Boeing on Wednesday delivered its 200th direct-delivery jetliner to Air France. The aircraft also launches AF’s new business-class seat; it is outfitted with 42 of the 78.74 in. (2 m.) -long lie-flat seat beds that include 15-in. (38cm.) IFE screens. The 383-seat GE90-115B-powered 777-300ER will operate its first commercial flight Dec. 20 and will be used on the carrier's Paris-Montreal service, as well as on Paris-Ho Chi Minh City beginning in January.
In an interview with the Royal Aeronautical Society, one of the five pilots aboard the Qantas Airbus A380 that suffered an uncontained engine failure after take-off from Singapore Nov. 4 gave insight into the handling of the emergency on that “extraordinary day.”
Bombardier announced Thursday that SpiceJet has placed a firm order for 15 Q400 NextGen turboprop airliners and has taken options on an additional 15 airliners.
Cathay Pacific Airways unveiled its new cabin design that includes new business class seating on its long-haul aircraft from March 2011 to be better positioned with the rising demand spurred by the rapid economic growth in Asia. The Hong Kong-based carrier said it plans to spend more than HK$1 billion ($12.8 million) on the upgrades. The major change in the lie-flat seat/bed is the rearrangement of the alignment to face the windows on the sides and to face inwards in the center of the aircraft. This reverses the current herringbone layout.
The relationship between Qantas and Rolls-Royce hit more turbulence after the engine maker’s lawyers failed to show up at an Australian Federal Court hearing on Wednesday to discuss a compensation claim for the grounding of the airline’s Airbus A380 fleet for 23 days following last month’s uncontained engine failure incident.
The relationship between Qantas and Rolls-Royce hit more turbulence after the engine maker’s lawyers failed to show up at an Australian Federal Court hearing to discuss a compensation claim for the grounding of the airline’s Airbus A380 fleet for 23 days following last month’s uncontained engine failure incident.
Continental Airlines told ATW that “given the uncertainty surrounding the Boeing 787 delivery date,” it will delay the launch of its Houston-Auckland service by a year to November 2012. A CO spokesperson said the carrier remains committed to the route and is “excited about the long-term opportunities in the region,” as well as for the aircraft type, as the 787 “is the ideal aircraft for this route’s success because it is the right-size aircraft to meet demand in the market.”
New York-based Bernstein Research believes Airbus made the “wrong decision” on the A320neo and that “a lower risk evolution of the A320 would have been preferable” ( ATW Daily News, Dec. 2).
Lufthansa Systems reached five-year contract with Windrose Aviation to supply its Flight Management Systems onboard the Ukrainian carrier's Airbus A320 fleet. The airline operates a fleet of two Embraer E-195s, two MD-82s, one An-24 and two Airbus A320s.
Continental Airlines and one of its mechanics were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for their part in the crash of an Air France Concorde on July 25, 2000 in which 113 people died, a French court ruled Monday.
Emirates President Tim Clark told ATW he believes the Boeing 787 will be an outstanding aircraft but its current problems are slowing development of a 777-300ER upgrade sought by a number of airlines to meet the challenge of the Airbus A350-1000. Clark, who has been a driving force behind an upgraded 777-300ER, told ATW that Boeing was “rightly devoting all its resources to getting the 787 into service.”
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau Chief Commissioner Martin Dolan credited Qantas pilots with saving the Airbus A380 that suffered an uncontained engine failure after take-off from Singapore Nov.4.
Rockwell Collins said Virgin Blue Airlines selected its suite of scaleable avionics for its order of 50 firm 737NGs, 25 options and 25 purchase rights. Virgin Blue is the first airline to select the Rockwell Collins SAT-2200 SATCOM system.
BOC Aviation announced it signed an agreement for the lease of one new A320-200 aircraft to LAN Airlines. The aircraft, powered by IAE 2527E-A5 SelectOne engines, is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2011. This deal marks the second time that BOC has worked with Chile’s flag carrier.
Condor Airlines, a German leisure carrier, will renew its short- and medium-haul fleet by 30 Airbus A320 family aircraft, the dpa news agency reported. The new A320 fleet should replace 25 aircraft with an average age of 11 years, including 13 757-300s and 12 A320s older versions. The new aircraft are scheduled to be delivered between 2012 and 2017.
The Australia Transport Safety Bureau has issued a Safety Recommendation for all Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines to be checked within two flight cycles for fatigue cracking within the stub pipe that feeds oil into the High Pressure and Intermediate Pressure bearing structure.
The Australia Transport Safety Bureau has issued a Safety Recommendation for all Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines to be checked within two flight cycles for fatigue cracking within the stub pipe that feeds oil into the High Pressure and Intermediate Pressure bearing structure.
AirBridgeCargo Airlines told ATW it “hopes” that Boeing will not announce further delays to its 747-8 Freighter program and that it is in discussion with the manufacturer on compensation for the first set of delays. The Russian cargo carrier placed orders for five firm 747-8Fs in 2007 with purchase rights for a further five ( ATW Daily News, March 13, 2007).
Airbus has ended almost 12 months of speculation and applied the blowtorch to Boeing by launching as an option the re-engine of the A320 family (but not the A318) with either the CFM International LEAP-X or Pratt & Whitney's PurePower PW1100G geared turbofan.
Airbus has ended almost 12 months of speculation and applied the blowtorch to Boeing by launching as an option the re-engine of the A320 family (but not the A318) with either the CFM International LEAP-X or Pratt & Whitney's PurePower PW1100G geared turbofan.
Lufthansa Cargo, which is forecasting a 5% annual gain in its airfreight traffic from 2012 to 2015, said it will add the equivalent of six MD-11 widebodies by 2015, according to LHC Executive Board Member-Product and Sales Andreas Otto. He said the growth is driven by Asian demand.
Global Aircraft fund announced it acquired two Airbus A320-200s and one Boeing 737-700 from GECAS, bringing its total portfolio to 10 aircraft worth approximately $600 million. The three newly acquired narrowbodies have been leased to Air Berlin, Shenzhen Airlines and Vueling Airlines for between five and six years, it said. Amentum Capital closed a sale/leaseback transaction with easyJet for five Airbus A319s, the largest multiple-aircraft transaction Amentum has closed to date.
Qantas returned two of its six Airbus A380sto service on the Sydney to London route after some engine changes. The airline is limiting take-off thrust to 70,000 lb. instead of the 72,000 lb. for which the engine is certified.
