Willis Lease Finance reports second quarter pre-tax profit of US$9.7 million

Willis Lease Finance has reported second quarter total revenues of US$75.0 million and pre-tax profit of US$9.7 million. The company reported lower revenue in the second quarter of 2020 than the prior year period due primarily to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the aviation industry, generally, leading to reduced revenues in the core leasing business. Aggregate lease rent and maintenance reserve revenues were US$68.4 million for the second quarter of 2020. “We are pleased to have maintained profitability in the second quarter, with US$9.7 million of reported pre-tax income, given the unprecedented impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has Read more

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SR Technics appoints Caroline Vandedrinck as Senior Vice President Sales

Caroline Vandedrinck

SR Technics has appointed Caroline Vandedrinck as Senior Vice President Sales with effect from September 1, 2020. She will report directly to Jean-Marc Lenz, Chief Executive Officer, and will be leading the new Sales organization. Michael Sattler, Chief Commercial Officer, will be leaving SR Technics at the end of August 2020. Vandedrinck has more than 25 years of experience in aviation, during which she has held various senior commercial positions for international aviation companies. She joined SR Technics in 2016 as Vice President Americas and has played a key role in driving SR Technics’ sales organization forward.

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Dubai Aerospace Enterprise posts financial results for first-half 2020

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has reported its financial results for the six months ended June 30, 2020. DAE reported total revenue of US$672.6 million compared to US$735.2 million in the first-half of 2019 and net income of US$121.7 million compared to US$197.1 million in the previous year. The reported net income in the first-half was lower attributable primarily to 23 fewer aircraft in the Owned Aircraft portfolio, fewer asset sales resulting in lower gains on sale of assets, reduced finance income, and higher provisions for trade receivables offset by lower interest expense. As of July 31, 2020, DAE has granted Read more

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Virgin Atlantic files for bankruptcy protection in the U.S.

Virgin Atlantic ©AirTeamImages

A month after announcing that it had secured financing to ensure the airline’s continuation for the next 18 months, Britain’s Virgin Atlantic has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. The move is a strategic one employed by non-U.S. companies to restrict creditors from tying up assets or filing a lawsuit in the U.S. The move comes hot on the heels of Virgin Australia, another carrier in the Virgin Group, which went into administration in April with debts of US$6.8bn and over 12,000 creditors. In addition to filing for bankruptcy protection in the southern district of New York, Read more

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DC Aviation Group upgrades Global 5000 with Gogo Elite Smart Cabin System

The DC Aviation Group has completed the successful upgrade of a Global 5000 with the Gogo Elite Smart Cabin System (SCS Elite). The aircraft was also equipped with an Inmarsat SwiftBroadband High Data Rate Service and a new satellite communication system. With the upgrade of a Global 5000 with the Gogo Elite Smart Cabin System (SCS Elite), an Inmarsat SwiftBroadband High Data Rate Service and a new satellite communication system, the DC Aviation Group has been able to successfully complete a major maintenance contract on schedule. With the highly integrated intelligent cabin system, passengers can control the cabin environment with Read more

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IATA appoints new Senior Vice President for Customer, Financial and Digital Services

Muhammad Albakri

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that Muhammad Albakri, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East (AME), will be appointed Senior Vice President for Customer, Financial and Digital Services (CFDS), based in Geneva and effective March 1, 2021. At that time Aleks Popovich, who currently holds the position, will retire. Albakri joined IATA in January 2017 after more than a decade in the leadership team of Saudi Arabian Airlines where he successfully fulfilled the roles of Chief Financial Officer, Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President for Transformation. At IATA, Albakri has been an agent of Read more

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Sabre renews strategic, long-term distribution agreement with Air New Zealand

©Air New Zealand

Sabre has renewed its long-term, worldwide distribution agreement with Air New Zealand. Under the renewed agreement, Sabre will continue to distribute global Air New Zealand content to hundreds of thousands of travel agents and thousands of corporations globally through its extensive travel marketplace. The agreement also includes an opt-in content program in New Zealand and Australia, which provides agencies with access to Air New Zealand’s preferential content through the Sabre marketplace. Sabre is mission-critical to the world’s travel ecosystem, playing a key role in facilitating the marketing and sale of airfares and other types of travel to travel agents, corporations Read more

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Embraer announces the Phenom 300MED

©Embraer Phenom 300MED

Embraer has announced a Medevac solution for Phenom 300 series aircraft, the Phenom 300MED, which is also available for retrofit through a partnership with umlaut and Aerolite. Embraer and umlaut are jointly developing and certifying a new supplemental type certificate (STC) utilizing Aerolite equipment. The Phenom 300MED, which is now available for customer configuration, is representative of Embraer’s modern and versatile product portfolio and the company’s intent to deliver the ultimate experience in business aviation, now including the Medevac segment. Designed as an ideal solution for both civil and government applications, the Medevac solution will be installed exclusively by Embraer’s Read more

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Fraport revenue slumps by nearly 50% during the first half of 2020

Frankfurt Airport ©Fraport

The airport operator Fraport posted a sharp drop in revenue during the first half of 2020, with a clearly negative Group result. The operating performance, which already slowed down in the first quarter of the year, weakened further during the second quarter, in line with expectations. Frankfurt Airport’s passenger traffic plummeted by 94.4% year-on-year in the April-to-June 2020 period, while falling by a total of 63.8% during the entire first half. Also at Fraport’s Group airports worldwide, passenger traffic came to a virtual standstill in the second quarter. In the first half of 2020, Group revenue was down by 48.9% Read more

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FAA proposes four key Boeing 737 MAX design changes through airworthiness directive

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that it intends to issue an airworthiness directive for the troubled Boeing 737 MAX, which involves the updating of flight-control software, revised display-processing software to generate alerts, revising a number of flight-crew operating procedures, and changing the routing of certain wiring bundles. While significant, the announcement does not include the finalizing of flight-training procedures which are critical to the 737 MAX once again taking to the air. Boeing has confirmed that it is: “continuing to make steady progress towards the safe return to service, working closely with the FAA and other global Read more

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