NAS Daily 10 JUN 19

airtrainer 09 Jun 19, 22:45

News

Commercial

Spirit AeroSystems cuts hours in response to MAX slowdown
Spirit AeroSystems, the aerostructures provider for 70% of the Boeing 737, will shorten its workweek to 32 hours as a result of the aircraft’s production slowdown. The shortened weeks will begin June 21, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) said June 7. The move affects all salaried, management and executive employees working on commercial aircraft programs, and will reduce weekly salaries by 20%.
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Volocopter details approach to urban air mobility in white paper
German startup Volocopter says its multicopter electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) air taxi can offer the majority of inner-city and airport shuttle services in more than 90% of its Top 100 target cities. The company details its approach to urban air mobility in a new white paper.
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Lawmakers seek information about 737 Max's AOA alert issues
US lawmakers have requested additional information from Boeing, United Technologies and the Federal Aviation Administration about a defective 737 Max sensor alert that Boeing did not address with urgency until after the fatal October 2018 Lion Air crash.
The request seeks more information about the aircraft's angle-of-attack (AOA) disagree alert, which was defective on some 737 Max.
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Testing continues for deployable flight data recorders
Airbus’s first A350-1000 test aircraft has been recruited to support development of an innovative flight recorder that can be jettisoned automatically in the event of an accident. The aircraft, MSN59, has been modified to accommodate a mechanical prototype and, as a result of the initial installation, is the preferential candidate to serve as the platform for future functional testing.
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Airbus looks deep into long-haul future
Airbus will enter this year’s aeronautical salon at Le Bourget for the first time with the A380 representing a part of its history rather than a part of its future. Centre stage at the major air shows for much of the past 15 years – physically, if not in terms of business activity – the aircraft has been a symbol of the airframer’s struggle to prove itself a true match for US manufacturer Boeing.
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BelugaXL fleet goes from five to six
Then there were six. Airbus’s programme to develop a new high-capacity transport, the BelugaXL, to support its logistics and production operation was originally intended to construct a fleet of five aircraft to replace, one for one, its A300-600STs.
But Airbus has opted to roll a sixth example off the line, to reinforce the airframer’s capabilities following its ramp-up of A350 assembly and the pressing need to raise A320neo-family output in response to demand.
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Cost reduction central to Airbus future-wing programme
Airbus will in June begin assembly of the first structure under its Wing of Tomorrow technology demonstrator programme, aimed at developing a composite wing manufacturing concept for a next-generation single-aisle aircraft. The 5m (16ft) part is an initial test article ahead of the planned assembly in 2020 of three full-scale demonstrators at a newly built research centre next to Airbus’s UK wing factory in Broughton, Flintshire.
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Airlines

PICTURES: BA and Airbus share images of airline's first A350-1000
British Airways has tweeted a photo of its first Airbus A350-1000, newly painted with the Oneworld carrier's livery.
Cirium's Fleets Analyzer shows that IAG-owned BA has 18 A350-1000s on order.
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Nigerian startup Ibom Air launches operations
Nigerian regional startup Ibom Air operated its first flight June 7, from Uyo to Lagos, after securing its air operator’s certificate from the Nigerian CAA.
The airline confirmed the launch from Victor Attah International Airport, Akwa Ibom, on its website.
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Regional carrier Great Dane set to begin operations
A new regional carrier set to begin operations in June aims to make it easier for residents of northern Denmark to travel to tourist destinations.
Great Dane Airlines plans to launch scheduled services June 21 from Aalborg, Denmark, to Edinburgh, Dublin and Nice.
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IATA AGM 2019: JAL to boost capacity in 2020
Japan Airlines (JAL) will mainly rely on increased aircraft utilization to increase capacity and meet an expected demand surge in 2020, although its planned long-haul LCC startup will also help.
While exact targets are yet to be confirmed, JAL could potentially increase its international capacity by 10% in its 2020 fiscal year, airline president Yuji Akasaka said in a briefing at the IATA annual meeting earlier this week.
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IATA AGM 2019: Air Mauritius eyes leaner operations as competition grows
Air Mauritius is reviewing its business model and network, and upgrading its fleet, in response to growing competition at the airline’s Indian Ocean base.
“We can’t get away from competition,” CEO Somaskaran Appavou told ATW on the sidelines of the June 3-5 IATA AGM in Seoul.
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Russia’s Azur Air launches flights to Turkey
Russia’s Azur Air has launched scheduled services to Turkey from 23 Russian cities.
The airline operates scheduled flights to Antalya from Belgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh, Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Syktyvkar, Rostov-on-Don, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen, Krasnoyarsk, Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, Tomsk, Irkutsk, Mineralnye Vody, Novosibirsk, Barnaul, Astrakhan and Surgut; to Dalaman from Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Kaliningrad, Belgorod and Nizhnekamsk; and to Bodrum from Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg and Krasnodar.
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Aegean widens 1Q net loss on fuel costs, lower fares
Greek carrier Aegean Airlines reported a first-quarter net loss of €35.2 million ($39.6 million), 14% greater than a €30.8 million loss in the year ago period as fuel costs rose and average fares declined.
The airline and its Olympic Air subsidiary saw consolidated revenue rise 4% year-over-year (YOY) to €172 million, compared to €165.4 million in 1Q 2018
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Wizz Air adds aircraft, new routes to Vienna base
Central and Eastern European LCC Wizz Air, which launched operations from its Vienna, Austria base in June 2018, is adding a sixth Airbus A321 and six new routes from mid-December.
The additional A321 enables the carrier to start services from Vienna to Alicante (Spain), Bremen (Germany), Chisinau (Moldavia), Naples (Italy), Oslo (Norway) and Porto (Portugal) and will increase of frequencies of the airline’s existing Eindhoven (Netherlands) and Tel Aviv (Israel) routes.
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Chinese startup Genghis Khan Airlines launches ARJ21 flight trials
Chinese startup Genghis Khan Airlines has begun flight tests on its first pair of Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) ARJ21-700 aircraft.
On June 5, the aircraft departed from its base in Hohhot Baita International Airport, the capital city of Inner Mongolia, to Wulanhaote.
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American pushes 737 Max return to September
American Airlines has removed the Boeing 737 Max from schedules through September, as questions over when the jet will return to service continue to swirl.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier has cancelled all flights operated by its fleet of 24 737 Max 8 aircraft through 3 September, it says today. It will cancel . roughly 115 flights a day as a result.
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Avianca Argentina suspends service
Avianca Argentina has suspended operations, becoming the second airline owned by Avianca majority shareholder German Efromovich to cease service in recent weeks.
The financially distressed airline requested to halt scheduled service for 90 days from 9 June, says Argentina's civil aviation authority ANAC.
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PICTURE: Azul A330neo operates first international flight
Azul is operating its first Airbus A330-900 on its inaugural international flight today, with service from Campinas Viracopos to Orlando.
The aircraft, registered PR-ANZ, is en route and scheduled to land in Orlando at 18:15.
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Airports

Rome Fiumicino awarded CEIV Pharma certification
Rome Fiumicino (FCO) has become the first airport in Italy to earn IATA CEIV Pharma certification.
It obtained the certification in a community approach together with its air cargo supply chain partners.
IATA CEIV pharma certification is industry recognition in support of the air transport industry complying with pharmaceutical manufacturers’ shipping requirements.
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Scotland's First Minister opens Edinburgh's terminal expansion
Edinburgh Airport’s £75 million terminal expansion, the biggest project in a generation at the gateway, was officially opened today by Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.
Part of a wider £200 million investment programme at Scotland’s busiest airport, the airport claims that the expansion enhances its connectivity options and will support passenger growth to twenty million passengers.
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Schiphol collaborates with ATL to create new trade and logistics corridor
A new trade agreement between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport will digitally and physically connect the airports; increasing cargo trade between the two.
After signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) has collaborated with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to promote cargo trade and investment between metro Atlanta and the Netherlands.
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Military

InstantEye launches extended-range Mk-3 microdrone
InstantEye has launched a new long-endurance variant of the Mk-3 GEN4D quadcopter that can fly for more than 50min.
Called the Mk-3 GEN4-D1, the new surveillance drone uses a proprietary battery to increase its flight time by 20min, says InstantEye.
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Lockheed Martin eyes 500 F-35 fighters in Europe
With the Pentagon wavering over the number of F-35s it wants to buy, Lockheed Martin has turned its gaze on Europe. The company is bullish on selling the aircraft to America’s European allies. It believes that by 2030 there will be more than 500 F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters deployed in Europe – more than the number of Eurofighter Typhoons currently in operation worldwide.
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Aviation Quote

We fooled ourselves into thinking this thing wouldn't crash. When I was in astronaut training I asked, 'what is the likelihood of another accident?' The answer I got was: one in 10,000, with an asterisk. The asterisk meant, 'we don't know.'

- Bryan O'Connor, NASA deputy associate administrator Space Shuttle, interview in Space News, 10 January 1996.