NewsAir Canada A320 nearly lands on San Francisco taxiwayAn Air Canada Airbus A320 came close to landing on a busy taxiway at San Francisco International airport the evening of 7 July, the Federal Aviation Administration confirms. The FAA says four other aircraft were on the taxiway at the time of the incident, though it declines to specify how close the Air Canada A320 came to those aircraft.
LinkSouthwest grows RPMs, ASMsSouthwest Airlines reported a 3.7% increase in revenue passenger miles for June, with available seat miles growing 3.8%.
LinkHawaiian Airlines CEO highlights importance of competitive marketHawaiian Airlines CEO Mark Dunkerley discussed the importance of small airlines in providing a competitive marketplace for travel. He said Hawaiian has the potential of partnering with both large and small airlines, depending on the market.
LinkAlaska Air Group grows passenger numbers in JuneAlaska Air Group reports revenue passenger miles increased by 5.2% in June, with Alaska Airlines seeing a 6.9% growth in passengers and Virgin America seeing an increase of 2.9%.
LinkEC official to US: Resolve Norwegian UK application soonEurope will begin the arbitration process over Norwegian UK’s (NUK) application to serve US routes if the US does not soon approve the application, a senior European Commission (EC) official warned this week. NUK has been waiting a year-and-a-half for a US Department of Transportation (DOT) response to its application for a foreign air permit. Some US airlines and labor groups oppose the low-cost carrier’s application, even though it falls within the remit of the European Union-US Open Skies agreement.
LinkEurope backs EU ETS international-flight exemption until 2020The European Parliament’s Environmental Committee (ENVI) has agreed a proposal to keep the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) restricted to flights within the European Economic Area (EEA) until 2020, but after that international flights could be included. The EU ETS was expanded to aviation in January 2012, but plans to include international flights triggered protests from third countries about the EU overstepping its sovereignty. Aviation went ahead and joined the EU ETS as planned, but it applied to intra-EEA flight only.
LinkRyanair cancels planned Ukrainian serviceIrish low-cost carrier (LCC) Ryanair has canceled flights to Ukraine it had planned to start in October. According to a Ryanair statement July 10, the decision was made “following Kiev airport’s [Boryspil] failure to honor a growth agreement reached at the Ministry of Infrastructure with airport officials and the current airport director general, Pavlo Riabikin, in March of this year.” The airline added the airport protects high-fare airlines, including Ukraine International Airlines (UIA).
LinkSWISS CFO Roland Busch to step downSwiss International Air Lines (SWISS) CFO Roland Busch will step down Nov. 1, to take a new position with parent company Lufthansa Group as general representative and head of future finance Jan. 1, 2018.
LinkNew CEO appointed for India’s VistaraVistara, a Delhi based full service airline and joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines (SIA), has announced Leslie Thng has been named new CEO. He succeeds Phee Teik Yeoh who will return to SIA to take up a senior appointment. The new position, which will become effective in October, is subject to approval by the Indian government.
LinkAir Transat to lease 10 Airbus A321neo LRsCanadian leisure carrier Air Transat is to take 10 Airbus A321neo LRs on 12-year lease from Dublin-based lessor AerCap, making it the North American launch operator for the LR variant. The aircraft will be delivered between spring 2019 and fall 2020, replacing Air Transat’s Airbus A310s, which will be gradually retired from the fleet.
LinkEmbraer logs 28 firm commercial aircraft orders, 35 deliveries in 2QBrazilian manufacturer Embraer booked firm orders for 28 commercial aircraft from seven customers in the second quarter of 2017, valued at approximately $1.6 billion at list prices, including the first orders this year for the E195-E2, following that aircraft’s rollout and first flight in March. An undisclosed customer ordered 10 E195-E2s at the Paris Air Show in June, with purchase rights for 10 additional aircraft, potentially a $1.3 billion transaction if all options are exercised. A separate undisclosed customer committed to purchase 20 E190-E2s during the quarter; the agreement is still to be finalized, and would be valued at $1.2 billion.
LinkVietjet, GOAL sign Airbus A321 sale-and-leaseback dealVietnamese low-cost carrier (LCC) Vietjet and German Operating Aircraft Leasing (GOAL) have signed a sale-and-leaseback agreement for four new Airbus A321 aircraft, which are scheduled for delivery this year. Vietjet president and CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao said, “We have so far received 16 new A321s from the Airbus factory in Hamburg (Finkenwerder), which created a lot of attention in the airline business.”
LinkRussia’s UEC-Saturn posts $10.2 million profit in 2016Russian engine manufacturer UEC-Saturn, a member of United Engine Corp., reported a 2016 net profit of RUB618 million ($10.2 million) reversed from a RUB2.3 billion net loss in 2015. Full-year revenue was RUB32.3 billion, up 34.2% year-over-year. The financial results were approved at the annual shareholders meeting June 30 and published July 5.
LinkFalconet outlines fuel savings from flight optimisation softwareFinnish flight optimisation specialist Falconet has developed a software tool for pilots to reduce fuel consumption during the climb and cruise phases. The software takes into account meteorological information to recommend specific speed and altitude adjustments to maximise the benefit from – or reduce the negative impact of – prevailing weather conditions.
LinkVirgin Australia seeks Samoa rightsVirgin Australia has signaled that it will mount its own services to Samoa following the end of its Virgin Samoa joint venture with the Samoan government in November. The carrier has applied to Australia's International Air Services Commission for an allocation of 880 weekly seats on the Samoa route, which will allow it to launch five-times weekly services from Australia using 176-seat Boeing 737-800s.
LinkUSAF calls for drone defences after F-22 overflightSmall, civilian-owned drones can buzz past the US Air Force’s stealthy fighter fleet sitting at domestic bases and the service’s head of Air Combat Command (ACC) has no way to deal with them. In the course of one day last week, the air force counted two reports of small drones interfering with operations at an ACC base, Gen Mike Holmes told an audience in Washington DC this week. In one incident, a Lockheed Martin F-22 almost collided with a small drone during its final approach and during another, a gate guard watched a drone fly over the top of a gate and tracked the vehicle as it flew over the flight line, Holmes says.
LinkLower buys raises overall F-35 acquisition costs by 7%Lower procurement rates for the Lockheed Martin F-35 have reversed the program’s positive gains since 2015, raising overall development and procurement costs by almost 7% through Fiscal 2044. After years of stabilizing and reducing total program costs under Joint Program Office executive officer Lt Gen Christopher Bogdan, lower planned procurement rates over the next 27 years drove overall, inflation-adjusted costs from $379 billion to $406.5 billion, according to a Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) summary released on 11 July.
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