Daily2018-02-20

Friday, June 1st, 2018

beachaviationsponsor2018-04-03

LATEST NEWS

Rolls-Royce – new inspection technique and tripled capacity to fix Trent 1000 troubles

Rolls-Royce has confirmed that on top of additional maintenance facilities the company is increasing its workforce in order to triple its capabilities to deal with current Trent 1000 engine problems which have currently grounded a number of Boeing Dreamliners, worldwide.

The principal problem lies with the compressor in the Trent 1000 Package C engines which has required inspections and the grounding of 787 Dreamliners as it has not lasted as long as anticipated.
The result has seen a number of complaints from Dreamliner customers who have been forced to lease alternative planes to cope with seasonal demand, the result of which has put undue pressure on Rolls-Royce to speed up inspections.

In an attempt to improve efficiency, Rolls-Royce has developed a new compressor inspection technique which does not involve the removal of each engine from the wing, with the intention of meeting the safety regulator’s deadline of June 9 for all initial inspections.

Currently about 30 aircraft are being grounded at any one time, though as inspection numbers peak, this is anticipated to reach 50. Airlines affected include British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand.

According to a company spokesperson, the company is: “drawing on resource from across Rolls-Royce and have redeployed engineers and other experts to address the issue, growing the team by more than 200 people.
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Rolls-Royce has advised that the cash hit from the Trent problems should hit a peak of £340M (US$452M) in 2018, though this will fall in 2019. The company anticipates that the cost of the extra inspections will be covered by cutting discretionary spending elsewhere.

Roughly 380 of the affected engines are in service, of which one-third of these require some form of repair work and which can take weeks, according to media reports.

Currently, engines that are given the all clear are subject to further checks under safety rules which only allow the engines to be flown a certain number of times before repeat inspections are required.

ePlane_2018-06-01

Loom Air takes delivery of first LEAP-1A-powered A320neo

Zhejiang Loong Airlines took delivery of the first LEAP-1A-powered A320neo aircraft from the Airbus Final Assembly facility in Tianjin, China.

The airline will be the first in Greater China to operate the advanced engine/aircraft combination. Loong Air launched the LEAP-1A in China when the airline announced an order for engines to power 9 Airbus A320neo aircraft at the Zhuhai Air Show in 2014.

Bernhard Dietrich appointed new Head of Environmental Issues of Lufthansa Group

Bernhard Dietrich will take over as Head of Environmental Issues of the Lufthansa Group from June 2018.

In this function, he is responsible for managing and developing all Group-wide environmental programs and the environmental policy positions of the Lufthansa Group. This involves the continuous improvement of the environmental balance sheet and the representation of the Group's environmental policy interests, including in environmentally relevant institutions and bodies worldwide.

Kellstrom_2018-06-01

Passenger demand growth slows in April

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic data for April 2018 showing that demand (revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose by 6.2% compared to April 2017, which was down from a 12-month high of 9.7% in March.

Comparisons with the year ago period are impacted by developments a year ago – including the comparatively late timing of Easter in 2017, which boosted April traffic. April capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 5.9%, and load factor climbed 0.2 percentage point to 82.3%, which was a record for the month of April, surpassing last year’s record of 82.1%.

Asia Pacific carriers posted an 8.5% traffic rise in April, strongest among the regions. It was the first time since December 2017 that Asia-Pacific airlines led in growth. Capacity rose 7.6% and load factor improved 0.6 percentage point to 81.0%.

Middle East carriers saw demand rise 4.1% in April. Capacity climbed 3.2% and load factor rose 0.7 percentage point to 77.2%.

European airlines’ April traffic increased 3.4% compared to the year-ago period. While this was down compared to the 9.8% year-over-year growth recorded in March, demand picked up in April in seasonally-adjusted terms. Capacity rose 4.0%. While load factor dipped 0.5 percentage point to 84.6%, it still was highest among the regions.

North American airlines posted a 0.9% demand increase compared to April a year ago, which was sharply down compared to the 9.5% growth experienced in March. Capacity climbed 2.4%, and load factor fell 1.2 percentage points to 80.7%.

Latin American airlines experienced a 6.4% rise in April demand compared to the same month last year. Capacity rose 7.5% and load factor slipped 0.8 percentage point to 81.4%.

African airlines’ had a 5.1% traffic increase in April. Capacity rose 4.6%, and load factor edged up 0.4 percentage point to 72.8%.

SR Technics

ST Engineering adopts masterbrand for its subsidiaries

ST Engineering is undertaking a group-wide branding exercise to firstly, adopt a single brand approach by harmonising all its corporate brands by using “ST Engineering” as a masterbrand, and secondly to align the nomenclature of its subsidiaries’ company legal names with that of “ST Engineering”. The brand harmonisation and alignment of company legal names will take effect from 1 June 2018 in a phased approach.

The brand harmonisation will help drive higher brand visibility and position the Group for greater commercial impact and marketing presence as it expands into new global markets and industry segments.

The brand harmonisation will first cover ST Engineering subsidiaries in Singapore and all its global subsidiaries in the Aerospace sector, followed by other overseas companies. The corporate brands of ST Aerospace, ST Electronics, ST Kinetics and ST Marine will be dropped as they take on the masterbrand with sector descriptors of Aerospace, Electronics, Land Systems, and Marine respectively.

On company legal name change, the holding companies of these four business sectors will be the first to adopt “ST Engineering” into their existing company legal names.

The alignment of the company legal names of other local and overseas subsidiaries with the ST Engineering brand will be done progressively from 1 June 2018 onwards.

Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance signs components contract with Spring Airlines

Spring Airlines, China's leading low-cost airline, has signed a long-term contract with AFI KLM E&M for the exclusive support of many of the components in its A320 fleet.

The contract on a "power by the hour" (PBH) basis covers many references mainly in the avionics field. In order to optimize Spring Airlines' operations, which currently has 78 A320s in its fleet, repairs will be carried out in "closed loop" mode by the specialized subsidiary AFI KLM E&M Components China in its Shanghai workshop, close to Spring Airlines' bases at the two Shanghai's airports.

Revima

Elix Aviation Capital delivers ATR 42-500 MSN 564 to Berjaya Air

Elix Aviation Capital has confirmed that it has delivered one ATR 42-500 MSN 564, on lease to Berjaya Air of Malaysia.

This is the first delivery by Elix to Berjaya. With this new customer, Elix continues to develop its global footprint for turboprop leasing services.

Spairliners continues Integrated Component Care services for 15 Embraer E-Jets

Spairliners GmbH and Kenya Airways have extended its existing Integrated Component Care contract covering full component support for 15 E-Jet aircraft of the leading African airline.

With this further long-term prolongation effective by April 2018, the contracted services have been enhanced by an on-site customer representative based in Nairobi and a Line Maintenance Training for Kenya Airways' aircraft mechanics.

Kenya Airways' E-Jet fleet will be supplied from Spairliners' component pool and logistic centers located in Paris and Munich. Additionally, an optimized on-site stock will be provided at Kenya Airways premises for their proprietary use.

Beach Aviation Group

Aventure Aviation acquires additional Boeing 757 to dismantle for parts

Aventure Aviation has acquired for teardown a complete Boeing 757-200, MSN 25436, equipped with heavy-weight landing gear with green time. The dismantling will commence next week in Goodyear, Arizona, USA.

This specific former VIM Airlines aircraft was selected over other shortlisted 757s for its condition, age, and low times and cycles. An additional GTCP331-200ER APU and other spares were also included in the acquisition.

All harvested parts will be inspected on-site, and shipped from Arizona to Aventure's main facilities in Peachtree City, Georgia, USA, located near Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Once refurbished, the harvested parts will soon be available to end users on an exchange as well as outright basis. Aventure is also presently considering the acquisition of several other Airbus and Boeing aircraft, focusing on end-of-life aircraft for dismantling purposes.

Magnetic MRO becomes mobile FAA station

Magnetic MRO has strengthened its FAA repair station capabilities by gaining IA (Inspection Authorization) rights.

Following upon Magnetic MRO‘s strategic expansion into the aviation asset management area and global market expansion to US and Asia, the company has confidently marched towards tactical investments to solidify their planned growth.

As an FAA IA holder, the Magnetic MRO team is able to determine airworthiness by inspecting repairs and alterations offsite, as well as approving for return-to-service concerning any “N” registered aircraft in addition to corresponding parts and appliances according to 14 CFR part 43.

TP Aerospace

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