Airbus to debut A330neo at Farnborough Airshow today Airbus plans to debut its A330neo today at the Farnborough Airshow in the U.K. The revamp of the A330 offers 14% greater fuel efficiency, and the aircraft manufacturer said it had received 100 commitments to purchase the A330neo. Airbus will offer the A330neo in two models, the A330-800neo and the A330-900neo. Link
A330 line to be all-Neo before 2020 Airbus aims to complete the transition to all-A330neo production by the end of 2019, following its launch of the re-engined type. The airframer is intending to introduce the initial variant, the A330-900neo, before the close of 2017 and roll its output over to the new type exclusively during 2018-19. Airbus has a backlog of 232 passenger A330s, mostly the larger -300, but it is also producing the type at a rate of 10 per month. Link
Air Lease Becomes A330neo Launch Customer Air Lease became the launch customer for the Airbus A330neo with a memorandum of understanding for 25 A330-900neo aircraft. Airbus announced the launch of the revamped twin-aisle jet, which comes with new, more fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce engines. Air Lease had been one of those pushing for Airbus to update the jet and said on Monday it thought the move would extend the life of the A330 family by at least another 20-25 years. Link
Boeing launches 787-9 Dreamliner at air show Boeing debuted its 787-9 Dreamliner at the Farnborough Airshow on Sunday. The aircraft is nearly 20 feet longer than the 787-8 and features a greater maximum range of 7,750 nautical miles. "The -9 is mainly a growth vehicle for airlines that will largely replace the A340 and older 777s," said Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for Boeing. Link
Fokker 120 edges closer to go-ahead Long-running plans to resurrect production of the Fokker 100 twinjet appear to be gaining momentum as the Netherlands Aircraft Company works on securing the financing and supply chain partners to launch the aircraft, dubbed the F120NG. “We are not going to give a timetable or timeline at this stage, but the fact that we are sharing more details here at Farnborough demonstrates we are confident the funding is imminent and the project will make significant steps in the coming few months,” chief executive Maarten Van Eeghen said. The plan is to produce a new-build 125- or 130-seater that is a stretch of the basic Fokker 100 design, says chief engineer Rudi den Hertog. The only physical change to the airframe are to the wing, which will feature slightly more span, winglets and some “tweaks” to the wing profile. Link
Airlines
Eastern Air Lines signs for 20 MRJ90s Eastern Air Lines has signed a memorandum of understanding covering 20 Mitsubishi Regional Jets, and taken purchase rights for an additional 20. Mitsubishi Aircraft says it will move to conclude a definitive agreement in the "near future", and that deliveries of the MRJ90s are scheduled to start in 2019. With this agreement, Eastern becomes Mitsubishi's third American customer, and also breaks the Japanese airframer's orders dry spell since 2012. The airline's group president Edward Wegel says its regional jets will likely have 82 seats in a two-class configuration. Link
Emirates Signs USD$13 Bln GE Service Contract Emirates has signed a 12-year agreement with General Electric for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of its new GE9X engines. The USD$13 billion order is for engines that will power the 150 Boeing 777X jets that Emirates is buying from Boeing for USD$56 billion. Link
Flybe Signs Q400 Services Deal With Bombardier British carrier Flybe has signed a services agreement with Bombardier, making the Q400 the 'aircraft of choice' for Flybe's UK branded business. Under the deal, Bombardier will undertake an enhancement program to make Flybe's current 45-strong Q400 fleet one of the "most operationally efficient regional fleets in the world," said the budget airline, whose investors include billionaire financier George Soros. Link
Hawaiian Airlines tops list for U.S. carriers serving Hawaii Hawaiian Airlines was rated as the top U.S. airline serving Hawaii, according to a reader survey by Travel + Leisure magazine. "Our teams on the ground and in the air work hard to deliver the very best Hawaiian service to all of our guests, so we are thrilled to see their efforts recognized in this survey," said Mark Dunkerley, president and CEO of Hawaiian. Link
Qatar in ‘impasse’ with Airbus on A380 Qatar Airways remains in a deadlock with Airbus over the ongoing delay to its A380s, and chief executive Akbar Al Baker is remaining tight lipped about the likely delivery schedule. The airline was expecting to have its first aircraft on display at the Farnborough air show but had to drop plans at the last minute after the delivery slipped again. The move prompted Airbus to substitute its development A380 at the show. “It is not here because we are in an impasse with Airbus,” Al Baker tells Flightglobal. “We refused to take delivery of our three A380s that are already ready in Hamburg and were supposed to be delivered to us over the month of June.” Link
Airports
Airports offer high-end cocktail lounges Blogger Marc Ramirez praises a refreshing Negroni cocktail he consumed at Lounge 5280, located on Concourse B at the Denver International Airport. Other airports are taking note of the trend, with Dallas-Fort Worth Airport slated to open Wild Bleu Martini Bar this fall. "This is just the beginning of our efforts to offer a whole new category of drinks for our passengers," said Zenola Campbell, vice president for concessions at DFW. Link
Fla. airport to extend ticket tax Orlando International Airport received federal approval Friday to extend a ticket tax to help pay for what eventually could be a more than $1 billion expansion. Right now, every passenger who flies out of Orlando International pays a $4.50 fee that goes for major projects. It was unclear Friday if the entire $4.50 will continue to be levied, or how long the fee will be in place. It is expected to raise almost $400 million and will be used to pay for a mile-long people mover, associated road and utility improvements and a parking garage south of the main terminal. Link
MAG Upbeat On Airport Growth Prospects Manchester Airports Group (MAG) said it is confident of delivering strong growth in 2014-15 as increased passenger numbers and cost controls helped lift full-year earnings by 2.8 percent. MAG, which owns four British airports, said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the year to March 31 rose to GBP£242 million (USD$412 million), helped by a 4.3 percent rise in passenger numbers to 43.8 million. The group said the integration of London Stansted, which it bought in February last year, was ahead of schedule and that passenger numbers were on a positive trajectory after years of decline as it works to broaden its network and develop a long-haul service. Link
Tripoli Airport Shelling Destroys Several Aircraft Militia shelling of Tripoli airport has destroyed 90 percent of the planes parked there, government spokesman Ahmed Lamine said. "The government has studied the possibility to bring international forces to enhance security," he told reporters. Link
Powerplants
TP400 powers A400M operating success The Airbus A400M’s first year of operational service has been marked by solid reliability from its TP400-D6 engines, says Europrop International (EPI) president Ian Crawford. “Things are going as we would have wanted, and as we planned for,” Crawford says of the activities to date with the French and Turkish air forces’ combined three delivered examples. “The engine in service is demonstrating the capabilities that the customers wanted, and we have had very positive feedback.” Combined, the two French and one Turkish Atlas have amassed around 2,000 flight hours. “We have had no significant engine issues, no engine removals or major module removals,” Crawford says; just “the usual line maintenance snags you would expect.” Link
Military
Israel shoots down Hamas-operated UAV An Israeli air force Patriot surface-to-air missile has shot down a small unmanned air vehicle that had been launched by Hamas militants from inside the Gaza Strip. The intercept was made at 06:30 local time on 14 July, after which army and navy units began searches for debris to help with identifying the system involved Sources suggest that the UAV was launched in order to check Israel's reaction time. Link
RAF ramps up A400M delivery rate The UK Royal Air Force is gearing up to receive its first Airbus A400M tactical transport, having accelerated the schedule for receiving 22 of the type. Lead UK aircraft MSN15 is at Airbus Defence & Space’s San Pablo final assembly site near Seville, Spain, and is expected to make its first flight around three weeks from now. The airlifter – which had originally been in production for France, until a delivery slot swap was agreed between the nations – will then be painted in RAF colours before a planned delivery target in September, the company says. Link
Avionics
Iridium Satcom System Achieves A320 Certification L-3 Aviation Recorders' (L-3 AR) Automated Flight Information and Reporting System (AFIRS) 228S has achieved certification for the Airbus A320 family aircraft. Link
Corporate
Daher Socata shows off its Ecowingbox Daher Socata is at Farnborough to promote a new composite wing box that it has designed especially for business aircraft. A model of the 14m-long structure - part of its Ecowingbox research and training project - is on display at the French manufacturer's stand in hall 4. Tarbes, France-based Daher Socata - developer of the TBM 900 single-engined turboprop - says the five-year-old research initiative “was born out of a need on the part of aircraft manufacturers to reduce the weight and drag of their aircraft and to minimise their environmental footprint”. “OEM’s wanted to make advances in wing design. However, this was a question that was proving hard to address using metal manufacturing,” says Daher Socata, The Ecowingbox is 25% lighter and 10% cheaper to make than its metal equivalent, says Daher. Link
Aviation Quote
Flying for the airlines is not supposed to be an adventure. From takeoff to landing, the autopilots handle the controls. This is routine. In a Boeing as much as an Airbus. And they make better work of it than any pilot can. You're not supposed to be the blue-eyed hero here. Your job is to make decisions, to stay awake, and to know which buttons to push and when. Your job is to manage the systems.
— Bernard Ziegler, former Airbus Senior Vice President for Engineering, interview in William Langewiesche's Fly by Wire: The Geese, the Glide, the Miracle on the Hudson, 2009.
On This Date
--- In 1916... Timber merchant William E. Boeing forms a new aircraft company, the Pacific Aero Products Company.
--- In 1923... Dobrolet, the Soviet state airline, opens its first scheduled domestic service, between Moscow and Nizhniy Novgorod.
---In 1925... Dr. A. Hamilton Rice’s expedition to the Amazon to explore the headwaters of the Amazon, the first exploration by airplane, returns safely.
---In 1954…Boeing 367-80, prototype of the Boeing 707 and Boeing C-135 families.
---In 1967…First delivery of the McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63 to KLM royal Dutch Airlines.
--- In 1968... The first direct airline service between the Soviet Union and the U.S. is inaugurated, ten years after negotiations began.
---In 1975... The first international manned space flight occurs between the Soviet Soyuz 19 and an Apollo spacecraft.
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Late To Work
Tom was in his early 50's, retired and started a second career. However, he just couldn't seem to get to work on time. Every day, 5, 10, 15 minutes late. But he was a good worker, real sharp, so the Boss was in a quandary about how to deal with it. Finally, one day he called him into the office for a talk.
"Tom, I have to tell you, I like your work ethic, you do a bang-up job, but you're being late so often is quite bothersome." "Yes, I know Boss, and I am working on it." "Well good, you are a team player. That's what I like to hear. It's odd though, you're coming in late. I know you're retired from the Air Force. What did they say if you came in late there?" "They said, "Good morning, General."
And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight. — E. B. Jeppesen
TomPep was in his early 50's, retired and started a second career. However, he just couldn't seem to get to work on time. Every day, 5, 10, 15 minutes late. But he was a good worker, real sharp, so the Boss was in a quandary about how to deal with it. Finally, one day he called him into the office for a talk.
"TomPep, I have to tell you, I like your work ethic, you do a bang-up job, but you're being late so often is quite bothersome." "Yes, I know Boss, and I am working on it." "Well good, you are a team player. That's what I like to hear. It's odd though, you're coming in late. I know you're retired from the Air ForceArmy . What did they say if you came in late there?" "They said, "Good morning, GeneralSergeant Major."
