Category: Top Stories

Airbus’ ramp up of A320 slows to reflect weaker market outlook

©Airbus A320 hangar FAL

While Airbus continues to increase the monthly production numbers for the narrow-body A320 jet, it will be at a reduced level to that previously anticipated. Currently, the European planemaker is producing 40 units per month and this will increase to 43 in the third-quarter 2021, and 45 in the final quarter, both down on the targeted 47 units for July onwards “in response to the market environment.” However, according to Airbus, production numbers for the A350 and A330 will remain stable at five and two units per month, respectively, though this means a postponement of a potential production rate increase Read more

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Eve to lead consortium to develop Urban Air Mobility Concept of Operations with U.K.’s CAA

Eve U.K. ©Embraer

EmbraerX-graduated company Eve is to lead a consortium of aviation companies to work on a concept of operations for integrating air taxis and electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOLs) into the U.K. airspace. The consortium will work with the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in what will be part of Eve’s Future Air Mobility Regulatory Sandbox. The consortium will include Heathrow Airport, London City Airport, NATS, Skyports, Atech, Volocopter, and Vertical Aerospace. David Tait, Head of Innovation at the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority, said: “The Regulatory Sandbox was established to create an environment where innovation in aviation can be Read more

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IATA pushes for COVID vaccine passport to facilitate inter-Europe travel

Luxembourg Airport ©AirTeamImages

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is encouraging member EU states to get behind a proposal from Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for the creation of a COVID-19 passport for those who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, enabling them to travel throughout Europe without having to be repeatedly tested for COVID-19. On the back of Mitsotakis’ proposal, IATA Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac has sent an open letter to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, which was also copied to key policy-makers across the EU. In the letter, de Juniac said: ”Prime Minister Mitsotakis’ Read more

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Under amended agreement Iberia now will pay €500 million for Air Europa

Mallorca-based Air Europa ©AirTeamImages

International Airlines Group (IAG) and Globalia have amended the original agreement announced on November 4, 2019 (the Original Agreement) under which IAG’s subsidiary Iberia has agreed to acquire the entire issued share capital of Air Europa (the Amendment Agreement). Under the terms of the Amendment Agreement, the parties have agreed that the amount to be paid by Iberia for Air Europa will be reduced from an equity value of €1 billion to €500 million (US$1.21 billion to US$605 million) with payment deferred until the sixth anniversary of the acquisition’s completion. The revised terms in the Amendment Agreement are conditional on Read more

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Air Canada to reintroduce 737 MAX on selected routes at beginning of February

Air Canada Boeing 737-8 MAX ©AirTeamImages

With 24 Boeing 737 MAX 8s in its fleet of commercial aircraft, Air Canada has announced that subsequent to Transport Canada’s (TC) Airworthiness Directive and January 20, 2021 lifting of the existing Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, the aircraft ungrounding by regulatory bodies worldwide, and the carrier’s own independent assessments of the aircraft and operating procedures by its specialized safety and flight operations experts, it will be including the 737 MAX on selected commercial flights commencing February 1, 2021. Routes now covered by the 737 MAX will include Toronto to and from: Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Read more

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Volocopter targets U.S. cities in strategic move

©Volocopter

German air taxi startup Volocopter has announced that its December 22, 2020 application for concurrent Type Certificate validation has been accepted by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This will allow Volocopter to introduce its air taxi to the American market. Currently, and globally, it is the only company which has obtained Design Organization Approval (DOA) which is a license to develop and build certified aircraft, issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Presently, Volocopter is also in the process of obtaining EASA-type certification for its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. “We are the ‘Pioneer of Read more

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Norwegian ends all long-haul flights, shelving entire 787 Dreamliner fleet

©Norwegian

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA (Norwegian) has announced that the low-cost carrier is ending all long-haul flights. It will now focus on restructuring the airline by concentrating on short-haul domestic routes, flights to other Nordic countries, and key European destinations. “Our short-haul network has always been the backbone of Norwegian and will form the basis of a future resilient business model,” Jacob Schram, the CEO of Norwegian, said. Approximately 1,000 jobs are likely to go this side of the Atlantic, and a further 1,000 jobs will go on the other side in the U.S., with similar number being shed in Spain, Read more

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Air Canada to reduce workforce by 1700 under its COVID-19 Mitigation and Recovery Plan

©Air Canada

Air Canada has announced that under its COVID-19 Mitigation and Recovery Plan, it will be adjusting its network by further reducing first quarter system capacity by an additional 25%. This will result in the workforce being reduced by approximately 1700 employees, while a further 200 will be impacted at its Express carriers. The Canadian flag-carrying airline will be reducing approximately 25% of its planned capacity for the balance of the first quarter of 2021. With this reduction, capacity in the first quarter of 2021 will be about 20% of what Air Canada operated in the first quarter of 2019. Air Read more

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Boeing glad to see the back of 2020 after yet another poor month’s

©Boeing

In December 2020, Boeing managed to deliver just 51 aircraft, its lowest number since the late 1970s. Not only was this number down 60% compared to December 2019, but it was less than one-third the number of aircraft delivered by its rival, Airbus. In total, the U.S. planemaker delivered 39 planes to customers in December, including 27 737 MAX jets, one P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, and 11 widebodies. Noticeably absent from this list of deliveries was the Boeing 787 Dreamliner which, for the second month in succession, failed to deliver any units owing to ongoing problems over production flaws and Read more

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President and CEO Rickard Gustafson to leave SAS

Rickard Gustafson

The President and CEO of SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Rickard Gustafson, has decided to leave SAS after ten-years. He will leave the company, at the latest, by July 1, 2021. “After ten intense and stimulating years, the time has come for me to pass on the baton to the next CEO of SAS during the first half of 2021,” Gustafson commented. “I have accepted an opportunity to join one of Sweden’s largest industrial groups. SAS has a strong position in the Scandinavian market and is well positioned to lead the aviation industry toward a more sustainable future once the pandemic is Read more

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