NewsVueling Board Accepts IAG Takeover OfferThe board of Spanish low-cost airline Vueling has unanimously recommended shareholders accept an improved takeover offer of €9.25 (USD$12.10) per share from IAG. IAG, which already owns 45.85 percent of Vueling as well as British Airways and Iberia, last month raised its bid by almost one third after the Barcelona-based carrier rejected a previous offer of €7 per share.
LinkTurkish To Buy 70 Boeing 737s By 2021Turkish Airlines has committed to buying 70 Boeing 737s worth USD$6.9 billion at list prices, just weeks after placing a large order with Airbus. The fast-growing airline, which is pursuing an aggressive growth strategy as it targets a larger share of the global aviation market, on Tuesday announced 70 firm orders and options to buy a further 25 aircraft from Boeing between 2016-2021. Boeing said Turkey's national carrier had committed to ordering 40 737 MAX 8s, 10 737 MAX 9s and 20 737-800 aircraft, with an option for an additional 25 737 MAX 8s.
LinkDiscussionLufthansa Considering Long-range Jet OrderWeeks after approving USD$12 billion in aircraft orders, Lufthansa is studying a further purchase of "several dozen" long-distance twin-engined jets as it continues to update its fleet, a senior executive said on Tuesday. Germany's flag carrier last month approved purchases of 108 aircraft, dominated by a 100-plane order for medium-haul planes awarded to Airbus. "We have addressed the large-capacity single-aisle requirement and also have the top end of the spectrum with the A380 and 747-8 pretty well covered," Nico Buchholz, executive vice president of group fleet management, said in an interview with Reuters.
LinkPorter Set To Agree Bombardier Plane DealCanada's Porter Airlines is set to announce an order for up to 30 Bombardier C-Series jets, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing two people familiar with the deal. Montreal-based Bombardier said in December an airline based in the Americas had signed a letter of intent to buy 12 C-Series aircraft, with options for another 18 planes, in a transaction worth up to USD$2.08 billion. The deal, which could be announced as early as Wednesday, will finalize the letter of intent Porter signed with Bombardier in December, the Journal reported.
LinkSikorsky CH-53K may be operational ahead of scheduleDevelopment of the Sikorsky CH-53K is proceeding so well that the US Navy program manager says he expects the new heavy-lift helicopter to become operational ahead of schedule. "We're going after [2018] like it's cool," says US Marine Corps Col Robert Pridgen, the Naval Air Systems Command programme manager for the CH-53K. "[2019] is when the Marine Corps says, 'I need it'. We're trying to figure out how we can get it here sooner and there are some opportunities for us to do that."
LinkVirgin America may file anti-competitive complaint against UnitedVirgin America may file a complaint with US regulators alleging anti-competitive practices by United Airlines at Newark Liberty International airport near New York City, says Virgin Group founder Richard Branson. Branson tells Flightglobal today that the complaint, if filed, would be a response to United's rapid expansion at Newark following the arrival of Virgin America at the airport. Virgin America, which is part-owned by minority shareholder Virgin Group, launched three daily flights from Newark to both Los Angeles and San Francisco on 2 April.
LinkBoeing developing Osprey aerial refueling kitBoeing is working on developing a roll-on/roll-off aerial refuelling kit for the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey because of interest expressed by the US Marine Corps and US Special Operations Command. "We are already finalising our designs for what that roll-on/roll-off kit will look like," says Boeing's V-22 business development manager Joe Weston. The aerial refuelling kit has already been tested in a windtunnel, but Boeing intends to flight test the system onboard a government-owned V-22 during the summer of 2013, Weston says.
LinkBattle brews over US Navy C-2A Greyhound replacementA battle is brewing between Northrop Grumman and Bell-Boeing over the US Navy's nascent requirement to replace its ageing fleet of Northrop Grumman C-2A Greyhounds. Bell-Boeing, with the strong backing of the US Marine Corps, is urging the USN to replace its C-2s with its V-22 Osprey tiltrotor. While the navy is officially on board to buy 48 Ospreys, the service has never found a niche for the machine nor has it allocated funding to pay for those aircraft. For Bell-Boeing, an opportunity arose when a USN analysis of alternatives showed that the only suitable follow-ons to the Greyhound for the carrier onboard delivery (COD) mission were the V-22 or a modernised C-2. A draft request for proposal might be issued as early as 2014.
LinkBoeing P-8 testing complete, set for 2013 deployment The Boeing P-8 Poseidon has successfully completed operational testing and is set to deploy for the first time later this year with the US Navy, programme and company officials say. The aircraft is also set to enter full-rate production in 2013. “We’re rapidly coming to the conclusion of almost all of our SDD [system development and demonstration] tasks,” says Rick Heerdt, Boeing vice-president for the P-8A program, during a briefing at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition. “We’re focused and driving towards a full-rate production decision and initial operational capability later this year.”
LinkBelgian maritime NH90 makes first flight NH Industries' (NHI) first naval-variant NH90 to have been produced for Belgium made a 45min flight debut from Eurocopter's Donauwörth production site in Germany on 5 April, launching a test program for the nation's Westland Sea King replacement. "The crew successfully tested the basic systems of this new generation aircraft," NHI says. "During the next few weeks, this first Belgian NH90 NFH will perform several other test flights in order to check the aircraft behaviour and its mission system, with industry and customer crews."
LinkUnited Airlines reports a rise in unit revenues for MarchUnited Airlines reported an increase in unit revenues of 6.5% to 7.5% for March. Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines also reported a modest rise in unit revenues for the same time period.
LinkAMR Corp. reports 1% rise in March trafficAMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines and AMR Eagle, reported a 1% increase in consolidated traffic for March on a year-over-year basis. During March, AMR Corp. ferried 9.4 million passengers. Consolidated capacity also inched up by 0.1% for March, as compared with the same month last year.
LinkUnited schedules 787 for Houston-to-Denver flight in MayUnited Continental Holdings plans to resume service with the Boeing 787 earlier than its previous goal of June 5. United has scheduled a flight between Houston and Denver aboard the 787 for May 31. The carrier "will be making additional schedule changes as we gain visibility into the timeline for certification and modification work," said United spokeswoman Christen David.
LinkLinkAirlines improved rates of mishandled bags in 2012, report saysThe rates of mishandled bags dropped in 2012 for airlines, according to a report by SITA. Airlines mishandled 8.83 bags per 1,000 passengers in 2012, compared to 8.99 bags in 2011. "The industry has made a concerted effort to improve baggage-handling operations in recent years through significant investment and innovation," SITA CEO Francesco Violante said.
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