Aergo Capital Limited and ASL Aviation Group reached a sale and purchase agreement under which ASL will acquire aircraft assets valued at $250 million. It will take ownership of "various Irish aviation leasing entities" including Safair Lease Finance Limited and Safair Operations and will acquire five 737-800s, five A300 B4 freighters and three ATR 72-500s. The acquisition is expected to be finalized by the end of November.
LOT Polish Airlines subsidiary EuroLOT is in talks with ATR and Bombardier regarding an order for 14 ATR72-600s or Q400s, respectively, and a further six options to renew its ATR fleet, EuroLOT President and CEO Leszek Sieluk told ATW on the sidelines of the European Regions Airline Association AGM in Barcelona late last week.
Norwegian Air Shuttle announced Friday it plans to order wide-body aircraft as it gears up to begin its first long-haul flights in 2011. CEO Bjoern Kjos told Bloomberg that the carrier held talks with Airbus and Boeing and will choose between ordering the A350 or 787. Because there are delivery backlogs for both aircraft, Kjos said Norwegian may agree to take older models such as the A330 or 767. According to Bloomberg, the carrier is planning its first routes from Oslo Gardermoen and Stockholm Arlanda to New York JFK and Bangkok respecitvely in the second half of 2011.
JetBlue Airways and ViaSat on Thursday signed an MOU to equip the carrier's fleet of more than 160 Embraer 190s and A320s with an inflight broadband product they called "the first of its kind" in commercial aviation. The two parties intend to sign a definitive agreement by the end of the year.
Rockwell Collins was selected by COMAC to provide the "cabin core system" for the C919 under a letter of intent signed Tuesday. The CCS will allow flight attendants" to control all subsystems on the aircraft including in-flight entertainment, passenger connectivity, lavatory, heating/cooling and lighting." RC said it will team with Shanghai Aero Measurement-Controlling Research Institute, which will provide design, development and integration support, and Cobham, which will supply the public address system.
Cathay Pacific firmed up its previously announced commitment for six more 777-300ERs worth HK$12.5 billion ($1.61 billion) at list prices (ATW Daily News, Aug. 5).
Estonian Air signed a contract for the delivery of three CRJ900NGs between early 2011 and 2012. The contract replaces the original agreement with Bombardier that was announced in March 2008.
Airbus announced that Malaysia Airlines firmed options for two A330-200Fs, doubling its orderbook for the freighter variant of the twinjet. The aircraft will be powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines and will be operated by Malaysia's cargo subsidiary, MASkargo. Delivery dates and value of the deal were not released.
Kam Air Executive VP Timor Shahab told ATW that the Afghani carrier is evaluating the renewal of its medium-haul fleet and will purchase “three A319s or A320s in early 2011.” He noted that next year the carrier plans to add one 767-300ER to its long-haul fleet. Currently, KMF operates one MD-82, one MD-83, one 767-200, two DC-8-63Fs, one Ilyushin 76 and a fleet of 23 Russian-built helicopters. It has a staff of 360.
Russian Technologies signed a firm order Friday for 50 737NGs valued at $3.7 billion at list prices plus 35 options. The state-owned company plans to lease the aircraft to Aeroflot, according to multiple reports.
Boeing has been forced to temporarily ground a 787 flight test aircraft after one of its Rolls-Royce Trent 1000s experienced an engine surge during flight testing. The engine has been removed and a new one will be installed. The incident occurred last Friday at Roswell, N.M. A replacement engine arrived early this week and is being installed.
Cathay Pacific Airways has firmed up its previously announced commitment for 30 A350s ( ATW Daily News, Aug. 5). The purchase was finalized in Hong Kong Thursday by CX CEO Tony Tyler and Airbus COO-Customers John Leahy. Cathay will use the A350s on routes to Europe as it replaces its A340 fleet and grows its 777-300ER fleet, which is dedicated to longer-range US routes.
Boeing said Thursday its 737NG production rate will increase to 38 per month in the second quarter of 2013, up from 31.5 currently and a planned increase to 35 per month in early 2012.
Air France announced it has completed retrofitting 31 of its 37 A320 family aircraft with new seats that were jointly designed by AF and Recaro to offer an additional 2 to 3 in. of legroom (pitch remains at 32-in. depending on the aircraft) and a 15-degree recline. The seat is 40% lighter compared to the older seat, representing an average of 750 kg. per aircraft, which the airline said enables it to reduce fuel consumption by 1,700 tonnes per year and CO2 emissions by 5,200 tonnes annually.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. said its Superjet 100 has "successfully completed the full scope of certification on-ground strength testing." It noted that all of the SSJ100's main components "were extensively tested to study the airframe structure behavior. The parts have been exposed to different loads up to 150% more than the normal operating conditions and all aircraft components performed at the expected level."
CAC Commercial Aircraft Co. on Wednesday in Beijing signed a contract with Airbus to become the sole supplier of A350 XWB spoilers and droop panels, a deal the European manufacturer said completes its pledge to allocate 5% of the next generation aircraft's production to China (ATW Daily News, Nov. 27, 2007).
Airbus said it attached a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic panel, standard in design to a future A350 fuselage panel, to an A340 test aircraft and will measure the structure's performance in flight. The 15 sq.m. structure was fitted in place of an existing A340 aluminium fuselage section on the flight test aircraft. Ensuing flight tests "are part of a three-week campaign to evaluate pressurised CFRP acoustic properties and to help fine-tune sound insulation for the A350 XWB cabin," Airbus said.
Aer Lingus CEO Christoph Mueller confirmed that EI has shelved its low-cost model and will not revert to offering uneconomically low fares to stimulate demand.
Boeing forecasts that airlines in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands will take delivery of 920 new aircraft valued at $120 billion over the next 20 years.
In a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange Friday, Air China said it had agreed to buy four 777-300ERs valued at $1.15 billion to expand its fleet's capacity.
