Aircraft

Airbus orders and deliveries – April 2019. Deliveries stay consistent.

European airframer Airbus opened the second quarter of 2019 with five orders. The orders were for three A350-900s from Lufthansa Technic on behalf of the German government and two A330-800neos for Uganda Airlines. The manufacturer also recorded five cancellations for A330-200s which keeps their net order deficit to 58 aircraft for 2019. Airbus has also not yet logged the cancellation …

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SpiceJet adding five Bombardier Q400s to capitalize on Jet’s collapse

SpiceJet Bombardier Q400 Dash 8 VT-SUB lands at Kempegowda airport Bangalore. Photo by Vedant Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Low-cost carrier SpiceJet has announced that it will add five additional 90-seater Bombardier Q400s to its fleet. Three of the aircraft will join the fleet in the next 10 days while the remaining will be inducted in June. SpiceJet was the launch customer of the 90-seat Q400. The airline placed an order for 50 of the type back in September …

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Boeing orders and deliveries – March 2019. MAX deliveries fall.

British Airways Boeing 777X.

American airframer Boeing has closed out the first quarter by adding 44 orders to its order book for 2019. The orders included 18 777X’s for British Airways, Two 777F’s for DHL, 20 787’s for Lufthansa group and 3 BBJ’s for private customers. In total the manufacturer has reported 95 orders and four cancellations for a net positive of 91 orders …

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Airbus orders and deliveries – March 2019. Sales and deliveries gain momentum.

European airframer Airbus has closed out the last month of the quarter with 58 orders. While the figures are much better than the first two months where the company only secured orders for four of it’s the smallest aircraft. Airbus will still close the quarter with a net order deficit of 58 aircraft. The manufacturer has also not yet accounted …

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Boeing CEO’s message to airlines, passengers and aviation community

Boeing 737 MAX 8 performs high altitude testing at La Paz, Bolivia

The Boeing Company which recently celebrated its centenary is facing one of the greatest threats to its reputation in the wake of two fatal crashes of the workhorse 737 MAX, the world’s best selling passenger jetliner. In the jetliner era, the United States Federal Aviation Administration has grounded the entire fleet of an aircraft three times. In 1979, McDonnell Douglas …

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Boeing CEO says 737 MAX software fix and training revision in ‘finalisation’

The new 737 MAX 8 rolls out of the paint hangar in Renton.

Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg, on Sunday, confirmed that the company was finalising its “development of a previously-announced software update and pilot training revision that will address the MCAS flight control law’s behavior in response to erroneous sensor inputs”. MCAS The Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) was developed by Boeing to make the newest version of its best …

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Boeing orders and deliveries – February 2019

The first flight of the Boeing 737 MAX 9.

American airframer Boeing closed its second month of the year with five additional orders. The orders were for one 737 MAX BBJ from a private customer and four 767-300 freighters for an undisclosed customer. Deliveries Boeing delivered a total of 49 aircraft in February 2019, with the companies troubled 737 MAX making up half the month’s deliveries. Family-wise Deliveries 737 …

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Singapore tenth to ground the Boeing 737-8 MAX. India flights unaffected.

SilkAir Boeing 737 MAX 8 9V-MBB.

The island nation of Singapore has become the tenth in the list to ground the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, following the crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 on March 10, 2019. Countries or airlines across the globe are grounding the aircraft as a precautionary measure till a determination can be made. The MAX is the new re-engined version of …

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Airbus orders and deliveries – February 2019

European airframer Airbus closed out the second month of 2019 with four orders and 103 cancellations. The orders were for four Airbus A220’s from Pacific Ocean carrier Air Vanuatu. Cancellations in February included 42 A350s of Etihad Airways and 25 A320s of now-bankrupt carrier Germania. The month also featured 23 cancellations for the A380 after Airbus announced the closure of …

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Why Jet Airways is critical to Boeing’s India presence

Jet Airways' Boeing 737-800 VT-JBD

Indian aviation continues to show tremendous aviation potential with growth forecast to be in the double digits for the next few years. Consensus forecasts indicate that India will be the third largest aviation market by 2026 after the United States and China. Both India and China will propel growth in the Asian region and consequently for the world economy. The Asian …

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Emirates orders Airbus A330neos and A350s

Middle-eastern carrier Emirates has placed an order for 70 Airbus aircraft, which includes 40 A330-900 and 30 A350-900 aircraft. The order comes following discussions regarding the airline’s A380 order, which resulted in the airline cancelling 39 of their pending A380’s for this order. The change has also prompted the announcement of the closure of the Airbus A380 production line. Emirates …

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Airbus to end A380 program after Emirates order reduction

European airframer has announced the end of its A380 program with the final delivery of the type in 2021. The decision comes after discussions with the aircraft’s biggest customer resulted in them cancelling its 39 orders for the A380 and replacing them with other Airbus twin-jets. Tom Enders, CEO, Airbus “As a result of this decision we have no substantial …

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Boeing orders and deliveries – January 2019

Boeing 787-10. Boeing image.

American airframer Boeing opened its 2019 order book with an addition of 43 aircraft. The manufacturer booked 28 orders for the 737 family which included nine 737 MAXs for unidentified customers and 19 P-8A Poseidon for the US, UK and Norway. Boeing also booked 18 787 orders with 14 787-9s and four 787-10s for unidentified customers. Deliveries Boeing delivered a …

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Airbus to display A330neo at Aero India 2019

European airframer Airbus will be demonstrating the latest edition to its widebody line, the A330neo at the upcoming Aero India airshow. (Read our analysis on why Indigo may buy the A330neo) The aircraft will be performing flying displays and will be on static display. The airframer will also be flying its C295 tactical airlifter. Airbus will also have the H135 …

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Airbus orders and deliveries – January 2019

European airframer Airbus began the year with an order deficit. The airline recorded five cancellations for their smallest A220 aircraft and eight for the largest A380. The A380 cancellation reflected that of Qantas which had been previously announced. Airbus has not disclosed the customer for the cancellation of the A220. However Swiss carrier PrivatAir had ordered five of the then …

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An overview of India’s commercial aviation fleet and orders – 2019

View of part of the ramp at Bangalore Airport at night.

Indian aviation is on a growth track with the commercial aviation fleet set to double in the next five to eight years. This is reflected in the statistic that for each aircraft flying there are approximately 1.7 aircraft on order. India is poised to become the 3rd largest aviation market by 2030. Highlights of the fleet are presented below. 638 …

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Airbus A380 future uncertain as Emirates considers A350

European airframer Airbus has confirmed talks with Dubai based Emirates airlines over the carriers A380 orders, with reports that the carrier is considering switching its orders to the smaller A350. Emirates is the world’s largest operator of the A380, with 109 aircraft and 53 on order. The carrier extended a lifeline to the struggling program in February 2018 by placing …

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The Airbus 380: operations and outlook

Singapore Airlines A380-800 9V-SKD. Image copyright Devesh Agarwal

The Airbus 380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft, entered commercial service in 2007 with launch customer Singapore Airlines. With a maximum takeoff weight of 575 tonnes (almost eight times the weight of an Airbus A320) and average seating of 575 passengers (800+ in high density configurations) Airbus built the A380 on the premise of slot-constrained airports needing a ultra-high capacity …

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Airbus begins construction of A220 production line in America

European airframer Airbus has begun construction of company’s American A220 manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama. The new assembly line will be located at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley adjacent to the companies existing A320 family production line and will be used to produce A220-100 and A220-300 aircraft for U.S. customers. Aircraft production is planned to begin at the new facility …

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