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Tuesday, September 17th, 2019
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With the Brexit fiasco primarily responsible for a weak pound, U.S. private equity firm Advent International has taken advantage of the situation and snapped up Cobham, the U.K. firm renowned for its pioneering work on air-to-air refueling, for US$5 billion. The price agreed was at a premium of 50% of the average monthly share price over the last three months prior to the deal’s announcement.
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Cobham employs around 10,000 staff responsible for making its air-to-air refueling systems as well as communication for military vehicles. Today its technology is used in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Eurofighter Typhoon, together with advanced naval vessels and satellites. However, Cobham has struggled since the company’s foundations were shaken by profit warnings in 2016 and 2017 that resulted in the raising of cash from shareholders. Since then Chief Executive David Lockwood had instigated measures to improve financial performance, much of which had been successfully implemented.
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In response to shareholder claims that the company had succumbed to Brexit-created problems, Cobham Chairman Jamie Pike said the board had undertaken a very rigorous analysis of Cobham’s value. “We felt that 165 pence was very adequate recompense for the future prospects for the business,” he said. “We don’t accept that we took a short-term view of the future of the business.” He added that the board had made significant efforts to encourage rival bids, but that there was no other suitable candidate. Lockwood said there was only one decision the board could take, though he acknowledged there was some emotional impact in seeing a British technological leader bought by U.S. private equity.
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Qatar Airways will start services to Osaka, Japan starting from April 6, 2020. The second largest metropolitan area of Japan, Osaka will be the airline’s third gateway into the country. Qatar Airways began direct services to Tokyo Narita in 2010 and launched its Tokyo Haneda service in 2014 from Doha’s Hamad International Airport (HIA).
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The flight will be operated by an Airbus A350-900 aircraft, featuring 36 seats in Business Class and 247 seats in Economy Class. The operation will initially begin with a five times weekly service, increasing to a daily service from June 23, 2020.
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Boeing will provide GainJet, a global private jet charter operator and management company, a suite of Jeppesen flight operation digital solutions including Operator, JetPlanner Pro, FliteDeck Pro X and Aviator to optimize its fleet operation.
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These Jeppesen digital solutions provide GainJet with tools that integrate key business aviation functionalities in a one-stop shop, self-service environment.
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“This agreement highlights the strength of our comprehensive suite of integrated offerings,” said William Ampofo, vice president, Business & General Aviation, Boeing Global Services. “Bringing together these tools into a single consolidated ecosystem creates measurable efficiency for our customers that is world-class.”
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GainJet Aviation Group is a VIP aircraft charter operator and Management Company with its headquarters based in Athens, Greece. The company also has a subsidiary AOC operation based in Shannon, Ireland – GainJet Ireland
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AerCap Holdings N.V. has signed long-term lease agreements with Air Macau for three new Airbus A321neo aircraft. The agreement was signed during a ceremony in Macau to celebrate the airline’s 25th anniversary. The first aircraft is scheduled to deliver in November 2020 with the two remaining units delivering through October 2021.
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In 1995, Air Macau leased their first aircraft, three Airbus A321s and one A320 from AerCap, which were the first aircraft of their type in Macau.
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GE Aviation’s F110 family of engines has surpassed 10 million flight hours this month. Backed by a continuous infusion of new technology, the F110 remains the engine of choice around the world. It powers almost 70% of today’s most advanced U.S. Air Force F-16C/D aircraft, as well as 86% of F-15s delivered globally in the last 15 years.
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The U.S. Air Force plans to replace their current F-15C fleet with the most advanced variant to date, Boeing’s F-15EX. GE’s F110-GE-129 engine is currently fully qualified for the F-15EX and ready to serve the U.S. Air Force Warfighter.
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The U.S. Air Force originally procured the F110 engine in 1984 to power a majority of their F-16 fleet. The first GE-powered F-16s went into service in 1987. The F110 also powered the venerable F-14B/D Tomcat. In addition, many other nations around the globe have selected the F110 engine to power their F-16 fleets, as well as variants of the twin-engine F-15 fighter jet. The F110 powers F-16 fleets in Bahrain, Chile, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Oman, Turkey and United Arab Emirates and was recently selected by Bulgaria, Slovakia and Taiwan. The F110 powers F-15 fleets in Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Singapore and will power Qatar’s F-15s starting in 2021. The F110 also powers Japan’s F-2 indigenous fighter. To date, 3,400 F110 engines have been ordered worldwide.
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Starting immediately, the Spanish carrier Vueling will depart from the Bavarian capital to Florence five times a week. An Airbus A319 will take off for the Italian metropolis every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
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Along with the new connection to Florence, Vueling is also offering services from Munich to Rome, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca this summer. Florence is an important base for Vuelling, which is part of the IAG Group. The Spanish carrier serves 120 short and medium-range destinations in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
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Air Nostrum, the regional aviation company in Spain, is to work with UK-based global software firm Ideagen in a project that will enhance safety, quality and risk management across the organisation.
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The Valencia-based company, which caters for 74,000 flights and 4.3 million passengers per year, is the latest aviation organisation to implement Ideagen’s Coruson software.
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Coruson is an enterprise cloud software application that will provide Air Nostrum with complete control, visibility and real-time reporting of every detail and aspect of safety and operational risk.
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It is currently used by some of the largest aviation organisations in the world such as British Airways, Air Asia and Ryanair.
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The software will be adopted by Air Nostrum as well as its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and MRO companies such as Medops, Hibernian, PLYSA, TAC, Flyest, Paranair and ANTA with more than 1000 users.
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The first urban flight of the Volocopter in Europe has taken place in Stuttgart. The flight was the highlight of the two-day event "Vision Smart City - Experience mobility of the future today" around the Mercedes-Benz Museum.
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In addition to technical innovations, sustainable traffic concepts for the mobility of the future have been presented. These included offers such as car sharing, electric vehicles and mobile concepts for the future.
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Textron Aviation has announced the opening of a new service location in Manila in collaboration with PhilJets Aero Services. The new facility currently offers expert maintenance work on Beechcraft King Air 200, 250, 300 and 350 aircraft registered in the Philippines, and is pursuing type certification for Cessna Caravans and Beechcraft King Air 90 aircraft.
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Located conveniently at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the facility offers 13,000 ft² of hangar space with an adjoining parts room and customer lounge.
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The opening of a new Manila location follows the recent expansion of Textron Aviation’s Singapore parts warehouse and establishment of a new Australia parts warehouse. In addition, the company grew service options in Australia by expanding the appointment of Authorized Service Facility Premiair Aviation Maintenance across a full suite of Textron Aviation platforms earlier this year.
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Katri Harra-Salonen, Finnair’s Chief Digital Officer (CDO) will leave the company, and Tomi Pienimäki (Dr.Tech, MSc.Econ), has been appointed as Finnair Chief Digital Officer and a member of the Finnair Executive Board.
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Katri Harra-Salonen will leave her position on September 30, 2019, and Tomi Pienimäki will start in his new role on October 1, 2019. Pienimäki currently serves as a member of the Board in Aallon Group. Previously, he has served as the CEO of Vincit and Jolla, and as the Chief Information Officer of Itella and Hackmann.
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AIRCRAFT & ENGINE MARKETPLACE
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UPCOMING EVENTS
MRO Europe
October 15 - 17, 2019 – ExCel London, London, UK
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