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Friday, September 28th, 2018
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LATEST NEWS
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As China makes progress towards the proposed 2021 delivery date for the first ComacC919, the third of six flight-test aircraft will take to the skies later this year according to Phoenix Media. Between now and 2021 a total of six flight-test and two static-test airframes will be used for the C919’s development, with the manufacturer indicating that it anticipates 1,500 test flights, which will amass 2,000 flight-test hours, will be taken between today and 2021.
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The first two prototypes had been grounded for quite some time while undergoing modifications and it was only in June of this year they took to the skies once again. It was back in 2008 that full-scale development of the standard two-class 158-seat jet began, China’s first ‘home-grown’ commercial passenger jet, and an initial delivery date was penciled in for 2016. However, the project has been continually beset by technical and supply issues. For four years prior to 2018 China had chosen not to provide updated delivery schedules.
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In July the second prototype was transferred from Comac’s factory at Shanghai Pudong International Airport to the Company’s test base at Dongying in the eastern province of Shandong,where riskier flight tests are likely to be conducted in safer environs over water.
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The first set of C919 landing gear made in China was delivered to Comac on September 19, according toAvic, part-owner of Liebherr LAMC Aviation (Changsha) Co. Ltd, the company that manufactured it. This company is a joint venture between Germany’s Liebherrand Avic’s Landing Gear Advanced Manufacturing Corp.
China Eastern Airlines is expected to be the launch operator of the C919.
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TrueNoord, the specialist regional aircraft lessor, has closed a sale-lease back transaction providing two Bombardier CRJ900 ERs to Cityjet DAC on ten year operating lease terms.TrueNoord has partly financed the transaction by the recent term loan warehouse facility underwritten by NORD/LB, Morgan Stanley and Barclays.
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Anne-Bart Tieleman, CEO – TrueNoord, acknowledges the timely additions of these aircraft to TrueNoord’s fleet. “These are the first CRJ900s for TrueNoord – and the aircraft type is in line with our ultimate vision and long-term plan to build up a strong portfolio of young regional aircraft types with a good global spread and leased to first class operators.
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“The merger announcement made at Farnborough 2018 by Air Nostrum and CityJet is indicative of how the regional aviation landscape in Europe will change over the coming years. If approved, this combination will create Europe’s largest airline with a specific focus on ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) capacity provision, and with a merged fleet of almost 100 aircraft, the fusion of CityJet and Air Nostrum will create the first European supplier that starts to approach the scale of its North American counterparts. TrueNoord is delighted to be part of the group of suppliers of modern aircraft that will support this platform and their airline customers.”
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Pat Byrne, Cityjet’s CEO, sees the sub-100 seat sector continuing as the combined fleet’s mainstay: “In recent years, operators like CityJet and Air Nostrum have separately taken strategic decisions to expand their respective ACMI offerings. CityJet has hitherto been a scheduled airline with a substantial presence at London City, but we adopted a new business model to focus on ACMI operations. We now only operate one remaining scheduled route between Dublin and London City, while all other flights are operated for major European carriers, including SAS, Air France, Hop! and Brussels Airlines. Our fleet has now grown to 46 aircraft providing greater scale and serving a more diversified customer base.
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“Europe is catching up with the US in terms of operating the ACMI model in regional aircraft support – the next few years will see larger contracts coming onto the market and we intend to have the right fleet, in terms of aircraft type and size, to meet expanding demand. These two CRJ900s from TrueNoord are part of that strategy.”
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Earlier this year, autonomous snowploughs cleared snow from the runway at Fagernes Airport in Norway for the very first time. This project, which goes by the name of Yeti, is now embarking upon the next phase in its implementation and the snowploughs will go into live operation at Oslo Airport this winter.
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Autonomous snow clearing will allow airports over the world to streamline their activities and reduce delays for their passengers. And now autonomous snowploughs have to prove what they can do. Two autonomous vehicles will be going into live operation and clearing snow at one of the busiest airports in Scandinavia. The future objective is to maintain a fleet of ten autonomous snowploughs that will keep runways clear of snow.
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The Yeti project is the first of its kind to adapt such large machines for autonomous operation in wintry conditions. Semcon is responsible for the technology that makes autonomous snow clearing possible.
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This project has been developed by Yeti Snow Technology, co-owned by Semcon and Øveraasen, for Norwegian airport operator Avinor. The trials at Oslo Airport will begin in January 2019.
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AJW Group, an independent specialist in the global management of aircraft spares, has expanded its Power-by-the-Hour (PBH) support contract with the Greek charter airline, Ellinair.
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The contract, which extends AJW’s long-standing relationship with Ellinair, will see the business use its industry-leading expertise to manage the airline’s total fleet of A320s, based at its operational headquarters in Macedonia International Airport, Thessaloniki.
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Just four years into its operation, Ellinair, part of the Mouzenidis Group, already operates flights to 42 destinations with a fleet of up 10 aircraft (4 Airbus A320 family aircraft on Dry Lease and up to 6 seasonal aircraft on Wet lease).
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Global ONE Media Limited has been selected by AirChinaMedia Co. to license and deliver inflight entertainment IFE content for television, as well as domestic and international movies in multiple languages for its massive global fleet. The contract was signed in September 2018.
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Global ONE Media Beijing team will lead AirChina’s contract with support by IFE teams in One Inflight Ltd. U.K. and the company’s global network.
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AerSale, a global supplier of mid-life aircraft, engines, used serviceable material, and MRO services, has launched a new business unit, AerSale Parts Manufacturing, in Roswell, New Mexico. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on September 25, 2018.
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AerSale Parts Manufacturing has received Parts Manufacturing Approval (PMA) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to produce commercial and military aircraft parts (FAA PMA PQ03874SW). The business unit will also be responsible for developing proprietary systems such as AerSafe and AerTrak, which have been issued Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) from the FAA to comply with the agency’s various rules and mandates.
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The new business unit features a 17,000-ft², FAA-approved manufacturing facility with dedicated fabrication, warehousing and logistics, state-of-the-art LED lighting, and employee-designed-and-built wire harness manufacturing stations with the latest harness retention systems. Teams of aerospace professionals will handle all aspects of the manufacturing process including design, engineering, and production.
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IAI’s BEDEK Aviation Group has entered an official supplier agreement with HNA Group from China.
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Under the agreement, BEDEK’s Engine Division will serve as the maintenance and overhaul center for the V2500 engines of HNA Group's airlines. The engines will be sent to BEDEK by the customers and returned to China following servicing.
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The signing of the agreement was held at HNA Group headquarters in Haikou.
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GA Telesis MRO Services Composite Repair Group facility has received certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
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CAAC approval provides the Composite Repair Group with access to the world’s largest major MRO market for nacelles and flight controls and will allow the company to develop and expand its customer base in the People’s Republic of China. The Composite Repair Group has previously been approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as well as countless other civil aviation authorities globally.
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Panasonic Avionics Corporation and Uzbekistan Airways have announced a new commitment for inflight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) solutions for three Boeing 787-8 and two Airbus A320neo aircraft.
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Panasonic’s X-Series IFEC system, along with a suite of connectivity services, will be line-fit installed on the new aircraft, with the first due to enter service in January 2019.
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In addition, Panasonic’s connectivity services will be retrofitted to three Boeing 787-8s already in operation with the airline.
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Passengers travelling on Uzbekistan Airways’ new Boeing 787-8 and A320neo aircraft will experience a personalized, home theatre experience, with HD screens and high power USB charging facilities at every seat, audio and video entertainment on demand, capacitive multi-touch screens all working in conjunction with a range of applications including inflight retail features.
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The A330-900 has received its Type Certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The aircraft is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification is expected to follow shortly.
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"The A330neo embodies Airbus’ spirit of innovation. This new generation aircraft with unparalleled efficiency and flexibility from short to long haul routes has tremendous market potential,” said Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft. “We look forward to delivering the first aircraft equipped with the beautiful new Airspace cabin to our launch customer TAP Air Portugal in the coming weeks.”
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In agreement with TAP Air Portugal, its first built aircraft served as a demonstrator for route proving around the world visiting more than 12 countries. Together with the two A330-900 flight test aircraft, the certification flight test campaign was successfully completed in around 1,400 flight test hours in under a year since the first flight on 19th October 2017.
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