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Tuesday, January 8th, 2019
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LATEST NEWS
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After the chaos caused by drone sightings at London Gatwick Airport between December 19 and December 21 last year, both London Heathrow and London Gatwick Airport have invested heavily in military-grade anti-drone equipment to ensure that further levels of disruption from the presence or suspected presence of drones can be avoided. There were sightings of drones over the three days at London Gatwick, the chief constable of Sussex police, Giles York, confirming that officers had received 115 reports of sightings in the area, including 93 that had been confirmed as coming from “credible people” including a pilot and airport staff.
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As a consequence of the disruption, around 140,000 passengers were affected as approximately 1,000 flights were canceled. At the time, to enable Gatwick to become operable again, the Israeli-developed Drone Dome system, which can detect and jam communications between a drone and its operator, was deployed.
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While spokespersons for both London Gatwick and Heathrow Airports have confirmed that state-of-the-art military-grade anti drone systems have been installed, no further details of the specific type have been revealed. Many other airports in the U.K. are now investigating the opportunity to install similar, but smaller anti-drone systems. It is believed that the cost of the new anti-drone systems at the U.K.’s two largest airports cost £5m (US$6.2m) per installation.
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A spokeswoman for Heathrow airport said: “The safety of our passengers and colleagues remains our top priority. Working closely with relevant authorities including the Met police, we are constantly looking at the best technologies that help remove the threat of drones.”
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C&L Aviation Services, a C&L Aviation Group company, has signed an Aircraft Maintenance Service Agreement with Embraer Netherlands (ENL), who is responsible for the asset management of the Embraer commercial aircraft portfolio, to perform heavy maintenance, interior refurbishment, paint, and other services on the pre-flown ERJ 135/145 aircraft which they refurbish and remarket to their operator customers.
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C&L expanded into the ERJ 135/145 market two years ago and now offers a full range of services from maintenance and inspections, to aircraft painting and interior refurbishment, to teardowns and aircraft records management. C&L also provides parts support, power-by-the-hour programs, component repair services and aircraft transactions for the ERJ 135 and ERJ 145 aircraft.
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Qatar Airways Cargo has commenced freighter services to Guadalajara, Mexico, expanding its network in the Americas region. The new destination is being served by the airline’s Boeing 777 freighter.
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Guadalajara has been added as a new destination on the cargo carrier’s high demand transpacific freighter route, commencing January 6, 2019. The twice-weekly freighter departs directly from Macau to Los Angeles in North America and connects onward to Mexico City arriving in Guadalajara, before departing for Doha via Liège.
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Guadalajara is the capital and largest city of the Mexican State of Jalisco. It has the third-largest economy and industrial infrastructure in Mexico. Major exports on the flights consist of perishables and general cargo, while general cargo will form the majority of imports.
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2018 has been highly successful for Qatar Airways Cargo with cargo volumes increasing by 10% in 2018 compared to 2017. Exports grew by 14% and transshipments have increased by 12% over the previous year. The carrier’s products have also performed exceptionally well with positive tonnage growth and the introduction of several enhancements to its products, such as the roll out of the automated mail management system across its network that greatly benefits customers of postal mail and e-commerce.
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In addition to launching freighter services to Macau and commencing transpacific freighter services, the carrier added belly-hold cargo capacity to several key destinations and also received two brand new Boeing 777 freighters as part of its expansion strategy. Qatar Airways Cargo operated more than 300 charters carrying products ranging from racehorses, cattle, pharmaceuticals, perishables, garments and cars.
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Norwegian has reported its highest ever passenger figures in a single year with more than 37 million passengers and a load factor of 86% in 2018. December 2018 was also characterised by passenger growth as Norwegian carried 2,402,005 passengers, up 15% from the same month previous year. Capacity was up 34% and traffic increased 24% compared to December 2017. The load factor was 78.6%, down 6.0 points compared to the previous year.
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AerCap Holdings N.V. has announced its major business transactions during the fourth quarter and the full year 2018.
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AirCap has signed lease agreements for 257 aircraft and purchased 76 aircraft during 2018. The company has executed sale transactions for 103 aircraft and has signed financing transactions for US$6.9 billion.
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During the fourth quarter 2018 AerCap has signed lease agreements for 72 aircraft, including 8 widebody aircraft and 64 narrowbody aircraft and has purchased 37 aircraft, including 26 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft, 2 Airbus A350s, 3 Boeing 737 MAX 8s, 5 Boeing 787s and 1 Embraer E2.
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The company has executed sale transactions for 36 aircraft, including 14 Airbus A320 Family aircraft, 2 Airbus A330s, 6 Boeing 737NGs, 1 Boeing 737 Classic, 1 Boeing 757, 2 Boeing 777-200ERs and 1 Boeing 777-300 from AerCap’s owned portfolio and 9 Airbus A320 Family aircraft from AerCap’s managed portfolio.
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During the fourth quarter AerCap has signed financing transactions for US$500 million.
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The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), has named Katie Taplett as managing director of Member and Market Development.
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Taplett brings almost thirty years of sales, business development, and market/partnership development experience in the field of media and information services, working specifically with various business-to-business content providers and trade publishers within the aviation and space communities.
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She has extensive expertise in the strategic implementation of client sales engagement with both U.S. and non-U.S. clients with a focus on digital media, lead generation, and content creation. Taplett also has significant experience in the development of customer-driven marketing programs that feature integrated product offerings and branding strategies.
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Most recently, Taplett was Managing Director at MediaCOMMS and has worked at nationally recognized brands such as Aviation Week, Defense News/Sightline Media Group, Government Executive and Jane’s Information Group to name a few.
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TAG Aviation (UK) has successfully received renewed accreditation to the Wyvern Wingman Standard safety program following a rigorous on-site safety audit conducted by Wyvern.
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The Wingman Standard is globally acknowledged as the industry’s benchmark in aviation safety and reflects a commitment to current aviation best practice and the highest level of safety and protocol. Wingman certified operators must successfully pass a Wingman audit which demands transparency with respect to safety records, operational history and operating procedures, pilot experience, established training practices and a close evaluation of critical programs such as the Safety Management System and Emergency Response Plan.
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Safety is one of TAG Aviation’s core values and successful completion of the Wingman Standard audit is an assurance to customers, industry partners and employees of the on-going commitment to maintain the highest standards at all times. “We are proud to have had our prestigious Wyvern Wingman status renewed. It is a hugely important endorsement within the business aviation industry and underpins our investment in providing best-in-class service and operations”, said Patricia Davis, Head of Compliance and Safety, TAG (UK).
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HAECO Private Jet Solutions (HAECO PJS), HAECO Group’s private jet cabin completion specialist, has entered into a collaboration agreement on private jet cabin designs with Eight Partnership (Eight), one of Asia’s leading design firms, with a diverse portfolio in luxury markets, including ultra-high-end hospitality and luxury residential real estate in the region.
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The scope of the collaboration is to jointly develop conceptual and industrial cabin designs for private jets. Together, the partners will deliver bespoke, luxurious, sophisticated cabins for esteemed private jet owners.
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HAECO PJS is the first and only Airbus-approved and Boeing-licensed cabin completion centre in Asia Pacific. It offers a complete range of solutions from industrial design, engineering design and certification to cabin completion.
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Rolls-Royce has announced Avolon as a new customer for LifeKey, its pioneering asset management offering, available exclusively to its LessorCare customers.
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LifeKey is a central component of LessorCare, which was launched a year ago offering a single, comprehensive agreement for all Trent engine types. LessorCare provides faster and easier access to lessor services, offers the incorporation of services today and for the future, and maximises possible return on investment. Rolls-Royce has signed LessorCare contracts with 14 customers, covering almost half of its leased widebody fleet.
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Enhancing and replacing the Operating lessor Engine Restoration Agreement (OPERA), LifeKey complements LessorCare by offering unique improvements in terms of greater visibility, accessibility, portability and liquidity.
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Rolls-Royce expects to bring all lessors using the existing OPERA (Operating Lessor Engine Restoration Agreement) mechanism over to LifeKey, which is only available as part of LessorCare.
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STS Aviation Group, a leading global aviation solutions company, has selected Greenbriar Equity Group, L.P. (Greenbriar), a New York-based private investment firm, as its new equity partner.
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STS provides a range of solutions to the global aviation industry, including component sales and distribution, workforce management, engineering services, line maintenance, and aircraft repair and modifications. The company is well-known for its breadth of capabilities and customer-centric approach to helping airlines and aircraft operators meet their critical operational and people requirements worldwide.
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2017 was considered the safest year ever in commercial aviation history, nevertheless the events in 2018 were a reminder that safety should not be taken for granted. Worldwide in 2018 there were 530 fatalities in 11 fatal accidents, setting us back to a level not experienced since 2015.
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The detailed figures for Europe show that there were no fatal accidents involving commercial passenger airlines, however 20 persons were killed in a fatal accident, involving a sightseeing flight using a historic aircraft in the Swiss Alps.
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The key message from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is that we should never be complacent with safety and remain persistent in our efforts devoted to protecting passengers and citizens. Furthermore, EASA is committed to the collaborative safety efforts to ensure that risks at European Level and worldwide are identified and mitigated effectively.
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Figures show that there were 11 fatal accidents and 530 fatalities at a global level for commercial air transport involving large aeroplanes. Despite there being the same number of fatal accidents in 2018 compared with the previous year, there were the highest number of fatalities since 2015.
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Looking at the number of fatalities since 1970 the number of fatalities in 2018 is still significantly below even recent historical figures in the 1990s and 2000s. The technological advances in aviation and the industry s efforts to introduce Safety Management Systems (SMS) helps to maintain aviation as a very safe form of transport.
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There were no fatal accidents in commercial airline operations involving an operator from the EASA Member States. However, there was one fatal accident in commercial operations with aeroplanes, which was a Junkers JU-52 that crashed in elevated terrain in the Alps of Switzerland on 4 August 2018 with the loss of 20 lives. This accident involved a historic aircraft built in 1939, although the aircraft was undertaking a commercial flight it was a unique event compared with traditional airline operations.
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GA Telesis has announced the promotion of Alex Tuttle to Chief Operating Officer and Andreas Bauer, Ph.D., to Senior Vice President Operations, Logistics and Quality. Both positions will report to Jason Reed, President, Component Solutions Group (CSG).
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Bringing over 22 years of aviation engine management and operations experience, Tuttle joined GAT in 2002 and has held several positions of increasing responsibility, the most recent as Vice President of the Engine Solutions Group (ESG). As COO, he will be responsible for oversight of all engine and airframe product line sales, asset management & disposition, procurement, repair & repair management, as well as all flight hour program activities.
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Bauer’s experience in aviation operations management, inventory control, logistics and quality control spans the greater part of 20 years, 5 of those at GAT. With this promotion, he will expand his responsibilities from his previous position as VP, Operations, Logistics & Quality Control to include Quality Assurance and Facilities management under his realm.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
February 19 - 20, 2019 – Palma de Majorca, Spain
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