Paris, France, June 18, 2019 – Embraer announced today, at the 53rd International Paris Air Show, that it has signed a contract with Binter, of Spain, for two additional E195-E2’s, confirming purchase rights from the original contract, signed in 2018. The two new E195-E2s will be included in Embraer’s 2019 second-quarter backlog and have a value of USD 141.8 million, based on Embraer’s current list prices. The airline is celebrating 30 years of operations in 2019.
“We are extremely proud that Binter is reinforcing its commitment to the E2 program and has confirmed these new acquisitions even before the first E195-E2 delivery to the airline. We wish continued success to Binter as it modernizes its fleet and continues to expand into new international markets in Europe and Africa”, said Martyn Holmes, Vice President, Europe, Russia & Central Asia, Embraer Commercial Aviation.
Binter will receive its first E195-E2 jet in the second half of 2019, becoming the first European customer of the E-Jets E2’s largest model. The airline is configuring the aircraft with 132 seats in a very comfortable single-class layout.
“We are pleased to confirm the firm order for these two additional Embraer E195-E2s,” said Binter’s Vice President, Rodolfo Núñez “We know that the E195-E2 is the ideal aircraft model for our operations, and, with typical Embraer efficiency, Type Certification was exactly on schedule. This along with fuel burn and other performance indicators being even better than originally expected, we have total confidence in placing this new firm order.”
Embraer is the world’s leading manufacturer of commercial aircraft up to 150 seats with more than 100 customers from all over 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 fleet of 75 customers in 50 countries. The versatile 70 to 150-seat family is flying with low-cost airlines as well as with regional and mainline carriers.
FILE PHOTO: A Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) sign is seen at its U.S. headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan
MILAN (Reuters) – Carmaker Fiat Chrysler (FCA) has signed an agreement with European utilities Enel and Engie to help offer its customers charging points for electric vehicles (EV) it is planning to roll out.
FCA, which is lagging rivals in developing electrified vehicles, said last June it would invest 9 billion euros ($10 billion) over the next five years to introduce hybrid and electric cars across all regions.
Last month, the Italian-American carmaker proposed a merger with French rival Renault in part to share the costs of developing a new series of electric cars. Merger talks collapsed earlier this month.
In a statement, FCA said the main aim of its partnerships with Enel and Engie was to be able to offer private and public charging stations to support the sales of its soon-to-be-launched fully electric Fiat 500 BEV and plug-in hybrid Jeep Renegade PHEV.
“We are assembling an eco-system of partners, products and services across multiple markets to meet and exceed the rapidly evolving expectations of our customers for electrified vehicles,” FCA Chief Executive Mike Manley said.
The deal also includes developing services such as apps to allow clients to locate public charging points.
Enel, through its Enel X unit, will work with FCA in Italy, Spain and Portugal, while Engie will work with the carmaker in 14 other European markets.
(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Mark Potter)
FILE PHOTO: An Airbus A400M aircraft flies during a display on the first day of the 52nd Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport near Paris
PARIS
(Reuters) – Airbus said on Friday it had signed an agreement with
European buyer countries for a revised contract for its delayed A400M
military transporter plane.
Reuters reported on Thursday that the parties had reached an agreement on a new contract.
Airbus said the agreement with OCCAR, which represents Germany, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Turkey, Belgium and Luxembourg, included key points such as new capabilities development plan, a new production delivery schedule and new financial terms.
Under the new financial terms, it said the partners agreed on the implementation of a revised financial retention mechanism which is the amount of cash that buyer countries can hold back while waiting for delayed deliveries.
“On the basis of this contract amendment signature, Airbus is fully committed to continue on this positive path and to providing its A400M current and future customers with the most powerful and technologically advanced military transport aircraft available on the market,” said Dirk Hoke, Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Defense and Space.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Writing by Bate Felix. Editing by Jane Merriman)
A four co-primes consortium formed by Airbus and Thales Alenia Space (both in Spain and France) has been selected by Hisdesat Servicios Estratégicos S.A. (Spanish Governmental Satellite Operator) to build two SpainSAT NG satellites. Used for governmental communications, these new generation satellites will replace the existing Spainsat and Xtar-EUR satellites. Airbus will act as “lead partner” of the consortium.
The SPAINSAT NG programme includes two satellites, SPAINSAT NG I and II which will be situated in different geostationary orbital slots to operate in X, military Ka and UHF bands.
The first of these New Generation Spainsat satellites will be launched in 2023 guaranteeing the continuity of the secure communications services to the Spanish Ministry of Defense and Governmental Agencies using the current fleet.
SPAINSAT NG will provide coverage on a wide area of the world ranging from the United States and South America to the Middle East, including Africa and Europe and till Singapore in Asia. Both satellites will allow to:
• Ensure effective command and control for beyond line-of-sight operations in 2/3 of the Earth.
• Guarantee communication capability in theatres of operation lacking communications infrastructure.
• Develop more satcom on the move, higher capacity, better secured and assured communications.
• Unlock the potential of the network centric battlespace-netcentric warfare and operations.
The communication payloads of both satellites will be provided by the Spanish industry, including the integration of the Communications Module in Spain, a major step forward for the Spanish industry. Airbus in Spain will be responsible for the X band payload, while Thales Alenia Space in Spain will be responsible for the UHF and mil-Ka band payloads. Other companies from the Spanish space industry will also be involved.
UHF is a new capability that was not available on the previous Spainsat fleet. Both satellites will offer redundancy in the zones of interest for the Spanish Armed Forces and will also incorporate advanced protection technologies for anti-jamming and anti-spoofing, plus hardened protection against nuclear phenomena at high altitude.
The satellites will be based on the Eurostar Neo platform, Airbus’ new geostationary telecommunications satellite product, a significant evolution of the highly reliable and successful Eurostar series with an entire range of major innovations. These include an X band fully flexible payload, employing active antennas with in orbit reconfiguration capability, an onboard digital processor that will interconnect the X and mil-Ka band payloads for cross-banding, and a dedicated high speed service link enabling fast re-configuration. This will result in a greater capacity, and increased flexibility allowing for electronic reorientation of the beams depending on the coverage needs.
Hisdesat is the owner and operator of the new generation of communication satellites, SPAINSAT NG. The main customer is the Spanish Ministry of Defence having a Public Private Partnership with Hisdesat and, among others, the new satellites will also contribute to other Spanish governmental bodies, allies and friendly countries with bilateral agreements, the EU governmental Communications programme, “Govsatcom” and hopefully to the future NATO CP130 capabilities package for satellite communications. In addition, SPAINSAT NG will continue providing services to the existing and future customer base of XTAR LLc.
The development of SPAINSAT NG is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, as well as the Spanish Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) in the framework of a public-private partnership between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the satellite operator Hisdesat.
The SpainSAT NG satellites will have an operational lifetime of 15 years being in service up to 2037.
About Airbus
Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2018 it generated revenues of € 64 billion and employed a workforce of around 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as one of the world’s leading space companies. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.
LONDON (Reuters) – Thomas Cook has set a deadline of May 7 for expressions of interest in its airline business, with Indigo Partners and Lufthansa among the likely bidders, sources said.
The heavily-indebted British travel group put its profitable airline business up for sale in February after profit warnings in 2018 left it needing to raise cash.
Thomas Cook’s airlines business consists of Germany’s Condor, as well as British, Scandinavian and Spanish operations.
A sale of the business, in whole or in part, would enable the world’s oldest tour operator to invest more in its own hotels and improve its online sales.
A source familiar with the discussions said that Indigo and Germany’s Lufthansa appeared most interested in the business.
British Airways owner IAG should not be ruled out and easyJet has engaged in talks but is seen as less interested, the source added.
It is not clear whether Ireland’s Ryanair would bid.
Another source said that private equity groups KKR and Apollo might also look at taking over the whole of Thomas Cook.
The airlines business would provide access to valuable European slots linking Britain to Spain, Greece and Turkey.
Thomas Cook, Indigo, IAG and easyJet declined to comment, while Lufthansa and Ryanair were not immediately available.
Lufthansa executives have said repeatedly that the German airline wants to “play an active role” in consolidation.
Indigo, the private equity firm managed by Bill Franke, the veteran U.S. low-cost airline investor, has previously made investments in several airlines including Hungary’s Wizz.
Thomas
Cook has been revamping different parts of its business this year,
closing high street stores and reviewing its money division as it
focuses on holidays.
The company was hit badly in 2018 when a hot European summer deterred customers from booking holidays through the year.
One banking source said the airline would fetch less than 1 billion euros (£859 million). Thomas Cook has a current market value of just over £400 million.
Sources said that competition issues could influence which parts of the business different suitors go for.
Sky News has said China’s Fosun International, a Thomas Cook shareholder, was interested in its tour business.
(Reporting by Kate Holton and Clara Denina in London; additional reporting by Alistair Smout and Georgina Prodhan in London and Arno Schuetze in Frankfurt; Editing by Alexander Smith)
FILE PHOTO: A Thomas Cook Airbus A321-200 airplane takes off at the airport in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, July 28, 2018. REUTERS/Paul Hanna/File Photo
A year ago, at 7:35 a.m. in Bergen, Norway, the E190-E2 took off with 114 passengers on board. It was the first commercial flight of the second and latest generation of commercial jets of Embraer, the E-Jets E2.
The aircraft, gracing the colors of Widerøe, the largest regional airline in Scandinavia, completed flight WF622, which ended at 9:35 a.m. in Tromsø.
At the helm was Espen Bergsland, the airline’s chief pilot, and Embraer pilot Celso Fonseca, this flight marked the starting point for Widerøe’s aircraft transition – from turboprops to jets – and a change in passenger comfort.
With the intention of extending the connections between north and south Norway, as well as exploring new international routes, Widerøe decided to expand its operations by incorporating jets that can seat 110 to 120 passengers. Embraer’s new E2 Jets fit the bill.
In November 2016, representatives of the Norwegian airline visited the manufacturer’s headquarters in São José dos Campos, in the suburbs of São Paulo, to see and assess the aircraft. Three months later, the company announced it was acquiring three E190-E2 and the purchase rights for another 12 jets of the E2 family.
In February 2018, the E190-E2 was certified to conduct commercial flights by the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States (FAA), and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
This victory, a triple and simultaneous certification, was recently repeated. On April 15, 2019, the E195-E2, the largest commercial aircraft ever developed by the Brazilian company, also received the triple permission.
The delivery of the first E190-E2 took place on April 4, 2018 at a ceremony held at the Embraer plant in São José dos Campos, São Paulo. After five days, captains Fonseca, Bergsland and Endre Berntzen took off to Norway. On the journey, they stopped at Recife, Las Palmas (Spain), Aberdeen (Scotland) and arrived in Bergen on April 12th.
The aircraft was welcomed to the Norwegian city with a party. Political and aviation officials, the press and employees attended a dinner with music, a Brazilian martial arts (Capoeira) show, a play and other attractions.
During the entrance of the E190-E2 into the Widerøe hangar, a local opera singer sang one of the songs from the Bachianas Brasileiras series written by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. “The ceremony was very beautiful. It included cultural aspects of both Norway and Brazil, as if a bond were forming,” said Fonseca.
So, on April 24th, Bergsland and Fonseca piloted the new aircraft from Bergen to Tromsø for two hours. The aircraft took off with the maximum capacity of passengers – regular passengers, leaders and employees of the companies involved – and made a calm flight to its final destination.
“This flight represents increased connectivity between the north and south of the country on one of the longest routes of the Widerøe network, increasing the number of passengers per flight and bringing greater speed and comfort to Norwegian citizens,” explained Daniel Balducci, manager of Embraer’s customer accounts.
When the E190-E2 landed and arrived at the gate, it was met with the traditional water jets. Slices of cake were offered to all the passengers at the landing gate.
“On the way out, we heard positive comments about the cabin’s low noise level. Afterwards, I even read an article written by one of the passengers on a blog saying that he felt like he was inside an electric car during the flight,” said Fonseca. “The Widerøe pilots also liked the plane very much and found it very easy to pilot.”
By placing the first E2 model commercially in the skies, the Norwegian airline officially started its transition from turboprop to jet aircraft.
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”.
Marignane, 23 January 2019 – Airbus Helicopters delivered 356 rotorcraft and logged gross orders for 413 helicopters (net: 381) in 2018 (up from 350 gross orders in 2017), maintaining its lead in the civil & parapublic market while reinforcing its position in the military market thanks to key successes with international campaigns. The company also booked 148 orders for light twin-engine helicopters of the H135/H145 family and secured 15 orders for the next-generation H160. At the end of last year, the overall backlog increased to 717 helicopters.
“Our commercial performance in 2018 demonstrates the resilience we have developed as a company to help us navigate what remains a challenging environment,” said Bruno Even, Airbus Helicopters CEO. “Even though the civil & parapublic market remains at a low level worldwide, we have managed to maintain our global leadership thanks to our wide and modern portfolio of products and services and our international footprint. Meanwhile, we have increased our market share in the military sector by securing major contracts with leading armed forces worldwide, with best-in-class solutions. These positive trends give us the means to prepare the future and continue our transformation, with innovation at our core and customer loyalty at heart.”
In 2018, Airbus Helicopters delivered the first of 100 H135s for China in Qingdao, where a dedicated final assembly line will serve the growing demand of the Chinese market for civil & parapublic helicopters. Meanwhile, Hong Kong Government Flying Service took delivery of the first H175s in public services configuration.
Last year also proved successful for the Super Puma family which demonstrated its versatility by being selected in key military campaigns, while attracting new civil & parapublic customers with repurposed H225s previously operated on the oil & gas market. Likewise, 2018 proved to be a very positive year for the NH90, which attracted orders for 28 units in Qatar while being selected by Spain in the frame of a follow-on order for 23 units.
Key programme milestones were achieved in 2018, including the power-on and ground testing of the CityAirbus electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) technology demonstrator, ahead of a maiden flight expected early 2019. The first H160 in serial configuration entered flight trials in 2018, while the VSR700 unmanned aerial system demonstrator performed its first unmanned flights at the end of the year.
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. The FY 2017 backlog will not be restated.
OSLO, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Budget carrier Norwegian Air will axe a number of routes in Europe and to the U.S and the Middle East, shutting several bases as part of a cost-cutting plan announced last month.
The fast-growing carrier has been under pressure over the past 18 months to control costs and shore up its balance sheet as it looks to crack the transatlantic market by undercutting established rivals.
“The company has reached a point where it needs to make necessary adjustments to its route portfolio in order to improve the sustainability and financial performance in this very competitive environment,” Helga Bollmann Leknes, Norwegian Air’s Chief Commercial Officer, said in a statement to Reuters.
The airline will close its bases in Palma de Mallorca, Gran Canaria, and Tenerife in Spain, as well as in Stewart and Providence in the United States. It will also shut the 737 base at Rome’s Fiumicino airport, but keep its 787 Dreamliner base there.
The company did not give a specific number of jobs that would be cut, but said it would seek to minimise redundancies.
The flights affected are operated by Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 models. Flights operated by Boeing Dreamliner planes are not affected, Norwegian said.
“These aircraft are primarily used on European routes, but also some longer routes between Europe and the U.S. and Europe and the Middle East,” Norwegian Air said in the statement, adding that this would start in April and would continue “for the best part of 2019”.
The measures announced on Wednesday are part of a cost-saving programme of 2 billion crowns ($234 million) announced in December, Norwegian said.
($1 = 8.5325 Norwegian crowns)
(Written by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Terje Solsvik & Elaine Hardcastle)
