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COMAC takes two C919 development flight simulators
The Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) has received two development flight-simulators for its C919 narrowbody program, following a change of supplier.
Built by Beijing Realfly Aviation Technologies, the first flight simulator was delivered in December 2018 and the second this month. The company exhibited the second simulator at Aviation Expo China, held in Beijing Sept. 18–20.
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Airbus forecasts 4% more aircraft demand by 2038
Airbus has forecast a need for 39,210 new passenger and cargo aircraft over the next 20 years, an increase of around 4% over its prediction a year ago. These new aircraft will be added to 8,470 aircraft from today’s fleet that will still be in service 20 years from now. This means the global fleet for airliners and freighters will more than double from today’s 23,000 to almost 48,000 by 2038, with traffic growing at 4.3% annually.
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Airbus calls for negotiations to settle US-EU trade dispute
Airbus is urging a negotiated settlement to an escalating US-Europe trade dispute, calling for detente amid news the World Trade Organisation (WTO) may authorise the US to impose tariffs on EU goods.
"A negotiated solution is the only real way of resolving this complex dispute," Airbus says in a statement. "In a trade war environment, nobody will win… It’s a lose-lose scenario for the whole industry."
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Cessna marks 50th anniversary of first Citation flight
Textron Aviation is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the maiden flight of the original Cessna Citation business jet – the first model in what has become the largest business jet family in the world.
The prototype, branded the Citation 500, lifted off from Wichita's Municipal airport (now Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower National airport) on 15 September 1969 for a 1h 45min sortie, piloted by Milt Sills and J L LeSueur.
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Airbus ventures estimate of NMA demand to 2038
Airbus estimates that the potential market for Boeing’s proposed New Mid-market Airplane amounts to 2,500 aircraft, at best, over the next two decades.
While the European airframer’s forecast does not explicitly give a prediction for the NMA’s prospects, senior vice-president for business analysis Bob Lange told FlightGlobal that it believes there is an “addressable market” of 2,000-2,500 jets.
LinkAirlines
British Airways pilots’ union calls off Sept. 27 strike
A proposed strike by British Airways (BA) pilots for Sept. 27 has been called off by the pilots’ union, giving the airline a new set of problems.
The strike was to be the third day of industrial action between the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) and the carrier over pay and conditions.
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Report: Vietjet Air becomes A321XLR customer
Vietnam LCC Vietjet Air has reportedly placed an order for 15 Airbus A321XLRs, according to a Reuters report.
Based on Airbus’ August orders and deliveries report, an undisclosed customer ordered 15 Airbus 321XLRs on Aug. 6.
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Malindo Air data breach affects 30 million passengers
Lion Air Group’s Malindo Air has confirmed a data breach on its Amazon cloud system, in which the data of around 30 million passengers was leaked.
Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab released a report saying that personal and passport details of around 30 million passengers from Lion Air subsidiaries Malindo Air and Thai Lion Air were posted on online forums and the dark web.
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Huge Qatar Airways loss worsened by Air Italy share
Qatar Airways Group has turned in a huge full-year operating loss, exceeding $500 million, exacerbated by a heavy share of losses at its Air Italy division.
Group passenger revenues were up by 14% to QR34.1 billion and cargo revenues rose to just over QR10 billion for the year to 31 March.
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SAS offers passengers option to purchase biofuel
Scandinavian operator SAS is offering passengers the opportunity to purchase biofuel as part of the airline’s sustainability strategy.
The initiative is a not-for-profit service, simply adding to biofuels already being bought by the airline.
Customers will be able to purchase 20min “blocks” of flight time powered by biofuel, says SAS, on a per-passenger basis.
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Tower intervened to stop Transavia 737 taxiway take-off
Dutch investigators have disclosed that a Transavia Boeing 737-800 attempted to depart from a taxiway at Amsterdam Schiphol before tower controllers intervened and ordered the jet to abort.
The aircraft had been operating flight HV1041 on 6 September.
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Asiana to fly seasonally to Lisbon, Cairo and Melbourne
Asiana Airlines is launching three new routes from Seoul Incheon to Lisbon, Cairo, and Melbourne over the winter season.
The Star Alliance carrier will operate twice-weekly flights to Lisbon between 28 October and 25 March 2020 using an Airbus A350-900.
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KLM to replace Brussels to Amsterdam flight with high-speed train service
Dutch airline KLM, is changing the way in which we travel intercontinentally, reducing the number of flights with replacement train travel.
The Dutch airline, KLM, has announced its plans to reduce its five-flights-a-day service from Brussels to Amsterdam to four, replacing one with a train journey.
This is the airline’s latest move to increase environmentally-friendly initiatives throughout the company.
LinkAirports
Hong Kong airport traffic slumps in August; Shenzhen benefits
Passenger traffic at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) dropped 12.4% year-over-year (YOY) in August to 6 million passengers as visitors avoid the territory amidst civil unrest. Aircraft movement also declined 3.5% YOY to 35,655 takeoffs and landings. The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) said passenger traffic to and from Mainland China, Southeast Asia and Taiwan experienced “significant declines.”
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Global passenger traffic continues to rise
According to ACI's latest World Airport Traffic Report, passenger numbers are estimated to have reached 8.8 billion in 2018, an increase of +6.4% compared to the previous year.
In addition, the world’s airports accommodated 122.7 million metric tonnes of cargo and almost 100 million aircraft movements.
LinkMilitary
PICTURE: Boeing produces first part for JASDF KC-46A
Boeing has commenced work on the Japan Air Self Defense Force’s (JASDF) first KC-46A tanker, with production of an 82.4 foot wing spar.
“This is an exciting day for the program and we look forward to building and delivering these multi-role tankers to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF),” said Jamie Burgess, Boeing vice president and KC-46 programme manager. “From the enhanced flight deck to the modernized boom, this tanker will provide unmatched capabilities for Japan.”
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USAF may retire B-1s to free funds for B-21 Raider
The US Air Force (USAF) may retire a portion of its Boeing B-1B Lancer fleet in order to repurpose overhaul dollars for the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider, re-engining of the Boeing B-52 and “long-range strategic weapons.”
“The story of the B-1 is that we designed an aircraft to fly low altitude, high-speed, supersonic to penetrate enemy defences and take out targets,” says David Goldfein, chief of the staff of the USAF.
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Aviation Quote
“There is an art to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
— Douglas Adams, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
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