Category: Airbus news (Page 48 of 48)

Boeing and GE appear to win big American Airlines order

March 26, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

American Airlines (AAL) has reportedly ended talks with Airbus (EADSY) for its A330neo aircraft, making it appear as if Boeing (BA) and General Electric (GE) will walk away as the winners of the large widebody aircraft order.

American is looking to purchase 25 to 30 new widebody aircraft, which would have a value of around $8 billion at list price. Large customers are usually able to negotiate large discounts, so the real would probably land somewhere around the $4 billion mark.

Airbus has reportedly commented that it was not able to match the Boeing price for its 787 Dreamliners. American Airlines is also reportedly looking to cancel an earlier order it had placed for 22 Airbus A350 aircraft.

This deal would also be a huge win for struggling General Electric, whose engines look like the winner for the order over Rolls Royce, according to reports from Reuters. If the Boeing win at American is finalized, it would be the second big blow for the A330 this month following Hawaiian Airlines (HA) announcement that it would switch its A330-800 order for the Boeing 787. The Airbus A330neo has been struggling to get passenger orders, forcing Airbus to consider offering the aircraft in a cargo version to help increase sales.

Boeing also stated that it has just delivered its first 787-10 Dreamliner to Singapore Airlines yesterday.

JetBlue Has a Plan for Beating Alaska Air

March 20, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

Two years ago, JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) tried to buy trendy West Coast rival Virgin America. However, it ultimately lost a bidding war to Alaska Air (NYSE: ALK), which was eager to expand its strong position in the Pacific Northwest to the rest of the West Coast.

JetBlue responded with an aggressive plan to gain market share on transcontinental routes. The linchpin of this strategy was the expansion of Mint, JetBlue’s highly acclaimed premium service, to a slew of new routes. So far, this strategy has been extremely successful, and it is putting a ton of pressure on Alaska Air in the transcontinental market.

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JetBlue vs Alaska Air

Airbus Weighs New A330 Cargo Model

March 20, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

Airbus SE is considering building a freighter version of its slow-selling A330neo widebody, spurred by requests from potential customers amazon.com and United Parcel service, according to people familiar with the matter.

The interest from Amazon and UPS could rekindle a competition between Airbus and Boeing as the global air-cargo market rebounds from a decade-long slump. Production of the popular Boeing 767 freighter has been restricted as the U.S. manufacturer focuses on a military tanker variant that is more than a year behind schedule, the people said.

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Airbus Weighs New A330 Cargo Model

Alaska Air is Cutting a Bunch of California Flights

March 13, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

Two years ago, Alaska Air (NYSE: ALK) offered a big premium to acquire Virgin America in order to gain a platform for growth in California. Within three months of the acquisition closing, the carrier had announced a massive expansion in California — including more than a dozen new routes in San Francisco — Virgin America’s hometown.

However, Alaska Air’s 2017 financial performance was disappointing, and the company is still struggling with a combination of rising costs and weak unit revenue in 2018. Much of the unit revenue weakness has been concentrated in California. As a result, Alaska Air has quickly gone from expansion mode to retrenchment, making cutbacks on several routes in California.

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Alaska Air cutting California routes

Airbus looks to land IndiGo A330neo order

March 8, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

IndiGo, India’s biggest airline, plans to order as many as 50 Airbus A330 wide-body jets as it seeks to expand beyond short-haul flights, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The carrier aims to take the upgraded A330neo version of the plane, according the people, who asked not to be named as the discussions aren’t public. The deal would be worth $13 billion at list prices for the smaller of two variants, though some of the aircraft are likely to options to be confirmed later.

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Airbus IndiGo A330neo order

In other Indian aviation news…

March 8, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

HYDERABAD (Reuters) – Indian airlines Jet Airways, SpiceJet Ltd and AirAsia India are planning to add new jets to their fleets as they look to expand in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market, the carriers said on Thursday.

Domestic Indian passenger traffic increased by 17.9 percent in January from a year earlier, marking the 41st consecutive month of double-digit growth, the International Air Transport Association said in a monthly update released on Thursday.

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Jet Airways, SpiceJet Ltd and AirAsia India

The fate of the Boeing 767

March 7, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

Last fall, Boeing (NYSE: BA) seemed to be seriously considering restarting production of the 767-300ER medium-range widebody. While the 767’s technology is nearly half a century old, it’s a proven model with low production costs and no direct competition.

U.S. airline giant United Continental (NYSE: UAL) was interested in placing a large order, according to The Wall Street Journal and other sources. However, a prominent Boeing executive recently slammed the door on the prospect of building more 767 passenger jets. This may indicate growing confidence that Boeing will be able to launch a new “middle-of-the-market” 797 jet later this year.

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The fate of the Boeing 767

Airbus fights to defend A330neo market

March 6, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS (Reuters) – Imminent airline decisions on $10 billion of wide-body plane orders could influence the fate of Airbus’ (AIR.PA) A330neo even before the recently upgraded jet completes flight trials, industry sources said.

American Airlines said in January it was reviewing the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and shorter-range Airbus A330-900, which is in test flights before entering service this summer.

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Airbus fights to defend A330neo market

First Airbus A350-900ULR aircraft rolls off assembly line

February 28, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

The first of manufacturer Airbus’s A350-900 Ultra Long Range (ULR) aircraft rolled off the final assembly line at the company’s facility in Toulouse today, ahead of its delivery to launch customer Singapore Airlines later in 2018.

The A350-900ULR is a new variant of the manufacturer’s existing A350-900 aircraft that is able to fly greater distances than both its predecessor and, according to Airbus, any other commercial aircraft. Airbus claims the aircraft is capable of flying distances of up to of 9,700 nautical miles, or 17,964 kilometres, or for durations exceeding 20 hours.

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First Airbus A350-900ULR rolls

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