Airlines & Routes

Boeing and Mubadala Aerospace announced a 10-year direct contract for Strata Manufacturing, Mubadala Aerospace’s advanced composite aerostructures facility in Al Ain, to produce commercial composite aerostructures for the 777 and 787 Dreamliner. In addition, the companies announced a strategic agreement that positions Strata to be a future supplier of the vertical fin for the Dreamliner,

SAS Group reported that capacity in March 2012 increased by 3% and traffic increased 9.3%. Passenger load factor increased by 4.2 points to 72.3%.

Ryanair released that March traffic dropped 4% compared to the previous year, while the load factor fell 1.0 point to 78%.

US Airways Group announced March traffic results. Mainline traffic for the month was up 4.8% versus March 2011, while mainline capacity was up 3.3% versus March 2011. Mainline passenger load factor was a record 84.6%  for the month of March, up 1.2 points.

WestJet announced March traffic results with a load factor of 86.2%, up 1.4 points. Traffic increased 9% year over year, and capacity grew 7% over the same period. The airline flew nearly 104,000 more guests this March compared to March of last year.

Goodrich has been selected by Southwest Airlines to supply wheels, carbon brakes, MRO services and comprehensive asset management for its new fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The first aircraft was delivered in March of 2012. Goodrich’s 737 Next Generation carbon brake uses proprietary DURACARB carbon heat sink material. The DURACARB carbon provides exceptional brake performance

EMRISE, a multi-national manufacturer of defense and aerospace electronic devices and communications equipment, has received a $1.2m order for electronic devices and subsystems to be used in In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity (IFE&C) systems to be installed in commercial aircraft. The order was received from a longstanding customer by the Company’s Pascall Electronics Ltd. subsidiary in

GE Capital Aviation Services Limited (GECAS) announced delivery of two new Airbus A330s, on lease to Aeroflot Russian Airlines, following a purchase-and-leaseback transaction with the airline. A third new Airbus A330 is scheduled for delivery in April. All three aircraft come from Aeroflot’s existing order book with Airbus.

Andrew Dudgeon has been appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer of VAS Aero Services, a global leader in aviation logistics and aftermarket services. Dudgeon was previously with Rolls-Royce where he was Chief Executive Officer of Rolls Royce Australasia. Prior to joining Rolls-Royce, Andrew was a senior executive at Qantas Airways, responsible for business