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Airbus delivers first C295 to India

Seville, Spain,  September 13, 2023 – Airbus Group SE (Paris: AIR) Defence and Space has officially handed over  in fly-away condition the first of 56 C295 aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) to begin replacing its ageing Avro 748 fleet.

The C295, in transport configuration and with an indigenous electronic warfare suite, will leave Airbus’ production site in Seville, Spain, for Delhi, India, in the next few days, piloted by a joint IAF and Airbus crew.

The first 16 C295’s of the 56 aircraft on order will be assembled at the San Pablo Sur site in Seville, Spain, with the second aircraft due to be delivered in May 2024 and the next 14 rolled out at a rate of one per month until August 2025.

First C295 ‘Make in India’ in 2026

To boost self-reliance in the defence-manufacturing sector in India, the remaining 40 C295s of the IAF order will be manufactured and assembled – in partnership with Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) – at a Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Vadodara in western India.

The production of components of these aircraft has already started in the Main Constituent Assembly (MCA) facility in Hyderabad, southern India. These parts will be shipped to the Vadovara FAL, which is expected to be operational by November 2024.

The first ‘Make in India’ C295 will roll out of the Vadodara FAL in September 2026 in what will be a milestone for the Indian aerospace industry; the final aircraft expected to be delivered to the IAF by August 2031.

 

Embraer E195’s Make Vietnam Debut with Bamboo Airways

Two Embraer E195s have commenced operations in Vietnam with Bamboo Airways, offering the first jet service to Con Dao from Hanoi, Vinh and Hai Phong. Con Dao Island and the surrounding National Park is an area of outstanding natural beauty 1400km (760nm) from the capital Hanoi, off the southern coast of Vietnam. The popular tourist destination, featuring an archipelago of 16 islands, is currently only served by turboprop aircraft due to its short runway, light pavement, and lack of fuel provision.

The Embraer E195s join Bamboo Airways’ fleet on a wet-lease agreement with Denmark based Great Dane Airlines, adding to the growing number of E-Jet operators in the Asia Pacific region.

“Bamboo Airways is proud to offer jet-operated flights to Con Dao with the E195s,” said Mr. Dang Tat Thang – Executive Vice Chairman of Bamboo Airways. “The aircraft’s short runway performance makes it an ideal aircraft for flights to and from Con Dao. The two by two seating will offer our passengers a high level of comfort in a modern, spacious aircraft, including the one-of-its-kind Business Class on the route to Con Dao.”

“Congratulations to Bamboo Airways on this strategic move. The E-Jets will give them great flexibility both in performance as well as in economics,” says Raul Villaron, Vice President, Asia Pacific for Embraer’s commercial aviation unit. “The E195’s fuel efficiency and economics enables Bamboo Airways to cost effectively manage fluctuating demand and operate lower density routes with the right sized aircraft. We welcome Bamboo Airways to the Embraer family and our global team are here to support them.”

Bamboo Airways is the first to operate direct flights to Con Dao from three cities; the capital Hanoi, Hai Phong city in the North and Vinh city in the central area. There will be two flights a day on the Hanoi – Con Dao route and daily flights from Hai Phong and Vinh to Con Dao in the initial phase. Bamboo Airways are operating the aircraft in a comfortable single class configuration with 118 seats.

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 1,600 aircraft have been delivered. Today, E-Jets are flying in the fleet of more than 80 customers in some 50 countries. The versatile 70 to 150-seat family is flying with low-cost airlines as well as with regional and mainline carriers.

Airbus Built BepiColombo Will Make Earth Fly-by on April 10th

The Airbus built BepiColombo mission will make a fly-by past Earth on 10th April 2020 as it continues on its epic journey to Mercury.

The joint European Space Agency and Japanese Space Agency spacecraft will swing past Earth at about 13,000 km away, closer than navigation satellites (GPS, Galileo). It will be BepiColombo’s final glimpse of Earth before it continues on its seven year, 8.5 billion kilometre journey to the Solar System’s innermost, smallest and least explored planet, Mercury. The last time the spacecraft saw Earth was 18 months ago in October 2018, when it was launched on an Ariane 5.

BepiColombo is not due to arrive at Mercury until 05th December 2025, but to get there safely and at the right speed to be captured by Mercury’s gravity, it must do nine flybys of the inner planets, one past Earth, two at Venus and six flybys at Mercury. After arrival, the spacecraft will capture data for a year with the possibility of extending the mission.

BepiColombo will collect measurements to study the composition, geophysics, atmosphere, magnetosphere and history of Mercury as well as testing Einstein’s theory of general relativity. The 16 scientific instruments will also provide insights into the characteristics of Mercury’s magnetic field and how it interacts with the solar wind.

Philippe Pham, Head of Earth Observation, Navigation and Science said: “This flyby marks a great achievement and major milestone for Airbus. Teams across five countries worked together to successfully develop and launch the spacecraft on a complex mission to Mercury.”

The journey will total some 8.5 billion km, completing 18 orbits around the Sun before entering the spacecraft’s operational orbit and beginning scientific exploration of the planet Mercury.

New US Airline to make Flying a Breeze

Written by Chris Frame

Travellers in the US are set to enjoy more choice in the air, with the formal launch of Breeze Airways announced last week.

Previously known by the code name “Moxy”, the new airline is the brainchild of experienced airline executive David Neeleman, who is renowned for having established four successful airlines during his career.

With the experience of establishing the likes of Morris Air, WestJet, Jet Blue and Azul, each of Neeleman’s new entrants are notable for introducing a variety of innovations to the market.

Today considered commonplace; leading customer experience improvements include e-ticketed bookings, inflight TV streaming and the opening up of routes to city pairs previously not served by existing carriers.

Click the link below for the full story!

https://australianaviation.com.au/2020/02/new-us-airline-to-make-flying-a-breeze/

Alstom Completes 100th ‘Make-in-India’ Metro Trainset

05/08/2019 – Alstom India continues its noteworthy innings in India by rolling out the 100th ‘Make-in-India’ metro trainset today from its state-of-the-art rolling stock manufacturing facility in Sricity, Andhra Pradesh. The delivery of the centurion trainset to Kochi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL) also marks completion of the Kochi Metro order for 25 trainsets by Alstom. Kochi operates a 100% ‘Make in India’ metro fleet entirely custom-built at the flagship manufacturing facility at Sricity.  

The facility was set up as Alstom’s first global manufacturing centre for rolling stock in the Asia-Pacific region. This plant commenced operations in November 2013 and delivered its first metro trainset to Chennai Metro Rail Corporation (CMRL) in February 2014. The facility currently employs more than 600 employees and has a production capacity of 240 cars per year. The factory is currently scaling up to double production capacity and also introducing latest industrial technologies.

Till date, Alstom’s Sricity facility has made on-time deliveries of more than 420 metro cars for its Indian and international customers. This includes delivering completely indigenous trainsets to metro rail corporations of Chennai, Lucknow, Kochi and Sydney (its first international order). 

Speaking on this occasion Alain Spohr, Managing Director for India and South Asia, said “We have hit a century by delivering the 100th trainset. This milestone signifies many things, but most importantly, it is a vote of confidence of our customers in our capabilities to deliver world class, custom-made solutions. This achievement has been possible by our belief in our Indian talent that includes more than 4200 team members working across various locations in India. We are confident to reach greater heights with our commitment to ‘Make in India’ and aligning our business goals with the country’s vision.”

In just six years since its commencement, Sricity facility has cemented its position as a manufacturing hub for Alstom’s domestic and international clients. The supply chain is close to being 75% domestic to ensure localised manufacturing. Locally, it is also a preferred workplace due to its regular employee development and inclusive programmes with more than 10% of the staff strength being women in various roles as supervisors, planners, engineers etc. 

Before end of this year, the facility will commence production for 248 metro cars (31 train sets of 8 cars each) for Mumbai Metro Line 3, 212 metro cars (106 train sets of 2 cars each) for Montreal Metro (Réseau express métropolitain) and 10 more train sets for Chennai Metro, which is already under execution.