CommercialAmedeo sees A380neo possible by 2025Airbus could release a re-engined and stretched “A380neo” in the 2023 to 2025 timeframe, says Amedeo chief executive Mark Lapidus. The timeline reflects the resources available at engine manufacturers to develop a new engine, as well as Airbus’ ability to work on an updated aircraft in addition to the two aircraft programs – the A320neo and A350 – it already has in development. “We’ll look for when the right engine technology is there, and if you look at everything the engine guys have on their plates today, they don’t really have much spare resources to dedicate to another,” says Chris Emerson, senior vice-president and head of marketing at Airbus, at an A380 investor event in New York on 12 June.
LinkAmedeo confident it can convince Delta on A380 economicsAmedeo chief executive Mark Lapidus is confident that he can convince Delta Air Lines chief executive Richard Anderson on the economics of the Airbus A380, despite comments from the latter that the aircraft is “uneconomic” with four engines. “Richard Anderson at Delta is an extremely smart guy,” says Lapidus at an A380 investor event in New York on 12 June. “Once we get into discussions with them they’ll see it’s [economics are] irrefutable to argue.” By Amedeo’s analysis, the A380 has the lowest per seat costs of any aircraft available, especially when configured in a high-density configuration with upwards of 700 seats, and can capture additional premium revenue – generating additional profit – on certain high demand routes.
LinkAirbus expects sales breakthrough for A380Airbus executives expect the A380 to make a significant sales breakthrough in the next few years as a result of passenger pressure, and have reiterated that a re-engined variant, called for by largest customer Emirates, is under consideration. The superjumbo has 324 orders, with 132 delivered, but Airbus believes the aircraft’s consumer appeal will persuade existing customers to buy more. “Every airline CEO says it is their most popular airplane. People are going out of their way to fly in an A380,” says Airbus chief operating officer for customers John Leahy. Speaking at the Airbus Innovation Days briefing in Toulouse on 11 June, he said an “A380neo” was being looked at. “When your biggest customer asks for something, you study it,” says Leahy.
LinkLufthansa Considering New Budget Offering - ReportLufthansa is considering creating a new low-cost platform within its Eurowings regional carrier to compete against budget rivals Ryanair and easyJet, a German magazine reported. Lufthansa's new chief executive Carsten Spohr plans to build out the Eurowings fleet by adding Airbus A320s to serve destinations throughout Europe from Germany, Der Spiegel magazine reported, without citing sources. In the medium term, the new platform could offer service between London and Rome, for example, placing it in direct competition with Ryanair and easyJet, the magazine said.
LinkAlitalia Board Votes To Accept Etihad OfferThe board of Italy's troubled airline Alitalia on Friday voted to accept an offer by Etihad Airways to invest in the company and said it would move quickly to conclude the tie-up. "Today the Etihad plan was approved, and the board delegated myself and the chairman to study and rapidly come up with a draft of the final contract," Alitalia chief executive Gabriele Del Torchio said. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad is prepared to invest up to EUR€1.25 billion (USD$1.69 billion) over the next four years, Italy's transport minister said on Wednesday.
LinkJets Vanishing From Europe Radar Linked To War GamesDozens of aircraft briefly vanished from air traffic control radars in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia this week and last in separate incidents that Slovak authorities blamed on military electronic warfare exercises. Air traffic controllers in Austria and Germany said data about the planes' position, direction, height or speed went missing on June 5 and June 10, but the outages posed no serious danger to people on the aircraft traveling at high altitude. Their Czech and Slovak counterparts also encountered cases of vanishing aircraft on the same days.
LinkSpain To Sell 49 Pct Of Airports Operator AENAThe Spanish government will sell up to 49 percent of airport operator AENA, Public Works Minister Ana Pastor said at the weekly government news conference on Friday. After years of losses, AENA turned a profit for the first time last year. A previous planned sell-off failed to get off the ground due to political wrangling. The government will sell 28 percent of AENA in a public offering on the Spanish stock exchange, Pastor said, and an additional 21 percent will be auctioned to long-term investors. She did not provide financial details.
LinkAllegiant to acquire more A320 family aircraftLas Vegas-based Allegiant Air has agreed to acquire 14 Airbus A320 family aircraft, and will purchase two additional Airbus A319s it currently leases. It will also purchase six A319s when they are delivered in late 2014 through 2015 from lessor GECAS, which agreed to lease the aircraft to Allegiant in a 2012 deal. The 14 A320 family aircraft that Allegiant will acquire comprise 12 A319s now leased to an European airline until 2018. Allegiant expects to close this transaction by end-June and will transition the A319s into its fleet as the lease on each aircraft expires.
LinkMAS retires last 737-400Malaysia Airlines has retired its last Boeing 737-400, ending a 22 year run for the variant in the airline’s fleet. The type’s final flight was service MH1165, which flew from Penang to Kuala Lumpur International airport on the evening of 14 June. Since entering service with MAS in 1992, 737-400s have been used on domestic and some regional services. At one time the airline had 54 of the type in service.
LinkChina Eastern to acquire 80 737sChina Eastern Airlines is to acquire 80 Boeing 737s, a mix of -800 and the re-engined Max variants. The aircraft are due to be delivered in batches over 2016-20. China Eastern says it has reached a purchase agreement with Boeing covering the acquisition. It says the value of the 80 aircraft, at list prices, is $7.387 billion.
LinkCould Emirates move to a two-type fleet?Emirates Airline's decision to cancel orders for 70 Airbus A350s has opened up the possibility that its future fleet could only have two types – the Boeing 777 and A380. While the airline president Tim Clark has expressed frustration at the changes to the design of the 20 A350-1000s it had on order, the cancellation of its order for 50 -900s effectively leaves it without a replacement for aircraft in the 230-260 seat category. These include a number of A330s, A340s and 777-200/200ERs, which are the oldest aircraft in its fleet - with the exception of the A340-500s, which are being phased out due to their poor economics.
LinkAirbus braced for A350 ramp-up as MSN5 nears flightAirbus is expecting to fly its final flight-test A350 by the end of the month as it prepares for production ramp-up, with the final assembly line already handling aircraft up to MSN10. Certification of the first customer aircraft, MSN6, has commenced with the European Aviation Safety Agency while the fifth test airframe, MSN5, is set to start the route proving part of the certification campaign. MSN5 will be “the most visible” aircraft in the final parts of the test effort, said A350 programme chief Didier Evrard, speaking during a briefing in Toulouse. This aircraft – which, like MSN2, is cabin-equipped – will be used for extended operations (ETOPS) checks, as well as a number of technical tests such as those for electromagnetic interference.
LinkBoeing preserves Japanese supplier content on 777XBoeing has signed a preliminary agreement with a consortium of five Japanese suppliers to “provide” about 21% of the major structural components of the 777X. The decision announced on 12 June comes as Boeing finalises the supply chain for the re-engined and re-winged aircraft scheduled to enter service in 2020. The selection of the Japan Aircraft Industries (JAI) and Japan Aircraft Development Corporation (JADC) adds to only two previously announced 777X suppliers, including the General Electric GE9X turbofan and Héroux-Devtek landing gear. “Adding this new commercial transport programme in our history, JAI and Boeing will further strengthen their mutually beneficial relationship,” says Hideaki Omiya, chairman of JADC and JAI consortium member Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI)
LinkAirbus shows off A350 after a year of testingAirbus has introduced the A350-900 to travellers outside of the company with a special media flight to coincide with a briefing on the program at Toulouse. Just shy of one year since the A350’s maiden flight, the airframer secured approval to remove MSN2 from the flight-test programme temporarily in order to carry out the 12 June service for around 200 members of the press. The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered aircraft departed Toulouse runway 32L, after a ground run of 31s, at a weight of 192t including 30t of fuel for the one-hour trip.
LinkResponding to demand, U.S. airlines increase capacityThe U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation statistics reported that U.S. airlines carried 66.4 million passengers in March, a 2% increase from March last year. U.S. carriers are expanding their offerings in response to the healthy demand increases.
LinkOhana by Hawaiian to add routes in July'Ohana by Hawaiian plans to expand inter-island flights, adding flights to Maui and the island of Hawai'i next month. 'Ohana, a subsidiary of Hawaiian Airlines, uses turboprop aircraft to connect the islands in Hawai'i.
LinkAirbus, Boeing boost number of seats on aircraftAirbus is offering its A380 with seating for 11 passengers in one row, which would boost seating by up to 40 seats. Airbus is also adding nine seats to its A320, while Boeing is reconfiguring its 737 Max to add 10 additional seats.
LinkWider slides key to raising A320 seat-countAirbus will use wider evacuation slides to secure approval for higher exit limits on its A320neo, as it plans to offer a 189-seat layout for the twin-engined jet. The A320 features two pairs of exits, forward and aft, which easily exceed Type C door requirements. It also has two pairs of Type III overwing exits. It is certificated to carry a maximum of 180 passengers but Airbus wants to raise this to 189 with an internal configuration change.
LinkAirbus keeps Kingfisher order on booksAirbus Group NV (AIR) said it’ll keep an 82-plane order from defunct Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. (KAIR) on its books while there’s still a chance that the Indian carrier might find a buyer which would require new aircraft. The order concerns 67 A320 narrow-body jetliners and 15 twin-aisle A330s with a list price of $6.8 billion. “If Kingfisher finds a new buyer for the airline that buyer would need single-aisle planes, so for that reason we’ll keep them until the airline is completely shut down,” Kiran Rao, Airbus’s executive vice president of sales and marketing, said in a briefing at the company’s base in Toulouse, France.
LinkAirbus: A321neo cabin layout, engines boost efficiencyAirbus forecasts a 20% improvement in fuel burn for its A321neo. The increased efficiency is partly because of cabin design, which features slim-backrest seats, and partly because of new engines. Airbus said that 45% of its backlog in firm orders is for the A321neo, which will begin flight testing later this year.
LinkCincinnati airport to use Wi-Fi devices to monitor traffic flow, wait timesThe Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport will soon deploy Lockheed Martin's BlipTrack system to identify congested areas and post estimated wait times at security checkpoints.
LinkIATA: Global passenger traffic soared 7.5% in AprilPassenger traffic for global airlines soared 7.5% in April, according to the International Air Transport Association. "The year-on-year comparison is positively biased by the timing of Easter, which occurred a month later than in 2013, boosting air travel in April 2014," IATA said in a statement.
LinkN.C. airport opens $68M Terminal 1Raleigh-Durham International Airport in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., has opened its $68 million Terminal 1. The terminal is home to Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways, and features a concourse with panoramic views of the airfield.
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