Fascinating interview – insight on JAL’s A350 selection
A new regional airline, Air Kazakhstan is being established in the Central Asian republic and is expected to begin flying early next year. The state investment fund, Samruk-Kazyna and Air Astana will be partners in the formation of a new regional airline, to provide domestic feeder service to Air Astana’s operations. Air Astana ceased its regional operations last year when it retired a fleet of aging Fokker 50 aircraft, which has left a transportation gap in domestic service from airports too small to handle jets.
Air Astana currently serves Almaty, Astana, and Atyrau with an… Continue reading
We continue to watch the three ongoing flight test programs with great interest. All three programs are showing progress. We will first deal with the three programs and then with each separately. Continue reading
Tim Clark at Emirates has been quite clear that he wants performance improvements for the A380, and as the largest customer by far, these comments carry considerable weight at Airbus. With Emirates also a customer for the 777-9X, it is interesting to compare these two aircraft, and how they will stack-up economically.
About 40% of the titanium for Boeing jets is currently sourced from Russia and VSMPO. VSMPO (Верхнесалдинское металлургическое производственное объединение) is the largest titanium producer in the world, and has extensive relationships with Boeing and other aerospace manufacturers, as outlined in this article from Defense Industry Daily in 2012.
What would happen if the current crisis in the Ukraine impacts trade between Russia and the United States? Would Boeing need to shift its supply of titanium to other sources, and could those other sources ramp up production quickly enough to maintain projected production volumes?
Airbus is also a major customer of VSMPO, and may face a similar situation, depending on the EU stance on issues. Should this become a NATO issue, France may also find itself in a similar position with respect to Titanium.
Stay tuned, as the secondary impacts of any crisis may not be easy… Continue reading
The Boeing 787 is one of two aircraft (the other being the Airbus A380) that attracts media attention every time there is an “event”, be it positive or negative. Should anything unusual happen during a flight by a 787, it will likely be the focus of media coverage. While both aircraft are special in their own way, this newsletter will focus on the 787, its ramp-up, decline and recovery.
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Alaska Airlines is something of an airline enigma in the US market. It has been independent since its creation. Yet it has relationships with many airlines. Alaska has been in business for over 80 years.
Alaska is the seventh-largest U.S. airline based on passenger traffic and is the dominant U.S. West Coast air carrier. Its location in Seattle and Alaska have made the airline something of a bright spot for larger airlines focused on the lower 48 states. But Alaska’s footprint stretches far beyond its Seattle base. The airline has partnerships with many international airlines.
Delta Air Lines is about 90 years old and is one of the world’s mega carriers. The table shows a few key comparative data points.
At this weeks Abu Dhabi air show, Falcon Aviation Services ordered one firm and optioned one Bombardier CS300, which will be the first of that model to be configured for executive travel. Aircraft interior configuration and completion arrangements have not yet been announced, but we would expect high end amenities similar to those in corporate jets.
Emirates also displayed its Emirates Executive A319, which can be seen in a video here
Airbus is building hours on the A350 flight test program at a remarkable rate. We estimate that by month end, the program will be around 45% of its test hours in approximately 40% of the test schedule. The test program is going exceptionally well. It is certainly the best flight test program of the latest generation of aircraft.
There are four test aircraft flying now so we can expect the necessary hours to accelerate considerably. Continue reading
Reuters reported today that Rolls-Royce announced two new engines; the “Advance” which is expected to be 6% more fuel efficient than the Trent XWB (Rolls’ latest engine) and the “UltaFan” which is expected to be 10% more fuel efficient than the Trent XWB. Continue reading
