Daily2018-02-20

LATEST NEWS

Wednesday, July 17th, 2019

Ryanair’s growth plans for 2020 halved due to 737 MAX delays

Low-cost Irish carrier Ryanair has announced it is halving its growth plans for 2020 as a consequence of the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX jet. As one of Boeings largest customers, Ryanair was anticipating having 58 of the single-aisle jets delivered and operational by summer next year. However, in a statement by company CEO Michael O’Leary, Ryanair anticipates that deliveries of the jet, grounded since March after a second fatal air crash, would be unlikely to recommence before December.

As the carrier can only process five to six new aircraft per month and does not accept deliveries during the peak operating months of June through August, Ryanair is now making plans to have only 30 of the 58 737 MAX jets operational for the summer of 2020.  “This number could rise or fall further, depending on when the B737 MAX actually returns to flight services,” O’Leary stated, adding that the carrier now anticipates flying 159 million passengers in the financial year March 2020 to March 2021, an increase of only five million additional passengers as opposed to the anticipated ten million. “While it is disappointing that we have delays and disappointing that the growth for next year will be slower than ... we had originally planned, we remain confident in the aircraft. We still think it is a great product,” O’Leary told investors in a conference call. “As soon as we can reasonably organize these deliveries with Boeing, we would intend to take all of the 135 firm aircraft we have ordered over the next five years,” he said.

While shares in Ryanair rose 2% at one point after release of the news, shares in other European carriers rose even further on the basis that the cuts being made by Ryanair would solve a problem of overcapacity in a saturated European market.

TrueAero

IAG Engine Center USA receives FAA PW4000 engine series certification

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved IAG Engine Center USA’s Pratt & Whitney 4000 engine series certification. Strategically located near the Miami International Airport, IAG Engine Center USA will be providing engine MRO repair services ranging from hospital repairs to full overhauls for the PW4000 series of engines.

The recent IAG Engine Center Europe CFM56-5B certification paired with the IAG Engine Center USA PW4000 certification demonstrates each company’s continued growth in the breadth of IAG Aero Group’s commercial aircraft engine services.

IAG Engine Center USA is an IAG Aero Group company. IAG Engine Center USA is a world-class engine service provider with industry-leading MRO capabilities to provide customized solutions across an array of aircraft engines. The company’s flexible suite services PW4000, CFM56, CF6, and JT9D model engines from around supported by its Miami, Florida location and its sister company, IAG Engine Center Europe, in Rome, Italy.

AFG

Farsound Aviation acquired by private equity company AGIC Capital

Farsound Aviation has been acquired by AGIC Capital, a leading European-Asian private equity company focused on industrial and medical technology investments in Europe. Farsound Aviation will now have new resources and capabilities to continue developing and growing its supply chain solutions capability, and with the support of AGIC, exploit further opportunities particularly in Asia.

Farsound Aviation will continue to focus on developing existing and new customer and supplier relationships, and the added capital investment from a large private equity backer will only enhance that drive.

Kellstrom Defense appoints Michael Farmer as Vice-President of Life Extension Products

​​​Kellstrom Defense Aerospace (KDA) has appointed Michael Farmer as vice-president of life extension products (LEP) for the engineered products business segment.

Farmer will be responsible for the overall leadership of the LEP business team focused on the development and deployment of proprietary intellectual property for the life extension of critical aircraft equipment and systems. The overall engineered products business segment is focused on end-of-life aircraft proprietary part manufacturing, aftermarket component design, licensing of proprietary OEM parts and the development of complex technology insertion solutions for aircraft life extension.

Farmer will be based at the KDA Miramar, Florida, facility and will report directly to the president of engineered products, Scott Wooden.

Magellan Group

First Boeing P-8A Poseidon for United Kingdom takes flight

The first Boeing P-8A Poseidon (ZP801) for the United Kingdom Royal Air Force (RAF) took off from Renton, Wash. on July 12, marking the first flight of this inaugural UK P-8A.

During the 90 minute flight key testing took place before the aircraft touched down and moved to the next phase of preparation before customer delivery, installation of military systems.

The RAF P-8A Poseidon fleet will support maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare and anti-ship warfare for the UK, and will increase protection of the UK’s nuclear deterrent and Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.

The first of nine P-8As, ordered by the UK now moves to the P-8 Installation and Checkout facility in Tukwila, Wash., where mission systems are installed and further testing happens before final delivery to the customer later this year. When the aircraft is delivered it will first fly to U.S. Naval Air Station Jacksonville for additional preparation and training by UK personnel before flying home to the UK. The RAF will take delivery of ZP801 later this year and it will move to the UK in early 2020.

Rusada

BOC Aviation sells 17 aircraft to Silver Aircraft Lease Investment

BOC Aviation has signed an agreement to sell a portfolio of 17 aircraft to Silver Aircraft Lease Investment I and affiliates (SLVRR 2019-1).

To finance a portion of the purchase of the aircraft portfolio, SLVRR 2019-1 has issued three tranches of notes, comprising US$443 million of 3.97% Series A notes (A, Kroll / Fitch Ratings), US$73 million of 4.95% Series B notes (BBB, Kroll / Fitch Ratings) and US$32 million of 6.9% Series C notes (BB, Kroll / Fitch Ratings). The source of repayment for the notes will be limited to the aircraft portfolio, the leases and related collateral.

The issuance of US$123 million tradable Class E participating certificates financed the purchase of the balance of the aircraft portfolio. Oak Hill Advisors acted as the anchor equity investor, with the remainder of the certificates distributed to a number of institutional investors.

The notes are backed by the 17 aircraft to be acquired from BOC Aviation. These commercial jet aircraft are currently on lease to 14 airlines in nine countries and regions, and comprise seven Airbus A320 family aircraft, seven Boeing 737NG aircraft, one Boeing 787-8 aircraft and one Boeing 777-300ER. The portfolio has a weighted average age of 6 years and weighted average remaining lease term of 5.4 years, based on weighted average appraised values as of 31 March 2019.

Aviation Inventory Resources acquires assets of AIM Aircraft Spares

Aviation Inventory Resources (AIR) has acquired the assets of AIM Aircraft Spares, the Peachtree City, Georgia based distributor of AIM Altitude products. Concurrent with this acquisition AIM Altitude UK has appointed AIR exclusive distributor for the Americas for all AIM Altitude products. The AIM Aircraft Spares operation will be integrated into AIR’s worldwide headquarters in Alvarado, Texas, near the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).

“We’re very pleased to be working with AIM Altitude,” said Morgan Whitehead, Vice President of Operations for AIR. “We look forward to taking over on the good job the AIM Aircraft Spares team has done through the years and will be working hard to support AIM Altitude’s customers within the Americas by increasing stock levels and offering our world class customer support.”

ELFC

Munich Airport International expands activities in the USA

In a major step forward in the development of a new world-class airport, the Port Authority has reached an agreement with EWR Terminal One LLC, a 100% subsidiary of Munich Airport International GmbH (MAI), to operate and maintain the US$2.7 billion Terminal One now under construction at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).

MAI will operate as EWR Terminal One LLC and oversee operations, maintenance and concession functions once the terminal is completed. Terminal One is replacing the outmoded Terminal A and is scheduled to be fully operational by 2022. The new operating company EWR Terminal One LLC also will be making short-term customer enhancements in Terminal A until that terminal is closed.

Munich Airport, operated by MAI’s parent company Flughafen München GmbH (FMG), has been awarded the title “Europe’s Best Airport” by Skytrax for the 12th time over the past 14 years. In
addition to the Newark project, MAI is involved locally with a joint venture (Reach Airports) that will manage the new Terminal One project at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Component Control

Component Control hosts successful QUE Group 2019 conference

Component Control held their 14th annual QUE Group user conference from June 18th - June 20th on Coronado Island. The members-only conference reviewed the transformative year Component Control has had in developments and highlighted upcoming enhancements and innovations to be released.

Through interactional workshops and round tables, users from over 100 companies expressed their satisfaction with the progress Component Control has made over the course of the last year. These progressions included the implementation of over 300 features to the core system and the introduction of new applications for Mobile, Cloud and Business Analytics. During the conference, Component Control announced several new customer facing initiatives directed at supporting their existing 22,000 Quantum users. Customer Support System Automation and Learning Management were highlighted as new cutting edge technology being incorporated by Component Control at the conference.

Other notable announcements included the expansion of Mobile Tech, Mobile Imaging, and the introduction of Mobile Receiving. Cloud Hosting – Managed Quantum, which leverages the largest infrastructure providers in the market today (AWS and Azure), introduced new programs and pricing tiers for users. The new BI Analytics platform expansion was also announced at the conference. The next release of Quantum-BI will support the customization and editing of the dashboard library. Further, new embedded module navigation will filter the results of the dashboard based on the information needed while working in the module. To round out CCI’s new technology announcements, they announced their significant investments in ZenDesk, for managing customer requests and tickets, and a Learning Management System (LMS), to roll out as a training platform for new SaaS customers.

Willis Lease signs ConstantAccess™ agreement with major European Airline

Willis Lease Finance has entered into an agreement to provide ConstantAccess™ Platinum to a major European operator for a fleet consisting of 40 engines. The agreement will provide guaranteed availability of spare engines for both planned, and unplanned removals.

“We are finding a greater number of airlines, both legacy operators as well as low cost carriers, are opting to contract with us to provide them with spare engine coverage on a ‘just in time basis’ rather than maintaining a portfolio of underutilized assets” - commented Austin C. Willis, SVP of Corporate Development of Willis Lease.

Willis Lease Finance leases large and regional spare commercial aircraft engines, auxiliary power units and aircraft to airlines, aircraft engine manufacturers and maintenance, repair and overhaul providers in 120 countries

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Engine Leasing Seminar
September 17, 2019 – Holiday Inn Kensington High Street, London, UK


Effective Risk Management in Aircraft Leasing and Aviation Finance
September 18, 2019 – Holiday Inn Kensington High Street, London, UK


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October 30 - 31, 2019 – NEC, Birmingham, UK


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November 26 - 27, 2019 – Hotel Novotel Amsterdam City, Amsterdam, NL