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Monday, February 25th, 2019
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During the second test flight in a ten-week period, Virgin Galactic announced on February 22 that its commercial SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, reached space for the second time in its five test
flights, achieving an apogee distance of 295,007ft and a speed of M3.04, beating both records from its previous flight into space. This was also the first time a test flight carried three crew members, while the spaceship carried research payloads from the NASA Flight Opportunities program.
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According to the Virgin Galactic press release: “The crew enjoyed extraordinary views of Earth from the black skies of space and, during several minutes of weightlessness while the pilots “feathered”
the spaceship in preparation for a Mach 2.7 re-entry, Beth floated free to complete a number of cabin evaluation test points. The human validation of data previously collected via sensors, and the live testing of other physical elements of the cabin interior, are fundamental to the provision of a safe but enjoyable customer experience.
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Commenting on the successful event, Sir Richard Branson said: “Flying the same vehicle safely to space and back twice in a little over two months, while at the same time expanding the flight
envelope, is testament to the unique capability we have built up within the Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company organizations. I am immensely proud of everyone involved. Having Beth fly in the cabin today, starting to ensure that our customer journey is as flawless as the spaceship itself, brings a huge sense of anticipation and excitement to all of us here who are looking forward
to experiencing space for ourselves. The next few months promise to be the most thrilling yet.”
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BOC Aviation has delivered its first Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft to its newest customer, Icelandair, based in Reykjavik. The aircraft will be powered by CFM LEAP-1B Engines.
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"We are very pleased to team up with BOC Aviation for the financing of our first 737 MAX 9 aircraft delivered from Boeing. We are confident that the outstanding economics of the aircraft will help us with the continued expansion of Icelandair‘s route network," said Bogi Nils Bogason, CEO of Icelandair Group.
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Delta has filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation to launch daily daytime service between Tokyo-Haneda airport and Seattle, Detroit, Atlanta, and Portland, Ore., as well as twice-daily service between Haneda and Honolulu.
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Delta has served the U.S. to Japan market for over 70 years, and today offers seven daily departures from Tokyo with connections to over 150 destinations across the U.S and Latin America. The airline will launch new service in April between Seattle and Osaka in partnership with Korean Air. Additionally, last year, Delta began partnering with Michelin consulting chef Norio Ueno to create meals for all cabins of service for flights to and from Japan.
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Pending government approvals, the new routes would launch with the summer 2020 flying schedule.
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Sri Lankan Airlines and Go Air have signed agreements with Airbus to benefit from the manufacturer’s cloud-based platform Skywise Core.
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Go Air, first Indian customer on Skywise, will use the platform to reduce operational interruptions and maximise aircraft utilisation and flight operations. This will benefit the airline’s existing fleet of
about 50 aircraft and the future deliveries.
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"With the growth of our A320 fleet, we are delighted to join Skywise. We are convinced this digital platform will support our daily operations,” said Mr. Jeh Wadia MD and Acting CEO of GoAir, India.
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Skywise will primarily help Sri Lankan Airlines anticipate maintenance tasks for its A320 and A330 fleet, allowing them to track and analyse their operations and performance data. These will benefit
the airline’s present fleet of 30 aircraft and those on order.
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Air BP has appointed Daniel Tyzack as managing director, Asia Pacific, effective immediately.
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Tyzack will be responsible for operations in the Asia Pacific region as well as strategy development and execution. He will be based at Air BP’s Melbourne, Australia office reporting to CEO, Jon Platt.
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Tyzack brings 25 years of highly valuable and relevant fuels experience from key roles in operations, sales and strategy in Australia as well as pricing, supply and commercial roles in Europe.
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Elix Aviation Capital has delviered one Bombardier Dash 8 Q200, MSN 506, on lease to Safarilink of Kenya.
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This is the first delivery by Elix to Safarilink. With this new customer Elix continues to expand its leasing services in the African Market.
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Liebherr-Aerospace and Mumbai-based Max Aerospace, have signed a cooperation agreement covering repair and maintenance of components as well as maintenance and overhaul of heat exchangers.
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Under the terms of the agreement, signed during Aero India 2019 in Bangalore,
Liebherr-Aerospace renews an already existing repair license on Airbus components and supports Max Aerospace in developing industrial capabilities dedicated to heat exchangers manufactured by Liebherr for Airbus aircraft. Max Aerospace will thus join Liebherr-Aerospace’s worldwide network for heat exchanger maintenance.
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Qantas has reported underlying profit before tax of AU$780 million while statutory profit was AU$735 million.
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Compared with its result of last year, that’s a drop of AU$179 million at the underlying level – and despite a AU$416 million increase in its fuel bill.
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Qantas Loyalty achieved another record result with profit up 4%. This was driven by the strength of the Frequent Flyer program and its growing list of retail partners, as well as continued revenue growth from new ventures – like health insurance and financial services.
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Delta TechOps leaders and employees officially cut the ribbon, opening the world's largest jet engine test cell.
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The test cell, which is the first cell built by a U.S. airline in more than 20 years, is capable of running a mounted, stationary engine at full power with 150,000 pounds of thrust. To compare, the airline's current test cell has a 68,000 pound thrust capacity and the most powerful jet engine in the world today, the GE90 that powers Delta's Boeing 777-200LR fleet, is rated up to 115,000 pounds of thrust.
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Delta is preparing for the future as the new test cell allows the airline to test engines that have yet to be designed and built.
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The test cell, coupled with Delta's new 127,000 ft², state-of-the-art engine repair shop, will allow the airline and its employees to provide maintenance on and test a new assortment of engines including the Trent 1000, Trent 7000 and Trent XWB and the PW1100 and PW1500 variants of the Geared Turbofan.
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In October 2015, Delta and Rolls-Royce signed a formal agreement for Delta TechOps to become an Authorized Maintenance Center for Rolls-Royce engines. Under the agreement, the airline will provide engine services for the latest generation of Rolls-Royce Trent XWB, Trent 1000, Trent 7000 and BR715 engines.
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Japan Airlines (JAL) and India’s full-service carrier, Vistara, have entered a codeshare partnership that will open up more routes between India and Tokyo. With the signing of this agreement, Vistara becomes the only codeshare partner for Japan Airlines in India. The sales of tickets open on February 26, 2019 on all channels and major GDS systems, for travel from February 28, 2019.
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As part of the agreement, Japan Airlines will add its ‘JL’ designator code to approximately 32 Vistara-operated flights each day across India covering seven Indian cities, namely Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune. JAL and Vistara already have an interline/through check-in partnership and the two airlines had signed a Memorandum of Understanding in September 2017 to pursue commercial opportunities as partners.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
March 8, 2019 – Arizona, USA
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