DHL Express introduced the first plane in a new line of Boeing aircraft based at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, which will gradually replace the company’s older intercontinental fleet.
The first aircraft in an order of 14 Boeing 777 freighters took off on its commercial maiden flight May 25 from the DHL Express hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport to Bahrain. Three more 777 Freighters will arrive this year to continue replacing DHL’s previous Boeing 747-400 aircraft for intercontinental flights.
Boeing and International Airlines Group, the parent company of
British Airways, announced February 28, 2019 the airline has committed
to purchasing up to 42 777X airplanes, including 18 firm orders and 24
options. British Airways joins a group of leading carriers that have
selected the new 777-9, which will debut next month as the largest and
most efficient twin-engine passenger jet in the world.
The commitment, valued at up to $18.6 billion at list prices, will be reflected on Boeing’s Orders and Deliveries website once it is finalized.
“The new 777-9 is the world’s most fuel efficient longhaul aircraft
and will bring many benefits to British Airways’ fleet. It’s the ideal
replacement for the 747 and its size and range will be an excellent fit
for the airline’s existing network,” said Willie Walsh, IAG chief
executive. “This aircraft will provide further cost efficiencies and
environmental benefits with fuel cost per seat improvements of 30 per
cent compared to the 747. It also provides an enhanced passenger
experience”.
British Airways has been modernizing its fleet – one of the largest in the airline industry – to more efficiently serve its extensive global route network. In recent years, the airline has introduced the super-efficient 787 Dreamliner family to replace its medium-sized widebody jets. The new 777-9 will replace British Airways’ larger widebody airplanes, mainly the four-engine 747 jumbo jet.
In ordering the 777-9, British Airways extends a long-running
relationship with the popular 777 family. The airline is one of the
largest 777 operators with a fleet of nearly 60 of the long-range jet.
The airline last year committed to four more 777-300ER (Extended Range)
jets via operating lease.
The 777-9 is larger and slightly wider than current 777s with the ability to comfortably sit 400-425 passengers in a standard two-class cabin. Powered by 787 Dreamliner technologies, an all-new composite wing, and other enhancements, the 777-9 offers airlines 12 percent lower fuel consumption than competing airplanes. The 777-9 can also fly farther than its predecessors with a standard range of 7,600 nautical miles (14,075 kilometers).
LONDON,
Feb 28 (Reuters) – British Airways owner IAG said it expected earnings
in 2019 to be flat after it weathered the impact of rising fuel costs
and air traffic control disruption to meet expectations for its 2018
results on Thursday.
IAG
reported a 9.5 percent rise in operating profit before exceptional
items for the year to December 31 to 3.23 billion euros, but said there
would be no growth in 2019 as earnings would be in line with the
previous year’s results.
“This
was a very good performance despite three significant challenges: fuel
prices increasing 30 percent, considerable Air Traffic Control
disruption and an adverse foreign exchange impact of 129 million euros,”
Chief Executive Willie Walsh said.
IAG said that passenger revenue rose 6.2 percent across the group, with passenger unit revenue up 2.4 percent.
In
a separate statement, IAG said it would order 18 Boeing 777-9s and
options for 24 more for British Airways to replace 14 747-400s and four
777-200s between 2022 and 2025.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout, editing by James Davey)
International Consolidated Airlines Group, S.A., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of passenger and cargo transportation services in the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, the United States, and rest of the world. The company operates under the British Airways, Iberia, Vueling, LEVEL, IAG Cargo, Avios, and Aer Lingus brands.
TOULOUSE,
France (Reuters) – Loved by passengers, feared by accountants, the
world’s largest airliner has run out of runway after Airbus decided to
close A380 production after 12 years in service due to weak sales.
The
decision to halt production of the A380 superjumbo is the final act in
one of Europe’s greatest industrial adventures and reflects a dearth of
orders by airline bosses unwilling to back Airbus’s vision of huge jets
to combat airport congestion.
Air
traffic is growing at a near-record pace but this has mainly generated
demand for twin-engined jets nimble enough to fly directly to where
people want to travel, rather than bulky four-engined jets forcing
passengers to change at hub airports.
And
while loyal supporters like top customer Emirates say the popular
544-seat jet makes money when full, each unsold seat potentially burns a
hole in airline finances because of the fuel needed to keep the huge
double-decker structure aloft.
“It’s
an aircraft that frightens airline CFOs; the risk of failing to sell so
many seats is just too high,” said a senior aerospace industry source
familiar with the program.
Once
hailed as the industrial counterpart to Europe’s single currency, the
demise of a globally recognized European symbol coincides with growing
political strains between Britain, France, Germany and Spain where the
plane is built.
That’s
in stark contrast to the display of European unity and optimism when
the engineering behemoth was unveiled in front of European leaders under
a spectacular light show in 2005.
British
Prime Minister Tony Blair called the A380 a “symbol of economic
strength” while Spanish premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero called the
rollout “the realization of a dream”.
Passengers
marveled at the European giant with room for 70 cars on its wings,
looking rather like the hump-backed Boeing 747 but with the top section
stretching all the way to the back.
Airlines had initially rushed to place orders, expecting it to lower operating costs and boost profits as the industry crawled out of a slowdown in tourism since September 2001.
Airbus boasted it would sell 700-750 A380s, which nowadays cost $446 million at list prices, and render the 747 obsolete.
In
fact, A380 orders barely crossed the 300 threshold and the 747 has
outlived its rival, after reaching the age of 50 this week.
FALL FROM GRACE
The seeds of the A380’s fall from grace were already present behind the scenes of the 2005 launch party, insiders say.
Despite
public talk of unity, the huge task was about to expose fractures in
Franco-German co-operation that sparked an industrial meltdown. When the
delayed jet finally reached the market in 2007, the global financial
crisis was starting to bite. Scale and opulence were no longer wanted.
Sales slowed.
At
the same time, engine makers who had promised Airbus a decade of
unbeatable efficiencies with their new superjumbo engines were
fine-tuning even more efficient designs for the next generation of
dual-engined planes, competing with the A380.
Finally,
a restless Airbus board started demanding a return and stronger prices
just when the plane desperately needed an aggressive relaunch and fresh
investment, insiders said.
“It was a triple whammy,” said a person close to the debate.
As demand see-sawed, so did the plane’s marketing: starting with luxuries including showers, then vaunting its green credentials with the messianic slogan ‘Saving The Planet One A380 at a Time” before joining the race to squeeze in more people and cut costs.
Yet
despite its own deep industrial problems, Boeing was winning the
argument with its newest jet, the 787 Dreamliner. It was designed to
bypass hubs served by the A380 and open routes between secondary cities:
a strategy known as “point to point”.
Airbus fought back, arguing that travel between megacities would nonetheless dominate air transport.
But
economic growth would splinter in ways Airbus did not predict.
Intermediary cities are growing almost twice as fast as megacities,
according to a 2018 paper posted by the Organisation for Economic
Co-Operation and Development.https://bit.ly/2P28F3h
That’s a boon for twinjets like the Boeing 787 and 777 or Airbus’s own A350, which has outsold the A380 three to one.
Airbus
Chief Executive Tom Enders, who was rarely seen as an enthusiastic
backer of the A380, toyed with ending the project about two years ago
but was persuaded to give it a last chance.
But with Emirates unable to hammer out an engine deal needed to confirm its most recent A380 order, time had finally run out.
“Airbus
tends to think of it as a flagship; Enders looks at it and sees a lack
of orders,” said a person close to the German-born CEO, who steps down
in April.
Some insiders worry that Airbus will lose a valuable symbol of pride and commercial audacity when production ends in 2021.
Now,
airline bosses are seeking assurances that Airbus will support the A380
with spare parts for years to come. Many invested in the A380 as their
flagship while airports also spent heavily on new facilities.
Some customers like Air France and Lufthansa may not shed too many tears, analysts say.
They
too invested in the A380 but may also be relieved to see a potent
weapon removed from Gulf rivals like Emirates, whom they accuse of
flooding the market.
Emirates insists it plays fairly and has called the A380 a “passenger magnet,” misunderstood and badly marketed by rivals.
Its
chairman said on Thursday he was disappointed in the A380’s demise, but
added “we accept that this is the reality of the situation”.
PURCHASE, N.Y., Nov. 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (AAWW) today announced strong third-quarter earnings growth and raised its outlook for full-year 2018, driven by ongoing market strength, customer demand and business development.
“We continue to leverage the scale and scope of our enterprise and our leadership in global aviation outsourcing,” said President and Chief Executive Officer William J. Flynn.
A funny thing happened to an older generation of Boeing Co. 747 jumbo jets on their way to dusty oblivion in desert parking lots.
Instead of being scrapped, the humpbacked planes are back in demand as workhorses of global shipping. Booming trade is stoking the need for big, long-range jets to haul time-sensitive goods, from Apple Inc. iPhones made in China to fresh flowers grown in Latin America.
GENEVA/PARIS, May 15 (Reuters) – The World Trade Organization ruled on Tuesday the European Union had ignored requests to halt all subsidies to planemaker Airbus, prompting the United States to threaten sanctions against European products unless the EU stops “harming U.S. interests”.
The WTO said the EU had failed to remove support in the form of preferential government loans for the world’s largest airliner, the A380, and Europe’s newest long-haul plane, the A350, causing losses for Boeing and U.S. aerospace workers.
However, the Geneva watchdog dismissed U.S. claims that loans for Airbus’s most popular models, the A320 and A330, were costing Boeing significant sales and in so doing narrowed the scope of one of the world’s longest and costliest trade spats.
Airbus shares fell shortly after the WTO issued its findings and were poised to close down around 0.86 percent.
The report comes at a time of mounting trade tensions over U.S. aluminium and steel tariffs and the impact on European firms of Washington’s decision to exit the Iran nuclear pact.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement the United States would slap countermeasures on European goods unless the EU fell into line.
Boeing predicted such tariffs could reach billions of dollars a year starting as early as 2019.
“This is expected to be the largest-ever WTO authorisation of retaliatory tariffs,” it said in a statement.
The EU’s Executive Commission said most of the aid faulted in earlier rounds of the long-running case had expired in 2011 and that it would swiftly comply on the remaining measures.
Tuesday’s finding wraps up a case against the EU dating back to 2004 and means the U.S. can now seek WTO backing to impose sanctions on an as yet unspecified list of European goods.
At the same time, the WTO is close to finalising a similarly drawn-out case against subsidies for Boeing, and Airbus says this could in turn spark EU sanctions against the United States.
Last year, Boeing (NYSE: BA) strained its relationship with U.S. airline giant Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) by attempting to have big tariffs imposed on Delta’s purchase of CSeries jets from Bombardier. Many pundits saw Boeing’s trade complaint as a risky move that could alienate a key customer — especially after Delta ordered the Airbus (NASDAQOTH: EADSY) A321neo last December instead of the Boeing 737 MAX 10.
However, these fears weren’t justified. Delta isn’t going to make bad business decisions just to punish Boeing. In fact, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian wants the carrier to be a launch customer for Boeing’s proposed “middle-of-the-market” jet, according to Bloomberg.
UPS said it plans to buy 14 brand new 747-8F and 4 767-F Boeing aircraft. These are the largest planes the Atlanta-based shipping company has ever flown, offering an increase of about 16 percent more cargo capacity than its current largest, the 747-400. None of the company’s current aircraft are being retired.
Click the link below for the full story and a 747-8F slideshow!
I came across a great story about the Boeing 747SP earlier today. TheBoeing 747SPwas a modified version of the Boeing 747-200 jet airliner designed for ultra-long-range thin routes. The SP stands for “Special Performance”.