India’s ambitious initiative to design and develop a regional transport aircraft finally seems to have taken wings with state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) inviting enginemakers worldwide to offer data on their engines and integrated propulsive systems (IPS) for developing a 70-100 seater airplane.
Machinists union members accepted an improved contract proposal from Boeing by the narrowest of margins late Friday, guaranteeing the company’s new long-range 777X and its all-composite wings will be built in Everett and nearby facilities around the Puget Sound area of Washington state. Of the 24,000 ballots cast, 51% were in favor of approval. The outcome ends two months of speculation over where the assembly work will take place and draws a line under Boeing’s search for alternate sites that attracted bids from 22 states as well as Japan.
Air Algerie has firmed up an order with ATR for three ATR 72-600s and also signed an agreement with Boeing for eight 737-800s, as part of its fleet renewal and expansion program. The new orders follow a memorandum of understanding with Airbus for three A330-200 passenger aircraft, signed at the Dubai Air Show in November. Air Algerie expects to take delivery of 16 new aircraft—of which two are freighters—by 2017 and is also considering an order for new-generation medium-sized widebodies.
Buoyed by the highest production rates ever achieved on the 737, 777 and 787 lines, Boeing delivered a record-breaking 648 commercial aircraft in 2013. The 737 made up the bulk of the year’s deliveries with 440 units produced, while the 777 program, which reached a new rate of 8.3 aircraft per month in January 2013, notched up 98 deliveries. The 787 also made a late run with 65 deliveries for the year.
This week could see a surge of news on fresh fiscal 2014 appropriations, as House and Senate appropriators are working feverishly to put together a so-called omnibus spending bill by Jan. 15, when the stopgap continuing resolution (CR) of 2013 funds runs out.
Turkish Airlines is planning to convert options on seven Airbus A321-200neos, as it looks to swell its fleet to 267 aircraft by the close of 2014. Last March Turkish signed a contract for up to 117 A320 family aircraft, including 25 A321neos, four A320neos, 53 A321neos and options for 35 additional A321neos. The airline said in a stock market announcement that it “has decided to convert the options for seven A321-200neo aircraft that have been purchased from Airbus to firm orders to be delivered in 2018.”
Kenya’s Civil Aviation Authority has approved a change of Kenya Airways’ operating license to include Boeing 787 operations. The airline is now allowed to deploy its 787s on international and domestic scheduled services. Kenya Airways had lodged the application for approval on November 1 and received the formal go-ahead December 27.
The French civil aviation safety agency, BEA, has reiterated its request to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and other authorities to define “explicit operational limits” pilots should use when intercepting a glide path from above on landing.
Signature Flight Support completed its acquisition of the assets of Maguire Aviation Group at Van Nuys Airport (VNY) in California, effectively tripling its presence at the busy general aviation airport. The acquisition expands Signature’s footprint at VNY to 1.17 million sq. ft. of hangar, ramp, passenger lounge and office space.
Start-up Greenland Express has merged with two other airlines, Eyjaflug and Air Arctic, and is aiming to launch Embraer 190 services by April 2014. Iceland-based Eyjaflug and its Houston-based sister company Air Arctic have each taken a 20% stake in Greenland Express, which was previously fully-owned by founder Gert Brask. In return, Greenland Express has taken a 33.3% stake in the two existing airlines, cementing the equity partnership. The three carriers will be amalgamated as Greenland Express Air.
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The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is mulling over the recommendations of an international working group that would permit commercially-operated single-turbine aircraft in instrument meteorological conditions (SET-IMC), and is expected to release a formal proposed rulemaking in the next several months.
Lawmakers are returning from the holiday break this month with more budget certainty than in the past several years. But for the general aviation industry, it is only a temporary reprieve, and many questions remain about decisions that lie ahead. Congressional passage of the so-called Ryan-Murray two-year budget deal is designed to avert another costly government shutdown through a framework of smaller cuts and tax increases. The deal came as welcome news to a general aviation industry that suffered under the October shutdown.
Southwest Airlines’ deal to buy 85 Split Scimitar Winglet shipsets (SSW) and take 600 options sets the carrier up to become Aviation Partners Boeing’s (APB) largest customer for its newest winglet modification program. The agreement, finalized last week and announced Jan. 2, will provide 52 kits for existing 737-800s and 33 more for aircraft on tap for delivery in 2014. Southwest took options on 95 more of the kits – which are designed for -800s “provisioned” for blended winglets.
Swissport has become the new owner of Servisair, creating a ground handling giant with a SFr3 billion ($3.3 billion) turnover. The two companies, both active in ramp, passenger, baggage and cargo handling, began exclusive talks in July. The European Commission gave its conditional go-ahead on Dec. 19, subject to the disposal of ground handling activities at four airports, and the deal was completed on Dec. 23. In 2014, Servisair will be completely integrated into Swissport. Further information will be released after Jan. 7.
People may be buying the latest electronic goods, but they are certainly not spending as much as they were 10 years ago. That means the air cargo industry, which is being swamped with belly capacity, is being left with a lot of empty space and nothing to fill it. Talk to air cargo experts and they will be just as likely to discuss the demand for iPhones as they are the metal in the air. That is because the industry was traditionally a key indicator of global trade’s health, always showing a peak in demand during the weeks immediately leading up to Christmas.
Bombardier continues to build up its business jet backlog, closing out 2013 with 30 more orders for its Challenger line and 28 more for its Global business jets, pushing the manufacturer’s total to at least 310 announced business jet orders for the year. Bombardier has not detailed its fourth-quarter orders, so the total yearly number is likely to grow. While it will probably be shy of 2012’s record number of gross orders of close to 400 business aircraft, Bombardier’s total is still well above 2011’s 223 aircraft.
Worldwide airline air-incident figures continued to trend downward in 2013, evidence that existing broad-spectrum safety improvement measures are working and that areas of specific focus are accurately defined, Aviation Safety Network (ASN) data show.
Brussels Airlines will benefit from €15 million in financial aid through a new and controversial contribution from Belgium’s federal government to Brussels Airport. The subsidy will help the airline, in which Lufthansa holds a 45% stake, to contain its expected net loss for 2013 to around €30 million. Brussels Airlines’ restructuring plan ‘Beyond 2012-2013’ had targeted to reduce losses to below €20 million in 2013 (from a €60.7 million net loss in 2012 and a €70.90 million deficit in 2011) and bring the company back to profitability by 2014.
Facing fierce competition, state-owned RAK Airways of Ras Al Khaimah suspended operations on January 1 and the chance for a successful revival seems remote. RAK Airways management says it is re-evaluating the “best options” for its future, but that future looks daunting due to the intense competition of other United Arab Emirates (UAE) airlines, including full-service carriers Emirates and Etihad and low-cost carriers rivals flydubai and Air Arabia.
Norwegian Air Shuttle has signed a letter of intent for two Boeing 787-9 aircraft with delivery in early 2016, but its long-haul low-cost model—with labor contracted in Asia and an air operator certificate (AOC) from Ireland—is facing increasing opposition from full-service competitor SAS, and from ALPA, the U.S. Air Line Pilots’ Association. ALPA accuses the Norwegian low-cost carrier (LCC) of attempting to “dodge laws and regulations.”
LAM Mozambique is pressing for further information after preliminary investigations revealed its Embraer crash on Nov. 29 could have been deliberately caused by the aircraft’s captain. Namibia, which is leading the investigation, had already said there was a tremendous impact and no evidence of mechanical failure.
After months of discussions, Germany’s Intro Aviation has finally put in a firm offer for Air France’s Irish regional airline CityJet, and the deal is expected to close in early 2014. CityJet was put up for sale last summer. Germany’s Intro Group emerged as a likely buyer and was expected to conclude talks in July, but exclusive negotiations ended in September without a deal.
