NewsCommercial
Mitsubishi waits for right timing for MRJ100X
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. is progressing with the build of All Nippon Airlines’ (ANA) first MRJ90 and is considering launch timings for the MRJ100X. “We finished the wing-body join [last month] for ANA’s first aircraft in our new final assembly hangar,” Mitsubishi head of strategic marketing, sales and marketing Hideyuki Kamiya said, speaking at the European Regions Airline Association General Assembly in Madrid.
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Inflight broadband provider Gogo joins ALTA
Chicago-based inflight broadband provider Gogo has joined the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) as an affiliate member. “Inflight connectivity is fast becoming an important service tool that enables more options and better experience for travelers while on board an aircraft,” ALTA executive director Eduardo Iglesias said Oct. 12.
LinkAirlines
Air New Zealand may offer Wi-Fi from 2017
Air New Zealand may offer Wi-Fi connectivity on flights from 2017 onward, CEO Christopher Luxon said in a statement Oct. 11. “We are in final negotiations with Inmarsat and Panasonic Avionics,” he said. “Inmarsat will provide Global Xpress broadband, which will be integrated in the existing inflight entertainment system from Panasonic Avionics.”
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Cathay Pacific Warns On Business Outlook
Cathay Pacific Airways expects its second half results to be worse than forecast in its interim report. The Hong Kong full service airline said its business outlook had deteriorated, blaming overcapacity and strong competition for revenue shortfalls and heavy pressure on yields.
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Delta 3Q net profit down 4%; caps capacity growth at 1% through 2017
Delta Air Lines reported a third-quarter 2016 net profit of $1.26 billion, down 4% from net income of $1.32 billion in the 2015 September quarter, as revenue dropped 6% year-over-year to $10.48 billion. Delta CEO Ed Bastian told analysts and reporters in an Oct. 13 conference call that US airlines are experiencing the “weakest revenue environment in recent memory.”
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Emirates to launch daily Dubai-Fort Lauderdale service
Emirates Airline will begin daily Dubai-Fort Lauderdale, Florida service from Dec. 15 using a Boeing 777-200LR in a three-class configuration. The aircraft will have eight first-class suites, 42 business-class lie-flat beds and 216 economy seats, and up to 15 tonnes of bellyhold cargo. “We launched our nonstop Dubai-Orlando service roughly a year ago and its strong performance encouraged us to select Fort Lauderdale as our eleventh US [passenger] destination,” Emirates Airline president Tim Clark said in a statement Oct. 12.
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Finnair to increase frequencies to Asia; begins Qatar codeshare
Finnair has increased frequencies to Asia for the summer 2017 season. The Finland flag carrier will increase its daily Airbus A330 Helsinki-Tokyo Narita service with additional 4X-weekly A350 XWB flights between June 5 and Oct. 27. Finnair and its partner Japan Airlines will offer 18 weekly flights on the route as part of the joint venture between Japan Airlines, British Airways and Spanish flag carrier Iberia for the coordination of Europe-Japan flights.
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Hawaiian Airlines deploys Bluebox IFE with iPad Pro in Premium Cabin
Select Hawaiian Airline flights will now offer entertainment services through Bluebox Avionics iPad Pro™ devices for Premium Cabin service. "When designing our Premium Cabin for the A330 aircraft, we wanted to redefine the leisure travel experience to Hawaii," said Avi Mannis, senior vice president of marketing for the carrier.
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LOT Polish Airlines to lease up to 11 Boeing MAX 8s
LOT Polish Airlines has agreed to lease up to 11 Boeing 737 MAX 8s from US lessor Air Lease Corp. (ALC) for delivery in 2017-2020. ALC said it will place six new 737 MAX 8s with CFM LEAP-1B engines on long-term lease to the Warsaw-based carrier. The agreement also includes the option to lease five new 737 MAX 8s, to be confirmed by early 2017. All 11 aircraft are from ALC’s order book with Boeing.
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SalamAir unveils colour scheme
Omani start-up budget carrier SalamAir indicates that it will commence operations with a domestic connection. SalamAir’s online reservations engine is still being finalised but the carrier says its first flight is “destined” from Salalah to Muscat.
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Southwest to launch Havana service Dec. 12
Southwest Airlines will begin 2X-daily nonstop Fort Lauderdale, Florida-Havana, Cuba, service and 1X-daily nonstop Tampa, Florida-Havana service on Dec. 12, the Dallas-based airline announced Oct. 13. Additionally, Southwest will launch 2X-daily nonstop Fort Lauderdale-Varadero, Cuba, service on Nov. 13. Southwest said service details for a third Cuban destination, Santa Clara, will be released in coming weeks. All routes are subject to approval by Cuban aviation authorities. Tickets are already on sale for Southwest’s Havana and Varadero flights.
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Southwest to connect Salt Lake City to Burbank, Sacramento
This March, Southwest Airlines will commence daily direct routes from Salt Lake City to Sacramento and Burbank, Calif.
LinkAirports
Sweden’s airports post 5% passenger increase year-to-date
Swedavia, owner and operator of 10 airports across Sweden, reported Oct. 13 a total of 29.7 million passengers have embarked and disembarked at the state-owned company’s airports through Sept. 30, a 5% rise year-over-year (YOY). The number of landings at Swedavia’s airports year-to-date totaled 20,000, a 2% YOY increase.
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Bomb Threat Causes Aeroflot Evacuation In Geneva
An Aeroflot flight to Moscow was turned back to the gate at Geneva Airport on Thursday after a man claimed there was a bomb onboard. The incident happened about 13:00 (1 pm) local time when a Russian man approached an airline desk at the airport and said there was a bomb on Aeroflot flight SU2381.
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Military
Bell, Fuji engineers busy with UH-X specifications
Bell Helicopter is working with engineers from Fuji Heavy Industries on modification work prior to starting production of Tokyo’s 150 UH-X helicopters. Bell Japan head Richard Thornley says one of the improvements is around improving transmission performance, but that Tokyo has kept tight wraps on other modifications it requires in the platform.
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Aviation Quote
People Express is clearly the archetypical deregulation success story and the most spectacular of my babies. It is the case that makes me the proudest.
- Alfred Kahn, Professor of Political Economy, Cornell University, Time magazine, 13 Jan 1986.
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Editor's Choice
Trivia
WW2 Luftwaffe
1. The JU-87 "Stuka" was not a pretty site to look at, all the less so when it was hurtling towards you at an 80 degree angle, but it was not pleasant to hear either. It had a siren on its port landing gear. What was the nickname the crews gave this device?
The Horns of the Reich
The Trumpets of Jericho
The Sirens of Jericho
The Trumpets of Victory
2. This out-of-date bomber was used for high altitude reconnaissance by Germany for a short period of time after the Battle of Britain. Which was it?
Junkers 88P
Junkers 86R
Dornier 217N
Dornier 23R
3. Germany shortly before WW2 is commonly believed to have had little interest in long range heavy bombers, but in fact it had one of the largest supporters of long range bombers from the get-go. Who was he?
Ernst Udet
Ernhard Milch
Kurt Student
Walter Wever
4. Many medium bombers that Germany had were converted into night fighters when the need arose. Which of those was unpopular with its crews?
Junkers 188
Junkers 88
Dornier 217
Messerschmitt 110
5. The He-177 was a great aircraft when it worked. What was one of the things the RLM (Reichsluftministerie) did that caused the 177 to go from a great bomber to a great disaster?
Elimination of the evaporative cooling system
Demands that poor French engines power the He-177
Demands that the He-177 be built out of wood
Underpowered BMW 132 Bramo engines
6. Which one of the three German Battle of Britain bombers could carry the most tonnage, and which could carry the least over a short distance?
Junkers 88, Junkers 87
Junkers 88, Junkers 87
Dornier 215, Heinkel 111
Heinkel 111, Dornier 17
7. This is the only bomber in World War II to have a top speed of over 460mph, what was it?
Arado 234
Heinkel 111P
Arado 232
Junkers 388K
8. The Junkers 287 was the intended replacement for the aging Stuka in 1944. With forward swept wings, two Junkers 003 turbojets and something interesting captured from the Americans, the JU-287 would have been a formidable ground attack/bomber aircraft. What was the American "contribution"?
Landing gear taken off B-24's
Rockets of P-47 wing racks
Guns off of P-51D fighters
Norden bombsights off of B-17's
9. Ground attack was a field of bombers in which the Germans excelled. Convinced that more armor was necessary to protect the pilots of ground attack aircraft Henschel came up with the HS-129, what was its nickname?
armored Panzer destroyer
The flying tank
The flying armored car
the flying assault gun
10. The Germans had originally decided to build one carrier known as the Graf Zeppelin. What were the two types of aircraft that were designed to be based on the carrier?
Fi-282, Do-215
He-115B, Bf-110E
Fi-167, Ju-87C
Ju-87T, Bf-109L
