NAS Daily 18 JUN 19

airtrainer 17 Jun 19, 20:46

News

Commercial

PARIS 2019: Airbus launches A321XLR as ALC commits to 27
Airbus launched the long-expected A321XLR on the opening day of the Paris Air Show and expects airlines to operate “hundreds” of the aircraft over time as new secondary long-haul markets are developed.
Airbus made the decision on the back of several launch orders that are expected to be unveiled at the show later his week.
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PARIS 2019: Mitsubishi looks to improve SpaceJet engine
Mitsubishi Aircraft is considering improvements to the engines that will power its newly renamed SpaceJet regional airliner.
The aircraft, whose two models were previously known as the MRJ70 and MRJ90, was originally scheduled enter service in 2013, but a series of delays have pushed back initial scheduled deliveries, with All Nippon Airlines (ANA), to mid-2020.
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PARIS 2019: Air Lease Corp. orders 50 Airbus A220-300s
Air Lease Corp. (ALC) placed an order for 50 Airbus A220-300s on the opening day of the Paris Air Show. The US lessor plans to take delivery of the aircraft between 2021 and 2026, according to the terms of the preliminary order.
“[The A220] is a wonderful replacement of A319s, Fokker 100s and Boeing 737s,” ALC executive chairman Steve Udvar-Hazy said. “We spent several years analysing the program. ALC will work hand-in-hand with Airbus to widen the customer base of the A220.”
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PARIS 2019: Boeing 777X first flight delayed until fall
Boeing is revising the 777X test plan to maximize ground evaluations as it attempts to compensate for a lengthy delay to first flight following the recent discovery of a durability issue on the aircraft’s General Electric GE9X engines.
“The long pole in the tent remains engine issues identified during aggressive testing of the GE9X under rigorous operating conditions.
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PARIS 2019: Boeing MAXs will re-enter service as new deliveries
Boeing’s return-to-service plan for the 737 MAX will focus on treating each aircraft as if it had just been delivered.
“We will be assisting airlines as they reactivate airplanes out of storage and deploying support teams around the world,” Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Kevin McAllister said during a briefing at the Paris Air Show. "We will treat every one of these airplanes as if it was an entry-into-service. We will get it right.”
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PARIS 2019: Boeing sees $6.8 trillion commercial market
Boeing has issued its most positive commercial market outlook yet with a forecast that calls for the delivery of 44,040 new aircraft valued at more than $6.8 trillion over the next 20 years.
Revealing the latest numbers for its 2019-2038 outlook at the Paris Air Show, Boeing Commercial Marketing VP Randy Tinseth said, “we are entering this market in a position that we haven’t really been in before. If you look at the past nine years and where we are in 2019, we are on the doorstep of being in an unprecedented 10-year period where customers have seen profitable growth as well margins where traffic has grown at or above trend.”
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PARIS 2019: Boeing may offer larger NMA variant first
Boeing is reportedly considering offering the larger of the two proposed new midmarket airplane (NMA) variants first for delivery in 2025 as it nears closing the business case and obtaining board permission for formal authority to offer later this year.
Boeing traditionally leads new product introductions with a baseline variant before launching stretched versions and, until recently, was expected to follow convention with the NMA, which will be offered in 225-seat NMA-6X and 275-seat NMA-7X configurations.
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Airlines

Pictured: Airbus A330 is towed out to sea and sunk to become a diving attraction and artificial reef
The Airbus A330 was taken from Antalya to Ibrice port in Turkey's northwestern Edirne province, and had to be transported using six trucks.
It was then pushed out to sea and towed a mile into the Gulf of Saros.
When the plane reached its final destination it was sunk to a depth of 30 metres (98 feet) in the hope it will revive diving tourism in the area.
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Lufthansa Group lowers 2019 outlook on European pressure
Lufthansa Group issued a profit warning for the full year, saying strength in the long-haul market was only partially offsetting pressure on yields in the European short-haul business, where the market would remain “challenging” for at least the rest of 2019. “Ongoing strong performance in long-haul only partly offsets the price deterioration in Europe caused by marketwide overcapacities and aggressively growing low-cost competitors,” the company said in a June ...
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Malaysia Airlines forecasts continued losses in 2019
Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) predicts it will have another year of net losses despite improvements in revenue and passenger numbers. This year will “remain extremely challenging,” CEO Izham Ismail said in a first-quarter update released June 14. MAB is in the middle of a multiyear transformation program but has been unable to meet targets for a return to profitability. The carrier confirmed it does not expect to break even this year.
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Federal judge orders American Airlines’ mechanics to end work slowdown
A federal judge in Northern Texas has issued a temporary restraining order instructing the unions representing American Airlines’ mechanics to end their support for an alleged work slowdown that the Dallas/Fort Worth-based carrier claims has resulted in hundreds of flight cancellations since February.
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PARIS 2019: British Airways eyes 777-200 replacements
Over the next few years, British Airways (BA) will turn its attention to the renewal of its Boeing 777-200 fleet, which totals 46 aircraft of varying ages.
On the first day of the Paris Air Show, BA CFO Steve Gunning and Boeing Commercial Aircraft president & CEO Kevin McAllister held a “deferred ceremonial signing” for the 18 777-9s and that BA parent International Airlines Group (IAG) ordered earlier this year, along with 24 options.
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PARIS 2019: United Airlines adds to regional E175 fleet
Chicago-based United Airlines will top up its fleet of Embraer E175s with a further firm order for 20 of the type, plus 19 options. The aircraft will go to its network of United Express feeder companies, United CFO Gerry Laderman said at the Paris Air Show June 17.
Including options, the order has a list price value of $2 billion.
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PARIS 2019: Virgin Atlantic eyes growth with A330-900 order
UK long-haul specialist Virgin Atlantic will acquire 14 Airbus A330-900s, with an option for six more, in a move CEO Shai Weiss said will position the carrier for future growth.
But for the airline to achieve its ambition of becoming the UK’s second flag-carrier, together with British Airways, changes to slot allocations will be needed at Virgin’s London Heathrow base, Weiss said.
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TAP to order A321XLR: Neeleman
TAP Air Portugal plans to order the Airbus A321XLR, which was launched earlier today at the Paris air show.
"We will order it," TAP Air Portugal co-owner David Neeleman told reporters in Washington DC at an event celebrating the airline's launch of service to Washington Dulles, hours after Airbus formally unveiled the A321XLR at the Paris air show.
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Airports

International traffic soars at Moscow Sherementyevo
Moscow Sheremetyevo is on target for another record breaking year aftter registering a 15.4% rise in passenger traffic in the first five months of 2019.
A total of 18.7 million passengers passed through its facilities between January 1 and May 31, during which time the Russian gateway handled 155,120 aircraft movements – 15.8% up on the corresponding period a year ago.
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Scottish Government reveals plans to sell Prestwick Airport
After buying the airport for just £1 in 2013, the Scottish Government has decided to sell Prestwick Airport back to the private sector.
Glasgow Prestwick Airport will be advertised for sale as the Scottish Government looks to return the facility to the private sector.
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Military

PARIS: Turkish Fighter emerges, as US spat intensifies
Turkish Aerospace is one of the many companies at this year’s show to have pulled the covers off a new full-scale aircraft model – its fifth-generation Turkish Fighter (or TF-X) – and even stole some of the limelight from the unveiling of the Franco-German Future Combat Air System at the same time.
Interest in the TF-X has been magnified over recent months as relations between Washington and Ankara deteriorated over the latter's decision to purchase the Russian Almaz-Antey S-400 air-defence system.
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PARIS: USAF still finding FOD in Boeing KC-46 and expects more
The US Air Force (USAF) continues to find foreign object debris (FOD) inside the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus in-flight refuelling tanker, including loose material found this week, and it expects to discover objects for the foreseeable future.
FOD found inside new KC-46As delivered to the USAF is a result of cultural problems, said Will Roper, USAF assistant secretary of the air force for acquisition, technology and logistics, at the show.
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PARIS: NATO tanker fleet passes countermeasures test
Officials involved in the multinational multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) fleet (MMF) – which will see eight adapted Airbus A330s pooled between five European nations – are keen to introduce more countries to the capability-sharing agreement.
Speaking at the show, the general manager of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), Peter Dohmen, said there has been further interest in MMF beyond existing confirmed participants Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway.
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Aviation Quote

It's when things are going just right that you'd better be suspicious. There you are, fat as can be. The whole world is yours and you're the answer to the Wright brothers' prayers. You say to yourself, nothing can go wrong ... all my trespasses are forgiven. Best you not believe it.

- Ernest K. Gann, advice from the 'old pelican,' The Black Watch, 1989.