Bombardier said 60% of 222 Q400s it has directed airlines to inspect have been examined, adding that less than 4% of the inspected aircraft have required repairs.
Lufthansa took delivery of its third A380 Aug. 20 with a ferry flight from Hamburg to Frankfurt. The worldwide A380 fleet now stands at 36 operating aircraft. LH’s fourth A380 will be delivered this fall. Thai Airways has started talks with Airbus regarding an order for up to 30 A350s and six A380s, the Bangkok Post reported.
Ecuador’s AeroGal received the first of three A320-200s it has on order at a ceremony in Quito. The carrier expects to receive two more by year's end. Airbus said the carrier's A320s will be configured for two classes seating 150 passengers. The aircraft are replacing 737 Classics. AeroGal operates mostly domestic services but also Bogota-New York JFK flights. It carries around 1.2 million passengers annually.
Qantas has grounded five of its Q400s, citing problems with the landing gear. The airline inspected its 21 Q400s after Flybe raised concerns about undercarriage fittings on its fleet of Q400s, a Qantas spokesperson said.
Bernstein Research forecast that A350 deliveries will slip into 2014 and that Airbus will deliver only eight of the next-generation aircraft that year, flagging a significant slippage in the program. Asked to comment, an Airbus spokesperson told ATW, “We don’t have any basis to confirm the data in the Bernstein report.” Airbus has reassured the market in the past that the program is on track for a 2013 first delivery.
Boeing this week booked orders for four 737s but suffered a 777 cancellation, Reuters reported. The customers were unidentified. The manufacturer has tallied 258 orders so far this year. BAE Systems won a contract from SETE Aviation to remarket one CF6-80C2B6F-powered Privatair 767-300ER.
International Aero Engines announced that Air Lease Corp., the leasing company formed by ILFC Co-founder and former Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy, selected the V2500 to power 30 of 51 Airbus A320 family aircraft it ordered at the 2010 Farnborough Airshow. IAE valued the order at more than $500 million. ALC chose the V2500 SelectOne build standard. Deliveries are set to begin in 2011.
Lufthansa's second A380 underwent an inflight engine shutdown Aug. 6, 1 hr. before landing in Frankfurt en route from Tokyo Narita, it was learned last week. The Rolls-Royce Trent 900-powered aircraft was delivered on July 19. LH said the engine shutdown decision was made after "confusing numbers" related to oil pressure appeared on a cockpit indicator. LH replaced the engine with a new one and the aircraft returned to service the next day.
Aegean Airlines became the first operator to commit to upgrading its Airbus A320 fleet with the FANS-B+ retrofit solution offered by Airbus, enabling aircraft/ATC datalink without voice backup. Deliveries from Airbus of the kits and service bulletins associated with the upgrade will be aligned with C-checks beginning in January 2011, Airbus said. According to Airbus, the Datalink Services Implementing rule applying to airlines operating in Europe comes into effect on Jan. 1 2011 for new aircraft and in February 2015 for in-service aircraft.
Airbus delivered two A380s yesterday from Hamburg. Air France took its fourth and Emirates received its 12th. The deliveries bring the total in-service fleet to 35 of which 12 have been delivered in 2010.
Ghafari Associates has announced that it has been awarded a contract from Bombardier Aerospace to redevelop its manufacturing complex in Montreal to support the lean manufacture of the CSeries aircraft.
Airbus said Thai Airways signed a firm order for seven A330-300s, confirming a commitment announced at last month's Farnborough Airshow ( ATW Daily News, July 22). Deliveries will begin at the end of 2011. Engine selection was not announced but Thai's 20 in service A330-300s are powered by a mix of Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney engines.
In response to robust domestic demand growth, Okay Airways plans to expand its fleet from eight to 12 aircraft by year’s end and to 20 aircraft by the end of 2011. The current fleet consists of three 737-800s, two MA60s and three 737 freighters operating on more than 20 domestic routes. The Tianjin-based carrier placed an order with AVIC for 10 MA60s in 2007. But owing to the carrier’s suspension of operation at the end of 2008, it introduced only one MA60 earlier this month. It operates on the carrier's Shenyang-Dalian route.
Vueling Airlines CEO Alex Cruz confirmed to ATW that the carrier plans to add six aircraft next year and said the company is in talks “with all the major aircraft manufacturers as well as current and some potential [new] lessors.”
Boeing insiders indicated the company has decided to push back the first flight of the sixth and final 787 flight test aircraft to Sept. 12, while on another front the manufacturer is facing a $1 billion claim from Air India related to 27 delayed Dreamliners the carrier has on order.
Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation reported that Dubai Aerospace Enterprise has cancelled an order with Airbus for 18 A320s and seven A350-900s valued at around $3 billion. ATW reported yesterday that Boeing lost 26 aircraft orders last week including 10 777s and 15 787s believed to have been ordered by DAE( ATW Daily News, Aug. 9). Airbus has had 41 order cancellations so far this year.
Bombardier said Porter Airlines signed a firm order for four Q400 NextGens plus six options. The Toronto-based airline’s firm order is valued at C$123 million ($120 million) at list prices. The four aircraft will increase Porter’s fleet of Q400s to 24 ( ATW Daily News, Oct. 20, 2009). Porter took delivery of its 20th aircraft, and the 300th Q400 aircraft to be delivered, in April.
US FAA proposed an airworthiness directive to require operators of certain 747-400s to modify thrust reverser control system wiring to prevent inadvertent, automatic retractions of leading edge flaps.
Korean Air's Aerospace Division delivered the first prototype cargo door for the A350 to Eurocopter. Korean Air Aerospace is a program partner and is responsible for three of the doors on the A350. Eurocopter is responsible for all the aircraft doors on the aircraft under a contract signed July 13.
LOT Polish Airlines expects to make a decision soon on a replacement for some of the 13 ATR-42/72s operated by its EuroLot subsidiary. “First we [will] look for a [direct] ATR-72 replacement. For example, the Q400, which can fly faster and has more range. But this order also depends on our future network,” a LOT spokesperson confirmed to ATW. The first new turboprop delivery could arrive as early as next May.
