NewsCommercial
China To Launch C919 Test Flights This Year
China's COMAC has completed the basic assembly of its medium-range C919 large passenger aircraft and is expected to launch test flights this year, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Xinhua said state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, which is touting the aircraft as China's answer to airliners from Boeing and Airbus, had secured 450 orders from 18 customers. The agency gave no further details and COMAC executives were not available for comment during the Lunar New Year holiday.
LinkAirlines
Aer Lingus Unions Still Oppose IAG Offer
Aer Lingus's two main unions have not softened their opposition to a takeover approach by IAG, after a senior union official at the Irish airline said he backed the bid. Myles Worth, secretary of Aer Lingus's Central Representative Council (CRC) -- a grouping of staff representatives from the company's unions -- dropped his opposition on Sunday in an apparent boost to IAG. However the SIPTU and IMPACT unions, whose members sit on the CRC, said that Worth was speaking in a personal capacity and that their position is unchanged ahead of talks with executives from IAG on Monday.
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Allegiant Travel Company Announces the Purchase of Six A319 Aircraft
Allegiant Travel Company today announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase six additional A319 aircraft. The aircraft are currently being operated by Cebu Pacific Air and are scheduled to enter the Allegiant operating fleet from the end of 2015 through 2017. "We continue to be able to find high quality, used A319s that fit our specification," said Jude Bricker, Senior Vice President of Planning. "These aircraft will have 156 seats which is similar to our current A319s. Including these aircraft, we have added commitments for ten additional A320 series aircraft so far this year and will remain active in the used A320 market," concluded Bricker.
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ANA Considering Investment In Skymark
ANA is considering injecting capital into Skymark Airlines as part of a rehabilitation plan for the bankrupt domestic budget carrier. Besides ANA, other investors have also expressed interest in participating in a rescue package for Skymark, according to media reports and sources. Skymark holds valuable slots at Tokyo's crowded Haneda airport, making it attractive to potential investors. Skymark last month sought protection from creditors, blaming a weak yen and a dispute with Airbus for its financial woes. It had liabilities of JPY¥71.09 billion (USD$596.24 million).
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Delta Adds Kona Flight and More Leisure Service From Seattle
Delta Air Lines (DAL) is adding service from its hub at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Kona International Airport and will increase service from select seasonal markets beginning as soon as summer 2015.
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Hawaiian considers boosting service to New Zealand
Mark Dunkerley, the president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines, said the carrier is considering increasing service to New Zealand. "There are no plans announced at this stage but over the longer term it's certainly our aspiration," he said. Hawaiian's Honolulu-Auckland route currently flies at up to 90% full.
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JetBlue to focus on customer experience, exec says
Marty St. George, an executive vice president for JetBlue Airways, shared steps the carrier is taking to enhance its brand. "The most important thing we can do is have a great customer experience," he said. "There is no better advertising than when people walk off an airplane and say, 'It's great.' "
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Southwest CEO: BWI is key airport for international expansion
Gary Kelly, president and CEO of Southwest Airlines, said the carrier will add more international routes from Baltimore–Washington International Airport. "Baltimore is a very, very key city for us," Kelly said. Southwest plans to expand service to the Caribbean, as well as possibly Mexico and Canada.
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Southwest considering further in-flight Wi-Fi enhancement
Southwest Airlines has no intention of remaining idle as next generation inflight connectivity technology comes to market. The carrier, which currently offers Global Eagle Entertainment’s Ku-band satellite-supported Wi-Fi service for $8 per session, assures RGN it will continue to enhance the product for its passengers, “so whatever we can do to enhance that for the customer, we’ll try to figure it out”.
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Thomas Cook Seeks To Sell Airline Business - Report
British leisure travel company Thomas Cook is seeking to sell its airline business as part of a cost-saving plan, the Sunday Times newspaper reported, without citing sources. The world's oldest travel group has sounded out a number of potential buyers over the last few months including rival carriers and private equity investors but no deal has yet been reached and no talks are currently under way, the newspaper said. The newspaper quoted the company as saying it was pleased with the development of its airline operation.
LinkAirports
Third airport for Chicago area is unnecessary
A proposed airport south of Chicago is a risky idea because demand doesn’t justify the need, and the state’s own analysis of the project is “discouraging.” Those aren’t warnings from opponents of the plan – the comments come from developers and financiers who are interested in building and running a new regional airport in Will County, in and near Peotone. What’s more, if the airport is built, the state needs to assume the risk if revenue doesn’t live up to expectations, private groups told state officials in documents obtained by the Better Government Association.
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Denver airport has room to grow, CEO says
Kim Day, the CEO of Denver International Airport since 2008, shares her vision for the airport's future. "We have six runways, and can expand to seven," she said. "We can grow to 100 million passengers a year -- double our current numbers." Day continued, "It's important for an airline to have a low-cost environment. ... If we can keep costs down for them [by using non-airline revenue], they'll be more active."
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Heathrow Passenger Numbers Edge Up In 2014
London's Heathrow Airport reported 1.4 percent growth in passenger numbers in 2014, helped by bigger, fuller planes rather than additional flights, prompting the country's biggest airport to repeat its call to be allowed to expand. Heathrow operates at about 98 percent capacity and struggles to add new flights. It is at the centre of a political tussle over airport expansion in the south-east of England and has been shortlisted as a location for an additional runway.
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LaGuardia airport renovation is delayed; airlines continue to invest in NY airports
The Port Authority generated nearly half a billion dollars in profit in 2013 for its three airports, including $19 million at LaGuardia.. The Port Authority announced a three-month delay in picking the winning bid and Port Authority Chairman John Degnan said, "We simply decided it would be prudent to see what the conceptual design is before proceeding." Airlines have invested billions of dollars in New York and have supported the need to renovate the LaGuardia Central Terminal Building.
LinkMilitary
Australian C-27J crews commence training in USA
Australian personnel are embarking on flight training related to the new Alenia Aermacchi C-27J tactical transport. In a presentation in Melbourne ahead of the Avalon air show, parliamentary secretary to the minister of defence Darren Chester said that Royal Australian Air Force air crew will commence airborne training in the USA.
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Germany outlines fixes for grounded NH90s
Germany has come up with a set of temporary fixes to allow its army’s fleet of NH Industries NH90 troop transport helicopters to resume routine flights after it grounded the rotorcraft earlier this month. The self-imposed restriction followed a June 2014 incident in Termez, Uzbekistan when an NH90 lost the majority of its electrical systems in the wake of an engine fire.
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Israel signs for next batch of F-35 'Adir' fighters
Israel's contract to purchase another 14 Lockheed Martin F-35 "Adir" fighters was signed late last week in Washington DC. The Israeli air force and defence ministry had wanted to purchase 31 F-35Is, but strong opposition within the Israeli cabinet limited this number to 14 in the $2.82 billion deal. Each F-35 is being acquired for a unit cost of around $110 million, the defence ministry says. The new contract also includes options for the 17 additional aircraft, plus funding for infrastructure such as simulators and to establish the capability to perform some maintenance activities in Israel. It also covers preparations for the installation of additional Israeli-developed systems in the aircraft.
LinkRegulatory
FAA investigates a runway incident at Chicago O'Hare
The pilot of an American Eagle airliner taking off from O'Hare International Airport last week took evasive action to avoid hitting another plane that strayed onto the runway, the Federal Aviation Administration and a source said Sunday. The incident involving two regional jets occurred at 9:46 p.m. Tuesday. The American Eagle plane, which was cleared by air-traffic controllers and was on its takeoff roll, "steered around" a United Express Bombardier CRJ-700 that "turned without authorization onto an active runway," FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said.
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Aviation Quote
It is a huge thrill. You're up there on your own, and you really feel like this is life. I'm the king of the castle up here. That's really what it's like.
— Eric 'Winkle' Brown, British Navy Fleet Air Arm test pilot
On This Date
---In 1921... Lieutenant William D. Coney completes a solo flight from Rockwell Field, San Diego to Jacksonville, in 22 hours and 27 minutes flying time.
---In 1931... John Lankester Parker makes the first flight of the prototype Short S.17 Kent flying boat, from the river Medway in Kent, England.
---In 1940... The 2,000-hp prototype Hawker Typhoon fighter makes its first flight in England.
---In 1949…V-2/WAC-Corporal 1st rocket to outer space, White Sands, NM, 400 km.
---In 1957... Scandinavian Airline Services (SAS) opens the first regular scheduled service from Europe to the Far East over the North Pole, with departure from Copenhagen, Denmark and Tokyo, Japan; the DC-7C aircraft will circle the pole en route.
---In 1969…Mariner 6 - USA Mars Flyby launched. Mariner 6 and 7 took measurements of the surface and atmospheric temperature, surface molecular composition, and pressure of the atmosphere. In addition, over 200 pictures were taken. Mariner 6 is now in a solar orbit.
---In 1970…HMS Ark Royal is recommissioned after a £UK 30 million refit.
---In 1983... The youngest pilot known to have made a solo flight in a powered, heavier-than-air, flying machine takes to the air for the first time at age of 9 years 316 days. The flight takes place near Mexicali, Mexico and the aircraft the boy pilots is a Cessna 150.
---In 1984…First flight of the Boeing 737-300.
---In 1989…United Airlines Flight 811, a Boeing 747-100 (N4713U) suffers explosive decompression while climbing out of Honolulu enroute to Auckland when the forward cargo door fails, sucking nine passengers out of the plane and sending them hurtling to their deaths. The accident would be blamed on a faulty door locking mechanism design by Boeing.
---In 1999…China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509, a Tupolev TU-154M (B-2622) airliner crashes into a field on approach to Wenzhou airport in eastern China, killing all 61 on board. Witnesses saw the plane nosedive from around 2,300 feet.
---In 2010…The fourth Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner test plane (N7874) makes its first flight.
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