NewsCommercial
Lessor DAE to acquire competitor AWAS
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has bought Ireland-based lessor, the AWAS group of companies, from private equity investor Terra Firma Capital Partners and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition is the latest in a series of deals that has seen a rapid rationalization of the aircraft leasing sector.
Link
A330neo first flight likely to slip to September
Airbus will now perform the first flight of its A330neo “at the end of the summer”, a significant delay over its previous timeline for the re-engined aircraft. Speaking at an event in Toulouse, Airbus executive vice-president for programmes Didier Evrard confirmed the slippage.
Link
Airbus in talks over sole remaining A350-800 order
Airbus is in negotiations with Asiana Airlines over the carrier's firm commitment for eight A350-800s, the sole remaining order for the smallest variant of the new widebody family. The airframer has seen a steady erosion of the backlog for the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered twinjet, with that process accelerating since the launch of the A330neo.
Link
Airbus plans unique liveries for Beluga XL fleet
Airbus is considering a series of individual paint schemes for its forthcoming fleet of five Beluga XL high-capacity transports. With the initial example of the A330-200-based jet due to make its first flight in 2018, Airbus confirms that it is already planning a unique livery for the aircraft.
LinkAirlines
Passenger retains attorney as American investigates incident
Tom Demetrio, the high-profile Chicago attorney who is representing the United Airlines passenger dragged off a recent flight, said he has been retained by an American Airlines passenger who got into an apparent confrontation with a flight attendant April 21. Demetrio told NBC’s “Today Show” he does not know whether he will file a lawsuit related to the American incident, in which the attorney said the flight attendant’s behavior was “out of control” during a confrontation with a mother holding a young child.
Link
Asiana Airlines takes delivery of first A350 XWB
South Korea’s Asiana Airlines has taken delivery of its first Airbus A350-900, which is on lease from Dublin-based SMBC Aviation Capital. The aircraft—part of a six A350 sale-and-leaseback deal—is the first of the type to be operated by a Korean airline. According to Airbus, altogether Asiana has ordered 30 A350s and will initially operate the aircraft on flights from Seoul to Hong Kong and Manila beginning in May. The aircraft are powered by Rolls Royce Trent XWB-84 engines.
Link
China Eastern to diversify ownership of logistics subsidiary
China Eastern Airlines will become China’s first state-owned carrier to diversify ownership of its logistics subsidiary, in an effort to enhance market competitiveness. According to a filing released by the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange, China Eastern subsidiary China Eastern Equity Investment Limited Co.—which holds a 100% stake of China Eastern Logistics Co.—is expected to reduce its stake in the logistics subsidiary to 45%.
Link
Delta, JetBlue seek Havana frequencies dropped by Frontier, Spirit
Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways are seeking to increase flights to Havana while other US carriers withdraw from Cuba as the US airline industry continues trying to figure out how to best serve the newly reopened US-Cuba market. Atlanta-based Delta wants to double its Miami-Havana flights while New York-based JetBlue is seeking to go from 13X- to 19X-weekly Fort Lauderdale, Florida-Havana flights and add a Saturday Boston-Havana service.
Link
Etihad names new airline partners CEO
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Aviation Group named Robin Kamark as CEO-Airline Equity Partners on April 24. Kamark will be responsible for leading and developing the group’s minority equity investment strategy, which includes stakes in airberlin, Italian flag carrier Alitalia, India’s Jet Airways, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Etihad Regional and Virgin Australia.
Link
Ryanair warns UK will need 'brand new' open skies agreement
The UK will need to establish a "brand new" open skies arrangement with the European Union following Brexit, Ryanair’s chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs has suggested. Speaking today at Routes Europe in Belfast, Jacobs said the current open skies is governed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), and because prime minister Theresa May has said the UK will not be under ECJ jurisdiction, a "brand new solution needs to be found".
Link
United to bring basic economy option to 100 US markets
Unites Airlines is bringing its basic economy fare option to 100 US markets following the program's launch in Minneapolis. The basic economy option was created to appeal to travelers looking for low-cost, no-frills travel.
Link
VietJet posts posts D382 profit in Q1 2017
VietJet Air posted a net profit of D381.7 billion ($16.8 million) in the first quarter of 2017. Revenue for the quarter to 31 March was up 44.2% to D5.1 trillion. This was 10.6% above its target, says the low-cost carrier.
LinkAirports
FedEx creating 200-plus jobs in Indianapolis
FedEx is creating more than 200 jobs at Indianapolis International Airport, where the company is investing $170 million to expand. FedEx handled almost all of the freight that passed through the airport in 2016.
Link
FLL making plans for the future
Florida's Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has seen the number of passengers it serves increase by 23.4% over the past five years and is planning updates and expansions to accommodate future growth. Possibilities include expanded concessions, elevated trams and an on-site hotel. The facility improvement projects are being done without any tax increases.
Link
Belfast International to gain eight new routes
Belfast International airport is to announce eight new international routes in the coming days, managing director Graham Keddie discloses. Speaking to FlightGlobal at the Routes Europe conference in Belfast today, Keddie says that six of the eight routes are to unserved markets and that “one of them is a route which will be the only one operated from this island” in reference to both Northern Ireland and Ireland.
Link
Military
US Army builds a Black Hawk bridge to Future Vertical Lift
For US Army aviation, the future is spelled FVL, as in Future Vertical Lift, and it is being explored by bold prototype models: Bell V-280 Valor, Karem ATR36, Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant. To power that future, the service and industry are grappling with another Herculean project, ITEP – the improved turbine engine programme, to replace the GE T700 engine that powers the Boeing AH-64 Apache and Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky UH-60.
Link
Boeing/Saab fly second T-X test aircraft
The second T-X aircraft built by Boeing and Saab has completed a 1h first flight, one month after at least three bidding teams submitted proposals for the US Air Force’s Northrop T-38 trainer replacement contract.
Link
Israel welcomes latest trio of F-35s
Three additional Lockheed Martin F-35s landed at Nevatim air base in Israel on 23 April, taking the number of fifth-generation fighters to arrive in the nation to five. An initial pair of the conventional take-off and landing type touched down at the same site on 12 December 2016.
Link
Aviation Quote
The thing is, helicopters are different from planes. An airplane by it's nature wants to fly, and if not interfered with too strongly by unusual events or by a deliberately incompetent pilot, it will fly. A helicopter does not want to fly. It is maintained in the air by a variety of forces and controls working in opposition to each other, and if there is any disturbance in this delicate balance the helicopter stops flying; immediately and disastrously. There is no such thing as a gliding helicopter.
This is why being a helicopter pilot is so different from being an airplane pilot, and why in generality, airplane pilots are open, clear-eyed, buoyant extroverts and helicopter pilots are brooding introspective anticipators of trouble. They know if something bad has not happened it is about to.
- Harry Reasoner, 1971.
Daily Video
Editor's Choice
Trivia
General Trivia
1. What was probably the most unconventional means by which a fighter pilot attacked and downed an enemy aircraft?
2. What Japanese automobile manufacturer produced, had certified and marketed a post-WW2, single-engine, four-place, piston-powered airplane?
3. A fire truck pulls alongside and in front of a taxiing airplane that had just made an emergency landing. A firefighter steps off of the truck and makes a beckoning movement with his left hand and arm. What should a pilot do?
4. What famous American corporation is named after the aircraft carrier from which this company’s founder flew F6F Hellcats during WW2?
5. True or False, a minute of latitude in central Alabama is larger than a minute of longitude in central Mississippi?
