NewsCommercial
PICTURES: Boeing unveils 777X cabin design
Boeing has released images of its 777X's cabin and disclosed design changes it says will make the aircraft's cabin more comfortable than that of the current-generation 777.
In addition, Boeing is giving 777X customers more flexibility in cabin layout by enabling them to choose from a greater variety of "cabin interior linings", says the company.
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FAA imposes ETOPS restrictions on more Trent 1000 engines
New restrictions on a subset of Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines that power Boeing 787-8s are not expected to be as disruptive as similar limitations on Package C engines, but could produce more headaches for affected operators ahead of permanent fixes the OEM is introducing. The new mandate—issued by FAA with a Feb. 4 effective date and expected to be adopted globally—limits extended range operations (ETOPS) for Package B Trent 1000s with more than 1,000 cycles on their ...
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Boeing’s high-capacity 737-8 makes first flight
Boeing flew the initial high-density seating minor-model derivative of the 737 MAX 8 aircraft for the first time Jan. 13. The aircraft is modified with an additional set of mid-fuselage passenger exit doors to seat up to 200 and becomes the fourth variant of the 737 MAX family to fly, after the 737-7, -8 and -9. For its first flight the aircraft was flown to Paine Field and Moses Lake in Washington before returning to Boeing Field over two hours later.
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Boeing's electric air taxi prototype takes flight
Boeing has successfully completed the first flight of an in-development autonomous air vehicle, a step forward in Boeing's race to develop an aircraft capable of providing commercially viable intra-urban air transportation.
The electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) prototype aircraft, which Boeing calls an "autonomous passenger air vehicle", lifted off for the first time on 22 January at Manassas Regional airport outside Washington, DC, Boeing says.
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2018 orders climbed at Airbus Helicopters, but deliveries fell
Airbus Helicopters saw positive momentum in the market last year, recording 381 net orders across its civil and military range, up 13.7% from 335 in 2017.
In total, Airbus Helicopters recorded 32 cancellations, the majority – 14 units – caused by Utair's long-frozen commitment for H175 super-medium-twins finally being removed from the backlog. At the end of 2018, the orderbook stood at 717 units.
LinkAirlines
Alleged Aeroflot hijacker had no weapon or blood-alcohol
No explosives or weapons have been found after an Aeroflot aircraft diverted to Khanty-Mansiysk following an alleged attempted hijacking.
The 41-year old individual arrested after the incident has been charged with hijacking the Boeing 737-800 which had been bound for Moscow Sheremetyevo on 22 January.
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Etihad claims UK court has jurisdiction over airberlin dispute
Etihad Airways has started legal proceedings against airberlin’s administrator to fight the bankrupt German carrier’s attempt to retrieve €2 billion ($2.27 billion) in damages from its former shareholder.
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad began proceedings in the UK High Court in response to the lawsuit filed in Berlin last month by airberlin’s creditors, the airline confirmed in a Jan. 22 statement. Etihad claims the UK court has “exclusive jurisdiction over the dispute” and the Berlin case should be dismissed.
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ANA in strategic investment talks with Philippine Airlines
All Nippon Airways (ANA) is engaged in talks with Philippine Airlines (PAL) for a strategic investment in PAL, although a deal is yet to be finalized.
ANA said it is “in discussion with PAL Holdings but we have not made a concrete decision yet.” The carrier “continually reviews its market strategy and considers investment opportunities that would fit our mid-term corporate strategy for FY2018-2022.”
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Cathay Pacific joins ‘Worldwide by easyJet’ booking platform
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways has become the latest airline to join “Worldwide by easyJet,” enabling passengers of the two airlines to connect through London Gatwick Airport.
Announcing the agreement Jan. 22, UK LCC easyJet said Cathay Pacific’s flights will go live on the booking platform “in the coming weeks.”
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Aigle Azur to launch flights to Ukraine, Russia
French leisure carrier Aigle Azur will push eastward this spring with the launch of flights to Kiev in Ukraine and Moscow Domodedovo in neighboring Russia.
The airline will begin a 3X-weekly service from Paris Orly to Kiev on April 18, using an Airbus A320 configured with 12 business- and 168 economy-class seats.
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Kenya Airways considers doubling fleet to 70 aircraft
Kenya Airways is looking to double its fleet to 70 aircraft by 2025, CEO Sebastian Mikosz said. Working teams from the airline are meeting with lessors in Dublin, Ireland, Mikosz told ATW at the airline’s Nairobi headquarters. “We have presented to all aircraft producers our network growth plan for the next five years. Depending on how we structure the financing, we are ready for this significant order. I would like to double the fleet by 2025,” he said.
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Swoop’s summer schedule adds two Canada-US routes
Swoop’s expanded summer schedule will feature new transborder flights between Edmonton and both Oakland and Orlando as well as five new domestic markets, the Canadian ultra-LCC said Jan. 21.
The Oakland flights, which will operate three times per week, represent a new station for the WestJet subsidiary. They are also the California city’s first service to Canada.
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IndiGo profit drops 75%; maintains rapid fleet, capacity growth
Indian LCC IndiGo reported a significant drop in profit for the December quarter, as the carrier continues its rapid fleet and capacity growth.
The airline achieved a profit of INR1.9 billion ($26.6 million) for the three-month period, its fiscal third quarter. This was down by 75% from the INR7.6 billion profit for the same period a year earlier. The carrier said major reasons for the decline were high fuel prices and currency depreciation.
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United’s ManaAir finalizes ExpressJet acquisition
ManaAir LLC, a new company with United Airlines as a minority stakeholder, has completed its acquisition of United regional partner ExpressJet Airlines.
The deal, announced in mid-December, gives Chicago-based United more control over a growing regional partner.
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Volaris to add US destinations amid optimistic outlook
Mexico's Volaris plans to add new US destinations this year as it sees transborder demand recover with recent strengthening of the Mexican peso, even as the airline expects to turn in an operating loss for 2018.
Volaris chief executive Enrique Beltranena declines to name specific US cities that will join the airline's route map, citing ongoing negotiations, but tells FlightGlobal that further details should be unveiled in about a month or so.
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Japanese airlines claim top spots as Asia’s most on-time airlines in 2018
The industry’s most comprehensive on-time analysis recognises Japan Airlines (JAL) as the Asia-Pacific’s most on-time mainline airline for the seventh year running, and ANA as the most on-time airline network in the region.
Globally, Delta Air Lines is the most on-time mainline airline, and Qatar Airways has been named the world’s best on-time airline network.
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United aircraft deliveries to hit post-merger high in 2019
United Airlines will take delivery of 40 mainline aircraft in 2019, the most in a single year since its merger with Continental Airlines nearly a decade ago.
The Chicago-based carrier will take 20 new Boeing 737 Max 9s, two Boeing 777-300ERs and eight Boeing 787-10s, as well as 10 used Airbus A319s, in 2019, it says in an employee newsletter on 22 January. It will also take delivery of 25 Embraer 175s for its regional fleet.
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Garuda adds Denpasar sector to London flights
Garuda Indonesia on 22 January had adjusted its Jakarta-London Heathrow flights to include a Denpasar sector.
The carrier now operates a Jakarta-London Heathrow-Denpasar-Jakarta service on a thrice-weekly basis, using Boeing 777-300ERs. It says the adjustment will enable Garuda to meet customer demand, while also optimising the load factors on flights to and from London.
LinkAirports
Flight validation tests start at Beijing Daxing airport
The new Beijing Daxing International airport is on-track to open on 30 September, with the first flight navigation verification flights getting underway on 22 January.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China says that a specially-configured Cessna Citation made the first landing on one of the airport’s western runways, kicking off a test campaign that will run until 15 March.
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Drone sightings affect Newark arrivals
US authorities briefly stopped flights into Newark airport today following reports of drone sightings in New Jersey.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it received two reports of drone sightings from incoming flights into Newark at about 17:00. The drone was seen at about 3,500ft above Teterboro in New Jersey, approximately 17 miles (27km) from Newark airport.
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Asia's big build
Asia-Pacific is the hottest place on the planet for airport development projects, writes Joe Bates.
ACI’s Asia-Pacific region remains the hottest ticket in town for infrastructure development with a number of new airports being built while existing gateways continue to add new facilities.
In fact, as ACI Asia-Pacific regional director, Patti Chau, revealed earlier this year, the region is the busiest place on earth for airport development projects with its gateways being responsible 48.5% of $500 billion global spend on upgrading existing airports and 57% of the $267 billion being invested on new airports.
LinkMilitary
Poland to update Mi-24 helicopter fleet
Poland has advanced plans to modernise its fleet of Mil Mi-24 attack helicopters operated by the nation's army aviation branch.
Warsaw intends to conduct a dialogue with potential suppliers, running from July to September, to analyse the feasibility of the project, which will mean extending the lifespan of the Cold War-era helicopters.
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Space debris poses threat to UK and French air force operations
Modern armed forces could cope with the loss of some space-based capabilities, but disabling orbiting assets would be a "game-changer" in the areas of imaging, positioning and ballistic missiles.
Relatively small militaries, such as France or the UK, would be at a disproportionate disadvantage compared with China, Russia or the USA, which boast vastly greater air and space resources. That is the preliminary conclusion of a study on "space Armageddon" by two French army officers, Maj Alexandre Dubreucq and Maj Francois Lamothe, who presented their study at the Royal United Services Institute in London on 16 January, during a conference called: "Is space the new cyber? UK dependencies and vulnerabilities".
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Portugal eyes contracted M-346 fleet for training need
Portugal is exploring the possibility of contracting advanced jet training for its air force pilots to an external provider that would acquire Leonardo M-346s for the operation.
Lisbon has struggled with its pilot training requirements since the retirement of its Dassault Alpha Jets at the beginning of 2018, sending some crews to the USA as a stopgap measure.
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Aviation Quote
All of the people involved in the program, to my knowledge, felt 'Challenger' was quite ready to go and I made the decision, along with the recommendation of the team supporting me, that we launched.
- Jesse W. Moore, NASA associate administrator for space flight, reported in the New York Times, 29 January 1986.
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Trivia
Who am I?
Thanks to Queso for today’s trivia.
1. First flown in 2001, I was the longest airliner in production and I can seat 419 in my 2 class seating arrangement. Who am I?
2. I am very famous for the shark-toothed paint job that one group of my operators put onto my nose. Almost 14,000 of my type were built and operated by 28 different nations including the United States and the Soviet Union. I guest-starred in movies along side the likes of John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, and John Belushi. Who am I?
3. I am a 2-seat, rag-and-tube plane first sold in 1964 who loves to fly upside-down and do loops and spins! In fact, my name is my primary reason for flying, (roughly) spelled backwards! Who am I?
4. I have been the King of the Skies for over 30 years, maintaining an air-superiority for the 4 countries who operate my type with an unmatched 104-to-0 kill ratio. One of my type once had an in-flight collision with another aircraft and it's skillful pilot safely landed the aircraft in spite of missing the entire right wing! Who am I?
5. I was the first (and perhaps only) aircraft to have flown with an operating nuclear reactor aboard. I was so heavy the designers went through several landing gear designs to help spread my tremendous weight across the tarmac. In fact, my payload was almost as much as the empty weight of one of the aircraft I replaced! And even though there were several innovative features included in my design such as my "pusher" engines and propellers, I was replaced in service by much faster aircraft after just a few years. Who am I?
6. Developed from a fighter jet design originally planned for Switzerland, my name is sometimes used synonymously as "business jet". I set the standard for small jets with two engines at the rear and a T-tail. Sleek and quite beautiful for the early 1960's era in which I was introduced, I could carry my 2 crew and 6 passengers up to 1,500 miles at well over 500 mph and up to 41,000 feet. The Argentine Air Force even used a couple of my type during the Falklands Island War to act as decoy strike aircraft sent to attack British ships! Who am I?
7. Operated by a tire and rubber company, I am 192 feet long, 59.5 feet tall, and 50 feet wide. I have a cruising speed of 35 mph in calm wind and I carry 6 passengers. You may have seen me circling major sporting events, and two of my type played a major role in the movie "Black Sunday". Who am I?
8. 7,000 of my type earned our keep transporting and evacuating troops in the jungles of Vietnam. We've served with every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, several civilian branches of government, as well as being dependable and reliable money-makers for civilian businesses in jobs such as spraying crops, moving logs and carrying oil workers to and from offshore platforms. My design was also modified by making it much slimmer and lighter to produce one of the most successful gunships ever created and it was named after a snake, even though I share a name with a Baby. Who am I?
9. I am the only commercially successful supersonic passenger aircraft ever produced (thus far). Who am I?
10. I am most successful mass produced light aircraft in history. My type was first flown in 1955 and is still in production. As of 2008, more than 43,000 of my type had been built. I have seats for 4 people and can do a reasonable job of carrying them 600 nm at a speed of about 120 knots. My high wing, tricycle landing gear, and fixed-pitch prop design features and reasonable acquisition and operating cost make me a popular choice as a training aircraft as well. Who am I?
