Aircraft & Propulsion

Aircraft News-Oct. 30, 2014

Belgian regional VLM Airlines, which is in the middle of a management buyout, is to launch the Sukhoi Superjet SSJ100LR in Europe after detailing plans to take up to 14 of the type.

British Airways (BA) has launched a 3X-weekly direct service from London Heathrow to Singapore’s Changi Airport using an Airbus A380.

Virgin Atlantic intends to firm up its four remaining options for Boeing 787-9s, as it brings the first of the fleet into service.

Airberlin plans to eliminate a further 200 jobs of administration and ground personnel staff during 2015, several German media outlets have reported.

American Airlines, which has the most exposure to Venezuela of any US carrier, expects the country’s economic travails to result in a 2%-4% decrease in the carrier’s system-wide fourth-quarter unit revenue.

Alaska Airlines added 8% in capacity year-over-year in the third quarter, but most of the increase was due to replacing smaller aircraft with larger ones and adding seats to existing fleets, the carrier’s executives said in a conference call with analysts this week.

The Airbus A350 XWB and A330 have been approved for common type rating for pilots training to fly the aircraft.

Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines is moving forward in its fleet modernization program after reaching a framework agreement for a new group collective wage agreement for approximately 3,200 flight staff.

Boeing’s third-quarter net income rose 18% year-over-year to $1.36 billion driven by a strong performance by its Commercial Airplanes unit.

Russia’s Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. (SCAC) will withdraw three SSJ100s from Indonesian Sky Aviation.

Boeing and Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) have opened a demonstration facility—called the China-US Aviation Biofuel Pilot Project—that will turn waste cooking oil, commonly referred to as “gutter oil” in China, into sustainable aviation biofuel.

Speedy package delivery in urban areas by small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) “is absolutely going to happen,” according to Nick Roy, the founder of Google’s Project Wing program.

The Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) is planning to design a new widebody aircraft with Russia’s United Aircraft Corp. next year, according to COMAC chairman Jin Zhuanglong.

Boeing has broken ground on its new 1 million sq. ft. 777X composite wing center at the Everett, Washington campus.

Boeing 777X Composite Wing Center animation

The first Mitsubishi Aircraft MRJ flight-test aircraft, unveiled Oct. 18, will undergo about six months of ground evaluations before taking to the air in the second quarter of 2015.

Russia’s UTair Airlines is negotiating with Airbus and Boeing on new delivery schedules for its orders for 20 A321s and 40 Boeing 737-800/900ERs, Interfax reported.

Rolls-Royce has warned that a slowing global economy will stall revenue growth, telling investors that full-year 2014 revenue will fall 3.5% to 4% year-over-year.

Airbus said it will build nine A330s per month instead of the current production rate of 10 starting in the 2015 fourth quarter.

Middle Eastern carrier Oman Air has announced plans to introduce business-class service to four of its routes between Muscat and the Indian subcontinent.

Embraer has made the first metal cut of the E-jets E2, second generation of the E-Jets family of commercial jets at its Évora plant in Portugal.

Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo has signed a memorandum of understanding for 250 Airbus A320neo family aircraft.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has approved extended operations (ETOPS) for the Airbus A350-900 for beyond 180 minutes diversion time.

Brazilian manufacturer Embraer delivered 19 commercial aviation aircraft and 15 executive jets in the third quarter, a total of 34 aircraft—a 22.7% overall decrease compared to the third quarter of 2013.