Saab has received an order from Panavia Aircraft GmbH to upgrade the radar warning equipment on the Tornado aircraft operated by the German Air Force. The order value is approximately 400 million SEK.
Saab will supply modern digital components, which will enhance the processing power and extend the lifetime of the Tornado’s radar warning equipment. Deliveries will take place between 2021 and 2025. Saab will carry out the work at its sites in Nuremberg, Germany and Järfälla, Sweden.
“Mutual trust, reliability and performance are the cornerstones of the successful long-term partnership between Panavia, the German Armed Forces and Saab. We look forward to supporting the Luftwaffe with the latest technologies contributing to the platform’s survivability and mission success. Essential work will be carried out in Germany, which is in line with Saab’s strategy to expand our footprint on the German defence market”, says Anders Carp, deputy CEO of Saab and head of business area Surveillance.
Saab’s state-of-the-art radar warning equipment provides aircrews with superior situational awareness of the electromagnetic spectrum in challenging environments. Saab received the initial order for radar warning equipment for Germany’s Tornado fighters in 1999.
SOUTHFIELD, Mich., and PHOENIX, May 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — DENSO, a leading mobility supplier, has signed a long-term agreement with aerospace leader Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON), establishing an alliance focused on electric propulsion units to meet new aerospace needs. Drawing from their automotive and aerospace backgrounds, the companies will develop and manufacture electric propulsion systems for aircraft, initially prioritizing the urban air mobility (UAM) segment with a focus on air taxis and delivery vehicles.
DENSO and Honeywell are in advanced discussions with current and prospective customers and intend to deliver flight test configurations of the electric propulsion systems within the next year. This focus on electrified power sources will not only help the companies fulfill UAM’s promise of providing cleaner, safer, more efficient, quieter and freer-moving transportation in and between cities, but also strengthen each company’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.
The formal alliance follows the companies’ initial teaming agreement in 2019. DENSO’s ability to produce quality components at mass scale paired with Honeywell’s storied aerospace expertise make for an alliance ready to take UAM to new heights. Additionally, the alliance’s electric propulsion systems will integrate seamlessly with Honeywell’s fly-by-wire, avionics and actuation systems, extracting the most thrust and lift from every watt of electricity.
Honeywell is one of the world’s leading makers of electronics, engines and mechanical systems for aircraft. Its systems fly on virtually every airliner in the sky, along with thousands of business jets and light aircraft. DENSO, meanwhile, develops advanced technology and components for nearly every make and model of road vehicle in existence today.
The alliance with Honeywell enhances DENSO’s Second Founding, the company’s strategy to provide value beyond a vehicle-centric focus and produce the core technologies for future mobility. It also bolsters DENSO’s two great causes: “Green” — acting environmentally friendly — and “Peace of Mind” — creating a safer and more seamless world for all. These guide DENSO as it leverages its 30-plus years of electrification know-how to create cleaner, more efficient mobility and will help the company reach its 2035 goal to be carbon neutral. Honeywell has also pledged to be carbon neutral in its facilities and operations by 2035.
The two companies will work together to seek customers who can help transform how the world moves, making transportation safer, more sustainable and efficient.
Embraer (NYSE: ERJ) has announced that it has signed a long-term Pool Program Agreement with the U.S. carrier Breeze Airways to support a wide range of repairable components for the airline’s E190s and E195s fleet. The agreement includes full repair coverage for components and parts, as well as access to a large stock of components at Embraer’s distribution center, which will support the start of the airline’s operation.
The program will provide the most efficient and reliable solutions to Breeze’s E-Jets fleet. The airline will benefit from the availability of spare parts, enjoy significant savings on repair and service costs, and maintain a profitable operation. Currently, the Pool Program supports more than 50 airlines worldwide.
Embraer’s Flight Hour Pool Program is designed to allow airlines to minimize their upfront investment on high-value repairable inventories and resources and to take advantage of Embraer’s technical expertise and its vast component repair service provider network. The results are significant savings on repair and inventory carrying costs, reduction in required warehousing space, and the virtual elimination of the need for resources required for repair management, while ultimately providing guaranteed performance levels.
Hamburg, Germany, 29 April 2021 – U.S.-based JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU) has taken delivery of its first of 13 A321LR aircraft featuring Airbus’ new Airspace interior. These new A321LRs support JetBlue’s plan to open its highly anticipated transatlantic services, starting with direct flights to London later this year. In addition to these 13 new A321LRs, the airline also has on order another 57 Airbus aircraft comprising other A321neo variants – which will also feature Airspace cabins. By bringing Airspace to the Single-Aisle Family, JetBlue’s A321 cabins will be the very first to feature Airbus’ new award-winning cabin design-language and passenger-pleasing cabin features – which are consistent with Airbus’ A330neo and A350 Widebody aircraft.
Airspace brings to the A320 Family the following passenger-pleasing cabin enhancements: unique welcome and customisable hero lighting (which helps reduce jet lag); new slimmer sidewall panels for extra personal space at shoulder level; better views through the windows with their redesigned bezels and completely integrated window shades; the latest full LED lighting technologies; the largest overhead bin in class; and new lavatories with hygienic touchless features and antimicrobial surfaces.
In addition to these Airspace elements, the A320 Family’s wide cabin cross-section also enables JetBlue to offer its passengers true long-haul comfort in all classes, with 24 full-flat adaptive-mattress seats in the airline’s Mint premium-class private suites, while 114 economy passengers will appreciate the widest 18.4inch seats with a contoured seat-back for extra knee space. Most of these economy seats will offer a full 32inch pitch, while four rows will be optimised for “Even More Space” seating — offering around an additional five inches for the most legroom in any transatlantic economy class seat.
JetBlue’s passengers in these A321LRs will also be able to stay connected throughout the flight with the airline’s unlimited, free high-speed Wi-Fi. In addition, they will have access to a curated selection of live TV channels focused on news and sports, and an extensive library of seatback entertainment – allowing for a ‘multiple screen’ experience onboard. Seats will also feature easy-to-reach in-seat power, featuring AC and USB-C ports to keep their hand-held devices fully charged. As well as offering the rich portfolio of entertainment and connectivity options for each passenger, the in-seat equipment on these aircraft will also put the customer in control of their food choices, allowing them to customize their own meal right on their seatback screen.
In 2017 at the APEX Expo in Long Beach, JetBlue was unveiled as the launching customer for Airbus’ Airspace cabin for the A320 Family. Following the announcement, Airbus and JetBlue worked together to bring to reality a new level of passenger experience for JetBlue’s passengers in its A321LRs featuring Airspace for the first time.
The longstanding partnership between Airbus and JetBlue began in 1999 when JetBlue was launched and took delivery of its first A320. Two years later the airline placed an order for 48 Airbus planes. Following years of extraordinary growth, JetBlue now operates a fleet of more than 200 A320 and A321 aircraft and has around another 70 on order — including more of these A321LRs, as well as other A321neo variants – all of which will feature Airspace interiors. In addition, the airline has also placed orders for Airbus’ smallest Single-Aisle Family member, the A220 airliner, the first of which will soon enter service.
The A321LR, a member of the A320neo Family, delivers 30 percent fuel savings and nearly 50 percent reduction in noise footprint compared to previous generations of aircraft. With an increased range of up to 4,000nm (7,400km), the A321LR is the unrivalled long-range route opener, featuring true transatlantic capability and premium wide-body comfort in a single-aisle aircraft cabin. With its new fleet the airlines benefit from the lowest operating costs in the respective size categories, as well as the unique commonality between variants of the Airbus Family.
BRISBANE, 15 April 2021: Virgin Australia Group has announced fast-tracked plans to acquire new aircraft, create more frontline jobs and grow its network to further support domestic tourism.
The recovery efforts include the reintroduction of 10 additional Boeing 737-800 aircraft and the planned return of more than 80 per cent of the airline’s pre-pandemic domestic capacity by mid-June. Network operational changes will also allow the airline to redeploy Boeing 737 aircraft to other parts of its network over the coming months.
After a year of rolling state-based restrictions, pent-up travel demand is supporting the launch of several new and expanded services and frequencies on key leisure and business routes. Virgin Australia Group is committed to maintaining a market share consistent with its pre-COVID position.
Commitment to Jobs
The creation of more roles at the Company will see more than 220 cabin crew return to the skies from the airline’s discontinued long-haul international, ATR regional and Tigerair Australia operations. The new recruits will join one of 15 cabin crew training schools over the next two months.
In addition, a major recruitment drive to fill more than 150 new cabin crew roles, including an expression of interest for future positions has also begun today, with applications from other Virgin Australia employee groups being assessed as a matter of priority. External expressions of interest can be made via the airline’s careers website.
Fleet and Network
The Company has finalised arrangements to re-introduce 10 Boeing 737-800 aircraft which had previously been operated by Virgin Australia, with further aircraft under investigation. The first three aircraft will join the airline’s mainline fleet this month while the remainder are set to progressively enter service by October.
The Company is finalising wet lease arrangements with Alliance Airlines to operate Fokker 100 services on behalf of Virgin Australia between Brisbane-Alice Springs and Brisbane-Mt Isa from 19 April 2021. The move will allow Virgin Australia to explore more efficient ways of managing capacity and frequencies to support choice and convenience for regional customers.
Using an Airbus A320 aircraft, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) will also move to operate select services on mainline routes between Perth-Darwin, Perth-Broome and Perth-Adelaide from next month. These arrangements will support the redeployment of the Boeing 737 aircraft to other markets.
Between now and the June school holidays, the airline will add more than 220 return flights per week to its schedule, offering new and extended seasonal services and expanded frequencies on key business and leisure routes. Trans-Tasman services to Queenstown are set to recommence ahead of school holidays on 18 September 2021.
Predicting the weather even more accurately, analyzing climate changes even more precisely, researching even better how the world is developing. This is the goal of a globally unique cooperation between Lufthansa and several research institutes.
Converting an aircraft into a climate research plane poses major challenges. Lufthansa has chosen the most modern and economical long-haul jet in its fleet – an Airbus A350-900 named “Erfurt” (registration D-AIXJ). In three stages, the “Erfurt” will now become a flying research laboratory.
In Lufthansa Technik’s hangar in Malta, the first and most extensive conversion work was carried out. Preparations were made for a complex air intake system below the belly. This was followed by a series of test insertions, at the end of which came the certification of a climate research laboratory weighing around 1.6 tons, the so-called CARIBIC measurement laboratory. The acronym CARIBIC stands for “Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container” is part of a comprehensive European research consortium.
The “Erfurt” is expected to take off from Munich at the end of 2021 for its first flight in the service of climate research, measuring around 100 different trace gases, aerosol and cloud parameters in the tropopause region (at an altitude of nine to twelve kilometers). Lufthansa is thus making a valuable contribution to climate research, which can use these unique data to assess the performance of current atmospheric and climate models and thus their predictive power for the Earth’s future climate. The special feature: Climate-relevant parameters can be recorded at this altitude with much greater accuracy and temporal resolution on board the aircraft than with satellite-based or ground-based systems.
The A350 conversion, which has now been launched, was preceded by an ex-tremely elaborate planning and development phase of about four years involving more than ten companies (in particular Lufthansa, Lufthansa Technik, Airbus, Saf-ran, enviscope, and Dynatec) as well as the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) as representative of a larger scientific consortium.
The Lufthansa Group has been a reliable partner of climate research since 1994 and has since equipped several aircraft with special instruments. This is now the first time worldwide on an Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
Toulouse, 31 March 2021 – Corsair has taken delivery of its first A330-900, on lease from Avolon, to join the French airline’s fleet. By selecting a total of five A330neo’s, Corsair is executing its strategy to become an all-A330 operator. Thanks to the aircraft’s latest technologies, Corsair will benefit from cost-effective and eco-efficient solutions, while providing passengers with the best comfort standards in the quietest cabins in its class.
The aircraft features 352 seats in a three-class layout, providing all the comfort and amenities of Airbus’ leading ‘Airspace’ cabin, including state-of-the-art passenger in-flight entertainment (IFE) and full WiFi connectivity throughout the cabin.
The A330neo is powered by Rolls-Royce’s latest-generation Trent 7000 engines. The Corsair aircraft will also be the first A330neo to feature an increased maximum take-off weight of 251 tonnes. This capability will allow the airline to fly long-haul destinations up to 13,400 km (7,200nm) or benefit from ten tons more payload on board.
The A330neo is a new-generation aircraft and successor to the hugely popular A330ceo widebody family. As well as the new engine option, the aircraft benefits from a host of innovations, including aerodynamic improvements and new wings and winglets that together contribute to 25% fuel-burn and CO2 reductions.
Corsair, which already operates an Airbus fleet of five A330 Family aircraft, became a member of the Airbus Skywise ‘Open Data Platform’ in 2020, thus benefiting from several Skywise-based services, such as a real-time in-service fleet performance analysis capability (aircraft health monitoring), reliability analysis and predictive maintenance.
Southwest Airlines Company (NYSE: LUV) today announced an intention to bring the flexibility and value of Southwest Airlines® to three more new airports in 2021. Southwest Airlines Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly today is sharing the following message with the Employees of Southwest:
I’m pleased to share with you all that today we’re announcing our intention to serve three more destinations and continue our focus on putting our aircraft to work to pursue more Customers and much-needed revenue.
And the destinations are (drum roll!) Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Eugene, Oregon; and Bellingham, Washington—three very different and appealing locations to both serve our existing Customers and places where we feel Southwest can make a real difference for local travelers.
We’re looking to start Myrtle Beach service in time for summer vacations and we expect our arrival to appeal to travelers who currently drive to this very popular coastal area in the Southeast. ‘Golf bags fly free’* should be very popular for Myrtle Beach service!
Eugene is about two hours south of Portland, and it’s ripe for the Southwest Effect, our Hospitality, and our flexible policies, with no hidden fees, and low fares.
Southwest service in Bellingham positions us just south of metro Vancouver, British Columbia. Following the reopening of the Canadian border, we expect a return of the value-minded travelers who already drive to this alternative airport to escape high fares and taxes—and that’s very, very typical for Southwest destinations. Southwest provides a great value for them.
Service to both Eugene and Bellingham is something we’ve anticipated in the second half of the year.
That makes 17 new airports that either we have opened or announced since the pandemic began. And for those that have commenced service, they’re performing very well. In fact, we just shared with the airports serving Steamboat Springs and Telluride that we’re extending our service beyond the winter season to continue serving both through the summer of 2021.
Colorado Springs, Savannah, and our Long Beach service to Hawaii all start-up this coming Thursday.
That’s a lot of work, a lot of new destinations, and a lot of options for our Customers and so I want to thank all of the Teams that have a hand in continuing to grow the Heart of Southwest while better positioning us to capture more Customers as the travel demand rebounds.
*Golf bags fly free as one of two checked pieces of baggage offered to every Southwest Customer (weight and size limitations apply)
Austrian Airlines is expanding its long-haul services in the upcoming summer flight schedule. From May, Austria’s home carrier will once again be flying three times a week to Montreal and New York JFK. As Newark was already in service up to now, the total number of flights to New York will increase to eight connections per week as of May.
“With five destinations in North America and three in Asia, including Tokyo and Bangkok, our long-haul services are back on a slight climb this summer. Unfortunately, we are still a long way from reaching cruising altitude. We hope that a rapid increase in the vaccination rate and a corresponding relaxation of travel restrictions will give us a further boost in the future”, says Austrian Airlines CCO Michael Trestl.
Austrian Airlines was already able to announce an increase in its summer flight schedule last week. From the end of March, various destinations will be resumed, including Barcelona, Dubrovnik and Florence. Hanover will be served by Austrian Airlines again for the first time since 2009. In addition, numerous vacation destinations are back on offer, for example in Greece, Italy and Spain. In the intercontinental route network, Amman, Bangkok, Chicago and Tokyo are back in the flight schedule.
On the Austrian Airlines website, passengers will find information on travel in times of corona, mandatory wearing of masks, country-specific travel regulations or flexible rebooking arrangements. The information is updated on an ongoing basis.
Austrian Airlines has found a buyer for the three long-haul aircraft that were up for sale. The Boeing 767-300ER aircraft will go to the U.S. company MonoCoque Diversified Interests. The purchase agreement has already been signed. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The first aircraft, registered OE-LAT, will leave Vienna at the beginning of March for Pinal Airpark, Arizona. The aircraft is currently undergoing all the necessary preparations for the handover. The next transfer flight is scheduled for May with the Boeing 767 registered OE-LAX.
“Being able to sell all three Boeing 767’s to one buyer is very gratifying and a big step for our fleet transition”, says Austrian Airlines CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech. “I would like to thank MonoCoque Diversified Interests for the good negotiations and our team for their great commitment.”
“MDI is excited to continue the growth of its passenger and cargo aviation portfolio with the addition of three 767-300ERs”, adds MDI’s manager Mary Alice Keyes. “It has been a pleasure to work with Austrian Airlines, a group with a long history and outstanding pedigree.”
At an average of 28.5 years, the three 767’s sold are among the oldest aircraft in the Austrian Airlines fleet. The remaining three 767’s are between 20 and 22 years of age. After the completed handover, Austrian Airlines will continue to have nine long-haul jets at its disposal, which will connect Austria with destinations around the globe – from the USA to the Far East. In detail, these are six Boeing 777’s with over 300 seats and three Boeing 767’s with over 200 seats.
Until the beginning of 2022, 28 aircraft will leave the fleet of Austria’s home carrier: In addition to the aforementioned three Boeing 767-300ER’s, 18 Dash turboprops and seven Airbus A319 jets will be handed over. Ten turboprops have already left Vienna, with the remaining eight to follow soon. This means that the fleet will consist of around 60 aircraft by the beginning of 2022. As mainly smaller aircraft will be retired, this corresponds to a capacity reduction of around 20 percent.
