Fokker Technologies confirmed Friday to ATW it signed an MOU with COMAC. The agreement was signed Thursday in Shanghai by COMAC President Jin Zhuanglong and Fokker Technologies CEO Sjoerd Vollebregt. It would not confirm any further details. According to Dutch News Service NIS New Bulletin, the partnership covers “the development and supply of components for planes.”
Air Lease Corp. signed long-term lease agreements for 29 aircraft with Asian airlines. China Eastern Airlines will lease 10 new Airbus A320-200s and five new Boeing 737-800s, for delivery in 2012 and 2013, in a transaction valued at approximately $700 million. It will also acquire from CEA three 767-300ERs, two under lease with MIAT Mongolian, for delivery in May and November 2011, and one to Orient Thai Airlines for delivery in August 2011.
Chile-based LAN Airlines confirmed to ATW it reached a deal with Boeing for the purchase of five 767s, plus options for four more, in a deal valued at $870 million. Delivery is scheduled between December 2012 and August 2013, LAN said. A Boeing spokesman told ATW, “We look forward to finalizing this order for five 767-300ERs in the very near future. This order will bring LAN's total 767 order count to 40.”
China Southern Airlines said in a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange that subsidiary Xiamen Airlines will order six Boeing 787s to facilitate its international expansion. The order, which is not yet final, is valued at $1.1 billion at list prices, but the carrier will pay "significantly" below list prices, the filing said. Deliveries are slated for 2014-15. Xiamen GM Che Shanglun said the carrier plans to use the Dreamliners to launch routes to Europe and the US from its Xiamen base and Fuzhou.
Dunlop Aircraft Tyres won a five-year contract with Icelandair Technical Services to supply new tires and provide retreading for a fleet of 16 Icelandair aircraft and 12 757-200s "flown by airlines in the Nordics and Russia," it said.
Rolls-Royce announced that the Trent 1000 for Boeing's 787 received 330-min. ETOPS approval from US FAA. "ETOPS approval marks a major milestone for the Trent 1000 program," Program Director Simon Carlisle said in a statement, adding, "We now look forward to supporting Boeing's own ETOPS program." The Trent 1000 recently passed 2,800 hr. of flight testing.
Flydubai has inked an eight-year sale/leaseback agreement with MC Aviation Partners, securing $80 million in financing for the remaining Boeing 737-800NG the airline is due to receive this year. FZ will soon issue an RFP for the airline’s 2012 financing requirements. This will be the carrier’s 10th new 737-800NG aircraft, its final one to be delivered this year.
Boeing is considering a major upgrade or replacement for the 777 as well as the launch of the 787-10, according to a Buckingham Research Group report issued after Boeing Capital Corp.'s investor conference last week. "Upgrade options [for the 777] include a new composite wing, a composite fuselage, upgraded avionics, and new engines," said New York-based Buckingham. According to the firm, Boeing is looking at a 2020 timeframe for a 777 upgrade as it believes Airbus will be delayed in delivering the A350-1000.
Korean Air's first A380 flew on Wednesday in Hamburg for the start of a final phase of flight and ground tests by Airbus ahead of delivery later this month. KE will become the sixth operator of the A380 when it begins flying the aircraft in June, initially operating it from Seoul Incheon to destinations in Asia such as Hong Kong. It plans to later deploy A380s on long-haul services to North America and Europe.
Virgin Atlantic Airways expects further delivery delays of the 15 Boeing 787s it has on order and will be seeking compensation, Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson said Wednesday in Australia on the sidelines of the event marking the rebranding of Virgin Blue to Virgin Australia ( ATW Daily News, May 5).
Boeing's response to the A320neo is likely to be both a higher-performance 737NG ready by 2015 and an all-new aircraft, which will probably be a light twin-aisle entering service in 2019 or 2020, according to an assessment by Buckingham Research Group.
Jetairfly based a new Boeing 737-800 at Charleroi Airport, lifting its aircraft based at CRL to three narrowbodies supporting 18 destinations. The Belgian airline subsidiary of TUI Travel deploys a fleet of 16 aircraft on 120 routes. AmSafe Industries won a contract by to supply cargo restraint nets for Sukhoi SuperJet 100s. Aigle Azur took delivery of a new Airbus A320.
Royal Jordanian confirmed to shareholders that its first Boeing 787 delivery is now scheduled for the first-quarter 2014. It was originally scheduled to take delivery of its first Dreamliner last September and now hopes to receive three in 2014 and eight in 2016 and 2017.
Airbus confirmed Korean Air has ordered five A330-200s, which brings KE’s orders for the type to 30, of which 23 have already been delivered ( ATW Daily News, Feb. 27, 2009). Airbus said the A330s will be powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4000s.
Airbus announced it received the first set of A350 XWB main landing gear produced by Messier-Dowty at its test facility in Filton. Delivery of this MLG set for the A350-900 follows the arrival last month of the nose landing gear ( ATW Daily News, April 15), which will soon be installed together into the landing gear systems test rig, paving the way for integration testing to begin toward the end of 2011, said Airbus.
Alitalia took delivery of a new A330-200 in a three-class configuration. The aircraft will be deployed on long-haul flights from Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa to New York JFK, Miami, Rio de Janeiro and Beijing.
Republic Airways Holdings has again amended its capacity purchase agreement with Delta Air Lines to include the addition of six ex-Frontier Airlines Embraer E-170s. The announcement represents a further step toward completing plans to remove all E-170s from Frontier operations.
Kazakhstan's Air Astana is in talks with Boeing to order up to six new 767-300ERs for a 2013-2014 delivery, President Peter Foster told ATW in Almaty. Foster said the aircraft could serve as an interim solution as it awaits the 787, the first of which it now does not expect to receive until 2019 owing to the program's multiple delays ( ATW Daily News, Jan. 19).
Garuda Indonesia took delivery of one new Airbus A330-200 from Dublin-based aircraft lessor AWAS. Recaro Aircraft Seating received an order from Malaysia Airlines for Recaro Comfort Line 6510 seats for its Airbus A330-300 fleet. The carrier took delivery of its first aircraft equipped with Recaro seats on April 14. Messier-Bugatti inked a contract with Copa Airlines to supply wheels and carbon brakes for 86 new or retrofit Boeing 737NG aircraft.
Bombardier Aerospace said that Pluna Lineas Aereas Uruguayas signed a follow-on order for three CRJ900 NextGen regional jets, from an order announced last year ( ATW Daily News, April 15, 2010). It is valued at approximately $129 million based on list prices. The Montevideo-based airline already operates 10 of the type.
Bombardier Aerospace said that Pluna Lineas Aereas Uruguayas signed a follow-on firm order for three CRJ900 NextGen regional jets, from an order announced last year.
German Leasing Co. took delivery of Air France's fifth A380, which the carrier will operate on the Paris Charles de Gaulle-Montreal route. The leasing company has financed seven Airbus A380s, four Boeing 777s and two A319s, representing a total volume of €1.68 billion ($2.43 billion). Boeing expanded its Landing Gear Overhaul and Exchange Program to cover 777-200LRs, 777Fs and 777-300ERs.
The Thai government gave Thai Airways the right to decide how it acquires aircraft, clearing the way for the carrier to move forward with a plan to buy or lease up to 75 aircraft over a 12-year period.
Armavia took delivery Tuesday of the first production Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SN95007), at Zvartnots International in Yerevan, nearly three years after the jet’s maiden flight. The aircraft was christened “Yuri Gagarin” in memory of the first cosmonaut. The Armenian carrier holds two firm orders plus two options.
