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Wednesday, December 12th, 2018
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LATEST NEWS
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Airbus China Innovation Centre (ACIC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Royole Technology – a global pioneer in flexible displays, flexible sensors and foldable smartphones. The two parties will collaborate to develop applications that implement flexible electronic technologies in cabin environments and investigate the possibilities for commercial cooperation.
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Airbus has been dedicated to design and manufacture aircraft that provide a better cabin experience for passengers. By investigating the use of flexible displays and flexible sensors in the cabin, Airbus plans to cooperate with Royole Technology by building a futurised, digitalised and personalised cabin to further improve the cabin environment, cabin safety and energy saving.
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Based in Shenzhen, Airbus China Innovation Centre is the first Innovation Centre set up by Airbus in Asia. Its mission is to fully leverage local advantages including innovative talents, partners and the eco-system, and combine this with Airbus' expertise in aerospace to explore breakthroughs in technologies, business models and new growth opportunities. ACIC is now fully operational, with the official office opening ceremony due to take place in early 2019.
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ENAV (the Italian Air Navigation Service Provider) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have presented the first edition of the Italian National Airspace Strategy.
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Air travel is set to grow 50% across Europe over the next 20 years. The goal of the air traffic management (ATM) network in Italy is to service this demand. Airlines and ENAV have joined forces to continue the ongoing modernization of the network, while ensuring safety, improving environmental performance, and reducing costs and delays.
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Successful airspace and ATM modernization is expected to create significant benefits for Italy, including an extra €27 billion in annual GDP and 95,000 new jobs by 2035.
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The Italian National Airspace Strategy initiative was jointly developed by IATA and ENAV with the collaboration of Alitalia and Assaeroporti. The strategy includes a range of initiatives on airspace modernization jointly agreed by key air transport participants. This will ensure continuous evolution of the Italian aviation system and contribute to the national economy, as well as the efficiency of the European and global air transport system.
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ENAV has airspace modernization at the heart of its activities. Free Route Airspace is already a reality in Italian airspace, reducing fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and costs. The company is one of the best in Europe for on-time performance.
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Roberta Neri, ENAV CEO stated: “Customers are at the center of our activities and we highly value this cooperation with IATA, Alitalia and Assaeroporti to support the safe and efficient growth of the air transport sector in Italy, providing benefits to passengers and the overall economy while creating value for all stakeholders involved. I firmly believe that this initiative is just a starting point and will attract additional airlines, airports and aviation actors. Under the steering and oversight of the national authorities and our Regulator, ENAC, we can work together to ensure the long-term success of the aviation system in Italy”.
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Rafael Schvartzman, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Europe, said, “Italy is a vital and popular air transport market—the fourth biggest in Europe—so planning for the future is crucial. Our research shows that air traffic management performance is critical to improve the growth and efficiency of the economy. ENAV’s leadership in working with airlines and airports on an Italian National Airspace Strategy is therefore hugely significant. Our close partnership with ENAV will ensure that Italian airspace is optimized, bringing substantial economic benefits to the country.”
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Alessandro Cardi, Deputy Director General of ENAC, said, “ENAC is looking at this initiative very positively and is in favour of any agreements that derive from it. The shortage of capacity experienced this summer is a warning that puts in perspective the need for activities to be brought forward by all the actors of aviation system. In the near future the aviation system will need to deliver more and more capacity and this will only be possible if a high level of cooperation between air service providers, carriers, and airport operators is established. ENAC will support any initiative able to realize such cooperation.”
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Bombardier has released its 2019 business unit guidance and confirmed that it remains on track to achieve its 2020 financial objectives. The 2019 guidance reflects the anticipated closing of the sale of both Business Aircraft’s flight and technical training activities and the Q Series aircraft program as of September 30, 2019.
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For 2019, Bombardier is targeting revenues of US$18 billion or more, representing a year-over-year increase of approximately 10% over 2018 guidance. This growth is expected to be driven by: the entry-into-service of the Global 7500 aircraft, which is sold out through 2021; execution on Bombardier’s strong US$34-billion rail backlog, which covers more than 80% of Transportation’s targeted 2019 and 2020 revenues; and an increased focus on aftermarket services across the portfolio. Aftermarket revenues are estimated to grow from approximately US$3.5 billion in 2018 to approximately US$4.0 billion in 2020 as the Company continues to optimize its aftermarket and services operations, leveraging its large installed base which includes over 100,000 rail cars, more than 4,700 business jets and approximately 1,250 regional jets.
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Profitability is anticipated to grow faster than the top line, and is expected to be driven by solid conversion on revenue growth and the strategic reshaping of Commercial Aircraft. EBITDA before special items is targeted to grow by approximately 30% over 2018 guidance to a range of US$1.65 billion to US$1.80 billion, while EBIT before special items is targeted to increase by approximately 20% over 2018 guidance to a range of US$1.15 billion to US$1.25 billion.
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From a free cash flow perspective, 2019 is expected to mark the transition from a heavy investment cycle to a strong growth and cash generation cycle. Sustainable capital expenditures are projected to decrease to approximately US$800 million or less on an annualized basis, which represents a decrease of approximately 50% from the previous five-year average.
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On a normalized basis, before one-time items, Bombardier estimates free cash flow in a range of US$250 million to US$500 million for 2019. One-time items that are expected to impact free cash flow in 2019 include; a US$250-million charge for the previously announced restructuring; and a working capital contingency of US$250 million largely associated with the intense ramp-up of the Global 7500 program. Free cash flow including these one-time items is targeted to be breakeven plus or minus US$250 million, resulting in an estimated cash on hand exceeding US$3.0 billion by year end.
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Along with announcing its 2019 business unit guidance, Bombardier reaffirmed its 2020 objectives of revenues in excess of US$20 billion, EBITDA before special items over US$2.25 billion, EBIT before special items over US$1.6 billion and free cash flow between US$750 million and US$1 billion. In addition to generating strong cash flow from operations, Bombardier anticipates ending 2020 with strong liquidity, including more than US$3.5 billion of cash on hand and a significantly improved leverage ratio.
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MRO service provider SR Technics has signed an eight-year partnership with one of the aftermarket’s leading suppliers, VAS Aero Services. Under the agreement, VAS will provide aircraft components exchange and repair services for SR Technics involving multiple Airbus and Boeing fleets.
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The new partnership marks the first major material supply partnership with a non-OEM company for the SR Technics’ business unit Component Services. By covering service-level guaranteed exchange services, repair services, and leasing services, the collaboration will enable SR Technics to continue to provide cost-effective and reliable solutions to its airline customers.
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VAS has been supporting SR Technics in engine services for several years. The expansion of their collaboration into the Component Services business aims to leverage the strengths of both companies.
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Air Lease Corporation has reported the lease placement of one new Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft on long-term lease with Aeromexico.
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Scheduled for delivery in fall 2019, the aircraft will feature LEAP-1B28 engines and deliver from ALC’s order book with Boeing. This 737 MAX 9 will join two Boeing 737-800s and three Boeing 787-9s currently on lease to Aeromexico, as well as a fourth 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft scheduled to deliver to the airline in spring 2019.
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Embraer has successfully completed the troop unloading, evacuation by hatch and evacuation tests through the front and rear doors of the KC-390 multi-mission medium airlift recently held at Brasília Air Force Base, in Brazil.
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The tests complied with the requirements for achieving the Final Operational Capability (FOC), which is the subject of the final military certification of the aircraft, due to occur in the last quarter of 2019. The tests were supported by the Brazilian Air Force as well as the Brazilian Army and involved approximately 370 military personnel.
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“By completing this important stage of the testing campaign toward final military certification with excellence, the KC-390 demonstrates compliance with the industry's most stringent operating and safety standards,” said Walter Pinto Junior, vice-president of the KC-390 Program.
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Embraer KC-390 is a tactical airlift designed to set new standards in its category while presenting the lowest life-cycle cost of the market. It can perform a variety of missions such as cargo and troop transport, troop and cargo air delivery, aerial refueling, search and rescue and forest fire fighting.
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Honeywell has confirmed United Arab Emirates-based Falcon Aviation Services as a member of its global channel partner network. The agreement covers the sale, installation and service of Honeywell avionics for Middle East-based helicopter operators.
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The arrangement between the two companies will augment the avionics service and upgrade options available to regional helicopter operators by offering a more localized repair and installation for Honeywell equipment at Falcon Aviation Services’ Abu Dhabi-based facilities. This will allow faster turnaround time for maintenance, repair and overhaul activities, which in turn can reduce helicopter downtime.
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There are currently 1,536 government or military-owned helicopters in operation in the Middle East, with an additional 202 commercial helicopters in private ownership across the region. The channel partnership between Falcon Aviation Services and Honeywell will see an improvement to the services available to these operators.
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Honeywell’s Channel Partner Program offers a concierge-level service to its members, including dedicated sales and marketing support, exclusive access to technical experts, tailored product training, and other incentives, including integration and installation of Honeywell’s latest technologies.
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Jet Aviation has signed a preferred Fixed Base Operation (FBO) service agreement with Excellent Air, which operates Europe’s largest fleet of Cessna CJ2 aircraft as-well-as several Cessna XLS aircraft based in Memmingen, Germany.
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Excellent Air offers its customers a full-service, door-to-door charter experience on its twin-engined Cessna business jets. Under the agreement signed at MEBAA 2018 in Dubai, Jet Aviation becomes the preferred handling service provider for Excellent Air at its FBO locations in EMEA.
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Hawaiian Airlines has welcomed more than 937,000 guests in November 2018, a decrease of 0.8% over the same period last year. Total traffic increased 2.8% on an increase of 5.0% in capacity. Load factor decreased 1.8 points to 84.1% compared to the same period in 2017.
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Effective Dec. 18, Delta is updating its service and support animal policy. The enhancements introduce a ban on service and support animals under four months of age regardless of flight length as well as a ban on emotional support animals on flights longer than eight hours.
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“We will continue to review and enhance our policies and procedures as health and safety are core values at Delta,” said John Laughter, Senior Vice President – Corporate Safety, Security and Compliance. “These updates support Delta's commitment to safety and also protect the rights of customers with documented needs – such as veterans with disabilities – to travel with trained service and support animals.”
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Delta’s updated policy follows an 84% increase in reported incidents involving service and support animals 2016-2017, including urination/defecation, biting and even a widely reported attack by a 70-pound dog. The updated support and service animal age requirement aligns with the vaccination policy of the CDC, and the eight-hour flight limit for emotional support animals is consistent with the principles outlined in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Carrier Access Act.
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As a result of the policy changes, customers ticketed on or after Dec. 18 will no longer be permitted to originate travel with emotional support animals on flights longer than eight hours and will no longer be permitted to originate travel with service and support animals under four months of age regardless of flight length. Customers with tickets purchased prior to Dec. 18, who have already requested to travel with an emotional support animal will be allowed to travel as originally ticketed.
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Regardless of booking date, emotional support animals will not be accepted on flights longer than eight hours on or after Feb. 1. Additionally, service and support animals under four months of age will not be accepted on flights of any length on or after Feb. 1. Customers will be contacted by Delta’s Reservations and Customer Care teams to adjust reservations if the policy update impacts their travel plans.
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Southwest Airlines has reported its November statistics. The Company reported that traffic in November 2018 increased 4.9% compared to November 2017 and capacity increased 6.5%. The November 2018 load factor was 84.5% slightly down, compared with 85.8% in November 2017.
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David L. Cunningham, president and chief executive officer of FedEx Express, will retire effective December 31, 2018. Raj Subramaniam, currently executive vice president, chief marketing and communications officer of FedEx Corporation, will succeed Cunningham effective January 1, 2019.
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Cunningham began his FedEx career in 1982 in operations at the FedEx Express World Hub in Memphis, Tenn. Over his more than 36-year career, he held numerous leadership positions across the FedEx Express operating company in multiple regions, including chief operating officer and president – international, FedEx Express Asia Pacific chief financial officer, and regional president of the Asia Pacific region.
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Subramaniam has been with FedEx for more than 27 years and has held various executive level positions in several of our operating companies and international regions. He began his career in Memphis and subsequently moved to Hong Kong, where he oversaw marketing and customer service for the Asia Pacific region. Subramaniam then took over as president of FedEx Express in Canada before moving back to the U.S. as senior vice president of international marketing. He was then promoted to executive vice president of marketing in 2013 at FedEx Services, prior to being named executive vice president and chief marketing and communications officer at FedEx Corporation in 2017.
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Brie Carere, a more than 17-year FedEx veteran, will succeed Subramaniam as executive vice president, chief marketing and communications officer of FedEx Corporation.
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February 19 - 20, 2019 – Palma de Majorca, Spain
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