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Chinese Airlines To Scrap Fuel Surcharges
Chinese carriers will this week scrap fuel surcharges for domestic flights for the first time since late 2009 after fuel costs fell below a government-set level. Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and other carriers will abolish the surcharge from February 5, a spokeswoman for the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said. Like other Asian airlines, Chinese carriers had gradually cut the surcharge from late 2014 as oil prices fell to six-year lows.
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Gulf Banks Helping To Underwrite Region's Aviation Boom
Gulf banks are becoming bigger players in the region's aviation boom, helping carriers such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways to fund their fleet expansion. Figures from Airbus show that 47 percent of its aircraft deals in the Middle East in the first 11 months of last year were funded by local banks, up from 17 percent for 2013 as a whole. Flush with huge cash deposits, Gulf banks have the capacity to be increasingly competitive in aviation lending markets. It gives the region's carriers access to cheap capital while posing a threat to the dominance of global banks and aircraft lessors which have thrived on the accelerated growth of the Gulf aviation industry.
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Airlines

Delta to deploy larger aircraft on L.A. to SFO route
Delta Air Lines plans to use Boeing 717s, which seat 110 passengers, on its route from Los Angeles to San Francisco starting this summer. A Delta Connection regional carrier currently services the route with Embraer E175s, which seat 76 passengers. The larger jets will be deployed on eight of 15 flights.
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Hawaiian Airlines achieves platinum status for Fast Travel
Hawaiian Airlines has received platinum status for the Fast Travel program from the International Air Transport Association. Platinum status means Hawaiian offers four or more of six time-saving initiatives such as self-check-in or self-boarding.
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Skymark Seeks 'Business Sponsor' In Bankruptcy
Japan's Skymark Airlines is looking for a "business sponsor" to help it emerge from bankruptcy, a move that could eventually give control of the independent budget carrier to its rivals. Skymark, Japan's biggest budget airline, which sought protection from creditors last week, said a sponsor could help it cut costs and increase revenue, according to a January 28 court filing. The filing does not name any potential sponsors but refers to fuel and aircraft-leasing arrangements that suggest the sponsor could be rival carriers including Japan's two big carriers, ANA and Japan Airlines.
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TransAsia plane crashes into Taiwan river, up to 11 dead
At least 11 people have been killed after a regional TransAsia passenger flight carrying 58 crash-landed into a river in northern Taiwan. Incredible video-footage of the crash has emerged, showing the jet nearly hitting a highway as it ditched. Dramatic dash-cam footage captured TransAsia Airways flight GE235 as it descended out-of-control towards a highway, moments before slamming into the Keelung River near the Taiwanese capital, Taipei.

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TransAsia ATR 72 crashed four minutes after take-off
TransAsia Airways says flight GE235 crashed less than four minutes after taking off from Taipei Songshan airport on the morning of 4 February. At a press conference in Taipei, its chief executive Chen Xinde apologised for the incident and urged against speculating on what caused the ATR 72-600 turboprop to crash into the Keelung river. He adds that the airline will cooperate fully with the country’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) in investigations and that the flight recorders should provide more information.
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​TransAsia ATR 72 crash fifth hull loss since 1995
The crash of a TransAsia Airways ATR 72-600 after take-off from Taiwan’s Songshan airport is the seventh significant safety incident involving the carrier since 1995. Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets shows that of the six previous incidents, four involved ATR aircraft and two involved Airbus A320 family jets. Including today’s crash, hull losses comprise four ATRs and one A321. The most severe incident was the crash of an ATR 72-500 aircraft on 23 July 2014, which resulted in the loss of 48 out of 58 passengers and crew aboard.
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Crashed TransAsia ATR 72 less than a year old
The crashed TransAsia Airways ATR 72-600 turboprop was less than a year old, delivered to the airline in April 2014. Data from Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets shows that the turboprop was built in 2014 and delivered to the privately-owned Taiwanese carrier on 14 April 2014. This comes from an order placed by the airline in 2012.
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TUI To Shake Up Airline Ops, Jobs May Go
Plans by travel and tourism company TUI to shake up its airline operations are likely to lead to hundreds of job losses in Germany. TUI Group, the world's largest leisure and tourism company was formed from the merger of London-listed TUI Travel and majority owner TUI last year. TUI plans to better coordinate its fragmented airline operations, including TUIfly, Jetairfly and Thomson Airways, in the light of competition from the likes of easyJet, Ryanair, Norwegian and Vueling. As part of the shake-up, the group is planning to use the platform of UK-based Thomson Airways as the base for the combined airline operations, with administration and some of the maintenance activities to be in Britain, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
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United considers streamlining pilot training after merger
After its 2010 merger, United Airlines is considering streamlining its pilot-training centers in Denver and Houston. The carrier could also move pilot training to its headquarters in Chicago. "We need to move to a single training facility for various reasons," said Megan McCarthy, a spokeswoman for United. "Yes, cost is a factor, but we need to bring our pilots together."
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United plans to adjust seat configuration on 777s, source says
Last month, reports suggested United Airlines would swap out current aircraft orders with Boeing for the 777-300ERs. Now comes word that United will fit those 777s with 10 seats abreast in regular economy class, instead of nine, Aviation Week reported. The magazine said United is considering creating a high-density Boeing 777 subfleet with 10 seats across in a 3-4-3 configuration that would mean 364 seats on each plane, nearly 100 more than the airline has on many of its three-class 777s, according to a person familiar with the matter.
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WestJet's Quarterly Profit Jumps 34 Pct
Cheaper fuel helped WestJet Airlines report a 34 percent jump in quarterly profit, with the carrier saying it expected fuel costs to fall by up to 30 percent in the current quarter. Net profit rose to CAD$90.7 million (USD$72.4 million) from CAD$67.8 million a year earlier. Total revenue rose 7.3 percent to CAD$994.4 million. WestJet said costs per available seat mile declined 3.5 percent in the fourth quarter ended December 31 as fuel costs fell 6.4 percent.
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Military

Embraer KC-390 takes maiden flight
The KC-390, Embraer’s clean-sheet aerial refueling tanker, flew for the first time on 3 February from an airfield in São José dos Campos, Brazil. The KC-390’s 1h 25min flight consisted of manoeuvres to assess flight characteristics and system tests, including the aircraft’s fly-by-wire controls, Embraer says. "The KC -390 behaved in a docile and predictable manner," test pilot Mazort Louzada says in a statement. "The advanced system of fly- by-wire flight controls and the latest generation avionics facilitate piloting and provide smooth and accurate flight."
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Malaysia's first A400M gets airborne
Malaysia’s first A400M tactical transport has made its flight debut, with the Airbus Defence & Space type having completed a 90min sortie from Seville, Spain, on 30 January. The first of four “Atlas” airlifters on order for the Royal Malaysian Air Force, aircraft MSN22 is also the 16th production example of the A400M, from a 174-unit orderbook for eight nations. Airbus has previously outlined a schedule to deliver Kuala Lumpur’s lead example by the end of the first quarter of this year, with the aircraft to be operated by the air force’s 22 Sqn.
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US Civil Air Patrol orders 21 Skyhawk 172s
Cessna has secured an order from the US Civil Air Patrol (CAP) for 21 Skyhawk 172 piston singles, which will replace older models in the volunteer-run organization's fleet. The high-wing aircraft will be delivered throughout the first half of the year and will be used for a host of missions throughout the USA, including search and rescue, disaster relief and flight training. “Few things are as fulfilling to all of us than our continued support of the CAP, our largest customer for single-engined piston aircraft,” says Cessna’s senior vice-president for piston aircraft, Joe Hepburn.
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Rotary Wing

North Sea helicopter operators must maintain safety drive
When offshore oil support helicopter operations in the UK sector suffered five serious accidents or incidents between 2009 and 2013, the Civil Aviation Authority’s initial response was defensive. It dismissed the fact that the Norwegian sector – with a similar fleet and only slightly fewer operations – had suffered no serious accident since 1997 effectively as good fortune. Nevertheless, the CAA rolled up its sleeves and conducted a thorough review of UK sector safety, which it then released early in 2014. What it found suggested that the UK/Norway difference was not pure luck.
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General Aviation

Pilatus appoints first Russia-based sales agent for the PC-12NG
Pilatus Aircraft has appointed Nesterov Aviation as its exclusive sales and service representative for the PC-12NG in Russia. Until now, sales to this vast region were handled directly by the Swiss airframer from its Stans headquarters.
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Piper upgrades and renames Meridian turboprop single
Piper Aircraft has upgraded and renamed its M-Class Meridian single-engined turboprop as part of its five-year strategy to enhance and evolve its eight-strong family of business and general aircraft. The $2.26 million Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42A 500-powered aircraft, now branded the M500, sits at the top of Piper’s line-up. The latest model has a modified cockpit featuring the latest version of the Garmin G1000, along with an Aspen EFD-1000 primary flight display, dual USB ports and a GTS 825 traffic advisory system, providing automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B) In and Out capability.
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Regulatory

New Runway Will Require More Compensation - CAA
UK aviation regulator, the CAA, said the expansion of the country's airport capacity in the southeast of England would require higher compensation payouts to communities affected by additional runways. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) told a government-appointed commission tasked with recommending where a new runway should be build, that without extra compensation, the expansion plans could be scuppered. "It's hard to see how the additional runway capacity that will benefit consumers and industry for generations to come will ever be built unless this issue is comprehensively tackled," the CAA's chief executive Andrew Haines said in a statement.
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ICAO Pushes Tight Deadline For Aircraft Tracking
The ICAO on Tuesday debated setting a tight deadline to improve the tracking of passenger planes in a push to prevent a recurrence of the still unsolved disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Officials at the United Nations safety conference also sought to tackle risks from conflict zones after another Malaysia Airlines flight was shot down over Ukraine. The International Civil Aviation Organization, the UN's aviation arm, urged airlines at the Montreal gathering not to wait to install tracking systems that are already available. "We know that there are technologies available today," Nancy Graham, director of ICAO's Air Navigation Bureau, said.
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Russia Sparks ICAO Spat Over Conflict Zone Info
Russia clashed with Europe and the United States on Tuesday over the aviation industry's response to the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17, calling for a delay in plans to establish a warning system on risks from conflict zones. A senior Russian official told an ICAO meeting that plans for a central information-sharing system posed legal risks that could only be addressed by a full meeting of all 191 member states in 2016. The UN's International Civil Aviation Organization has been under pressure to come up with a new system to protect aircraft from risks after MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine last July.
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Aviation Quote

Professor Focke and his technicians standing below grew ever smaller as I continued to rise straight up, 50 metres, 75 metres, 100 metres. Then I gently began to throttle back and the speed of ascent dwindled till I was hovering motionless in midair. This was intoxicating! I thought of the lark, so light and small of wing, hovering over the summer fields. Now man had wrested from him his lovely secret.

— Hanna Reitsch, German test pilot describing the first helicopter flight.

On This Date

---In 1902... First balloon flight in Antarctica when Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton ascend to 244 meters in a tethered hydrogen balloon to take the first Antarctic aerial photographs.

---In 1902... Charles Augustus Lindbergh (1902-1974), one of the most famous aviators in history, is born in Detroit, Michigan.

---In 1920…Pioneers Pierre van Ryneveld and Quentin Brand fly out of Cairo in a Vickers Vimy, crossing Africa by air from North to South. They arrived in Cape Town on March 20th.

---In 1945... US President Franklin D. Roosevelt touches down at Yalta, the Crimean resort, in his presidential airplane Sacred Cow for a crucial summit with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. The leaders are meeting to discuss terms for German surrender and the shape of post-war Europe.

---In 1949... In the US, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) gives authorization for the full use of ground control approach (GCA) landing aids. These will be used only in conditions of poor visibility caused by fog or bad weather and comprise a ground radar system.

---In 1958... The world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the CVAN-65 USS Enterprise is laid down at the Newport News shipyard.

---In 1961…Sputnik 7 launches into Earth orbit; probable Venus probe failure.

---In 1964…A-12 (924 ) sustained flight at Mach 3+ and altitude. Pilot James Easthem reached Mach 3.3 at 83,000 feet for just over 10 minutes. Aircraft heated to 800 F. Wiring insulation was burned and the aircraft was almost lost. All A-12s grounded for 6 weeks while Lockheed replaced all wiring in all the A-12s.

---In 1966… All Nippon Airways Flight 60, operated by Boeing 727 JA8302 was landing at Tokyo Haneda Airport when it crashed into Tokyo Bay, with the loss of all 133 passengers and crew.

---In 1967…U.S. launches Lunar Orbiter 3.

---In 1971…Apollo 14 - USA Lunar Manned Lander (January 31 to February 8, 1971) Crew: Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Edgar D. Mitchell, Stuart A. Roosa. Shepard and Mitchell landed on the moon on February 5, 1971, in the Fra Mauro highlands, located at 3°40' S and longitude 17°28' E. They collected 42.9 kilograms of lunar samples and used a hand-held cart to transport rocks and equipment.

---In 1977…Kenya Airways begins service from Jomo Kenyatta International airport in Nairobi.

---In 1986…Pakistan International Airlines Flight 300, a 747-200 (AP-AYW) lands on its belly at Islamabad Airport because the crew forgot to lower the gear. All of the 264 aboard escaped unharmed. After Boeing repaired the aircraft, PIA flew her for another 19 years. Incidentally, New York-based startup Baltia Airlines took delivery of this airframe in 2010.

---In 1988… Air Hong Kong commences operations.

---In 1993…Russian space agency tests a 82' wide space mirror.

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