Aviation News Updates

This week industry updates include IndiGo’s deal for 250 A320neo aircraft, Garuda Indonesia’s order for 50 Boeing 737MAX 8 aircraft and Alaska Airlines ordering 10 additional Boeing 737-900ER’s. Virgin Atlantic pulls the plug on Little Red and meanwhile took delivery of its first Boeing 787-9. The first A350-900 for Qatar Airways made its maiden flight, while Airbus announced to reduce the monthly A330 production by late 2015. Ethiopian Airlines is planning to launch Los Angeles via Dublin, while Vistara showed its first painted A320 and Austrian is to decide on its Fokker replacement.

IndiGo signs MoU for 250 Airbus 320neo aircraft

IndiGo signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus for up to 250 A320neo family aircraft. When the order will be firmed, it will be the largest Airbus order ever in number of aircraft. The Indian lowcost carrier currently operates over 80 A320 aircraft on its mainly domestic network in India (where it has a market share of over 30%) and also serves destinations in the UAE, Singapore, Oman, Thailand and Nepal. Previously the carrier already placed orders with Airbus for 100 A320ceo and 180 A320neo aircraft.

Garuda Indonesia orders 50 Boeing 737 MAX 8’s

Garuda Indonesia ordered 50 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft last month, previously booked on Boeing’s Orders and Deliveries page as an ‘unidentified order’. Garuda Indonesia confirmed the order in a statement to the Indonesian Stock Exchange, commenting that the aircraft will be delivered between 2017 and 2023. Garuda currently operates 75 Boeing 737-800’s with 30 more on order, the new MAX 8 aircraft will be used to replace the oldest 737-800’s. The Indonesian airline is currently retiring its last 737Classic aircraft, being replaced by new 737-800 deliveries. — Boeing/Garuda Indonesia –

Alaska Airlines orders 10 additional Boeing 737-900ER’s, retires 737 Classics

On October 6, Alaska Airlines announced an order for 10 Next-Generation (NG) B737-900ER’s. The Seattle-based airline now has 74 Boeing 737’s on order, 37 B737-900ER aircraft and 37 of the MAX series (20 MAX8 and 17 MAX9). President and CEO of the all-Boeing operator: “We love having Seattle as our home and buying locally built airplanes is a point of pride for us. These new planes will allow us to serve our customers even better with improved in-cabin experience, including our new leather Recaro seats with added leg room, power outlets at every seat and larger overhead bins.” Alaska Airlines will continue to replace its Boeing 737-400 Classic fleet with the newer and larger -900ER’s which have a 25% higher capacity while using the same amount of fuel. Alaska Airlines has 21 B737-400’s left in a full passengers lay-out, in addition to five Combi’s and one full freighter.

Virgin Atlantic pulls the plug on Little Red

After obtaining London Heathrow slots for domestic operations from the British Airways/bmi merger, Virgin Atlantic launched Little Red in 2013 operating three domestic routes. In March/April 2013 Little Red started operating from London Heathrow to Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Manchester with wet-leased Airbus 320 aircraft of Irish operator Aer Lingus. For a long time Virgin turned down rumours that the routes were operating way below expectations, but now they decided to pull the plug. The Manchester route will end on March 28, 2015, while Aberdeen and Edinburgh will end on September 26, 2015. — Virgin Atlantic –

Virgin Atlantic takes delivery of first Boeing 787-9

On October 10, the first Boeing 787-9 of Virgin Atlantic touched down at London Gatwick after a non-stop delivery flight from Everett (Washington, USA). The aircraft has been named “Birthday Girl” in reference to the 30 year existence of Virgin Atlantic and is the first of 16 Dreamliners ordered by Virgin Atlantic. The first aircraft will be used for the route London Heathrow-Boston as from October 28 onwards. Future deliveries in December, January and February will be used for Washington DC, Newark and New York JFK respectively. The aircraft are fitted with 264 seats in a three-class configuration with 31 Business Class seats (Upper Class), 35 in Premium Economy and 198 in Economy. Virgin-founder Richard Branson also commented that Virgin considers ordering more Boeing 787’s and in particular the longer 787-10 version.

Bombardier CSeries preferred Austrian Fokker replacement?

Anonymous sources said to be directly related to the Fokker 70 and 100 replacement project of Austrian Airlines, said that the Bombardier CSeries is the preferred option. The sources said Austrian has requested its mother company Lufthansa for approval to order 16 CSeries aircraft to replace its 15 Fokker 100’s and 6 Fokker 70’s. If this would be for the CS100 or larger CS300 version or both, was not specified. Other options are said to be the Airbus 319 and Embraer E-190. Sister company Swiss European Airlines already has 30 CS100 aircraft on order to replace its fleet of 20 Avro RJ-100 jets, the first aircraft will be delivered in 2015. Swiss also holds 30 additional options for the CSeries. — Globe & Mail –

First Qatar Airways Airbus 350 makes maiden flight

On October 15 around 14:20 local time, the first A350-900 for Qatar Airways departed from Toulouse (France) for the first time. It was the first flight of a serial production A350 airframe. Qatar Airways will become the first airline to receive Airbus’ newest Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered flagship by the end of this year. CEO of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, commented that the aircraft could be delivered in the first two weeks of December. Airbus holds 750 orders for the A350, of which 549 for the -900 base version.

Ethiopian Airlines planning to launch Los Angeles via Dublin in 2015

Ethiopian Airlines says it’s finalising its plans to launch flights to the US West Coast. The African Star Alliance member is planning to launch flights from its hub Addis Ababa to Los Angeles in June 2015, the flights would be operated via Dublin (Ireland). The flights will be operated three times per week with Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, of which Ethiopian Airlines was one of the first users. Dublin Airport commented that Ethiopian Airlines will sell tickets both on the Dublin-Los Angeles and on the Dublin-Addis Ababa legs seperately. Ethiopian Airlines already serves Washington DC and Toronto in North America. — Ethiopian Airlines/Dublin Airport –

Vistara unveils livery on its first Airbus 320

Indian start-up Vistara showed its first painted A320 at Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport when it arrived there on 15 October, being welcomed with a water salute. Vistara, which is a joint-venture of Singapore Airlines and the Indian TATA group, is supposed to take delivery of 18 more A320’s in addition to its first two that have been recently delivered. All aircraft will be leased from Singapore-based BOC Aviation. Vistara was planning to launch operations in late October, but miss out on this deadline due to delays in the final approvals from the Indian DGCA (Director General of Civil Aviation).

Airbus to reduce A330 production rate in 2015

In the fourth quarter of 2015, Airbus will reduce the monthly A330 production rate from 10 to 9. Tom Williams (Executive vice-president programmes at Airbus) says this will allow Airbus to maintain a smooth production flow as it starts the transition to the new A330neo version. Airbus started producing 10 A330’s per month in 2013, which at that time was the highest production output for a widebody aircraft. The European aircraft manufacturer has a backlog of 233 baseline A330’s (all versions: passenger, freight, military) and holds commitments for 121 A330neo aircraft from 6 airlines and leasing companies. The A330neo which as announced this year at the Farnborough Airshow, will enter service in the fourth quarter of 2017

Eirtech Aviation was appointed by Qatar Airways

Eirtech Aviation was appointed by Qatar Airways to paint the award-winning airline fleet.

    This was one of their largest contract wins and dispersed the work across their facilities in Shannon and Dublin, Ostrava in the Czech Republic and Rome, Italy.

  the seven-year contract involves the exterior repaint of 74 of Qatar Airlines wide and narrow body aircraft, including 49 Boeing 777s together with a number of A330s and A320s.

   Eirtech Aviation was awarded the contract following the successful completion of earlier programmes in 2011 and 2013 which included painting the entire fleet of QatarAirways Airbus 340-600's.

   The latest programme, which commenced immediately after the contract was approved, will be completed using a base coat / clear coat (BC/CC) system.

Eirtech Aviation’s extensive experience, coupled with the engagement of AkzoNobel’s BC/CC system, will reduce the completion time for each wide-bodied aircraft by over 25% which was a significant factors in Qatar Airway’s decision to select Eirtech Aviation over other Livery companies.

  Niall Cunningham, CEO of Eirtech Aviation said, “The flexibility of our company means that our turnaround times are second to none. Client retention is vital to the global success of our business and it’s a testament to the team that we are back onboard working with such an internationally respected brand as Qatar Airways.

   “Spreading the project over a number of different operational bases and over several years ensures that the scale of this contract will not impact on other clients. We have extensive facilities and the continued growth of Eirtech Aviation means we have the capacity to fulfil all client obligations – both existing and new.”

   Eirtech Aviation currently operates over 20,000sqm of climate controlled narrow and wide body hangarage across four locations using the most modern aircraft painting equipment in the world.

     A spokesperson for Qatar Airways said, “Reducing the time that aircraft are out of service for paint or repair is critical to all airlines, and its ability to reduce down time was hugely influential in our decision to continue working with Eirtech Aviation. We have exceptionally high standards and we expect similar standards from all of our suppliers, so we are extremely pleased with the partnership that has burgeoned between Ireland and the Middle East.”

    

   The award-winning Qatar Airways has experienced rapid growth since its establishment in 1997 and currently flies 128 aircraft to over 120 destinations with a further 244 on order.

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Dassault offers extensive support for worldwide Falcon fleet

     Dassault entered the world corporate jet market in 1963 with the launch of the highly successful Falcon 20 midsize twin. The OEM’s current lineup includes the widebody series 900, 2000 and 7X, and a new super-midsize jet announced for 2016. Today, the French manufacturer supports a fleet of some 1,900 corporate and special-mission jets on four continents. This year, Dassault organized 13 regional seminars for its operators in eight countries around the world. AIN attended the European 2011 seminar in Geneva in early April.
 
    All of the regional one-day seminars are composed of a morning presentation, followed in the afternoon by roundtable meetings where operators can discuss specific problems of their aircraft with manufacturer’s representatives. Supporting a diversified fleet of almost 2,000 aircraft in today’s world of increasingly dense regulations is not an easy task, but Dassault conveys a clear message to the operators of its jets built since the sixties: all will be supported, for many years to come, anywhere in the world.

     As a consequence of that philosophy, Dassault is expanding its support and training network into areas beyond Europe and North America, where most Falcons are traditionally based. For general customer service, Dassault quoted as focus points for 2011 implementation of operator advisory board recommendations, improved dispatch reliability and fast response to aircraft-on-ground (AOG) situations. The French manufacturer has set up a 20-member advisory board, which proved very useful for systematic feedback from customers. In addition to
 operators from the U.S. and Europe, the board includes members from Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and India.
The mainstay of Dassault’s support organization are five factory-owned service centers–one in Paris, three in the U.S. and one in São Paulo, plus a worldwide network of factory-approved contractor service centers.
The manufacturer also maintains three field service tech centers in Paris and the U.S., which in turn support locally based field technical reps and customer service managers at 17 locations in the U.S., three in Europe and one each in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India, Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing. All are available 24 hours, seven days a week.
For AOG situations, the network can be reached over just two phone numbers worldwide, one in Europe and one in the U.S. This is complemented by a worldwide net of spare stock centers in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Two additional spare parts locations are planned in Moscow and Beijing. These facilities also have specialized tooling available to maintenance shops. Overall, Dassault now maintains $700 million worth of spares in these facilities. In case of an AOG situation, parts are ready for shipment within two hours after the initial contact.

AOG Solutions
     Customer support is to be further strengthened by a series of innovations announced at the seminar. They include the Falcon Link and the Falcon Broadcast, which are designed to speed up resolution of AOG situations by simplifying failure diagnostics and anticipate shipment of spares as needed.
Falcon Link replaces phone calls by audio/video conference links via laptops and email with the customer home base, the Dassault customer support network, independent service centers, spare depots and others as required.
Falcon Broadcast is a similar scheme but is optimized for EASy avionics of the Falcon 7X, 900 and 2000 series. This system is also designed to work from aircraft in flight.


Falcon Link will become available within the second half of 2011 for newly delivered aircraft and in early 2012 for in-service aircraft. Falcon Broadcast will be field-tested until the third quarter of 2011 and become available during the fourth quarter.

   Flight Data Monitoring is a new service offered by Dassault for all Falcon operators in partnership with CAE Flightscape and Ruag Aviation. It provides systematic analysis of flight data and proposes remedies in case of unexplained events, such as unstable approaches or erratic attitudes. Results of analysis are made available to other Dassault operators and the system can also establish statistics to monitor fleet-wide frequency of events. FDM is widely used by airlines but new for business aviation. Yearly subscriptions to Falcon operators will be offered at around $5,000 starting in the second quarter of this year.

Practical Training

     Information on pilot and maintenance training possibilities is also part of the seminars. Innovations in pilot training include three additional flight simulators­–one 7X simulator at Flight Safety International in Dallas, Texas, and one at CAE Dubai, plus a convertible F900, F2000EX EASy simulator, also at CAE Dubai.
As for maintenance training, Dassault has obtained certification from the French DGAC to extend to the Falcon 900 and 2000 series its practical training scheme set up for the Falcon 7X in 2007. The 10-day training cycle puts trainees in realistic working conditions at Dassault’s assembly plants in Mérignac or Istres.
Dassault experts and technicians guide the trainees to perform real-life maintenance tasks on green aircraft. To complement to their theoretical training, participants are prepared to carry out work in the field after completion of the practical training.


In early April, more than 220 technicians from Dassault authorized service centers and owner-operators had completed the training program in France. The manufacturer is now seeking EASA Part 147 approval for the training scheme and plans to duplicate the program at its U.S. facility in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2012.  

Ready for New Regs

    Dassault is committed to implementing all upcoming rule and regulation changes for the entire fleet of Falcons, including older models. Upcoming changes include EASA implementing rules, controller pilot data link communication (CPDLC) to become mandatory for all aircraft flying over FL 285 in European airspace in early 2015; ADS-B; and the improved collision-avoidance system TCAS 7.1 to become mandatory in Europe in March 2014. The manufacturer will also seek operational certification for its paperless electronic flight bag for all aircraft equipped with the EASy flight deck by the end of this year.
     Falcon 7X, 900, 2000, 50 and 10 series aircraft registered in EASA countries are certified for the steep-approach into London City Airport. The 7X is also FAA-approved for London City, and Dassault hopes to obtain FAA clearance for the 900LX and EX series this year. N-registered F2000 EX and LX are expected to receive London City clearance sometime next year.
Support of Dassault’s narrowbody fleet, which totals 1,092 aircraft delivered between 1963 and 2008–864 of which are still in service–requires upgrades to cope with new rules, maintenance and training, as well as readily available spares, just as the more recent widebody fleet.

      While the operators of these older jets tend to be less affluent than owners of newer aircraft, a look at the original Falcon 20 fleet shows that the majority of the 303 aircraft still flying have not reached the original life limit of 20,000 landings or 30,000 hours total flight time. Dassault and the certification authorities have extended that limitation to 40,000 landings or 60,000 hours, providing these midsize twins with a service life of at least another 15 years.

Iran Claims First Flight of Reverse Engineered RQ-170

    Iran claims to have flown an unmanned aircraft copied from a Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel that crashed in that country in December 2011. It plans to place four copies into service by the end of the Iranian calendar year in March, the semi-official Fars News Agency (FNA) reported.


     The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced the first flight of a reverse engineered RQ-170 on November 10, and state-run television showed footage of the purported aircraft in flight. Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC aerospace force, then declared that “at least four indigenized RQ-170 drones” will begin operations by next March, FNA said November 12.


    The Iranian version of the unmanned surveillance aircraft “has been built through a combination of the U.S. designs and ideas and those of Iranian experts,” according to the report. Unlike the RQ-170, the Iranian aircraft will “have a bombing capability” and be used for both surveillance and strike missions, Hajizadeh said.

    Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works advanced development arm is thought to have developed the RQ-170 by around 2005, and the U.S. deployed the stealthy aircraft to Afghanistan by 2008. However, the U.S. Air Force did not officially acknowledge the program until December 2009.

Airbus A350-900 Receives FAA Type Certification

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration awarded the Airbus A350-900 type certification on Wednesday at FAA headquarters in Washington, D.C. FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Peggy Gilligan and Airbus Group chairman Allan McArtor joined FAA Administrator Michael Huerta to take part in the official signing ceremony. The milestone follows the A350-900 type certification awarded by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on September 30.

     American Airlines, which holds an order for 22 A350-900s, expects to take first delivery in 2017. Another one-time U.S. customer, United Airlines, last year replaced an order for 25 A350-900s with an order for 35 A350-1000s.

    The A350-900's respective FAA and EASA certification awards come after a fleet of five test aircraft accumulated more than 2,600 flight-test hours since first flight on June 14 of last year. The family of aircraft, which still officially includes the A350-800, has drawn firm orders for 750 airplanes from 39 customers. Launch customer Qatar Airways plans to take first delivery in early December and place it into service on a route linking Doha with Frankfurt in January.

EC Approves Etihad-Alitalia Partnership

   The European Commission on Friday cleared the merger of Alitalia and Etihad Airways under EU Regulation 139/2004, allowing the airlines to proceed with the strategic partnership they announced in August. Valued at €1.76 billion ($2.35 billion), the deal will see Etihad take a 49-percent stake in Alitalia with a view to restoring the troubled flag carrier to profitability by 2017.

   Following the completion of its review, the EC confirmed that the partnership complies with the European regulations on competition. In line with previous cases, the airlines undertook commitments aimed at facilitating the entry of new airlines on the Rome to Belgrade route. The airlines continue to work together with a view to completing the transaction before the end of the year, they said in a joint statement.

 “We are delighted to be able to move forward with this process and look forward to a positive outcome and the final conclusion of our transaction with Alitalia,” said Etihad Airways president and CEO James Hogan. “An equity investment in Alitalia will be beneficial not only for the both airlines, but, more importantly, it will give more choice and broader travel opportunities to business and leisure travelers into and out of Italy.”

   Under the agreement, Etihad will invest €560 million ($750 million), including €387.5 million for the equity stake in Alitalia, €112.5 million to acquire a 75-percent interest in the airline’s frequent-flier program and €60 million to acquire five slot pairs at London Heathrow Airport, which plans to lease back “at arm’s length” to Alitalia.

    Existing Alitalia shareholders will invest another €300 million in the carrier. Financial institutions and bank shareholders have agreed to restructure €598 million in short- and medium-term debt and extend Alitalia a €300 million credit line.
  
  “This is an excellent outcome for Alitalia,” said Alitalia CEO Gabriele del Torchio. “This investment will provide financial stability and a foundation for impressive long-term growth for the company and for the travel and tourism industry in Italy, in which Alitalia is a fundamental player.”

FAA changes pilot pairing policy

       FAA announced today final rule on pilot pairing enforcement policy "Part 121 Pilot Age Limit". Currently, while the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards allow a person between the age of 60 and 65 to serve as pilot in command (PIC) of an airplane with two or more pilots, in international commercial air transport operations, the PIC must be paired with a pilot younger than 60 years of age.

      Parts 61 and 121 of title 14, of the Code of Federal Regulations contain similar limitations. However, a recent amendment to the ICAO standards would remove this pilot pairing requirement. Instead, all pilots serving on airplanes in international commercial air transport operations with more than one pilot may serve beyond 60 years of age (until age 65) without being paired with a pilot under 60 years of age. This ICAO amendment triggers the sunset of the statutory authority that provides the basis for the crew pairing limitations in title 14.