Daily2018-02-20

LATEST NEWS

Friday, May 31st, 2019

IATA advises 737 MAX will remain grounded until August

Despite the fact that it is believed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is set to approve the updates to the 737 MAX in June, other agencies intend to carry out their own assessments. This has resulted in the likelihood worldwide approval for the lifting of the ban, which was instigated after two fatal crashes involving the passenger jet, will likely not be lifted until early-to-mid-August, well into the peak season for many carriers.

Speaking ahead of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) annual meeting in Seoul, South Korea, Alexandre de Juniac, the IATA CEO, commented that he did not anticipate the 737 MAX returning to service for at least 10-12 weeks. He is keen to coordinate a timeline between all regulators in order for airlines to begin to schedule flights. Currently U.S. carriers United Airlines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have removed all intended 737 MAX flights until mid-August.

Part of the problem lies in rising tensions between regulators on either side of the Atlantic. There are specific concerns over the relationship the FAA has with Boeing and the level of self-certification that has been involved. Subsequent to the second fatal crash involving a 737 MAX, the flight data recorders for the downed Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX were sent to safety investigators in Paris, France, which intends to carry out its own assessments of Boeings new ‘fix’, rather than rely
on the FAA.

De Juniac also said that the prolonged grounding was “taking its toll” on airlines. While IATA expects its 290 airline members to be recording a 10th consecutive year of aggregate profit, he said
the 737 was adding to headwinds including “rising costs, trade wars and other uncertainties are likely to have an impact on the bottom line.”

TP Aerospace

CDB Aviation expands Americas commercial team

CDB Aviation, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing has announced the latest addition to its global commercial team; Luís da Silva has been appointed as Head of Commercial, the Americas.

Da Silva has over two decades of experience in aviation and aircraft leasing, with his career predominantly focused on marketing and sales activities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to CDB Aviation, he served as Senior Vice President and Regional Manager Latin America for GECAS. Previously, he held senior sales positions within Airbus, based in both Toulouse and Miami, where he cultivated the manufacturer’s relationships with airlines in Latin America. De Silva started his career as a network planning analyst at DHL Worldwide Network.

Da Silva will lead efforts to strengthen CDB Aviation’s presence in the Americas by reinforcing the company’s established reputation for agility and responsiveness in delivering comprehensive aircraft fleet solutions for airline customers. He will be based in the company’s Americas headquarters located in Fort Lauderdale, and will report to Patrick C. Hannigan.

Heico

Collins Aerospace celebrates 45-year relationship with Airbus with major nacelle delivery milestones

Collins Aerospace Systems celebrated its 45-year relationship with Airbus by delivering the 1,000th nacelle for the A320neo program, delivering the 9000th  V2500 nacelle, and continuing to support the ramp-up of the A220 nacelle program.

The relationship with Airbus dates back to the A300, the first Airbus aircraft. The milestones achieved are due to the strong collaboration and hard work from both companies. 

In support of the Airbus A320neo program, Collins has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to expand manufacturing capacity at six global sites.

Collins Aerospace’s innovative nacelle system for the Airbus A320neo is performing with 99.99% percent dispatch reliability. There are currently more than 750 Collins nacelles operating on A320neo aircraft with 32 airlines.  

Etihad Airways to increase flights to Moscow Domodedovo

Etihad Airways will launch additional daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Moscow Domodedovo Airport (DME) starting October 27. According to the carrier, the increase in flight frequency comes from the popularity and success of regular Abu Dhabi – DME operations.

Etihad Airways and Moscow Domodedovo Airport have been cooperating since 2008. In this period the route’s annual passenger traffic has doubled. In partnership with Etihad Airways, Moscow Domodedovo Airport has served more than 1 million passengers.

ePlane

BAA Training to invest into expansion of global FFS fleet

With the continuous news on airlines dealing with a global pilot shortage BAA Training, one of the TOP 3 biggest independent aviation training centres in Europe and part of Avia Solutions Group, plans to expand its full flight simulators’ fleet with 6 additional units in Europe and Asia. Preliminary investments may reach €60 million.

With more than 100 scheduled airlines, a network of over 400 airports and 60 air navigation service providers, air transport makes a key contributor to the European economy.  Europe holds 34% of the global air traffic and according to Boeing projections it will grow by 113% by 2037. Correspondingly the current fleet size of 4,900 aircraft is to reach 8,800 with the biggest increase in small-medium size airplanes. This means that by that time Europe will need 146,000 new pilots.

According to the strategic expansion plan, BAA Training headquarters is bound to expand its training capabilities with an already fourth training facility and two additional full flight simulators in 2019: Airbus A320ceo and Boeing 737NG. In addition to that BAA Training is actively looking into possibilities to expand its full flight simulator fleet in Europe starting with Rome, Italy, where two full flight simulators - Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737NG - are planned to be added in 2019-2020.

Continuing the expansion to Asia, the last year established BAA Training Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh city is about to open a brand new training centre. BAA Training Vietnam will start operations with the first Airbus A320 full flight simulator at the beginning of autumn and will add the second Airbus A320neo later in 2019, in addition to the soon-to-be signed Joint Venture agreement with Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment Company (HNCA) local governmental partner in China marking the beginning of BAA Training China. Operated by the BAA Training franchise license the training centre in Henan province is set to assemble 6 full flight simulators in total starting with Airbus A320 and Boeing 737NG by the second quarter of 2020.  

BOC Aviation takes delivery of 350th Airbus aircraft

BOC Aviation has taken delivery of its 350th Airbus aircraft. The aircraft is an Airbus A320neo and is leased to TAP Portugal. The aircraft is powered by CFM Leap engines.

“We congratulate BOC Aviation on its 350th Airbus aircraft. Great to celebrate this achievement with
the best-selling A320neo aircraft,” said Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer. “Being one of the most important lessors in the world and one of Airbus’ largest customers, we are all very proud to have contributed to BOC Aviation’s success and look forward to achieving new important milestones together.”

VAS Aero Services

IATA reports global passenger traffic results for April 2019

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for April 2019 showing that demand (revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose by 4.3% compared to April 2018. April capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 3.6%, and load factor climbed 0.6 percentage point to 82.8%, which was a record for the month of April, surpassing last year’s record of 82.2%. Regionally, Africa, Europe and Latin America posted record load factors.

Comparisons between the two months are distorted owing to the timing of the Easter holiday, which occurred on 1 April in 2018 but fell much later in the month in 2019.

April international passenger demand rose 5.1% compared to April 2018. All regions recorded year-over-year traffic increases, led by airlines in Europe. Total capacity climbed 3.8%, and load factor climbed 1.1 percentage points to 82.5%.

European airlines’ April traffic increased 8.0% compared to the year-ago period, up from 4.9% annual growth in March. Capacity rose 6.6% and load factor surged 1.1 percentage points to 85.7%, highest among the regions.

Asia-Pacific carriers posted a 2.9% traffic rise in April, up from 2% growth in March but well below the long-term average. Capacity climbed 3.7% and load factor dropped 0.6 percentage point to 80.8%. Asia-Pacific was the only region to experience a decline in load factor compared to the same month a year ago.

Middle East carriers saw demand rise 2.9% in April, which was a recovery from a 3.0% decline in traffic in March. Capacity fell 1.6% and load factor soared 3.5 percentage points to 80.5%.

North American airlines posted a 5.5% demand increase compared to April 2018, which was up from 3.2% year-over-year growth in March. Capacity climbed 3.2%, and load factor rose 1.8 percentage points to 82.2%.

Latin American airlines experienced a 5.2% rise in April demand compared to the same month last year, slightly up on 4.9% growth in March. Capacity increased by 4.0% and load factor edged up 0.9 percentage point to 82.8%.

African airlines had a 1.1% traffic increase in April, which was down from 1.6% growth in March and was the slowest regional growth since early 2015. Capacity climbed 0.1%, and load factor edged up 0.7 percentage point to 72.6%.

Demand for domestic travel climbed 2.8% in April compared to April 2018, down from 4.1% growth in March year-over-year. The slowing trend is being driven primarily by developments in China and India. Capacity increased 3.2%, and load factor slid 0.3 percentage point to 83.2%.

Beach Aviation Group

Airbus and Spanish Air Force to develop drone and augmented reality inspections for military aircraft

The Spanish Air Force has become the first air force worldwide to support the development of Airbus’ drone and augmented reality-based maintenance inspection services, with the aim of drastically reducing maintenance inspections for large military aircraft and increasing overall fleet availability.

This digital innovation technology will initially be trialled on Spanish Air Force A400M aircraft based at Zaragoza Air Base (31st Wing), with options to extend the technology to other aircraft, including the C295 and the CN235.

General José Luis Pardo Jario, Head of the Spanish Chief of the Air Staff office, said: “This technology has the potential to make a major contribution to maintenance tasks for our fleet. Not only is it more time and cost efficient, above all it allows the upskilling of aircraft maintenance personnel, in accordance with the new digital era we all need to contribute towards in order to reap its benefits.”

The technology relies on drones equipped with sensors and high-definition cameras to scan, in a matter of hours and not days, the exterior of an aircraft undergoing a maintenance inspection. A secured connection allows data and information generated to be displayed on tablets and augmented reality glasses, allowing staff to quickly identify and apply maintenance procedures and corrective actions while ensuring all inspection and maintenance procedures are formally and
fully recorded on the maintenance log. Not only does this technology reduce the maintenance inspection time, it supports the early detection of defects and helps guarantee quality and post-maintenance airworthiness.

Aviation Week

Air Partner Remarketing exclusive remarketing agent for two ATR72 cargo aircraft

Air Partner Remarketing, a division of global aviation services group Air Partner, has been mandated to remarket two ATR72 cargo aircraft.

Both aircraft are EASA compliant, and have good airframe, engine, propeller and landing gear times remaining. The aircraft are serial numbers 369 and 499, which were manufactured in 1993 and 1997, respectively.

Air Partner Remarketing currently has several other exclusive mandates in progress, continuing to build on its success from last year, during which time it concluded a number of sales, including a B777-200ER for Kenya Airways, an ATR72 for Investec Bank plc and three B737-500s on behalf
of airBaltic.

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ap&m Europe 2019 - The Global MRO Procurement Expo
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