Gulfstream G280 earns Brazilian type certificate

Gulfstream G280 earns Brazilian type certificate

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. today announced that the Gulfstream G280 has been certified by Brazil’s Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC). This approval validates the airworthiness of the aircraft’s design and clears the way for in-country deliveries to begin.

“We have delivered more than 50 G280s since the aircraft first went into service in November 2012,” said Larry Flynn, president, Gulfstream. “It has proven to be popular with owners around the world, and we now have aircraft in the U.S., Canada, China, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Mexico and South America.

“Of all the South American countries, this aircraft is particularly well-suited for Brazil. Departing from São Paulo, the G280 can reach the entire continent without refueling and can fly to the U.S. and Europe with one stop.”

FL Technics Jets supports Grafair with Hawker base maintenance solutions

FL Technics Jets supports Grafair with Hawker base maintenance solutions

FL Technics Jets, a global provider of tailor-made maintenance, repair and overhaul services for business aviation, is delighted to announce that recently it has provided comprehensive Hawker aircraft base maintenance support to its latest customer Grafair, a Swedish business jet and FBO operator.

The agreement with the Swedish carrier was signed in the beginning of 2015. Since then, FL Technics Jets has already provided the first set of MRO works on the Grafair’s Hawker 800XP business jet. The agreed upon service package comprised such maintenance works as a 12 Months’ Check of engines, APUs and other aircraft systems as well as defect rectification and other. All services were provided in the FL Technics Jets own MRO centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. Following the successful completion of the aforementioned works, the Grafair’s aircraft has returned to its base at Stockholm-Bromma Airport in Sweden. Additional scheduled maintenance works on the aircraft are to be conducted later this year.

”It‘s a real pleasure to support Grafair, one of the most prominent business aviation players in Europe, with our services. The fact that the Swedish carrier has placed its trust in our company and has since expressed full satisfaction with our services explicitly speak for the quality and reliability of our business aviation MRO solutions,” comments Darius Saluga, the CEO of FL Technics Jets. “We are proud to add Grafair to the map of our customers worldwide, and look forward to expanding our cooperation in the future.”

Grafair is a Stockholm-based international aviation company engaged in business, air ambulance and air taxi charter flights as well as Fixed-Base Operations (FBO). The company operates Cessna and Hawker aircraft. In 2014 European Business Air News (EBAN) awarded the company as the best FBO in Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Africa.

Aircraft investment as an alternative to negative yield bonds

Aircraft investment as an alternative to negative yield bonds

In February, 2015 Germany and Finland auctioned off their government bonds with negative interest rates attracting a total of over USD 4.5 billion. The success of the placement was predetermined by the investors’ readiness to pay for the exceptionally safe sovereign bonds as a means of investment insurance against potential risks. However, in order to scrape some profit after all, investors also explore additional investment options to supplement their portfolios. One of the options could be aircraft-backed 4-6% yields bonds.

AN UNFORECASTED ANOMALY

Last month Finland raised approx. USD 1.06 billion in bonds with -0.017% yield thus becoming the first Eurozone country to sell its five-year sovereign bonds with negative yields. Days later, Germany’s Bundesbank also auctioned five-year bonds with an average -0.08% yield thus contributing additional USD3.5 billion to the overall USD2.35 trillion worth negative yield bond market (acc. to Bloomberg). At some point the expansion of the market is driven by such institutional investors as pension funds which are obliged to invest a part of their funds in low-risk sovereign bonds (e.g., Germany’s). Other investors choose negative yield government securities as an insurance against the potential risks common in the private sector.

As the interest rates of the safest-considered governmental bonds are close to zero (both, below and above wise), corporate bonds tend to follow the trend. “Using the opportunity in the European market which struggles with exceptionally slow inflation, the private sector is also driving the yields down in order to receive cheaper financing. The bonds of certain highest rated companies are traded at below 1% yields, with some of them even turning negative – an anomaly few could imagine a decade ago,” shares Tadas Goberis, the CEO of AviaAM Leasing.

“Financial markets are certainly not what they used to be in 2000s, and they keep changing. As a result, investment patterns and fund structuring have also become more complicated,” comments Tomas Sidlauskas, the Vice President at AviaAM Leasing. “In addition to traditional financing sources like commercial banks and export agencies the industry is more actively using alternative finance products as well. For instance, issuance of corporate bonds, Enhanced Equipment Trust Certificates (EETCs), aircraft ABS and other similar securities. This applies to all industry players – from manufacturers and leasing companies to operators.”

WHEN INVESTMENT ACTUALLY MEANS PROFIT

In 2014 Virgin Australia raised USD300 million in corporate bonds, Fly Leasing – USD400 million, Lufthansa – USD529 million, Airbus – USD1.38 billion. The Canadian manufacturer Bombardier is also planning to raise over USD2 billion in bonds with 120 and 42-month maturity later this year. 
While manufacturers turn to capital markets for the expansion of their production and the development of new products as well as general corporate purposes, airlines and leasing companies are raising funds mainly to finance new aircraft deliveries.

“An aircraft is a hard asset-backed investment which can generate up to 10-15% ROIs on equity (depending on an aircraft type and end user). It is also a relatively low risk asset since carriers keep raising their profits and passenger traffics worldwide thus spending more and more on fleet renewal and expansion. Moreover, even should the demand in a single region squeeze, the aircraft can be easily relocated to another region as truly has only one market – the world,” says Tomas Sidlauskas, the VP of AviaAM Leasing. “However, the aviation industry is a very specific and complicated market from both legal and financial points of view. Without a relevant background or an asset manager for their investment, investors from outside the industry might just end up with no profit or even suffer losses. For that reason, EETCs and other aircraft-backed securities (in contrast to direct investment) have become one of the main trends in the aircraft financing market over the last several years.”

According to Boeing, in 2014 bond funding of new aircraft deliveries might have reached USD30 billion, or over a quarter of all deliveries that year – up from approx. 15% in 2013. As the overall annual demand for new deliveries is expected to rise from USD110 billion to almost USD140 billion by 2018, the role of capital markets is anticipated to increase as well.

“From a leasing company’s perspective, an aircraft represents a stable and recurring monthly cash flow immune to short-term swings in market lease rates throughout the industry’s cycle. The stability is secured by fixed monthly lease payments which cover both aircraft acquisition and financing costs. This significantly lowers the risks for both the lessor and the holders of its securities,” comments Tadas Goberis, the CEO of AviaAM Leasing. “At the same time, the aircraft-backed bond market is still rather young and unfamiliar to many institutional investors. This explains why the issuers are ready to offer higher coupons which on average range from 4 to 7 per cent (i.e. the ones issued by ILFC, BBAM, etc). On the secondary market, the yields for aircraft leasing companies’ bonds are also relatively high – around 4-5%.”

In addition, as the market price for a 5-10 years’ old narrow body aircraft reaches USD20-30 million (left alone new aircraft), investing into aircraft-backed assets allows to deploy significantly larger funds with fixed returns over the bond maturity period (usually, 5 or 10 years).

“At the same time, in most cases bond (equity) investors are not the only participants in the deal. Depending on the finance structure, they are usually either senior or junior debt providers with the remaining funds coming from commercial banks, export agencies and/or the issuer itself. But even if we consider a junior loan to finance approx. 30% of a mid-life Boeing 737-800 cost, the owners of 5-year bonds are likely to enjoy USD 0.5-0.6 million interest per year. In other words, aircraft-backed securities are most likely to receive more and more attention over the following several years, particularly from those equity investors aiming to actually earn from their investment rather than just freeze their funds,” concludes Tomas Sidlauskas, the VP at AviaAM Leasing.

First images from Germanwings A320 crash in French Alps

First images from Germanwings A320 crash in French Alps

An Airbus A320 with 142 passengers and six crew members has crashed in Digne region, southern France, media reports say. The jet, which belonged to Germanwings low-cost airline, was flying from Barcelona to Düsseldorf.

(Updated 14:45 GMT) Council official Gilbert Sauvan tells Les Echos newspaper, "The plane is disintegrated". He added that "the largest debris is the size of a car". French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says a helicopter has managed to land near where the plane crashed in the Alps, but found no survivors.

(Updated 14:28 GMT) According to Thomas Winkelmann, chief executive Germanwings, plane went into eight-minute descent before crashing. 67 Germans believed to have been on board, according to Germanwings.

(Updated 14:24 GMT) "We are uncertain as to whether a distress call was issued at all. We have no clear indication was to why the descent was initiated." - Germanwings spokesman reports at the press-conference.

(Updated 14:08 GMT) Germanwings CEO: FO had 10 years of experience, last regular aircraft check conducted yesterday. Contrary to earlier reports, the authorities in France now say that no distress call was made by pilots.

(Updated 13:21 GMT)  Alain Vidalies, the French transport minister: no rescue workers have yet reached the scene on foot; scattered bodies seen from helicopters.

(Updated 13:09 GMT) During the flight the Airbus was in contact with air control at Marseilles. The message was “mayday, mayday,mayday” and the pilot requested an emergency descent meaning ATC had to clear all air space below the route of the aircraft.

(Updated 13:03 GMT) The first photo shows the crash area, giving an idea of how inaccessible it is. Pierre-Henry Brandet, spokesperson for the interior ministry told the aircraft debris has been localised. The rescuers are being taken in by helicopter.

(Updated 12:51 GMT) Germanwings has confirmed on Facebook that there were 150 people on board, 144 passengers and six crew members. French President Francois Hollande: according to preliminary information, there were no French sitizens aboard Flight. 

(Updated 12:38 GMT) No adverse weather conditions were reported that could explain the crash, according to French media. The area is accessible only by helicopters. Germanwings, which began operating in 2002 has 15 active aircraft, according to the Planespotters website. The average age of its fleet, including other models, is 13.8 years.

(Updated 12:27 GMT) Germanwings has changed the colour of its logo on its Twitter and Facebook sites from red and yellow to grey and black. Barcelona airport has set up a room in Terminal 2 for family members, according to officials in Catalonia.

(Updated 12:20 GMT) The flight was on its flight path just under a half its route distance and at cruising speed. French transport ministry says there was an alarm call at 10:48 at 5000 feet. According to the French weather channel La Chaine Meteo, the weather was very calm at the moment of the crash. Spain’s airport operator, AENA, confirmed that there were 42 Spanish nationals on board.

(Updated 12:10 GMT) French authorities have said there were 42 Spaniards on board. Germanwings is due to hold a news conference at 14:00 GMT at Cologne-Bonn airport, French satellite channel BFMTV says.

The plane crash in the French Alps was confirmed by General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The jet crashed in the Upper Bléone Valley, Le Provence wrote. Emergency services are currently heading to the disaster zone. France’s Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has confirmed the plane crash and is headed to the scene.

Germanwings opens a crisis line for people worried about loved ones on the flight: +49 30 5000 3000

Germanwings pilot was out of the cockpit before crash

Germanwings pilot was out of the cockpit before crash

French investigators probing said they had a breakthrough with the recovery of an audio file from the Airbus jet’s black box. According to the evidence from a cockpit voice recorder, one pilot left the cockpit before the plane started to descent.

“The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door, and there is no answer. And then he hits the door stronger, and no answer. There is never an answer.” -  the investigator said, reports Lenta.ru with the reference to NYT.

Investigator added that it is still unclear why the second pilot did not respond. During the descent there was not any communication from the cockpit to air traffic controllers or any other signal of an emergency.

Among the theories that have been put forward by air safety analysts not involved in the investigation is the possibility that a pilot could have been incapacitated by a sudden event such as a fire or a drop in cabin pressure, leaving the pilots unconcious.

Meanwhile, the second black box is also retreived, but many questions remain unanswered about the fate of the flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, which left 150 people dead when it slammed into the southern French Alps on Tuesday morning.

Airbus Helicopters and BHIC signs JV agreement for Simulation Center in Malaysia

Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Berhad (BHIC) signed an agreement today to acquire a 30 percent share in the Airbus Helicopters Simulation Center in Malaysia. This joint venture agreement was signed by BHIC Chairman YBhg Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin and Philippe Monteux, Airbus Helicopters Senior Vice President for South East Asia & Pacific region, in the presence of Malaysian Defence Minister Y.B. Dato’ Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

The simulation facility – operated by Airbus Helicopters Malaysia since January 2013, and located at the Malaysia International Aerospace Center – houses a full-flight simulator for the H225 and H225M helicopter types, which are 11-ton-category civilian and military twin-engine aircraft in the Super Puma family. The training site was set up as part of Airbus Helicopters’ contract to provide 12 H225M rotorcraft (formerly known as the EC725) to the Royal Malaysian Air Force.

In addition to Royal Malaysian Air Force pilots, the simulation center also offers training to H225/H225M pilots and crews from customers in the military, paramilitary and civil sectors throughout the Asia/Pacific region, and has received trainees from such countries as Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Oman, Japan and Thailand during the past two years.

The Airbus Helicopters Simulation Center successfully trained some 200 pilots and logged 1,940 hours with the full-flight simulator during its first year of operation. This activity increased by over 40 percent in 2014 to deliver 2,782 simulator hours, training approximately 300 pilots.

Embraer, 92 commercial and 116 executive aircraft delivered in 2014

Embraer, 92 commercial and 116 executive aircraft delivered in 2014

In the fourth quarter of 2014 (4Q14), Embraer delivered 30 commercial and 52 executive (38 light and 14 large) jets and ended the year with total deliveries of 92 commercial and 116 executive (92 light and 24 large) aircraft, thus meeting the Company’s total deliveries Guidance for 2014.

Revenues in 4Q14 reached US$ 2,045.5 million and in 2014 were US$ 6,288.8 million, also meeting the Company’s 2014 Revenue Guidance range of US$ 6.0 to US$ 6.5 billion.Embraer finished 2014 with a total cash balance of US$ 2,423.6 million and a net debt position of US$ 84.5 million.

4Q14 Net income attributable to Embraer Shareholders and Earnings per ADS totaled US$ 91.4 million and US$ 0.4983, respectively, and fiscal year 2014 Net income attributable to Embraer Shareholders and Earnings per ADS totaled US$ 334.7 million and US$ 1.8247, respectively.

For 2015, Company Guidance is for expected Net Revenues of US$ 6.1 to US$ 6.6 billion, driven by expected deliveries of 95 to 100 jets in the Commercial Aviation segment and 35 to 40 large jets and 80 to 90 light jets in the Executive Jets segment, with Defense & Security revenues of US$ 1.1 to US$ 1.25 billion for the year.

The Company’s backlog ended 2014 at a value of US$ 20.9 billion, representing 15% growth from the US$ 18.2 billion reported at the end of 2013.

Air Madagascar orders ATR 72-600 fleet for $77m

Air Madagascar orders ATR 72-600 fleet for $77m

Today ATR and Air Madagascar, Madagascar's national airline, announced the signing of a contract for the purchase of three ATR 72-600s for a total of approximately 77 million dollars. The first aircraft will be delivered as from 2017. At the same time, the airline has recently signed an agreement with the Irish leasing company Elix Aviation Capital to add two new ATR 72-600s, the first having been delivered today and the second being delivered next month.

The arrival of all these five ATRs of the latest generation will enable Air Madagascar to renew its fleet of ATRs, which currently consists of one ATR 42-500 and two ATR 72-500s, significantly increasing seat capacity on the main domestic routes, while offering passengers the highest levels of comfort.

Air Madagascar is a long-time customer of ATR. It introduced its first ATR, an ATR 42-300, in 1996 and has operated the ATR -500 series since 2005.

Henry Rabary-Njaka, Chairman of the Board of Air Madagascar, was "very pleased to be among the first African operators to fly the new ATR -600 series. These aircraft have become a veritable benchmark for regional airlinesaround the world. The performance of the ATR 72-600s notably on short and unprepared runways, along with their strong reliability, make these aircraft a real asset in the expansion of our regional transportation network. In addition, their low operating costs will allow us to offer the most attractive airfares. The new ATR -600 series are also at the forefront of technology in terms of comfort, and we are pleased to offer these new standards in modernity to our passengers." He added: “In the long term, we will increase our fleet of latest generation ATRs up to seven aircraft”.

FL Technics to provide Base Maintenance support to Turkmenistan Airlines

FL Technics to provide Base Maintenance support to Turkmenistan Airlines

FL Technics, a global provider of integrated aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services, is pleased to announce the signing of a Base Maintenance agreement with Turkmenistan Airlines. Under the agreement, FL Technics will provide C-Check support for the carrier’s fiveBoeing 737 NG aircraft.

The first Boeing 737-800 operated by the national airlines of Turkmenistan has already reached FL Technics premises in Vilnius, Lithuania. According to the contract, FL Technics engineers will provide a comprehensive set of maintenance works covered by the C-Check program. The scope of works will include, but not limited to functional and operational systems checks, repair, overhaul and exchange of internal components, inspection and repair of structure and composite elements, NDT, seat repairs, defect rectification, etc. In addition to the already delivered aircraft, FL Technics will serve four other Boeing 737s operated by Turkmenistan Airlines which are to reach Lithuania later this year.

“Having won the public tender held by Turmkenistan Airlines in 2014, we are extremely glad to welcome the carrier's first aircraft in our hangars under the contract to service its fleet,” shares Zilvinas Lapinskas, the CEO of FL Technics. "We see this cooperation as yet another proof of exceptional quality of our MRO solutions as well as the trust carriers from different world regions place in our services. We endeavour to both meet and exceed our customer’s expectations, and hope to expand our cooperation in the future.”

Turkmenistan Airlines is the flag carrier of Turkmenistan. Based at Ashgabat International Airport, the carrier flies to over 20 domestic and international destinations across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. At the moment, Turkmenistan Airlines operates an all-Boeing commercial passenger fleet as well as several Challenger-605 and Hawker-125/1000 business jets. The company also operates a fleet of helicopters and transport airplanes.

Flymojo to purchase up to 40 Bombardier CSeries airliners worth $1.5 billion

Flymojo to purchase up to 40 Bombardier CSeries airliners worth $1.5 billion

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft and Fly Mojo Sdn Bhd announced today that the parties have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for the sale and purchase of 20 CS100 aircraft with options for an additional 20 CS100 aircraft.

The announcement was made in parallel with the Government of Malaysia’s announcement at LIMA on a new airline, flymojo, which will be based out of Johor Bahru, Johor and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Upon execution of a firm purchase agreement, flymojo is expected to become the first customer and operator of the CS100 aircraft in the region.

Based on the list price of the CS100 aircraft, a firm order would be valued at approximately $1.47 billion US, and could increase to $2.94 billion US, should flymojo exercise all its options.

At the LOI signing ceremony, flymojo was represented by Managing Director, Janardhanan Gopala Krishnan and Bombardier Commercial Aircraft by Regional Vice President, Sales, Asia-Pacific, Frank Baistrocchi.

In attendance were the Right Honorable Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Tun Razak, the Honorable Minister of Transport, Liow Tiong Lai, the Honorable Deputy Minister of Transport, Aziz Kaprawi, Canada’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, Her Excellency Judith St. George, flymojo Chairman, Alies Anor Abdul and Vice President, Sales, China and Asia-Pacific, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, Andy Solem.

“The announcement of a new airline in Malaysia is an exciting way to kick off LIMA. With flymojo’s primary hub at Senai International Airport, Johor and secondary hub in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, the airline’s ultra-modern fleet of CS100 aircraft will play a key role in improving connectivity between the Peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak, as well as other parts of the region,” said Deputy Minister of Transport, Aziz Kaprawi.

FL Technics Jets supports Grafair with Hawker base maintenance solutions

FL Technics Jets, a global provider of tailor-made maintenance, repair and overhaul services for business aviation, is delighted to announce that recently it has provided comprehensive Hawker aircraft base maintenance support to its latest customer Grafair, a Swedish business jet and FBO operator.

The agreement with the Swedish carrier was signed in the beginning of 2015. Since then, FL Technics Jets has already provided the first set of MRO works on the Grafair’s Hawker 800XP business jet. The agreed upon service package comprised such maintenance works as a 12 Months’ Check of engines, APUs and other aircraft systems as well as defect rectification and other. All services were provided in the FL Technics Jets own MRO centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. Following the successful completion of the aforementioned works, the Grafair’s aircraft has returned to its base at Stockholm-Bromma Airport in Sweden. Additional scheduled maintenance works on the aircraft are to be conducted later this year.

”It‘s a real pleasure to support Grafair, one of the most prominent business aviation players in Europe, with our services. The fact that the Swedish carrier has placed its trust in our company and has since expressed full satisfaction with our services explicitly speak for the quality and reliability of our business aviation MRO solutions,” comments Darius Saluga, the CEO of FL Technics Jets. “We are proud to add Grafair to the map of our customers worldwide, and look forward to expanding our cooperation in the future.”

Grafair is a Stockholm-based international aviation company engaged in business, air ambulance and air taxi charter flights as well as Fixed-Base Operations (FBO). The company operates Cessna and Hawker aircraft. In 2014 European Business Air News (EBAN) awarded the company as the best FBO in Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Africa.