When Tony Fernandes, director of AirAsia Berhad announced that his airline was in preliminary talks with Montreal-based plane-maker Bombardier to buy 100 of Bombardier’s potential 160 seat CSeries aircraft, it ended the recently concluded Farnborough Airshow on a relative high note for Bombardier. During an air show that was tabbed as a referendum on the beleaguered CSeries programme, Bombardier managed relative success, winning 25 new commitments to the CSeries; 5 …Read More
A Q400X turboprop bodes well for Bombardier
On 19th October, 2011, Air New Zealand (ANZ) announced an order for 7 new ATR 72-600 aircraft plus five options for growth of its domestic regional operations. The airline stated that while it had given consideration to both Bombardier and ATR for this latest order, it had chosen the ATR aircraft due to its superior fuel burn performance and optimisation for operations in poor weather conditions. Air New Zealand’s regional operations …Read More
Boeing 737 MAX gains traction as configuration being defined
Following its launch in August this year, the re-engined Boeing 737 MAX aircraft programme has helped the Chicago-based aircraft manufacturer regain strong sales momentum seen by its arch-rival European plane-maker Airbus on its re-engined A320neo (new engine option) aircraft, garnering 700 commitments from nine airlines around the world, up from 496 commitments from five airlines received at programme launch (“Boeing 737 MAX to help recover sales momentum“, 5th Sep, 11). …Read More
Boeing 737 MAX to help recover sales momentum
After witnessing the re-engined narrowbody A320 neo (new engine option) aircraft offered by its arch-rival European aircraft manufacturer Airbus became the world’s most popular airplane in receiving 1,245 orders and commitments within a single year of the aircraft programme’s launch which landed the European Aeronautics, Defence & Space Co. (EADS) wholly-owned subsidiary a significant head-start, and announcing its re-engining decision at the eleventh hour, Chicago-based airframer Boeing last week unveiled …Read More
Pluna flies onwards; growing but still not profitable
Pluna, the national airline of Uruguay, announced earlier this month that it will use new aircraft delivered from Bombardier this year to serve new destinations in Brazil and Chile. The carrier has 3 new Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2011. These aircraft were ordered in early-2011 along with 2 additional purchase options. The carrier, which currently operates 10 of the 90-seat CRJ900s, has set …Read More
Shifting sands: Revisiting Boeing’s narrowbody strategy
For more than a year, senior executives at Chicago-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing have refused to make a reactionary decision in response to the surprising popularity of the re-engined A320neo (new engine option) launched by its arch-rival European plane-maker Airbus and stated the airframer’s preference in launching a clean-sheet new small airplane (NSA) with an entry into service (EIS) being eyed in the 2019-2020 timeframe. Until very recently, Boeing Commercial Airplanes …Read More
WTO dispute threatens to drag on
In the latest development on a long-running transatlantic dispute over illegal aircraft subsidies provided by governments across the Atlantic to European plane-maker Airbus and its US arch-rival Boeing, the appellate body of the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation (WTO) this Wednesday delivered its final ruling on case DS316 which has been characterised by the media as a softening in stance over illegal subsidies provided by the United Kingdom (UK), French, German …Read More
Special Report: The engine battle heats up (Update1)
With a little more than a month to go before this June’s Paris Air Show takes place, summer heat will not be the only one felt by the aerospace industry. As the engine battle between Pratt & Whitney (P&W)’s PurePower geared turbofan (GTF) engine and CFM International’s Leap-X engine heats up for the engine orders for the popular Airbus A320 neo (new engine options) which has garnered over 330 orders …Read More
Calls for Boeing 737 replacement haven’t been clearer ever
Since Airbus launched the A320 neo (new engine options) programme last December (“A350 risks further delay if A320 neo receives go-ahead“, 1st Dec 10), a number of new A320 neo orders have been racked up, including Virgin America’s launch order for 30 firm A320 neo aircraft as well as Indigo Airlines’ yet-to-be-confirmed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 150 A320 neos (“A320 neo orders won’t clear doubts in years“, 12th Jan …Read More
Ryanair right on A320 neo, wrong on 737 NG
Following the critiques laid out by lessors and bankers on the A320 neo (New Engine Option) program which significantly decimates the residual value of the existing A320 family aircraft, it is no surprise that the biggest 737 operator in the world, Dublin-based low-cost carrier (LCC) Ryanair joined the growing list of skeptics. “We feel that, on a longer-term basis, the investment in upgrading aircraft would be better spent on the …Read More