NewsCapacity control, economic rebound lifts LATAM to record 3Q net profitSantiago-based LATAM Airlines Group reported a 2017 third-quarter net profit of $160.6 million, compared to $4.7 million net income in 3Q 2016, boosted by a $59 million foreign exchange gain based on a 4.4% appreciation of the Brazilian real during the quarter.
LinkGulf Air names new CEO, leases 787-9sGulf Air has appointed the former head of Croatia Airlines, Krešimir Kučko, as CEO, effective immediately. He replaces Maher Salman Al Musallam, who retired earlier this year. The Bahrain-based airline’s chairman, Zayed Bin Rashid Alzayani, said Kučko “brings with him exceptional industry knowledge that I am confident will add considerable value to our business.”
LinkVLM Airlines acquires Belgian AOC for Fokker 50Belgian aviation authorities have granted an air operator’s certificate (AOC) to regional VLM Airlines for its Fokker 50 aircraft, just days after approving an AOC for Airbus A320s acquired from Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium (TCAB). Currently, VLM Airlines has three AOCs: a Slovenian and a Belgian AOC for its Fokker 50 operations and a Belgian AOC for A320 operations.
LinkRevenue generation from IFE screens still elusiveDespite doomsayers over the years condemning it to the technology junk heap, the IFE seatback screen is here to stay, especially on long-haul flights, but airlines have to improve the retail opportunities that today’s IFE capabilities present.
LinkIndiGo to begin ATR turboprop operationsIndian LCC IndiGo—which so far has relied on Airbus A320s—will introduce its first ATR 72-600 turboprop Dec. 21, when it will take off from Hyderabad, India. The airline in May signed a letter of intent for 50 ATR 72-600s and took delivery of the first one Nov. 17.
LinkJambojet to lease two Bombardier Q400sBombardier has signed a firm purchase agreement with Denmark-based Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) for two Q400 turboprops, for lease to Kenyan LCC Jambojet. Based on list prices, the order is valued at approximately $64 million. The order was already on Bombardier’s 3Q orderbook as being assigned to an undisclosed customer.
LinkBoeing, Royal Jordanian ink 5-year training planBoeing and Royal Jordanian Airlines have signed a five-year strategic training agreement to help train the airline’s Boeing 787 pilots. The agreement, announced at the Dubai Air Show, will see Royal Jordanian pilots undergo type-rating and recurrent training at Boeing Global Services’London Gatwick training campus.
LinkBeijing’s Capital Airlines begins Qingdao-London serviceHNA Group subsidiary Capital Airlines launched Qingdao-London services Nov. 17, as part of its international expansion plan. The new twice-weekly service uses an Airbus A330. In recent years, Capital Airlines has accelerated the pace of its international expansion as demand grows for outbound travel.
LinkLOT Polish Airlines to launch Singapore services in 2018LOT Polish Airlines plans to begin 3X-weekly Warsaw-Singapore Changi services from May 15, 2018. Warsaw-based LOT will utilize a Boeing 787 in a three-class configuration—business class, premium economy and economy—on the service. Frequencies will increase to 4X-weekly from July 2018. LOT CEO Rafał Milczarski said the new service reflects the carrier’s promise to continue expanding its network of Asian connections and is part of its growth strategy.
LinkAirbus, Emirates face off over A380 impasse To concentrate on the Emirates A380 order saga in anticipation of writing large figures in Dubai air show headlines is to ignore the fascinating high-stakes poker game being played in the background – one involving numbers far greater than a couple of dozen aircraft and a few billions of dollars.
LinkFAA details 777X folding wing-tip safety demandsUS regulators have detailed a series of protective safety measures proposed for the Boeing 777X's folding wing-tips, having drawn comparisons with the risks posed by unreleased gust-locks. The US Federal Aviation Administration is seeking comments by 18 December on the measures which, it says, are intended to avert a "catastrophic event" should the wing-tips not be secured for take-off and flight.
LinkAir Canada to fly initial 737 Max on domestic and overseas routesAir Canada will launch its first Boeing 737 Max 8 flights on domestic routes starting 11 December, and transition the type to transatlantic flying next spring. The Montreal-based carrier confirms the type (below) will enter revenue service on 11 December with a Montreal-Calgary roundtrip followed by a Montreal-Vancouver round trip.
LinkHow do you replace a first-generation A330?The Airbus A330 has proven to be one of the most successful twin-aisle types ever. A quarter of century on from its first flight in November 1992, and with the second-generation A330-900 now in flight, how are operators deploying the twinjet and what types might replace the existing fleets?
LinkQantas to have 80 wi-fi equipped aircraft by end-2018Qantas plans to equip 80 of its domestically-operated Boeing 737-800s and Airbus A330s with on-board wi-fi connectivity by the end of 2018. The Oneworld carrier says that following a successful trial earlier this year, it has rolled out the ViaSat equipment on 15 737-800s, and will start to fit it on its A330s from next year.
LinkHow Airbus’s first big twin blossomed into the A330neoWhisper it, but the recent first flight of a second-generation Airbus A330, the re-engined -900, was tantalizingly close to the 25th anniversary of the twinjet’s maiden sortie on 2 November 1992. Understandably, Airbus hasn’t made much of this historic milestone, but the fact is that the aircraft’s continuing appeal in a market of much younger competitors is a credit to the A330’s original concept which dates back to the 1980s.
LinkWhy A330 tanker sales boomedAt the start of this century, the then-EADS began exploring the potential for its A330 widebody to deliver air-to-air refuelling (AAR) services for military operators. In doing so the European company replicated its strategy for the airliner market, by going head to head for international sales with Boeing, which held a virtual monopoly in the tanker sector.
LinkNorthrop flies first E-2D for JapanNorthrop Grumman has performed the first flight of Japan's E-2D Advanced Hawkeye early warning and surveillance aircraft. Completed in early October from the US airframer's facility in St Augustine, Florida, the milestone was announced by the company on 15 November.
LinkBell considers autonomous flight of V-280 tiltrotorBeing developed for the US Army's future vertical lift program, the V-280 is due to make its maiden sortie before year-end. But, says Vince Tobin, Bell's vice-president of military business, the manufacturer is now considering possible future applications for the tiltrotor.
LinkPilatus registers first customer-owned PC-24 as certification loomsThe first Pilatus PC-24 destined for launch customer PlaneSense has been registered in Switzerland by the Stans-based airframer, as certification and service entry of the superlight business jet draw near. The all-metal aircraft – serial number 101 – carries the registration HB-VSB and will be delivered to the US fractional ownership company following European Aviation Safety Agency and US Federal Aviation Administration validation of the PC-24 program, earmarked for December.
LinkEmbraer shrinks cabin altitude for Legacy 450 and 500Embraer has reduced the cabin altitude for its Legacy 450 and 500 business jets by 200ft (60m), as part of a continuing focus on delivering customer value across its product line. Aircraft shipped to owners in the first quarter of 2018 will have a cabin altitude of 5,800ft when flying at an altitude of 45,000ft, thanks to an increase in cabin pressurization from 9.3psi to 9.73psi. The aircraft's environmental control system also preserves a sea-level cabin altitude while flying below 27,050ft.
LinkEra says its H225 helicopters are worth just $4 million eachUS offshore helicopter operator Era Group has booked a $117 million write-down in its latest financial quarter, primarily based on a reappraisal of its Airbus Helicopters H225s, which values the 11t-class rotorcraft at just $4 million each. Era has nine offshore-configured Super Pumas in its fleet. These have been idle since the April 2016 loss of an H225 off the coast of Norway, operated by CHC Helikopter Services, which claimed the lives of all 13 passengers and crew.
LinkUAE has eyes on the starsSince humans first recognized the difference between the “fixed” stars and the roving planets, Mars has fascinated scientists and romantics alike. It is large to the naked eye – only the Sun, Moon, Jupiter and Venus look bigger – and, famously, it is red. By the late 1800s, telescopes were good enough to reveal “canals” which some observers speculated to be the elaborate infrastructure of an advanced civilization.
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