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LATEST NEWS
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Wednesday, December 14th, 2022
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United Airlines has placed the largest-ever order from a U.S. carrier for wide-body jets, having signed a deal with Boing for a firm order of 100 787 Dreamliners with an option for up to a further 100 of the aircraft. The 100 planes will be delivered between 2024 and 2032 and the airline will have the option of purchasing the 787-8, 787-9 or 787-10 variants to give it a degree of flexibility for routes chosen for the new aircraft.
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On top of this mammoth order, United has also exercised its option for a further 44 Boeing 737-MAX narrow-body jets while placing a further firm order for 56 more MAX jets. The 44 MAXs will be delivered between 2024 and 2026. These new orders are part of United Airlines’ United Next plan to bolster the American carrier’s position in the international and domestic travel sectors while also remaining consistent with the United Next 2026 capacity plan. All in, United Airlines anticipates taking delivery of around 700 narrow-body and wide-body jets between now and 2032, delivering at a rate of two per week in 2023 and over three per week in 2024.
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Approximately 100 planes of the new wide-body order are expected to replace older Boeing 767 and Boeing 777 jets, with all 767 aircraft removed from the United fleet by 2030, resulting in up to an anticipated 25% decrease in carbon emissions per seat for the new planes compared to the older planes they are replacing.
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Boom Supersonic, the company building the world’s fastest airliner, has announced Symphony, a new propulsion system designed and optimised for its Overture supersonic airliner. Boom also announced that it will be teaming with three industry leaders to develop Symphony including Florida Turbine Technologies (FTT) for engine design, GE Additive for additive technology design consulting, and StandardAero for maintenance.
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“Developing a supersonic engine specifically for Overture offers by far the best value proposition for our customers,” said Blake Scholl, Founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. “Through the Symphony programme, we can provide our customers with an economically and environmentally sustainable supersonic airplane—a combination unattainable with the current constraints of derivative engines and industry norms.”
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Symphony will be a bespoke design leveraging proven technologies and materials to achieve optimal supersonic performance and efficiency. Overture’s new propulsion system will operate at net-zero carbon and meet Chapter 14 noise levels. When compared to derivative approaches, Symphony is expected to deliver a 25% increase in time on wing and significantly lower engine maintenance costs, reducing overall airplane operating costs for airline customers by 10%.
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With Symphony design already underway, Overture is on track to achieve type certification in 2029. Production is set to commence in 2024 at Overture’s Superfactory in Greensboro, NC, with rollout in 2026 and first flight in 2027.
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As part of its commitment to minimise the environmental impact of air travel, American Airlines (American) has partnered with Safran Landing Systems to upgrade its Boeing 737NG fleet from steel to carbon brakes, representing more than 300 aircraft currently in operation.
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Lighter than steel brakes, with up to 700 pounds (320 kg) of weight savings per aircraft, this upgrade to the Safran Landing Systems carbon brakes configuration will help American meet its sustainability commitments by reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 77 tonnes per Boeing 737NG aircraft every year.
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Thanks to its superior energy absorption and twice the endurance of the steel configuration, the Safran Landing Systems brake, compatible with both Boeing 737NG and Boeing 737 MAX families, provides operators with a significant improvement in operational performance and delivers the lowest operating costs on the market.
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This major initiative highlights Safran Landing System’s and American’s common sustainability values and reinforces their shared commitment of playing a leadership role in helping decarbonise the broader airline industry and meeting the aviation industry goal of net zero GHG emissions by 2050.
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SITA and TechTalent Software have announced a strategic partnership to launch a research and development centre in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
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The new centre will support SITA’s focus on accelerating the development of new passenger processing and government solutions. As the recovery in air travel gathers pace, there is a strong demand for more automation from airports, governments and airlines, driving substantial investment in the technology that SITA provides.
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TechTalent Software will open and run a development centre in Romania through a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreement as part of the partnership. This will allow SITA to scale its development teams rapidly. With the first employees already in place, the office is expected to expand to more than 60 software engineers, testing teams and scrum masters by 2023.
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SITA has decided to invest in Cluj-Napoca because of the deep skills in leading-edge technologies available, the open-minded continuous learning culture and the great gender balance of female and male technology professionals. With over 1,200 IT companies employing more than 20,000 employees and constant support from local authorities and universities, Cluj-Napoca is well on its way to becoming a central digital hub in Eastern Europe.
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Chapman Freeborn, the global air charter specialist and part of Avia Solutions Group, has appointed Andy Hudson as Regional CEO – APAC.
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Hudson has been immersed in the aviation industry for over 21 years and his first charter broker position was in 2006. He then moved to aviation aircraft acquisitions and aircraft management, which lead him launching his companies, Private Jet Central, PJC Aviation and Down-Route, in 2008, 2012 and 2015 respectively.
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In his role of Regional CEO – APAC, he will be focusing on the growth opportunities in the region’s marketplace, using his prior experience of expanding his own companies throughout Europe, Middle East and Asia.
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The announcement of VoltAero as one of Air New Zealand’s “Mission Next-Gen Aircraft” demonstration partners positions the company and its Cassio electric-hybrid aircraft as a unique solution for this airline’s sustainable fleet ambitions.
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VoltAero and Cassio are aligned to Air New Zealand’s goal of working with world-leading innovators in introducing zero-emission passenger/cargo flights. The Cassio aircraft family provides outstanding safety with a dual source of electric-hybrid energy, along with the ability to utilize runways as short as 1,800 feet – opening the airline’s regional airport network infrastructure for its operations.
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Additionally, Cassio’s hybrid technology offers an optimised cost-of-ownership – minimising the need for heavier battery packs that would reduce flight range, while also avoiding higher cost per kilowatt/hour and diminished battery lifetime.
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VoltAero’s proprietary electric-hybrid propulsion system has logged more than 10,000 km since 2019, operating in its full 600-kilowatt power definition aboard the company’s Cassio 1 testbed airplane – performing flights on typical regional airline routes, as well as segments over water.
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Blueberry Aviation has recently delivered the last of eleven ATR72-600 aircraft to U.S. lessor Jetstream Aviation Capital. The delivery marks the completion of a repossession and remarketing project which started in 2021 following Avianca’s Chapter 11.
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Blueberry Aviation was mandated by the French and Italian Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) to support the negotiation with the airline and manage the full repossession project. This included the on-site physical and records inspections as well as the valuation of the fleet, recovery from three different countries, ferry to and storage in France, managing the aircraft insurances as well as the remarketing and redelivery of the entire fleet to its new owner.
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Allen & Overy acted as legal advisor to the ECAs.
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Czech Airlines Technics (CSAT) long-term co-operation with Finnair is to continue. The original three-year base maintenance agreement was extended by another three years thanks to the exercised option. CSAT will thus continue to provide base maintenance checks and repairs for the carrier’s Airbus A320-family narrow-body aircraft fleet in Hangar F at Václav Havel Airport Prague, where one maintenance line is dedicated to Finnair year-round.
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“We have a long history with CSAT, and we highly value our relationship. The extension of base maintenance agreement ensures the continuation of safe and reliable operations of our narrow-body Airbus fleet. CSAT is a customer-oriented organization with a strong will to develop. Committed people and open dialogue allow us to carry on the fruitful work on continuous improvement initiatives in good cooperation for our mutual benefit”, said Ville Väyrynen, Head of Technical Operations Planning & Base Maintenance at Finnair.
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Ruili Airlines has signed an agreement with Embraer to join its Energia Advisory Group - Energia is Embraer’s project developing sustainable aircraft for the future. The companies will work together on the design requirements for next-generation sustainable aircraft and the potential market in China. Based at Kunming Changshui International Airport, Ruili Airlines is a full-service premium carrier focused on innovation. The airline operates a domestic and international route network across China and Southeast Asia.
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“I welcome Ruili Airlines, the first Chinese airline to join our Energia Advisory Group. The partnership between Embraer and Ruili Airlines is a significant step for the Energia project,” said Arjan Meijer, President and CEO Embraer Commercial Aviation. “We look for partners around the globe to share their innovative ideas and operational insights, adding their expertise to the sustainable aviation mission. Ruili Airlines’ perspective will be invaluable in the development of the Energia family of aircraft.”
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Ruili Airlines will work with Embraer to help define performance and design requirements for its Energia concept aircraft, two 19-30-seat designs featuring hybrid electric and hydrogen electric propulsion technologies.
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Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has released that its Board of Directors and Shareholders have authorised an additional US$300 million for bond repurchases to be conducted through open market transactions. To date, DAE has repurchased approximately US$815 million of principal amount of its publicly traded bonds under the previous authorisations of US$900 million. DAE now has US$385 million of available authority to repurchase bonds.
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DAE Chief Executive Officer Firoz Tarapore said: “Today, we are increasing our available authorisation as the current interest rate environment is creating opportunities for us to acquire our outstanding debt at compelling price levels.”
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DAE currently has US$3.2 billion of publicly traded bonds outstanding in the capital markets.
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