Category: Top Stories

Greybull Capital LLP to become the majority shareholder in Monarch Aircraft Engineering (MAEL)

©Monarch Aircraft Engineering

Monarch Aircraft Engineering (MAEL), a leading aircraft MRO provider, has agreed the terms of the company’s new ownership structure, with Greybull Capital LLP becoming the majority shareholder. As the restructuring progresses, MAEL’s lenders, PNC, will continue to provide facilities and support, and many of the operator’s key customers are also looking to support the business. In the last year MAEL’s geographical footprint increased with the opening of a new component maintenance facility in Northampton which created more than 100 new jobs, taking the workforce to over 800 staff. MAEL additionally doubled the size of its industry-renowned apprenticeship scheme. MAEL is Read more

Tweet
Share
Share
Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

NetJets looks to acquire up to 325 Textron Cessna business jets

NetJets, a Berkshire Hathaway company, has struck a deal with Textron to acquire up to 175 super-midsize Cessna Longitude aircraft and 150 Cessna Citation Hemisphere aircraft and which Textron anticipates will be firmed up over the next few weeks. NetJets has operated Cessna aircraft since 1984 and the current deal would see its fleet of Cessna jets increase to approximately 800 over the next fifteen years. NetJets will also be the launch customer for the clean-sheet large-cabin Citation Hemisphere. Delivery of the first Citation Longitude is anticipated for the second half of 2019. The deal appears to have attracted considerable Read more

Tweet
Share
Share
Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

Aerion’s GE-powered supersonic business jet will meet U.S. noise regulations

Supersonic AS2 ©Aerion

On the eve of the NBAA’s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Orlando Florida, Aerion Supersonic (Aerion) and General Electric (GE) have announced that the US$120 million supersonic AS2 business jet will operate without the need for regulatory changes to noise levels. The Aerion jet will be powered by GE’s Affinity turbofan engine. The Affinity is a new class of medium bypass ratio engines that provide exceptional and balanced performance across supersonic and subsonic flights. GE’s Affinity is a twin-shaft, twin-fan turbofan controlled by a next generation Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) for enhanced dispatch reliability and onboard Read more

Tweet
Share
Share
Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

Embraer introduces the Praetor 500 and Praetor 600 Business Jets

The Praetor 600 ©Embraer

Embraer has introduced the new Praetor 500 midsize and Praetor 600 super-midsize business jets during a company event at Orlando Executive Airport, where the 2018 National Business Aviation Association’s Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) will be held from October 16-18. The new Praetor 500 and Praetor 600 will be on static display during NBAA-BACE. “The Praetor 500 and Praetor 600 are the disruptive aircraft for the entrepreneur, for the pioneer, for the innovator,” said Michael Amalfitano, President & CEO, Embraer Executive Jets. “The Praetors are aircraft certainly in keeping with their name, leading the way in redefining the characteristics Read more

Tweet
Share
Share
Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

Air France offers pilots 4% pay raise – SNLP union remains silent

©Air France

Air France’s new Chief Executive, Ben Smith, has wasted no time in tackling the wage negotiation problem that has beleaguered the French carrier and seen the downfall of its previous Chief Executive, Jean-Marc Janaillac, who resigned back in May. Having previously worked with Air Canada, Smith has proposed a two percent pay raise backdated to January this year, coupled with a further two percent next January, according to a union official. Air France are keen to end the raft of damaging strikes which have impacted heavily on its finances, strikes in 2018 alone amounting to some €355 million (US$384 million) Read more

Tweet
Share
Share
Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

FAA gets new 5-year authorization – now targets minimum seat size

President Donald Trump has signed legislation passed by Congress which will extend FAA policy for a further five years under the FAA Reauthorization Bill. There are a number of provisions in the Reauthorization Bill which have drawn attention, in particular the “Seat Egress in Air Travel (SEAT) Act,” which will force the FAA to set specific standards for minimum seat sizes on commercial planes, principally their width and the space between them. The FAA has been given a year in which to come up with the new guidelines, though many fear that the new regulations may end up codifying the Read more

Tweet
Share
Share
Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

Zunum Aero selects Safran Helicopter Engines for hybrid-to-electric aircraft

©Zunum Aero

Safran Helicopter Engines, a subsidiary of the Safran Group, has been chosen to supply new-generation Ardiden 3 engine turbines to drive the Zunum ZA10’s electric generator. Zunum Aero (Zunum) is a pioneering force in electric aviation. The new hybrid-to-electric Zunum ZA10 should be operational early in the 2020s and is a 12-seat 700-mile commercial aircraft which will offer exceptionally low operating costs while providing door-to-door travel times that will be two-to-four-times faster than today. Zunum anticipates frequent and affordable air services from over 30,000 airports across the globe. Th current model currently under development is the ZA10 which will have Read more

Tweet
Share
Share
Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

Hurricane Florence costs Delta US$30 million – share price drops 3.4%

Delta Air Lines (Delta) stock fell 3.4% after the American carrier announced that Hurricane Florence caused a US$30 million loss in business and that it was now paying more for fuel. Delta was forced to cancel 275 flights in September, mainly in the Carolinas, and that to date it had still not completed dealing with the disruption. As a consequence, third-quarter revenue per seat flown per mile increased between 4 and 4.5 percent, which was an indication of rising prices, with Delta indicating that the additional revenue generated will partially help to offset the 35 percent increase in spot fuel Read more

Tweet
Share
Share
Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

Tokyo Century Corporation and All Nippon Airways Trading Company to acquire significant stake in GA Telesis

GA Telesis has announced that its current shareholder Tokyo Century Corporation (Tokyo Century) along with All Nippon Airways Trading Company (ANATC), have collectively entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all shares held by Global Principal Finance Company LLC (GPFC). Tokyo Century’s ownership after the closing of the transaction will increase to 49.2% and ANATC will acquire a 10% interest in the Company. Tokyo Century and ANATC expect the transaction to close in October 2018. Separately, GA Telesis, Tokyo Century and ANATC have reached an in-principle agreement to form a commercial engine leasing joint venture focusing on current technology jet Read more

Tweet
Share
Share
Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend

Lufthansa Technik and MTU Aero Engines lay foundation stone for joint MRO shop in Poland

Lufthansa Technik and MTU Aero Engines lay foundation stone for joint MRO shop in Poland ©MTU

Lufthansa Technik AG and MTU Aero Engines AG laid the cornerstone for their new joint venture EME Aero in Jasionka, close to Rzeszów city, on September 28, symbolically launching one of the biggest and most advanced GTF MRO service centers worldwide. Pratt & Whitney GTF engines power five regional and narrowbody aircraft platforms, with the A220 and the A320neo family from Airbus and the Embraer E190-E2 already in commercial service. The total investment for the service center is €150 million by 2020. Plans are to have the facility – with its 40,000 m² of workspace – up and running by Read more

Tweet
Share
Share
Email Post to a Friend Email Post to a Friend