Tag: Emmanuel

Airbus and Tata to set up first helicopter Final Assembly Line in India

January 26, 2024 / WIL BALDWIN

New Delhi, India, January 26, 2024 – In a major boost to ‘Make in India’, Airbus Group SE (Paris: AIR) Helicopters has announced that it is partnering with the Tata Group to establish a Final Assembly Line (FAL) for helicopters in the country. The FAL will produce Airbus’ best-selling H125 helicopter from its civil range for India and export to some of the neighbouring countries.

The FAL will be the first instance of the private sector setting up a helicopter manufacturing facility in India, providing a major boost to the Government of India’s ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India) programme. Under this partnership, Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), a subsidiary of Tata Group, will set up the facility along with Airbus Helicopters.

The announcement was made during the two-day visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to India as Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations on January 26.

The FAL in India will undertake the integration of the major component assemblies, avionics and mission systems, installation of electrical harnesses, hydraulic circuits, flight controls, dynamic components, fuel system and the engine. It will also do testing, qualification, and delivery of the H125 to customers in India and the region. The FAL will take 24 months to set up and deliveries of the first ‘Made in India’ H125s are expected to commence in 2026. The location of the FAL will be jointly decided by Airbus and the Tata Group.

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Airbus Delivers First A350 From China Widebody Completion and Delivery Center

July 23, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Airbus has delivered the first A350 from its widebody completion & delivery centre in Tianjin (C&DC), China, taking additional steps in the expansion of its global footprint and long-term strategic partnership with China.

The A350-900 aircraft was delivered to China Eastern Airlines, the largest Airbus operator in Asia and second largest in the world. At the end of June 2021, China Eastern Airlines operated an Airbus fleet of 413 aircraft, including 349 A320 Family aircraft, 55 A330 Family aircraft and nine A350 aircraft.

Located at the same site as the Airbus Tianjin A320 Family Final Assembly Line and the Airbus Tianjin Delivery Centre, the widebody C&DC covers the aircraft completion activities, including cabin installation, aircraft painting and production flight test, as well as customer flight acceptance and aircraft delivery.

The centre was inaugurated in September 2017 with its capability on A330s. Then, during the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to China in 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding on the Further Development of Industrial Cooperation was signed in Beijing by He Lifeng, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China, and Guillaume Faury, Airbus Chief Executive Officer, announcing the C&DC would extend its capability to A350 aircraft.

The A350 features the latest aerodynamic design, a carbon-fibre fuselage and wings, plus new fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce engines. Together, these features translate into unrivalled levels of operational efficiency with a 25 per cent reduction in fuel burn and CO₂ emissions. The A350’s ‘Airspace by Airbus’ cabin is the quietest of any widebody aircraft and offers passengers and crews the most modern in-flight products for the most comfortable flying experience.

At the end of June 2021, the A350 Family had received 915 firm orders from 49 customers worldwide, making it one of the most successful widebody aircraft ever.

NATO Gives Boeing $1 Billion Deal to Upgrade AWACS Reconnaissance Planes

November 27, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

– AWACS part of NATO investment in hi-tech surveillance

– Announcement comes days before NATO summit in London

BRUSSELS, Nov 27 (Reuters) – NATO on Wednesday awarded Boeing Co a $1 billion contract to upgrade its fleet of AWACS reconnaissance planes, a deal officials said showed the strength of transatlantic cooperation days before an alliance summit in London.

First flown in 1982 and repeatedly modernised, the Boeing-made planes, which can detect hostile aircraft, missiles, ships and other weaponry far beyond NATO borders, will be overhauled with more powerful computer processors, servers and equipment.

The 14 planes, based at an air base in Germany, can already exchange information via digital data links, with ground-based, sea-based and airborne commanders, but need a greater capacity to transmit data as technology develops.

The upgrade will keep one of the few military assets owned and operated by the Western alliance in service until 2035.

AWACS have been flown in support of the international coalition against Islamic State, gazing deep into Syria from Turkey, as well as along NATO’s eastern flank following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

“The modernisation will ensure that NATO remains at the leading edge of technology,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference alongside Boeing President Michael Arthur, standing in front of one of the planes.

“It will provide AWACS with sophisticated new communications and networking capabilities, so these aircraft can continue their vital missions,” he said.

One NATO official described AWACS, which have crews drawn from 18 different allies, as a symbol of NATO unity, at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has questioned its value and French President Emmanuel Macron last month said NATO was dying.

The upgrade will be funded by 16 NATO allies, including the United States, Germany, Turkey, Italy and Spain, and some work will be subcontracted to European suppliers including Leonardo and Airbus.

The modernisation comes as NATO takes delivery of the first of five Global Hawk drones, which will be based in Italy.

After years of delays, the high-altitude drones made by Northrop Grumman give the alliance its own spy drones for the first time and will work with the AWACS to protect ground troops, as well as other tasks.

The drones will be able to fly for up to 30 hours at a time in all weather, providing near real-time surveillance data.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott Editing by Mark Heinrich)

France and Germany Sign Deals on Space and Arms Exports

October 16, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS, Oct 16 (Reuters) – France and Germany have signed a binding deal on arm exports control rules for jointly developed programmes, such as the tank and the warplane of the future, the two countries said on Wednesday in a statement issued after a joint cabinet meeting held in Toulouse.

German curbs on arms exports to non-European Union or non-NATO countries have been a thorn in bilateral co-operation for years. Germany’s SPD party, part of the ruling coalition, is particularly concerned about the trade.

According to the deal signed on Wednesday, Germany will not block French exports to third countries provided equipment was made with less than 20% German components.

French firms, such as Nexter and Arquus, previously known as Renault Trucks Defense, say German restrictions have hindered export deals. Nexter was also worried about the feasibility of the tank of the future project (MGCS) that should be developed with German firm Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.

Airbus Defence & Space and Dassault equally complained that the SCAF fighter jet project with Germany and Spain could be left in limbo.

France and Germany tentatively agreed to speed up the development of the warplane in the next few months, French President Emmanuel Macron said during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The two countries will sign in January 2020 a deal to develop the SCAF demonstrator programme, French minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly said on Twitter.

Besides defence deals, Paris and Berlin also said they agreed to give preferential treatment to European companies for the launch of space rockets.

(Writing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Tangi Salaün; Editing by John Irish)

China’s Huge Airbus Order Padded by Old & Incomplete Deals

April 2, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Exclusive: China’s huge Airbus order padded by old or incomplete deals – source

PARIS (Reuters) – A landmark order from China for 300 Airbus jets signed during a state visit last week was bolstered by repeat announcements of dozens of existing deals and advance approval for deals that have yet to be struck, two people familiar with the matter said.

Echoing an umbrella order for 300 Boeing jets awarded during a visit to Beijing by U.S. President Donald Trump in 2017, the headline figure for the new “framework order” for European jets was partly driven by political considerations, the people said.

The Airbus deal would have been worth some $35 billion at list prices but the amount of new business is lower, they added. Duplicate announcements included a deal for 10 A350 aircraft to an unnamed buyer, which represents a repeat announcement of an order for 10 jets by Sichuan Airlines at an air show last year.

The disclosure takes some of the shine off an announcement widely regarded as the economic highlight of a trip to Europe by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Nonetheless the deal marked a return to the aircraft market by China’s state buying agency after a pause of over a year during global trade tensions.

The overall figure of 300 was introduced late in the process and after Xi’s visit was underway, although plane orders typically take months to negotiate, one of the people said.

Airbus declined to comment on detailed orders but left open the possibility that the large total contained gaps.

The agreement “creates the approval framework for aircraft ordered by Chinese airlines, be it existing orders or future orders,” a spokesman said.

TRADE TIES

Airbus shares fell 0.7 percent on Tuesday, extending earlier losses after Reuters reported gaps in the China deal. Airbus’ stock had risen almost two percent after China’s mega-order, signed in Paris on March 25 in front of Xi and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Industry sources say major planemakers play by similar rules when selling to China, where they face a two-tier system of negotiations with airlines within a framework of state-backed umbrella deals that may be influenced by geopolitics.

But the headline figures for new orders during high-profile diplomatic visits, which for several years hovered around 150 aircraft for both Airbus and Boeing, have increased as trade ties between Washington and China go through highs and lows.

In November 2017, months before a trade war erupted with the imposition of tariffs, China announced an order for 300 Boeing jets during a visit to Beijing by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Analysts expressed doubts at the time over how much of that was new business, and said part of the announcement represented renewed government support for deals already on Boeing’s books.

“The most recent Airbus and Boeing deals followed a similar pattern,” said a China aircraft industry specialist.

Boeing is now seen as next in line to secure a 200-300-plane order as part of a possible economic truce being negotiated to end the trade war, but the recent grounding of one of its jets has cast uncertainty over the timing of the deal.

Boeing and Airbus compete fiercely to serve the needs of the world’s fastest-growing airplane market, while bracing for future competition from China’s own aerospace industry.

Analysts say Beijing tends over time to balance U.S. and European purchases, though recent years have seen the rise of a growing number of independent Chinese leasing companies and an increase in autonomous decision-making by several airlines.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Additional reporting by Marine Pennetier; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Richard Lough)

French Official Says ‘Positive Signs’ in Airbus-China Talks

March 14, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

NAIROBI (Reuters) – There are encouraging signs that European planemaker Airbus is closing in on a long-negotiated deal with China for dozens of new narrow-body jets, an aide to French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.

The official said there were hopes Airbus would nail down the multibillion-dollar order when President Xi Jinping visits Europe later this month, but acknowledged there would unlikely be confirmation until the eleventh hour.

“The talks are ongoing,” the official said. “It will be difficult to know for sure until the day before, but the signs are positive.”

China has become a key hunting ground for Airbus and its leading rival Boeing, thanks to surging travel demand, but the outlook has been complicated by Beijing’s desire to grow its own industrial champions and, more recently for Boeing, the U.S.-China trade war.

Macron unexpectedly failed to clinch the Airbus order during a trip to China in early 2018 and the French government and Airbus have been working since to salvage it.

Macron said at the time that China would buy 184 A320 narrow-body jets, an order worth $18 billion at list prices.

The Elysee Palace official also said Airbus was discussing a new order with Ethiopian Airlines. The official gave no details on the size of the potential new Ethiopian order but cited the long-range A350, a model which Ethiopian already operates, and the single-aisle A320 jet as aircraft of interest to the airline.

Macron and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed discussed the negotiations during Macron’s visit to Addis Ababa on Tuesday, two days after an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed after taking off, killing all 157 people on board.

Industry analysts played down a possible link between any current negotiations and Sunday’s crash. Ethiopian has been undertaking a major fleet expansion and regularly talks to the market, they said, adding that order talks take time.

(Reporting by John Irish; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Mark Potter)

Airbus to Boost Pay to Help French Crisis

December 18, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS (Reuters) – Europe’s Airbus (AIR.PA) is ready to pay a special bonus to its lowest-paid workers after French President Emmanuel Macron called on French companies to help tackle weeks of protests about the cost of living, according to a staff memo.

The intervention by Europe’s largest aerospace firm – part-owned by French, German and Spanish states – comes after Macron last week urged company leaders including planemaking chief and designated CEO Guillaume Faury to do more to ease the crisis.

However, Airbus – which depends primarily on exports of jetliners in competition with U.S rival Boeing (BA.N) – has also stressed the importance of remaining competitive and warned against focussing solely on “cyclical and pecuniary measures”.

“Airbus is ready to contribute and support the government’s action in response to this emergency, while recalling the absolute necessity to maintain the competitiveness of French companies that are exposed, like Airbus, to strong international competition,” said the memo to French staff seen by Reuters.

A spokeswoman said the size and scope of any bonus payment had yet to be defined and would be discussed in the regular course of dialogue with the company’s unions.

Airbus employs 48,000 people in France where aerospace workers are comparatively well paid, with average industry salaries of 4,250 euros (3,821 pounds) a month compared with the national average of 2,250, according to aerospace lobby GIFAS.

Airbus does however have an unspecified number of lower-paid workers in France, where its lowest wage stands at 1,700 euros a month, compared with the national minimum wage of 1,500.

Macron met bankers and company bosses including Faury last week after weeks of demonstrations against his government. Thousands took part in a fifth weekend of protests on Saturday.

The ‘yellow vest’ movement started in mid-November with protests at junctions against fuel tax increases, but quickly became a wider mobilisation against Macron’s economic policies.

During the protests, a convoy of parts for the world’s largest airliner, the A380, was briefly halted by protesters.

Last week reports said protesters blocked access to Airbus and Amazon sites in Toulouse, where the planemaker is based.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Mark Potter)

Image from http://www.airbus.com