Aircraft

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala backed Akasa Air orders 72 Boeing 737 MAX

American aircraft manufacturer Boeing has announced an order for 72 Boeing 737 MAXs from Akasa Air, the new airline founded by ex-Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube with funding from Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. The order which is valued at nearly $9 billion at list prices, which would have been placed at a sizeable discount as per industry norms includes two variants of …

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The legendary Boeing 757 – a template for the future?

As Boeing struggles to get through the coronavirus crisis coupled with its own 737 MAX crisis, the Boeing 757 is an aircraft that has once again emerged as a hot topic of conversation. Particularly due to speculation on whether Boeing will be forced to revive the New Midsize Airplane (NMA). Initially designed as a replacement for the tri-engine 727, it …

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Boeing to suspend production in Washington

Boeing has announced that it will suspend all aircraft production at their factories in the Puget Sound area in Washington, USA. The shutdown is due to the prevailing state of emergency declared in Washington and due to the continuing spread of the Covid-19 virus. Boeing is reducing operations today and will shut down on 25 March 2020. The shutdown will …

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Watch the first flight of the Boeing 777X

The long-awaited first flight of the Boeing 777-9X is set to take place today. The first aircraft N779XW will take off from Boeing’s Paine Field factory at Everett at around 10:00 PST. The flight was originally scheduled for yesterday (23 January) but was postponed due to bad weather. Watch the first flight Boeing is streaming the first flight and you …

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Boeing estimates 737 MAX return to service only by mid-2020

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

Boeing has confirmed that it does not expect the grounded 737 MAX to return to service before “mid-2020”. In a statement released on January 21, the company cautioned that this time-line is an estimate, and entry in to service will be finally determined by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and other regulators across the world like Europe’s EASA and …

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IndiGo places order for 300 aircraft, including the A321XLR

Low-cost carrier IndiGo has placed a firm order for 300 A320neo family aircraft. The order comprises of the A320neo and A321neo both of which the carrier already operates and the new long-range A321XLR. The order is worth around $33 billion at current list prices and will bring Indigo’s total number of A320neo orders to 730. Interestingly, the announcement comes days …

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First picture of Vistara’s 787 in full livery. May be delivered earlier than expected.

In July of last year, Vistara (Tata-SIA) placed an order for six Boeing 787-9’s with an additional four options. These aircraft were scheduled for delivery in early 2020, which would have likely seen the airline launch long haul flights in the first half of 2020. However, it appears that the airline may now be getting its first aircraft earlier than …

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The engines that power Indian aviation

The CFM LEAP engine powering the retro livery Tata SIA Airlines Vistara Airbus A320neo. Image copyright Devesh Agarwal. Used with permission.

Indian aviation has been on a growth path. With demand growing by leaps and bounds, the number of aircraft in the skies has soared. And the growth is likely to continue. These aircraft are faster, more efficient and more advanced than ever before and much of this efficiency is by virtue of the engines. Each aircraft is powered by specific …

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Air France orders upto 120 A220’s. Will retire the A380

Air France has announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbus for 60 A220-300 aircraft. The deal also includes an additional 30 options and 30 acquisition rights which could potentially see an order of 120 aircraft. The aircraft are planned to be delivered from September 2021 and will replace the airline’s existing A218 and A319 fleet …

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Airbus orders and deliveries – June 2019. Paris delivers an order boost.

Airbus closed the first half of 2019 by adding 145 orders to its order book in June. As expected the slew of orders from the Paris Air Show pushed the European manufacturers net orders for the year into the black, with a net positive of 88 aircraft. The Paris Air Show saw Airbus launch the A321XLR for which the manufacturer …

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Saudi Flyadeal backs out of 737 MAX order

Suadi Arabian low cost carrier Flyadeal is backing out of a provisional $5.9 billion order for 50 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The low cost subsidiary began of flag-carrier Sudia began operations in 2017 and currently operates an all Airbus fleet of A320s. In December 2018, the airline placed a provisional order for 30 firm orders and 20 options of the …

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Mitsubishi to acquire CRJ program from Bombardier

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), the parent company of Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation has entered an agreement to acquire Bombardier’s Canadair Regional Jet program. The agreement will see Mitsubishi pay Bombardier $550 million USD and assume liabilities of approximately $200 million USD. Mitsubishi will accuire the Canadian manufacturer’s maintenance, support, refurbishment, marketing, and sales activities for the CRJ Series aircraft – which …

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PARIS 2019: KLM to purchase 35 Embraer E195-E2s

KLM Cityhopper has announced its intention to purchase 35 Embraer E195-E2 aircraft at the Paris Air Show today. The deal which will be finalised after the show will incude 15 firm orders and options for 20 more aircraft. Pieter Elbers, President & CEO, KLM “Embraer has been a key partner for KLM and Cityhopper over the past ten years. Our …

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PARIS 2019: Indigo Partners and American Airlines order A321XLRs

Airbus has announced two more orders for its new A321XLR. The first is from Indigo Partners for 50 aircraft. Indigo Partners is a American private equity fund focused on worldwide investments in air transportation. It has major ownership stakes in Frontier Airlines (U.S.A.), JetSMART (Chile), Volaris (Mexico) and Wizz Air (Hungary). The four carriers operate a fleet of 295 Airbus …

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PARIS 2019: Boeing gets 777F orders from China Airlines and Qatar

Boeing has announced two orders for 777 freighters at the Paris Air Show today. The first came from China Airlines in the form of six 777 Freighters. China Airlines will use the 777F to replace their existing 747 Freighters and to operate between their base in Taipei to North America and Europe. Hsieh Su-Chien, Chairman, China Airlines “Air cargo is …

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PARIS 2019: Mitsubishi announces first order for SpaceJet M100

Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation has announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 15 Mitsubishi SpaceJet M100 aircraft with an unidentified prospective North American customer. The deliveries of the aircraft are expected to begin in 2024. Hisakazu Mizutani, President, Mitsubishi Aircraft “We are pleased to welcome a new airline to the SpaceJet program, We have received strong interest …

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PARIS 2019: Embraer announces orders from Fuji and Binter

Embraer announced two orders yesterday at the Paris Air Show. The first was from Japan’s Fuji Dream Airlines (FDA) for two E175 jets. The aircraft will be configured in a single-class layout with 84 seats, with deliveries starting in 2019. The second order came from Binter of Spain. The order was a conversion of options for two E195-E2s. Binter will …

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PARIS 2019: Qantas places order for 36 Airbus A321XLRs

Australian airline Qantas Airways has placed an order for 36 Airbus A321XLRs. The order will sees the airline convert 26 aircraft from their existing order for 99 A320neos to the longest range version. Qantas has also placed an order for an additional 10 A321XLR bring up their total A320 family order to 109 aircraft. Alan Joyce, CEO, Qantas “It can …

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PARIS 2019: Delta commits to higher MTOW A220 with additional order

Delta Air Lines has placed an order for an additional five A220-100 aircraft. The airline is also the first to select the new increased maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) improvement package for its entire fleet from 2020. Last month Airbus had announced that it would increase the MTOW of the A220 by 2,268 kg. The increased MTOW would increase the range …

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PARIS 2019: IAG to buy 200 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft

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

International Airlines Group (IAG) has signed a letter of intent at the Paris Air Show for 200 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The order will include a mix of 737 MAX 8 and MAX 10s and is valued at $24 billion at current list prices. IAG is the parent company of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and LEVEL. The group …

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