Daily2018-02-20

LATEST NEWS

Wednesday, May 1st, 2019

Fraport lays cornerstone for new Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport

As part of one of Europe’s largest privately financed infrastructure projects, Fraport AG has laid the cornerstone for the new Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport. Due for completion in 2021, Pier G will provide capacity for an additional 5 million travelers to the current level of 70 million in 2018. With the completion of Piers H and J by 2023 capacity will have increased by 21 million, while completion of Pier K will increase the overall capacity of Terminal 3 to 25 million travelers, at an estimated cost of between €3.5 and €4.0 billion (US$3.9 and US$4.5 billion.) Fraport Ausbau Süd GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fraport AG, is responsible for managing, supervising and monitoring the construction project.

During the ceremony, Fraport CEO Schulte stated: “We are building the future with Terminal
3―for Frankfurt Airport, the entire Rhine-Main region and far beyond. By employing state-of-the-art technology and intelligent processes to create an outstanding passenger experience, we are meeting the promise inherent in our slogan, ‘Gute Reise! We make it happen’.”

ELFC

After weak first quarter Lufthansa Group expects to increase unit revenues in second quarter

Following a weak first quarter of 2019 that resulted in an Adjusted EBIT for the period of EUR -336 million, Lufthansa expects to see substantially improved trends in the rest of the year. “Overcapacities, especially on short- and medium-haul European routes, substantially depressed our first-quarter earnings,” says Ulrik Svensson, Chief Financial Officer of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. “We are confident, though, that we will see a recovery in our unit revenues as early as the second
quarter. Our confidence is based above all on our favorable booking levels for the months ahead.”

Total revenues for the Lufthansa Group for the first quarter of 2019 amounted to EUR 7.9 billion, a three-percent increase on the same period last year. First-quarter Adjusted EBIT amounted to EUR -336 million, substantially down on the EUR 52 million of the prior-year period. The key drivers of this earnings decline were a EUR 202 million increase in fuel costs and a deterioration in unit revenues in Europe. A continued reduction of unit costs could only partially offset the decline. The Adjusted EBIT margin for the period amounted to -4.3 percent (prior-year period: 0.7 percent). The Group’s net income declined to EUR -342 million (prior-year period: EUR -39 million).

The Network Airlines of Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines achieved an aggregate Adjusted EBIT of EUR -160 million (prior-year period: EUR 132 million). Adjusted EBIT margin amounted to -3.3 percent, a six-percentage-point decline from the 2.7 percent of the prior-year period. First-quarter unit revenues (adjusted for currency movements) declined 5.2 percent, owing mainly to the difficult European market situation. The long-haul business to and from Asia and North America showed much more encouraging trends. Unit costs (adjusted for fuel and currency influences) were reduced by 0.8 percent.

First-quarter Adjusted EBIT for Eurowings declined to EUR ‑257 million (prior-year period: EUR -212 million). Unit revenues (adjusted for currency movements) were 8.5 percent below their prior-year level, owing mainly to the high pricing pressures on short-haul routes, which account for a larger portion of total revenues at Eurowings than they do at the Network Airlines. Unit costs (adjusted for fuel and currency influences) were 7.2 percent below their prior-year levels.

AFG

First JAL A350-900 rolls-out of Airbus' paint shop

The first A350 XWB for Japan Airlines (JAL) has rolled out of the Airbus paint shop in Toulouse, France. The A350-900 is the first ever Airbus aircraft to be produced directly for JAL and features a special A350 XWB red logo on the fuselage.

The aircraft will now proceed to ground and flight tests, before delivery to JAL in early summer.

In total JAL has ordered 31 A350 XWB aircraft, comprising 18 A350-900s and 13 A350-1000s. The A350-900 will initially be operated on major domestic routes, with a three-class configuration seating 369 passengers.

Bombardier unveils Soleil Lighting System on its Global 7500 aircraft

Bombardier Business Aircraft has unveiled the Soleil lighting system, the advanced cabin lighting technology, on the Global 7500 business jet. Designed and developed exclusively for the Global 7500 aircraft, the innovative Soleil lighting system is aviation’s first circadian rhythm-based cabin lighting technology fully integrated with the Flight Management System, and it introduces the Dynamic Daylight Simulation feature, which can help combat jet lag.

The Soleil lighting system’s Dynamic Daylight Simulation uses specific combinations of red and blue light wavelengths that studies have shown to help stimulate or suppress the production of melatonin – which assists in regulating the sleep-wake cycle and can help contribute to synchronizing passengers’ circadian rhythms to the time at their destination.

ePlane

MTU Aero Engines reports profitable growth in the first quarter of 2019

In the first quarter of 2019, MTU Aero Engines AG saw its revenues increase by 11% from €1,016.4 million to €1,131.2 million. The group’s operating profit grew by 7% to €187.6 million (1-3/2018: €175.1 million), resulting in an adjusted EBIT margin of 16.6% (1-3/2018: 17.2%). Net income increased in line with EBIT adjusted, rising by 8% from €123.3 million to €133.5 million.

“These results confirm our assumptions for our full-year business development,” said Reiner Winkler, CEO of MTU Aero Engines AG. “We therefore maintain our prediction of continued profitable growth in all operating segments.“

In the first quarter, MTU recorded the highest revenue growth in the commercial engine business. Revenues here increased by 21% from €318.7 million to €385.6 million.

Revenues in the commercial maintenance business increased by 6%, rising from €618.2 million in the first quarter of 2018 to €655,1 million.

Revenues in the military engine business increased by 15% to €105.1 million in the first quarter (1-3/2018: €91.3 million).

MTU’s order backlog reached €18.5 billion (Dec. 31, 2018: €17.6 billion) at the end of March 2019 . “In arithmetical terms, this corresponds to a workload of almost four years and reflects MTU’s strong market position,” said Winkler. The majority of these orders relate to the V2500 and the Geared Turbofan™ engines of the PW1000G family, in particular the PW1100G-JM for the A320neo.

Commercial maintenance business reported the highest percentage growth in earnings, with EBIT adjusted increasing by 10% to €56.8 million (1-3/2018: €51.5 million). The EBIT margin rose from 8.3% in the first quarter of 2018 to 8.7% in the same period of 2019. In the OEM segment, MTU increased its first-quarter earnings by 6% from €123.4 million to €130.5 million. The EBIT margin stood at 26.6% compared with 30.1% at the end of March 2018.

S7 Technics’ aircraft painting centre completes its 100th order

S7 Technics’ Mineralnye Vody-based aircraft painting centre has reached its first significant milestone by completing the re-painting of its 100th aircraft. Some 250,000 man-hours, about 30,000 litres of paint and 60,000 litres of accompanying chemicals (solvents, paint removers,
etc.), as well as more than 300,000 abrasive disks were required for the aircraft painting centre to reach the milestone.

S7 Technics’ painting team delivered the 100th aircraft to customer S7 Airlines after the painting process was carried out according to the Intermediate Coat Paint System Base Coat/Clear Coat MICA (base – lacquer coating) method, using PPG Aerospace painting materials.

Leading Russian and Kazakh airlines have been regularly using S7 Technics’ Mineralnye Vody-based aircraft painting centre to repaint their aircraft. Some 59% out of 100 aircraft repainted were Airbus and 24% of them Boeing aircraft.

TP Aerospace

GE Aviation and Auterion team to provide all-in-one hardware and software platform for commercial drones

GE Aviation and Auterion have announced the integration of the Auterion Enterprise PX4 operating system on GE Aviation's Unmanned Aircraft System avionics platform. They have shown their commitment by signing a teaming agreement to provide a comprehensive hardware and software solution for drone manufacturers and operators seeking to enable commercial drone operations at scale.

The teaming enables a full stack solution with airborne autopilot and application computing hardware, flight management, safety management and integration. GE Aviation is providing the avionics hardware, application computing, flight management and integration into airframes. Auterion is providing Enterprise PX4, the operating system that runs on the vehicle, in the cloud and the ground station.

The core architecture of the hardware and software platform has been implemented with the objective of supporting developers through global open software standards while maintaining an independent and authoritative safety controller. The combination of the two supports long-term flexibility and a high level of design assurance to enable commercial drone operations beyond visual line of sight and within complex airspace and obstacle environments. Flight testing of the hardware and software platform took place over the last three weeks at Reno-Stead airport in Reno, Nevada.

Gulf Air signs with five French companies during royal visit to France

Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, has ceremonially signed a number of agreements with French based companies during His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain’s visit to France.

The airline has signed with Airbus during the Bahrain International Airshow 2016 for an order of 12 A320neo (out of which 2 have been delivered already) and 17 A321neo with a total investment with French companies exceeding US$3.5 billion.

Gulf Air has selected Thales’ Ka-band connectivity solution for its B787-9 and A321Neo-E (LR) fleet. Thales will provide a robust, modular and full-featured connectivity platform for a best in class experience onboard leveraging Global Xpress Ka-band satellite network.

The airline has chosen Michelin, one of the leading tyre companies, based in the Republic of France, to equip every aircraft type within its fleet with tyres including its brand new fleet of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner’s, Airbus 320neo’s and Airbus 321neo’s.

Gulf Air and CFM International have finalized an agreement for the purchase of 65 LEAP-1A engines to power 17 Airbus A320 neo and 12 A321neo aircraft. The engine order is valued at approximately US$1 billion U.S. at list price. Gulf Air has been a CFM customer since 1992 and currently operates a fleet of 16 Airbus A320ceo aircraft powered by CFM56-5B engines. With its new LEAP-1A-powered A320neo family aircraft, Gulf Air is going to strengthen its footprint in the Middle-East with new routes, while enhancing its services for customers.

Furthermore Gulf Air has signed an agreement with Safran to equip the airline’s new fleet of 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and 12 Airbus A320neo with Safran Landing Systems wheels and brakes.

The carrier has entrusted maintenance of the APS5000 auxiliary power units (APU) equipping the airline’s 10 new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft to AFI KLM E&M. The long-term contract includes a guarantee covering APU replacement. The repair services will be provided by AFI KLM E&M subsidiary EPCOR, global market leader for MRO support for APUs.

GA Telesis

Airbus reports first quarter 2019 results

Airbus has reported first quarter (Q1) 2019 consolidated financial results and maintained its guidance for the full-year.

Gross commercial aircraft orders totalled 62 (Q1 2018: 68 aircraft) and included 38 A350 XWBs. Net commercial aircraft orders of -58 (Q1 2018: 45 aircraft) after 120 cancellations mainly reflect the winding down of the A380 programme and the commercial agreement with Etihad as communicated in the Full-Year 2018 disclosure. The commercial aircraft backlog stood at 7,357 aircraft as of 31 March 2019. Net helicopter orders of 66 units (Q1 2018: 104 units) included 20 Super Puma Family and 16 H145s. Airbus Defence and Space’s order intake by value totalled € 1.1 billion.

Consolidated revenues increased to €12.5 billion (Q1 2018: € 10.1 billion), mainly reflecting the higher commercial aircraft deliveries as the production ramp-up continued. At Airbus, a total of 162 commercial aircraft were delivered (Q1 2018: 121 aircraft), comprising 8 A220s, 126 A320 Family, 5 A330s, 22 A350s and 1 A380. Airbus Helicopters delivered 46 units (Q1 2018: 52 units) with increased revenues reflecting the higher volume in services.

Airbus’ EBIT Adjusted improved to €536 million (Q1 2018: € -41 million), mainly reflecting the A320neo ramp-up and premium as well as further progress on the A350 financial performance.

Consolidated EBIT (reported) amounted to €181 million (Q1 2018: € 199 million), including Adjustments totalling a net € -368 million.

A total of 96 A320neo Family aircraft were delivered in the quarter. The ramp-up of the Airbus Cabin Flex version of the A321 continued in Q1 but remains challenging. Airbus is working to improve execution in its internal industrial systems and monitoring engine performance. The overall A320 Family programme is on track to reach 60 aircraft per month by mid-2019 and preparing for rate 63 in 2021. On the A330 programme, 5 aircraft were delivered in the first quarter, including 3 NEOs. A330neo deliveries continue to ramp-up and Airbus is working closely with its engine partner and suppliers to deliver in line with customer commitments. The flight test campaign of the A330-800 variant is progressing.

Airbus Helicopters’ EBIT Adjusted totalled € 15 million (Q1 2018: € -3 million), reflecting lower deliveries and higher volume in services.

Air Macau showcases first A320neo at Macau International Airport

Air Macau has presented its first A320neo at a ceremony held at Macau International Airport. The aircraft is the 21st Airbus aircraft in Air Macau’s fleet that already includes four A319ceo, six A320ceo and 10 A321ceo aircraft.

In total, Air Macau will receive eight additional A320neo and A321neo aircraft under leasing agreement in order to meet its fleet renewal and expansion programme.

The new aircraft features 158 seats (eight business and 150 economy seats). Selected for its outstanding operational efficiency, comfort and range, the A320neo will be deployed by the career on its regional services.

AAR
AviTrader_Weekly_Headline_News_Cover_2019-04-29

click here to download the latest PDF edition

AviTrader_Monthly_MRO_e-Magazine_Cover_2019-04

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

AIR Convention Asia
May 1 - 3, 2019 – InterContinental Bangkok Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand


Aviation Festival Americas 2019
May 13 - 15, 2019 – JW Marriott Marquis, Miami, FL, USA


Managing Technical Aspects of a Leased Asset & Maintenance Reserves Seminar Training Seminar
June 11 - 12, 2019 – Novotel Barcelona City Hotel, Barcelona, Spain


Paris Air Show 2019
June 17 - 23, 2019 – Le Bourget, Paris, France