Middle East Airlines-Air Liban (MEA) on Thursday announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for five Airbus A320neo and five A321neo aircraft plus eight options.
Additive manufacturing, the process of making a structure up one later at a time, is a “new star” in GE’s portfolio, it told journalists at a pre-Farnborough briefing in June.
Boeing said it projects the world will face “an unprecedented demand” for airline pilots and maintenance technicians as global economies expand and airlines begin taking delivery of new aircraft over the next 20 years. Its 2012 Pilot and Technician Outlook forecasts the need for 460,000 new commercial pilots and 601,000 new commercial airline maintenance technicians by 2031.
Kazakhstan’s Air Astana (KC) has selected Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines to power three Boeing 767-300ERs it has on order for delivery at the end of 2013, switching from the GE CF6 engines powering the two leased 767-300ERs it currently has in its fleet.
China’s Juneyao Airlines (HO) has selected CFM International’s CFM56-5B engine to power its five new Airbus A321 aircraft, in an order valued at more than $100 million based at list prices.
Hong Kong-based lessor China Aircraft Leasing Co. (CALC) has signed a memorandum of understanding for 36 A320 family aircraft in a deal valued at $3.1 billion at list prices.
Aviation Capital Group (ACG) has selected CFM International’s advanced LEAP-1A engine to power its 18 Airbus A320neos, part of a 30-aircraft deal announced at the Dubai Airshow in November 2011.
Rockwell Collins’ (RC) dispatch program has been selected by Air India (AI), Hainan Airlines (HU) and China Southern Airlines (CZ) to service and support their Boeing 787 fleets.
Irkut said that while it is hopeful it will increase the number of MC-21 aircraft sold by the end of the year, it will hold off on “real, aggressive” marketing until assembly of the first aircraft. The maiden flight is scheduled for mid-2015.
International Aero Engines (IAE) is at an all-time high in terms of production capacity, it said, producing nearly two engines a day, with more than 5,000 engines produced to date and another 2,000 in backlog.
Mexico’s Interjet has converted its five Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) options into firm orders from a previously announced order for 15 of the aircraft plus five options.
Airline obsession with sky high oil prices has prompted a sharpened rivalry among engine manufacturers that are eager to use Farnborough to showcase new products with better fuel efficiency.
Delays both technical and commercial have pushed delivery of Irkut’s Pratt & Whitney (P&W) PW1400G engine back three months to the first quarter of 2015.
Airbus’s decision last year to modify the A350-1000’s design began to pay dividends Tuesday at the Farnborough Airshow when Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) agreed to order 10 of the type, valued at $3.2 billion, plus convert 16 of its existing -900 orders to -1000 models.
