negative impact of up to €200 million ($216 million) on its operating profit in the coming

Qantas expects to take a major financial hit from capacity reductions related to the COVID-19 outbreak, although the airline remains on track to make some significant aircraft order moves this year.

As airlines grapple with capacity shortages created by the Boeing 737 MAX grounding or a sudden over-supply because of COVID-19-related schedule reductions, lessors are supporting their mitigation plans, including matching customers in both categories and moving aircraft between them.

Collins Aerospace is opening a new multi-million dollar facility near Fort Worth, Texas on Feb. 20 to expand its military landing gear manufacturing

GoJet Airlines will expand its Bombardier CRJ-550 fleet by 20 aircraft, a move that will see it operate 74 of the 50-seat jets on behalf of United Airlines as United Express.

US DOT says US scheduled pax airlines employed 453,976 full-time equivalent workers at end 2019 up 3.1% vs a year ago.

US DOT says top US carriers reported on-time arrival rate of 79% in 2019 vs 79.2% in 2018; December 2019 rate was 78.2%, down from 80% in December

ETIHAD AIRWAYS agreed to purchase two A380-800s (233/237) off-lease from Amedeo Air Four Plus, which is projecting net proceeds of £130m after

TAP AIR PORTUGAL took delivery of two A330-900s (1941/1954) on the same day, February 14, and now has 19.

JETSTAR ASIA plans July 1 to begin four-times-weekly Singapore-Colombo, Sri Lanka (A320).

QATAR AIRWAYS GROUP increased its stake in INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES GROUP (IAG) from 21.4% to 25.1%.

LOGANAIR, Scotland subleased two ATR 72-600s (1260/1277) from Flybe, which leases the aircraft from Avation, Singapore.

EMBRAER delivered 198 aircraft in 2019 vs 181 in 2018, including 89 commercial jets (67 E175s; five E190s; three E195s; seven E190-E2s; seven E195-E2s

GREEN AFRICA AIRWAYS, Nigeria agreed to lease three A220-300s from GTLK Europe for delivery by Aug 2020 for startup.

DUBAI AEROSPACE ENTERPRISE (DAE) had US$413.6m pretax profit in 2019 (vs $428.8m in 2018) on 1% lower revenues, and ended year with owned/managed

AJW GROUP acquired ex-Air Malta A319-100 (2186) with CFM56s for part out; components will be recertified by AJW TECHNIQUE.

TAROM took delivery of first new ATR 72-600 (1583) on lease from Nordic Aviation Capital as part of overall deal for nine.

As airlines grapple with capacity shortages created by the Boeing 737 MAX grounding or a sudden over-supply because of COVID-19-related schedule reductions, lessors are supporting their mitigation plans, including matching customers in both categories and moving aircraft between them.

BAMBOO AIRWAYS, Vietnam is expected to order 12 777Xs in 2Q20. It currently operates 787s and A320 Family aircraft.

WestJet is doubling down on its Calgary base in 2020, with plans to add more than 90 new flights to its primary hub by the peak summer travel season.

Cadence Aerospace, a private equity-backed rollup of highly complex structural and engine component and assembly businesses, on Feb. 18 announced the acquisition of Premier Processing

Russia´s S7 Group completed the merger of Sibir and Globus Airlines in December, the company said in a statement Feb. 26.