|
|
|
|
Thursday, March 14th, 2019
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
After the second fatal crash of a Boeing 737 MAX jet in under five months, the U.S Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has halted the operation of the aircraft. This is the second time the FAA has
had to intervene with a Boeing Jet in six years after it temporarily grounded the 787 Dreamliner in 2013 over lithium battery problems.
|
According to Reuters, Shares of the world’s biggest plane maker, which were up earlier in the session, fell 2 percent to US$370.48. The shares have fallen about 13 percent since Sunday’s crash, losing about US$32 billion of market value.
|
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, President Trump said: “We’re going to be issuing an emergency order of prohibition to ground all flights of the 737 MAX 8 and the 737 MAX 9 and planes associated with that line.
|
“The FAA is prepared to make an announcement very shortly regarding the new information and physical evidence that we have received from the site, and from other locations and through a
couple of other complaints.”
|
Boeing has confirmed it supports the move by the FAA, while adding that it has said it has full confidence in the 737 MAX – which has 371 jets in operation around the world.
|
In the meantime, discovering the cause of the crash has suffered a major setback with Germany’s federal agency responsible for investigating aircraft accidents unable to analyze the data
from black boxes recovered from the crash site of the Ethiopian Airlines jet which crashed on Sunday killing all 157 passengers and crew on board.
|
“This is a new type of aircraft with a new black box, with new software. We can’t do it,” said Germout Freitag, a spokesman for Germany’s Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
STS Component Solutions expands into China with the opening of a sales office in Guangzhou.
|
The establishment of this location was driven by current customer demand and projected organizational growth in the Asia-Pacific region over the next 20 years. This new facility is the company’s third office to open in mainland China.
|
A team of Account Managers and Customer Service Representatives are already fully operational in Guangzhou and supporting STS' growing network of customers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
BOC Aviation has reported its financial highlights for the year ended 31 December 2018. Total revenues and other income rose 23% year-on-year, to US$1,726 million. Profit before tax was US$685 million, up 24% year-on-year, and net profit after tax was US$620 million.
|
Total assets increased 14% year-on-year, to US$18 billion at 31 December 2018. The company raised US$2.7 billion in new financing and ended the year with a debt to equity ratio of 3.0 times. BOC Aviation maintained strong liquidity with US$243 million in total cash and short-term deposits, and US$3.6 billion in undrawn committed credit facilities at 31 December 2018.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In a bid to streamline operations and educe aircraft running costs, Lufthansa Group has
confirmed the placement of an order for 20 Boeing 787-900 and Airbus A350-900 state-of-the-art
long-haul jets. While neither the Group nor the two airplane makers would confirm the agreed purchase figures, at book prices the deals have a total value of US$12 billion. Set for delivery between 2022 and 2027, the new jets will replace existing four-engine long-haul aircraft.
|
Commenting on the Group’s decision, Carsten Spohr, CEO and Chairman of Lufthansa Group,
said: “By replacing four-engine planes with new models, we are laying a sustainable foundation for our future in the long run. In addition to the cost-effectiveness of the A350 and B787, the significantly lower CO2 emissions of this new generation of long-haul aircraft was also a decisive factor in our investment decision. Our responsibility for the environment is becoming more
and more important as a criterion for our decisions.”
|
Incorporating these new more-economical aircraft, operating costs in comparison to early aircraft should drop by around 20 percent. Additionally, Lufthansa Group should significantly reduce the diversification and complexity of its fleet over the next few years through taking seven aircraft types out of service, so reducing cost and complexity for maintenance and the supply of replacement parts.
|
The Lufthansa Group will also sell six of its 14 Airbus A380 planes to Airbus. The aircraft will be leaving Lufthansa in 2022 and 2023. Lufthansa continuously monitors the profitability of its world-wide route network. As a consequence, the group is reducing the size of its Airbus A380 fleet from 14 aircraft to eight for economic reasons.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sky Prime, the Saudi Arabia-based private jet operator, has chosen the Honeywell Avionics Protection Plan and Mechanical Protection Plans to ensure the Honeywell equipment on board its Gulfstream jets is protected to enhance performance of the aircraft and help reduce downtime during repairs.
|
The Honeywell Avionics Protection Plan (HAPP) is a maintenance service program that offers full coverage for all Honeywell avionics. The plan is designed to help operators avoid unplanned maintenance costs and downtime by agreeing to a fixed-price annual fee, which helps operators handle unforeseen issues quickly to keep their aircraft in service. The Honeywell Mechanical Protection Plan (MPP) provides aircraft operators with access to rapid service and support from
Honeywell-trained product experts for maintenance of Honeywell mechanical technologies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has completed the delivery of six Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft to Gulf Air. The aircraft lease agreement was signed in November 2017 and the aircraft were delivered between April 2018 and February 2019.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One year after announcing its agreement with Honeywell to serve as the only authorized TFE731 heavy engine maintenance facility located in the Europe, Middle East, Africa and India (EMEAI) region, StandardAero’s Fleetlands, U.K., facility has also been granted European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority. The EASA approval follows Honeywell’s certification of the Fleetlands’ test cell earlier this month.
|
Both certifications follow several months of test cell modifications at Fleetlands, culminating in the successful testing of TFE731-5BR and TFE731-60 model engines where test data from these engines was also tested and correlated within a Honeywell production test cell located in Phoenix, Arizona.
|
In addition to engine MRO services, StandardAero is authorized to perform line level maintenance on Honeywell 36-series APUs at the Fleetlands facility and the company is continuing with expanding Mobile Service Teams in EMEAI to provide on-site service to the approximately 600 business aviation operators in the region.
|
|
|
|
|
|
QAZAQ AIR, the young regional Kazakh airline, has signed up for Rusada’s maintenance management software, ENVISION.
|
QAZAQ AIR has carried over 800,000 passengers since its launch in 2015. Utilising a fleet of modern Bombardier Q400’s, the carrier serves multiple destinations across Kazakhstan including
Astana, Atyrau, Uralsk, Aktau, and Zhezkazgan.
|
Rusada will now work closely alongside QAZAQ AIR to deliver a seamless and timely transition to ENVISION, allowing the carrier to focus all their efforts on day-to-day operations. This is the company’s first customer in Kazakhstan and expands their presence in the CIS region.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AeroMobile, a subsidiary of Panasonic Avionics Corporation, has added TAP Air Portugal to its connected fleet. TAP Air Portugal’s first connected Airbus A330-900neo entered into service in December 2018.
|
TAP Air Portugal is the very first airline to operate the next generation A330-900neo aircraft. The onboard AeroMobile service allows TAP Air Portugal passengers in all cabin classes to use their mobile devices to send and receive SMS, catch up with emails and browse the internet from 20,000 feet.
|
Following the successful launch of its first aircraft with inflight mobile connectivity, TAP Air Portugal will add an additional 37 aircraft over the next year, reaching a total of 71 aircraft by 2025. The
A330-900neo fleet with inflight mobile connectivity will be deployed on services to Sao Paulo, with four other Brazil destinations launching across 2019.
|
|
|
|
|
|
WNG Capital the independently owned lessor of mid-life and older Airbus and Boeing narrow body commercial aircraft, has welcomed three new experienced professionals to its team.
|
Gerry Aubrey has joined as Chief Operating Officer to lead WNG Capital’s lease transitions, aircraft purchase evaluations, and technical and asset management teams. He also participates on the Company’s Investment and Executive Committees.
|
Jennifer Wallace has been hired to serve as Corporate Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer at WNG Capital. She is responsible for investor-related legal and compliance functions and provides support for the Company’s aircraft lease transactions.
|
Stéphane Depeyre has joined WNG’s experienced origination and marketing team as a Marketing Director mainly responsible for airline and lessor relationships in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
click here to download the latest PDF edition
|
|
|
|
click here to download the latest PDF edition
|
click here to subscribe to our other free publications
|
|
AIRCRAFT & ENGINE MARKETPLACE
|
click here to view in PDF aircraft and engines available for sale and lease
|
|
UPCOMING EVENTS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
