WELCOME TO WWW.PLANESINTHEAIR.COM

TOMORROWS TRANSPORTATION NEWS TODAY!

Tag: a320 (Page 12 of 15)

Airbus achieves new commercial aircraft delivery record in 2018

January 10, 2019 /
  • Deliveries total 800 aircraft, 11 percent higher than in 2017
  • Net orders total 747, backlog increases to 7,577 aircraft

Airbus SE (stock exchange symbol: AIR) delivered 800 commercial aircraft to 93 customers in 2018, meeting its full year delivery guidance and setting a new company record. Deliveries were 11 percent higher than the previous record of 718 units, set in 2017. For the 16th year in a row now, Airbus has increased the number of commercial aircraft deliveries on an annual basis.

In total, the 2018 commercial aircraft deliveries comprise:

  • 20 A220s (since it became part of the Airbus family in July 2018);
  • 626 A320 Family (vs 558 in 2017), of which 386 were A320neo Family (vs 181 NEOs in 2017);
  • 49 A330s (vs 67 in 2017) including the first three A330neo in 2018;
  • 93 A350 XWBs (vs 78 in 2017);
  • 12 A380s (vs 15 in 2017).

In terms of sales, Airbus achieved 747 net orders during 2018 compared with 1,109 net orders in 2017. At the end of 2018, the backlog of Airbus commercial aircraft reached a new industry record and stood at 7,577 aircraft, including 480 A220s, compared with 7,265 at the end of 2017.

“Despite significant operational challenges, Airbus continued its production ramp-up and delivered a record number of aircraft in 2018. I salute our teams around the globe who worked until the end of the year to meet our commitments,” said Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft. “I am equally pleased about the healthy order intake as it shows the underlying strength of the commercial aircraft market and the trust our customers are placing in us. My gratitude goes out to all of them for their ongoing support.” He added: “As we look to further increase our industrial efficiency, we will continue making the digitalisation of our business a key priority.”

Over the last 16 years, Airbus has steadily increased its production year-by-year with the final assembly lines in Hamburg, Toulouse, Tianjin and Mobile complemented by the addition of the A220 line in Mirabel, Canada, during 2018. A notable contribution to Airbus’ delivery increase in 2018 came from the final assembly lines in the US and China. For the top-selling A320 Family in particular, the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Mobile, Alabama, saw its 100th delivery, and is now producing in excess of four units per month. Meanwhile, Airbus’ “FAL Asia” in Tianjin, China, achieved its 400th A320 delivery, while in Germany Airbus commenced operations of its new, fourth production line in Hamburg. Overall, the A320 programme is on track to achieve rate 60 per month for the A320 Family by mid-2019. The Airbus teams successfully reached an important industrial milestone for the A350, achieving the targeted rate of 10 aircraft per month.  

Airbus will report Full Year 2018 financial results on 14 February 2019.

Footnote:
The Full-Year 2018 net orders and backlog represent the contractual view. The Full-Year 2018 backlog value will be measured under IFRS 15 and will reflect the recoverable amount of revenues under these contracts. A significant reduction in order backlog value is expected mainly due to the adjustment for net prices versus list prices. The FY 2017 backlog will not be restated.

Story and image from http://www.airbus.com

JetBlue Airways Firms Order for 60 Airbus A220-300’s

January 8, 2019 /

JetBlue Airways has firmed up an order for 60 A220-300 aircraft, the larger model of the new, industry-leading A220 series.

“As we approach our 20th anniversary, the impressive range and economics of the highly efficient A220, combined with the outstanding performance of our existing fleet of Airbus A321 and restyled A320 aircraft, will help ensure we deliver the best onboard experience to customers and meet our long-term financial targets as we continue disciplined growth into the future,” said Robin Hayes, Chief Executive Officer, JetBlue.

JetBlue’s existing Airbus fleet includes 193 A320 and A321ceo aircraft in operation, with an additional 85 A321neo aircraft on order.

“JetBlue has proven there is no contradiction between economic efficiency and a high quality product,” said Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer. “Their endorsement of the A220 proves this aircraft meets those two criteria better than any alternative in its segment. Thank you JetBlue and congratulations on this big milestone in your growth.”

The order was completed the last week of December. Airbus will produce the A220-300 aircraft at a new U.S. assembly facility in Mobile, Alabama. Construction of the plant, to be located adjacent to the existing Airbus A320 assembly facility, will begin later this month.

The A220 is the only aircraft purpose built for the 100-150 seat market; it delivers unbeatable fuel efficiency and true widebody comfort in a single-aisle aircraft. The A220 brings together state-of-the-art aerodynamics, advanced materials and Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines to offer at least 20 percent lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft. With a range of up to 3,200 nm (5,020 km), the A220 offers the performance of larger single-aisle aircraft. 

With an order book of more than 500 aircraft to date, the A220 has all the credentials to win the lion’s share of the 100- to 150-seat aircraft market estimated to represent at least 7,000 aircraft over the next 20 years.

@JetBlue #A220 #Airbus

Story and image from http://www.airbus.com

China’s ICBC Firms Up Order for 80 Airbus Jets

January 7, 2019 /

PARIS (Reuters) – China’s ICBC Financial Leasing has firmed up an order for 80 Airbus (AIR.PA) A320-family jets worth $8.8 billion (£6.9 billion) at list prices, industry sources said on Monday.

The move is part of a buying spree from Asian lessors in the final hours of 2018 as Japanese-owned SMBC Aviation reached agreement for some 65 Airbus jets and Hong Kong-based China Aircraft Leasing (CALC) ordered 50 737 MAX from Boeing (BA.N).

Airbus declined comment. ICBC was not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

Image from http://cn.linkedin.com

Avianca Seeks To Cut Airbus Order In Half

December 11, 2018 /

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Airline Avianca Holdings SA (AVT_p.CN) will begin negotiations with Airbus (AIR.PA) to reduce the 100 planes it had agreed to purchase in a 2015 deal to as few as 50, the chief executive of the Latin American company said.

Avianca was also seeking a strategic alliance with German airline Lufthansa (LHAG.DE), CEO Hernan Rincon said late on Sunday, part of its bid to expand in Europe.

Avianca representatives will travel to France in the coming days for re-negotiations with Airbus, Rincon said. Avianca had agreed to buy 100 A320neo planes to modernize its fleet.

“Of those 100, we’ll probably receive between 50 and 80 planes,” he said. “We don’t have any doubt that we will keep growing, what has changed is the rhythm of the growth.”

Technological advancement is part of the reason for the airline wanting to reduce its purchases, Rincon added.

“The rhythm of technology is changing, it will take a while to get all of the order and we don’t want to have a commitment to planes with today’s technology which will be received by us in 10 or 15 years,” he said.

A reduction in the original order, which was set to cost $10 billion, will also give Avianca some financial breathing room, Rincon added.

At the end of last month Avianca, United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL.O) and Copa Airlines of Panama said they had finalized a three-way joint venture that will allow them to plan routes and fares together and share revenues on those routes.

United, Avianca and Copa are already codeshare partners and Star Alliance members.

“We’ve started conversations with Lufthansa, but its very embryonic,” said Rincon. “We hope to reach an agreement to benefit our passengers in Europe, which is a relevant and growing market.”

The deal with Lufthansa would be similar to the one just agreed with United and Copa, Rincon added.

Under the United and Copa agreement, United said it would provide a $456 million term loan to cash-strapped Avianca’s top shareholder, Synergy Group Corp. Loss-making Avianca has a roughly $4 billion debt pile, of which 40 percent is due within the next two years, according to recent financial statements.

That deal still has to be approved by regulators.

Avianca will also start operating a regional subsidiary in Colombia in 2019, meant to serve medium and small-sized cities with 12 ATR 42 planes. The planes are already part of Avianca’s fleet, Rincon said.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Helen Murphy and Marguerita Choy)

Lion Air Ponders Canceling Boeing Jets After Crash

December 3, 2018 /

PARIS/JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s Lion Air is reviewing airplane purchases from Boeing Co and has not ruled out canceling orders as relations worsen in a spat over responsibility for a 737 jetliner crash that killed 189 people in late October.

Co-founder Rusdi Kirana is furious over what he regards as attempts by Boeing to deflect attention from recent design changes and blame Lion Air for the crash, while the airline faces scrutiny over its maintenance record and pilots’ actions.

Kirana is examining the possibility of canceling remaining orders of Boeing jets “from the next delivery,” according to a person familiar with his thinking. Another source close to the airline said it was looking at canceling orders.

No final decision has been made, but discussion over the fate of $22 billion of remaining orders highlights the stakes surrounding an investigation involving Boeing’s fastest-ever selling jet, the 737 MAX, which entered service last year.

Lion Air has 190 Boeing jets worth $22 billion at list prices waiting to be delivered, on top of 197 already taken, making it one of the largest U.S. export customers.

Any request to cancel could be designed to put pressure on Boeing and would likely trigger extensive negotiations. Many airlines defer orders, but industry sources say aerospace suppliers rarely allow much scope for unilateral cancellations.

Lion Air declined to comment. A Boeing spokesman said: “We are taking every measure to fully understand all aspects of this accident, and are working closely with the investigating team and all regulatory authorities involved. We are also supporting our valued customer through this very tough time.”

MAINTENANCE, SOFTWARE

Kirana, who is now Indonesia’s envoy to Malaysia but still carries weight at the airline he co-founded with his brother in 2000, ordered the review in response to a Boeing statement focusing attention on piloting and maintenance, the person said.

Boeing released the statement after investigators last week issued an interim report focusing on maintenance actions spread over four flights in the run-up to the doomed flight on Oct. 29.

Boeing is also examining software changes in the wake of the crash, while insisting longstanding procedures exist for pilots to cancel automated nose-down movements experienced by the 737 MAX in response to erroneous sensor readings.

It has come under fire from U.S. pilots for not mentioning the MCAS system – a modification of existing anti-stall systems – in the manual for the 737 MAX, which began service last year.

“Why are they changing (software) if there was nothing wrong?” the person familiar with Kirana’s thinking said.

Boeing has said all information needed to fly the 737 safely is available to pilots and that its workhorse model is safe.

Some financial sources say Lion Air and southeast Asian rivals over-expanded and would be comfortable with fewer orders.

But the row highlights an unusually polarized dispute over the causes of the crash. Experts say most accidents are caused by a cocktail of factors and parties rarely comment in detail before the final report, which often follows a year of analysis.

In its statement, Boeing recapped the interim report and listed questions on maintenance and pilot behavior that it said remained unanswered in the 78-page document, but did not mention the MCAS modification covered in an earlier safety bulletin.

It is not the first time an airline has crossed swords with its supplier after a crash. Lion Air’s rival AirAsia clashed with Airbus after its Indonesian subsidiary lost an A320 in 2014. It continued to take deliveries, but relations never fully recovered and it later toyed with buying 787s from Boeing.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher in PARIS, Cindy Silviana in JAKARTA; Additional reporting by Eric JOhnson; Editing by Mark Potter)

Image from www.boeing.com

Airbus Delivers First A330neo To TAP Air Portugal

November 26, 2018 /

TAP Air Portugal has taken delivery of the world’s first new generation widebody A330neo and, as the launch airline, will be the first to benefit from the aircraft’s unbeatable operating economics, increased range, and Airbus’ new Airspace cabin offering passengers the best in class comfort. The Portuguese carrier will take delivery of a further 20 A330-900s in the coming years.

TAP Air Portugal’s first A330-900 is leased from Avolon. It features 298 seats in a comfortable three-class lay-out with 34 full-flat business class, 96 economy plus and 168 economy class seats. The Airspace by Airbus cabin offers more personal space, larger overhead storage bins, advanced cabin lighting and the latest generation in-flight entertainment system and connectivity. The aircraft will be deployed on routes from Portugal to the Americas and Africa.

“I am delighted to welcome the first Airbus A330-900 into our expanding fleet. Its unbeatable economics and efficiency will power our business forward,“ said Antonoaldo Neves, TAP Air Portugal CEO. “The A330neo will give us a lot of operational flexibility thanks to its commonality with the other Airbus aircraft in our fleet. This aircraft will be the first equipped with the new Airspace cabin, which is a new concept shaped to meet TAP’s ambition to offer the best product in the industry to our passengers,“ he added.

“Handing over the first ever A330neo to a long standing Airbus customer, TAP Air Portugal, is a very important milestone for Airbus,” said Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft. “Through continuous innovations, the A330neo, our newest widebody aircraft, will offer maximum value and efficiency to our customers and superior comfort to their passengers. This occasion marks another step forward to meeting our industry’s goal for sustainable aviation,” he added.

The A330neo is a true new generation aircraft building on the A330’s success and leveraging on A350 XWB technology. It incorporates the highly efficient new generation Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, and a new higher span 3D optimised wing with new sharklets fully optimised for the best aerodynamic performance. Together these advances bring a significant reduction in fuel consumption of 25 percent compared with older generation competitor aircraft of a similar size. Moreover, new composite nacelles, a fully faired titanium pylon and zero-splice air inlet technology provide the A330-900 with state-of-the-art aerodynamics and acoustics .

Today, TAP Air Portugal operates an Airbus fleet of 72 aircraft (18 A330s, 4 A340s,and 50 A320 Family aircraft). The single-aisle fleet includes 22 A319ceo, 21 A320ceo and four A321ceo, one A320neo and two recently delivered A321neo.

The A330 is one of the most popular widebody families ever, having received over 1,700 orders from 120 customers. More than 1,380 A330s are flying with over 128 operators worldwide. The new A330neo is the latest addition to the leading Airbus widebody family, which also includes the A350 XWB and the A380, all featuring unmatched space and comfort combined with unprecedented efficiency levels and unrivalled range capability.

@TAPAirPortugal  @Airbus  #A330neo  #TAP330neo

Story and image from www.airbus.com

Airbus To Resume Deliveries To HNA Group

November 26, 2018 /

TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) – Airbus (AIR.PA) is poised to resume stalled deliveries of jets to China’s debt-laden HNA Group, an Airbus schedule showed on Monday, but deliveries of over $1 billion of large jets remain behind schedule after months of wrangling over late payments.

Visitors to an Airbus delivery center in Toulouse on Monday saw at least two Airbus A330 aircraft and one smaller A320-family jet in position for handover to HNA-affiliated airlines. An electronic sign welcomed crew for an imminent A320 delivery.

“Some (HNA) planes will be delivered,” an industry source said.

However, another six A330 aircraft painted in flame-red HNA tail liveries remained parked in long-term storage elsewhere in Airbus’s Toulouse base, according to Reuters journalists, who were attending an event at the facility for the first delivery of the upgraded A330neo version to TAP Portugal.

“Deliveries are ongoing. Contractual terms are confidential,” an Airbus spokesman said, when asked about HNA deliveries.

Companies belonging to the Chinese aviation-to-finance conglomerate delayed payments earlier this year, leading Airbus to suspend deliveries rather than step in to provide delivery financing itself, Reuters reported in July.

Airbus said last month it hoped to resolve by year-end an unidentified commercial issue surrounding current-generation A330 airplanes, which industry sources afterwards linked to the HNA payments stand-off.

Under pressure from Beijing, HNA Group is in the process of selling some $20 billion of assets, according to Reuters calculations and media reports, following a $50 billion acquisition spree.

Airbus aims to deliver a total of 782 aircraft this year including the stored HNA aircraft.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher. Editing by Jane Merriman)

Image from www.hainanairlines.com

SaudiGulf Airlines Signs Agreement For 10 Airbus A320neo Jets

November 15, 2018 /

DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabian airline SaudiGulf owner Al-Qahtani Aviation has signed an agreement to buy 10 Airbus (AIR.PA) A320neo family jets, Airbus said in a statement on Thursday.

The value of deal was not announced. It would be worth around $1.1 billion at list prices, though discounts are common.

The “commitment” was announced at the Bahrain International Airshow, which is taking place this week, Airbus said.

The parties did not immediately respond to questions about whether the deal was new or part of earlier Airbus announcements in which the buyer was not identified.

Reuters reported in July, citing sources, that SaudiGulf was behind an order for 10 A320neos that Airbus said during England’s Farnborough was for an undisclosed customer.

SaudiGulf President Samer Majali said the order would help the airline’s regional and international expansion.

SaudiGulf, based in the eastern Saudi Arabian city of Dammam, launched it 2016. It currently operates a fleet of six A320 jets.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; editing by Jason Neely)

Icelandair Agrees To Buy Rival WOW Air

November 7, 2018 /

(Reuters) – Icelandair (ICEAIR.IC) has agreed to buy rival Icelandic airline WOW air from its founder for about $18 million in an all-share deal aimed at creating a stronger international competitor.

Airlines are looking to consolidate in many markets as a result of rising running costs, largely to higher oil prices, and increased competition from low-cost, budget carriers.

WOW has focussed on low-cost travel across the Atlantic, using smaller single-aisle planes to fly between Iceland and destinations in the United States and Europe.

While there has been some consolidation in Europe over the last year, with Lufthansa and easyJet acquiring parts of failed airline Air Berlin in 2017, the chief executives of the continent’s biggest airline groups say more is to come.

Struggling Italian carrier Alitalia is seeking new investors and British Airways-owner IAG (ICAG.L) bought a stake in Norwegian Air (NWC.OL) with a view to a takeover.

A jump in the oil price could spur more consolidation, as weaker players are likely to suffer over the winter period as costs rise during a period when fewer people tend to fly.

Both Icelandic airlines, which Icelandair said would continue to operate under separate brands, use Keflavik Airport as their main hub between Europe and North America.

Together they have a combined 3.8 percent share of the transatlantic market, Icelandair, which warned on profit in July due to an increase in capacity on some routes across the Atlantic, added in a statement.

Icelandair shares jumped by nearly 50 percent after it announced the WOW takeover, the biggest one day percentage gain in its stock price since September 2009. The headline value of its offer for WOW was based on Friday’s closing share price.

“WOW air has been Icelandair’s main competitor and the acquisition is likely to lead to increase in average fares and better capacity control on the market to and from Iceland.” Arion Banki analyst Elvar Ingi Moller said.

WOW’s founder and sole owner Skuli Mogensen, who will receive 272 million shares in Icelandair, said that the deal will strengthen its international competitiveness.

Moller said WOW, which has 14 Airbus A320 family aircraft and three widebody A330 planes, has come under pressure due to higher oil prices and lower air fares in recent months.

Icelandair said its shareholders are due to meet to vote on the deal in the near future.

(Reporting by Tommy Lund; Additional reporting by Saray Young; Editing by Jon Boyle/Louise Heavens/Alexander Smith)

Image from www.boeing.com

« Older posts Newer posts »

Archives

© 2024 WELCOME TO WWW.PLANESINTHEAIR.COM

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑