President Trump accused Iranian general Qassem Soleimani of planning “imminent and sinister attacks” Friday in his first televised remarks since thedeadly airstrike that killed the generalat Baghdad’s international airport.
“We took action last night to stop a war,” Trump said during brief remarks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “We did not take action to start a war.”
Without divulging details about what led to the early morning airstrike that killed Soleimani and nine others, the president said the United States “caught” the general “in the act and terminated him.”
“Soleimani made the death of innocent people his sick passion,” Trump added, saying that “what the U.S. did yesterday should have been done long ago.”
The killing of Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, marks a major escalation in the standoff between Washington and Tehran, which has careened from one crisis to another since Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and imposed crippling sanctions.
Senior State Department officials described the killing as a defensive strike supported by solid intelligence and claimed Soleimani was planning imminent attacks against United States interests and personnel in the region.
FILE PHOTO: Boeing 737 Max aircraft at Boeing’s 737 Max production facility in Renton
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish Airlines and Boeing have come to an agreement concerning compensation for certain losses caused by grounded and undelivered Boeing 737 Max aircraft, the Turkish airline said on Tuesday.
The statement to the Istanbul stock exchange did not specify the value of the deal. The airline has 24 Boeing 737 MAX planes in its fleet. The 737 MAX has been grounded since March after two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people within five months.
(Reporting by Ceyda Caglayan; Editing by Daren Butler)
A logo of low cost carrier Spirit Airlines is pictured on an Airbus plane in Colomiers near Toulouse
(Reuters) – U.S. budget carrier Spirit Airlines Inc <SAVE> said on Monday it will buy 100 Airbus <EADSY> A320neo-family jets to be delivered through 2027, with options to purchase up to 50 additional aircraft.
The deal includes a mix of Airbus A319, A320, and A321 models, the company said.
The purchase agreement finalizes an October provisional deal for the aircraft, when Spirit picked European planes despite Washington imposing tariffs on them.
Depending on the number of each variant of the A320 single-aisle family chosen, the deal could be worth $11 billion to $12 billion at the most recent 2018 Airbus list prices, but industry sources say such deals typically involve discounts of at least 50%.
Washington has imposed 10% tariffs on some of the planes Airbus offers to U.S. carriers, as part of a long-running transatlantic trade dispute over aircraft subsidies.
Spirit currently operates an all-Airbus fleet of 140 jets.
Aircraft are typically ordered several years in advance, meaning any planes ordered now would only be covered by tariffs in the event of an extended transatlantic tariff war. Airbus jets assembled at a plant in Alabama are not currently included.
(Reporting by Rachit Vats in Bengaluru and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Lisa Shumaker)
Sun Country will start cargo service with a big first customer: Amazon
Minnesota airline will add 10 planes, 70 pilots under 6-year cargo service deal.
Amazon is hiring Sun Country Airlines to fly packages around the country, a windfall deal that thrusts the Minnesota carrier into the cargo business.
The six-year deal, announced Tuesday, will immediately create a massive expansion for Sun Country. From the first flights next spring, the new cargo service for Amazon Air will quickly grow to represent 20% of all of Sun Country’s flying.
It is the first time Amazon has hired a commercial passenger airline for air service.
Sun Country will add 10 airplanes to its fleet and hire an additional 70 pilots to its existing force of 350. The Twin Cities-based airline will also hire more maintenance workers and 20 to 30 headquarters staffers to support Amazon Air operations.
“These are pretty highly compensated positions. … We are very excited about this,” Jude Bricker, Sun Country’s chief executive, said Tuesday. “This is going to be a great growth opportunity for our company, and the important thing for the Twin Cities is it will make us a better airline for Minnesota leisure travelers.”
Amazon is hiring Sun Country to fly shipments under its Amazon Air business. The six-year deal puts Sun Country into the scheduled cargo business for the first time. It will hire 70 pilots to fly the routes.
FILE PHOTO: A passenger stands in front of a window where Qantas planes are parked at Melbourne Airport, Australia
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Qantas Airways Ltd <QABSY> said on Friday it has chosen Airbus SE <EADSY> as preferred supplier for jets capable of the world’s longest commercial flights from Sydney to London, beating rival Boeing Co <BA> after a hard-fought contest.
The choice of up to 12 A350-1000 planes fitted with an extra fuel tank for flights of up to 21 hours cements Airbus as the leader in ultra-long haul flying globally at a time when Boeing is battling delays on its rival 777X programme and a broader corporate crisis following two deadly 737 MAX crashes.
The Qantas flights would begin in the first half of 2023, but remain subject to reaching a pay deal with pilots, who would need to extend their duty times to around 23 hours to account for potential delays and switch between flying the A350 and the airline’s current A330 fleet. A final decision on an order is expected in March, the airline said.
Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said the airline “had a lot of confidence” in the market for non-stop services from Sydney to London and to New York based on two years of flying non-stop from Perth to London, where it has achieved a 30% fare premium over one-stop rivals in premium classes.
“The A350 is a fantastic aircraft and the deal on the table with Airbus gives us the best possible combination of commercial terms, fuel efficiency, operating cost and customer experience,” he said.
Singapore Airlines Ltd <SINGY> operates the world’s current longest flight, nearly 19 hours from Singapore to New York, using an ultra-long range version of the smaller A350-900.
Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer thanked Qantas for its selection in a statement, while a Boeing spokesman said it was disappointed with the decision but looked forward to continuing its longstanding partnership with the airline.
Rico Merkert, a transport professor at the University of Sydney Business School, said the A350-1000 fit the Qantas brief well and was the safer choice, given Boeing has recently reported problems such as the grounding of the 737 MAX, structural cracks in 737 NGs and a fuselage split in a stress test of its 777-9.
“The A350 just seems to be a much safer bet,” he said. “And safety is at the core of everything that Qantas does including its brand.”
Airbus no longer provides list prices for aircraft, but based on its 2018 price list, the Qantas order could be worth up to $4.4 billion before heavy discounts that are standard for airline customers.
Citi on Friday estimated the planes would cost A$3 billion (1.6 billion pounds) to $3.5 billion, with the investment likely to be phased over three years.
The selection of the A350-1000 will add to growing doubts over Boeing’s plans to produce the 777-8 that it had proposed to Qantas for the mission.
Boeing had already said the entry into service for the plane, a smaller, longer-range version of the 777-9, would be delayed beyond 2022 but has declined to give a new date, saying it would be based on customer demand.
Customers Emirates and Qatar Airways have indicated they could switch orders for the 777-8 to the 777-9.
The 777-9 is due to enter service in 2021, following delays associated with its GE <GE.N> engines.
The Boeing spokesman said on Friday the manufacturer was focused on the development of the 777-9 and after that it would complete development of the 777-8, with the first delivery scheduled a few years after that.
(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Sam Holmes and Stephen Coates)
An Airbus A350-1000 performs at the 53rd International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris
(Reuters) – The Canadian Transportation Agency said on Tuesday Onex Corp will need to amend its by-laws to meet the country’s ownership rules related to its proposed C$3.5 billion buyout deal of Canada’s second-largest carrier WestJet Airlines.
The agency has sought the amendment to Onex’s by-laws to ensure that matters related to WestJet are voted where a majority of Canadian directors are present.
WestJet said it is in the process of reviewing the determination.
Air Canada had challenged Onex Corp’s proposed acquisition of WestJet Airlines, on grounds that the deal may not meet the country’s ownership rules. (https://reut.rs/2LHqQvk)
Air Canada had argued that the likely presence of Onex co-investors such as foreign wealth funds and carriers, and “the opaque nature” of the deal to buy WestJet through company subsidiary Kestrel Bidco, will make it harder to ensure compliance with ownership laws.
Under Canada’s Transportation Act, carriers must be Canadian and controlled by Canadians in order to hold a domestic licence.
Shareholders of WestJet Airlines in July voted in favor of the Onex deal.
Under Canadian rules, foreigners cannot own more than 49% equity in a Canadian airline. The rules further restrict a foreign airline and any single foreign owner from controlling more than a quarter of voting interests in a Canadian carrier.
Onex did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Uttaresh.V)
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, December 10th, 2019 – Embraer and Congo Airways have signed a firm order for two E175 aircraft, with purchase rights for a further two. The deal has a total value of USD 194.4 million at current list prices with all purchase rights exercised, and will be added to Embraer’s 2019 fourth quarter backlog.
Desire Bantu, CEO of Congo Airways said, “These new jets will replace our current turboprop offering and allow us to serve routes both within the Democratic Republic of Congo, and regionally to West, Central, and Southern Africa, from our hub in Kinshasa. We will now have the flexibility and the right sized aircraft to serve our market, which is growing so rapidly an additional order may be required, for which the E2 is a particularly compelling option.”
Raul Villaron, Vice President Sales, Africa and Middle East, Embraer Commercial Aviation, said, “It’s great to welcome another airline to the Embraer family of operators, especially in Africa where the demand for regional travel is growing strongly. We look forward to supporting Congo Airways as they continue to upgrade their offering to their customers.”
The aircraft will be configured in a dual class layout seating 76 passengers in total, with 12 in business class. Deliveries will begin in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Embraer is the world’s leading manufacturer of commercial aircraft up to 150 seats with more than 100 customers across the world. For the E-Jets program alone, Embraer has logged more than 1,800 orders and 1,500 aircraft have been delivered. Today, E-Jets are flying in the fleets of 80 customers in 50 countries. The versatile 70 to 150-seat family is flying with low-cost airlines as well as with regional and mainline network carriers.
BRUSSELS, Dec 5 (Reuters) – An association representing minority investors in Brazil is lobbying European antitrust regulators to spike a deal between planemakers Embraer SA and Boeing Co, calling it a killer acquisition.
Aurelio Valporto, the head of minority investor association Abradin, said the European Commission should block Boeing’s proposed $4.2 billion purchase of 80% Embraer’s commercial passenger jet division or demand hefty concessions.
“What will be left from Embraer won’t survive, and even if it was possible to survive, Embraer wouldn’t be able to produce any aircraft with 50 passengers or more,” Valporto said in an interview late on Wednesday, arguing that Embraer and Boeing planes compete in the marketplace.
Embraer’s commercial jet division focuses on the 70 to 150-seat segment, competing directly with the CSeries jets designed by Bombardier Inc, a division that was bought by Europe’s Airbus SE.
Boeing aims to take control of Embraer’s commercial jet business, its most profitable, to compete directly with Airbus in the market for planes with fewer than 150 seats.
Embraer said in a statement on Thursday that the deal will “serve the interests of shareholders by enabling Embraer to expand markets and increase sales.” The deal was backed by around 97% of Embraer’s shareholders earlier this year.
Valporto complained about the deal to the European Commission two months ago, saying it hurt competition in the Brazilian aerospace industry, and on Wednesday took his grievance to antitrust officials in Brasilia.
The deal has already been approved by regulators in the United States, China and Japan. If it closes, Embraer will receive dividends from its remaining 20% stake in the commercial jet business, but will have to rely more heavily on its business jets and defense divisions to turn a profit. Those two divisions have posted losses in recent quarters.
The European Commission, which launched a full-scale investigation into the deal in October, declined to comment.
Boeing said it and Embraer had been engaged with the European Commission and other global regulatory authorities since late last year.
“We continue to co-operate with the European Commission and CADE as they assess our transaction and look forward to a positive resolution,” a spokesman for the company said.
The EU has voiced concerns the deal would remove Embraer, the world’s third-largest commercial aircraft maker, from the industry, an indication that it may demand significant concessions from Boeing.
The EU regulator halted its investigation last month while waiting for Boeing to submit data on the deal.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels Additional reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun in Sao Paulo Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Matthew Lewis)
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd said it had obtained 34 more orders and purchase agreements for its Dash 8-400 plane at last months Dubai Airshow, as it revives the recently acquired turboprop business from Bombardier Inc.
Aurora, a subsidiary of Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye Avialinii PAO , signed a letter of intent to purchase up to five Dash 8-400 aircraft, while the Republic of Ghana agreed to buy six aircraft during the Dubai Airshow, which ran between Nov. 17-21.
ACIA Aero Capital Ltd also signed a conditional purchase agreement to buy three Dash 8-400 aircraft, the company said in a separate statement.
Longview Aviation Capital closed its deal for the Q400 turboprop aircraft program from Canada’s Bombardier this year and revived its previous model name – Dash 8 – under a restored corporate brand of De Havilland Aircraft of Canada.
On Monday, De Havilland landed an order for 20 Dash 8-400 turboprops from lessor Palma Holding at the ongoing Dubai Airshow.
(Reporting by Dominic Roshan K.L. in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
CHICAGO, Dec 3 (Reuters) – United Airlines Holdings Inc announced on Tuesday an order for 50 Airbus SE A321XLR jets to fly between the U.S East Coast and Europe, becoming the latest U.S. airline to ink a deal for the European planemaker’s new passenger jet.
The long-range A321XLR jets will replace United’s 53 Boeing 757-200 planes beginning in 2024, the Chicago-based planemaker said, flying to cities like Porto, Portugal and other potential new destinations.
United’s 757 planes will reach the end of their lifespan in about a decade and Boeing Co is not building any more of the large single-aisle model.
Instead, the U.S. planemaker has been considering a new twin-aisle plane, provisionally known as the NMA, but has delayed a launch decision until 2020 while it manages the ongoing global grounding of its 737 MAX jets following two fatal crashes.
United’s chief operating officer Andrew Nocella told reporters the airline has worked closely with Boeing on the potential new aircraft and is still open to orders if the planemaker decides to move forward with developing the NMA.
Meanwhile, U.S carriers including American Airlines Group Inc, JetBlue Airways Corp and Spirit Airlines Inc have agreed orders for Airbus A320neo-family jets.
Among the benefits of the A321XLR is a 30% lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft, United said.
United has also ordered the larger A350 widebody jets but said it is deferring delivery of those jets until they are needed in 2027.
Its A321XLR order is the second for a U.S. carrier following tariffs that the United States is imposing on European-made aircraft.
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski Editing by Chris Reese and Michael Perry)
