- A350-900 MSN1 around 3 tonnes overweight – 777X CFRP wing likely to be made in Japan – 777X CFRP wing could be transported to Everett by ship – Thrust for 777-9X’s GE9X engine increased to 102,000lbs – Halting A350-1000′s rise Boeing’s top priority – 777-9X more weight efficient than A350-1000 & has better seat-mile costs – Boeing ups 777-9X’s MTOW to 351,534kg (775,000lbs) from 340,000kg – Boeing ups 777-8X’s …Read More
Tag Archives: A320neo
Qantas, Virgin Australia face new industry normal
It is back to the future. In the movie the protagonist goes back to the past to seek guidance for the future. The same holds true for the Australian aviation market. Since the collapse of Ansett Australia in 2001, coupled with the proposed acquisition of Tiger Airways Australia by Virgin Australia, which is still subject to the regulatory approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) whose final decision …Read More
Cathay Pacific to be a smarter & leaner airline in 2013
2012 has been a tumultuous year for Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways, with the “triple whammy” – a toxic mix of softening corporate travel demand owing to ensuing global economic uncertainties, stubbornly high oil prices and a cargo conundrum, pushing Asia’s largest international airline into a HK$935 million (US$120.6 million) first-half loss (“Gleam of hope for Cathay Pacific in stormy skies“, 13th Aug, 12). Notwithstanding this, Cathay Pacific has stayed …Read More
Bankrupt American Airlines tells a familiar tale
It’s a familiar American airline story. Delta Air Lines went through it, so did United Airlines. Now it is Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines’ turn to carry the can. But for American this time, it never rains but pours. Parent AMR Corporation is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A take-over by the fifth-largest US carrier US Airways is on the cards, while American waits out for a better deal. …Read More
Special Report: Boeing remains formidable even if BAE/EADS merger goes ahead
BAE/EADS merger to create world’s biggest aerospace company Merged BAE/EADS to be 35% bigger than Boeing based on 2011 sales Boeing 2011 profit of US$4.01 billion 22.6% higher than BAE/EADS’s combined US$3.27 billion profit Boeing 2012 H1 profit of US$1.89 billion 26.3% higher than BAE/EADS’s combined US$1.5 billion profit Little cost & revenue synergies on BAE/EADS merger Production ramp-up, weight reduction biggest 787 challenges as risk declines A 787-8 between …Read More
Boeing 737 MAX ups the ante in dogfight with A320neo
At last year’s Paris Air Show, there were blue skies and the airline industry managed to stay relatively healthy despite soaring oil prices and an anaemic global economic recovery, with a year-end industry-wide profit of US$7.9 billion, according to Geneva-based industry body International Air Transport Association (IATA). Fast forward 12 months and the global economy was in a very different shape. Having gone through the fear of contagion in the …Read More
Qantas on a wing and a prayer
It is dubbed as a perfect storm for Australian flag carrier Qantas Airways. The flying kangaroo said a confluence of negative factors weighing on its bottom line, including high oil prices, high Australian dollar, coupled with a weakening yield picture as a result of the ensuing European sovereign debt crisis, will lead the carrier to suffer from a post-tax loss for the first time since its public listing in 1995. …Read More
The showdown in re-engined narrowbody battle begins
As the global economy takes a turn for the worse with weakening passenger yields and a cargo doldrum significantly hurting airlines’ bottom line, there is little visibility beyond the runway, let alone leaping into the unknown by spending billions of dollars on hundreds of shiny new metals that are not going to be delivered five to six years from now, if not longer. It is against this backdrop that the …Read More