Bombardier
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
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
The Singapore Airshow seems elegantly understated when compared with the brashness of Dubai, the bustle of Paris, or the more stoic nature of Farnborough. If Paris 
2011 was the year of the neo, Farnborough 2012 the year of the MAX, Paris 2013 the year of the wide body, and Dubai 2013 the economic strength of the Middle East carriers, Singapore 2014 might be characterized as the quiet show.
The order books did not grow to the degree expected at the show, particularly for wide bodies. Expected orders from Singapore Airlines did not materialize, as sales campaigns could not be finalized in time for an air show announcement. Firm orders concluded at the show totaled 191 aircraft, as compared with 285 aircraft at the 2012 show, a drop of about 33%. But the value of those orders, buoyed by the 20 A380 sales (confirmation from an earlier… Continue reading
As of the third quarter 2013 there were 28,525 commercial aircraft in service. The table below illustrates the breakdown of this number. The shaded rows are OEMs that are no longer in the business of making commercial airliners.
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There are three new aircraft programs in flight test at the moment. Airbus’ A350XWB, Boeing 787-9 and the Bombardier CSeries. The chart below compares the progress in flight testing to date for the three aircraft. Clearly, the 787-9 and A350XWB are progressing at a much faster rate than the Bombardier CSeries, for which a delay of 9-15 months has been announced. Continue reading
