NAS DAILY 12 DEC 18

airtrainer 12 Dec 18, 00:03

News

Commercial

UAC moves Superjet 100 from Sukhoi to Irkut in company restructure
Russia’s Superjet 100 is no longer part of the Sukhoi product line as parent company United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) rearranges its structure to separate its commercial and military aircraft manufacturing assets.
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GE begins second round of GE9X flight testing
GE Aviation's GE9X turbofan returned to the skies on 10 December, kicking off a second round of airborne testing during which the engine maker will evaluate the powerplant's software and performance in hot-and-high conditions.
The latest round of testing will involve roughly 18 flights on GE's flying Boeing 747-400 testbed, which will carry the massive GE9X turbofan under its wing, GE says.
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Bell 407GXi wins European certification
European regulators have approved the Bell 407GXi, the latest iteration of the Canada-built light single-engined helicopter.
Certification was confirmed in a 10 December revision to European Aviation Safety Agency documentation for the type.
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Falcon plans to open Dubai MRO base
Falcon Aviation Services is poised to open its first maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility dedicated to fixed-wing business aircraft outside its Abu Dhabi headquarters.
The 37,000sqm (398,000sq ft) site, located at Al Maktoum International airport in the Dubai South area, will open early in 2019 and will be more than twice the size of its current facility at Al Bateen executive airport.
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Boeing Business Jets confident on 777X prospects
Boeing Business Jets is confident that its newly launched BBJ 777X will deliver significant sales in the Middle East, justifying the unveiling of the VVIP airliner variant at the MEBAA show.
"Our most exclusive customers want to travel with the best space and comfort, and fly directly to their destination," says Greg Laxton, head of Boeing Business Jets. "The BBJ 777X will be able to do this like no other airplane before it, redefining ultra-long-range VIP travel."
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Airlines

Air New Zealand in union talks to avoid three-day strike
Air New Zealand continues mediation talks with its two engineers’ unions to avoid a pre-Christmas three-day strike. The unions earlier this week announced plans to strike Dec. 21, then later confirmed they have also scheduled strikes Dec. 22 and 23.
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Fastjet faces new funding deadline Dec. 14
African LCC fastjet has until Dec. 14 to solve its financial problems or face the prospect of going out of business.
The cash-strapped airline has faced persistent money problems. In June 2018, the company staved off a cash crunch by raising $7 million through a share issue, while its largest existing shareholder, South Africa’s Solenta Aviation Holdings, agreed to subscribe for a further $3 million of shares.
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Jet Airways, flynas to codeshare on India, Saudi Arabia flights
India’s Jet Airways and Saudia Arabia’s flynas have entered into an extensive codeshare partnership to enhance connectivity between India and Saudi Arabia.
As part of the agreement, Jet Airways will place its 9W code on flynas flights between the gateway cities of Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh, enabling passengers traveling from India to travel to Saudi Arabia via one point and depart from another.
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SunExpress to increase summer 2019 capacity by 15%
Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines’ joint venture SunExpress will increase capacity by 15% for the summer 2019 season in response to strong demand in Turkey.
CEO Jens Bischof said, “We will grow with new aircraft, bringing our fleet to a total of 80 jets, the largest fleet in the history of SunExpress.”
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EVA Air to expand Japan services; boost capacity 10%
Taiwan’s EVA Air plans to add three more destinations in Japan in 2019 and boost capacity by 10% as it reshapes its Japanese market and global network.
Subject to government approvals, the Star Alliance member will add daily Taipei Taoyuan-Nagoya, Japan services, from June 6, using a Boeing 787-9 configured with 26 in Royal Laurel Class and 278 economy class seats.
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Swedish regional boosts fleet with ex-VLM Fokker 50s
Swedish airline Amapola Flyg has acquired several Fokker 50s that became available after Belgian carrier VLM Airlines went into liquidation in August 2018.
For many years, Amapola Flyg’s main business has been to provide the Swedish mail service with airfreight services. However, CEO Erik Salén told ATW the carrier is widening its scope to include passenger services as the mail business shrinks.
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NokScoot to launch New Delhi service
Thailand LCC NokScoot will enter the South Asia market as it prepares for its inaugural nonstop service from Bangkok to New Delhi on Dec.18.
Flying 4X-weekly, the route will be serviced by the airline’s Boeing 777-200, configured in high-density seating with 391 in economy and 24 in premium economy, known as ScootBiz.
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AirBaltic to base two A220s in Tallinn
Latvian carrier airBaltic will base two Airbus A220-300s at Estonia’s Tallinn Airport next year as it continues its Eastern European expansion.
Riga-based airBaltic currently has one Bombardier Q400 and one Boeing 737 based at Tallinn. The airline’s only other non-home base is Vilnius, Lithuania, with a single 737.
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Avianca Brazil files for Brazilian bankruptcy protection: sources
Avianca Brazil has filed for bankruptcy protection with a Brazilian court in a move that comes after lessors sought to repossess some of the carrier's aircraft, two sources tell FlightGlobal.
The carrier, Brazil's fourth largest airline, had been working with lessors to reach tenable lease agreements but failed to find common ground, one person close to the proceedings says. The company leases 50 of its 58 aircraft.
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PICTURE: Tunisair 737-600 emerges in retro scheme
Tunisian flag-carrier Tunisair has unveiled a retro livery on one of the airline’s Boeing 737-600s.
The carrier has displayed the ‘Tunis Air’ colour scheme adorning the jet (TS-IOP) in a hangar, through its official social media feed.
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Airports

US airport execs urge airlines to stop opposing user fee hikes
A group representing US airport executives has renewed calls for airlines to end their “short-sighted opposition” to raising the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) cap, arguing that record high revenues from ancillary fees undercuts carriers’ stance against lifting the user fee.
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Play it again Sam ? Dublin Airport invite passenger to play its new piano
The Arrivals Hall in Terminal 1 at Dublin Airport is now home to a Schiller upright piano, which has been installed to encourage people of all ages and abilities to play.
Donated by John Murphy of Murphy’s Piano Tuning & Repair, who in turn received it as a donation from the family of Margaret Costello, the piano is a novel way of treating all airport users to random musical performances.
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Harry Potter shop lands at London Gatwick
As if by magic, London Gatwick Airport has opened its very own The Harry Potter Shop, just in time for Christmas !
As the UK enjoys the release of Warner Bros Pictures’ Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the new 614sqft store located in Gatwick's North Terminal offers a fantastic selection of items from across the Wizarding World.
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Michelin Star Chef to open Paris café at New York - JFK's TWA Hotel
Renowned chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, will premiere the Paris Café restaurant at the 512-room TWA Hotel at John F Kennedy International Airport, opening in spring 2019.
The restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and cocktails with prices described as being in the medium range.
Located in the heart of the iconic 1962 Eero Saarinen-designed TWA terminal, the Paris Café by Jean-Georges will encompass the entire footprint of the terminal’s original Paris Café and Lisbon Lounge, which have been dark since 2001.
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Fire at Auckland Airport leads to backlog of delayed flights
Auckland Airport release an update on major fire incident and disruption at Auckland Airport and a review of the incident response has commenced.
Auckland Airport has released a statement which says that the International Terminal Building is now fully operational and the backlog of delayed flights has been cleared after a fire caused the evacuation of the terminal’s check in, departures and baggage hall from 5:44pm to 9:00pm on the evening of the 8th December 2018.
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Military

USAF completes critical design review of B-21 stealth bomber
The US Air Force has completed its critical design review of the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider, marking another milestone in development of the next-generation stealth bomber.
The technical review, completed on 30 November, ensured the proposed aircraft has a stable and mature design before the USAF moves the programme into manufacturing and flight testing. The engineering and manufacturing development phase for the B-21 began almost three years ago, and the aircraft completed its preliminary design review in April.
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PICTURE: RAF Typhoon makes air-defence debut with Meteor missile
UK Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons have begun flying quick reaction alert (QRA) sorties armed with MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, the Ministry of Defence confirms.
A first QRA mission with the new weapon was conducted from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland on 10 December, the MoD says. "The introduction of Meteor brings a new and innovative long-range capability, and further enhances Typhoon's already potent arsenal," it notes.
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Canada extends military A310 support deal until 2023
The Royal Canadian Air Force has approved a five-year contract extension with L3 MAS covering the in-service support of its fleet of Airbus A310 tanker/transports until March 2023.
Locally designated the CC-150 Polaris, the twinjet is employed in a variety of roles by the service, including air-to-air refuelling and freight, personnel and VIP transport, plus medical evacuation. Flight Fleets Analyzer shows it as operating five GE Aviation CF6 80C2-engined examples, aged between 30 and 32 years.
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Aviation Quote

"There are a thousand things that can happen when you go light a rocket engine, and only one of them is good."

- Tom Mueller, SpaceX propulsion chief, Air and Space magazine article, January 2012.