Archive for November 2015

Airbus in talks for Saudia A380 Order With Super-Dense 615 Seater

Airbus Group SE is aiming to seal a prospective Saudi order for the A380 superjumbo by pitching a new 615-seat, two-class version it says would be the ideal congestion-buster for carrying pilgrims to Mecca. The European planemaker has offered Saudi Arabian Airlines, known as Saudia, the high-density layout to be pioneered by leading A380 customer…

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India’s SpiceJet to choose between Airbus and Boeing for plane order

Spicejet Boeing 737

India’s SpiceJet is in talks with Boeing and Airbus to buy more than 150 planes, the airline’s chairman said on Sunday, predicting he would decide which manufacturer to place the order with by the end of March 2016. Such an investment would cap a remarkable turnaround for India’s second-biggest budget airline by market share, which…

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Could China’s New Plane Be a Warning Signal for Boeing, Airbus?

Hainan Airlines Comac C919 V2

The Boeing-Airbus duopoly in the commercial aviation space may face some competition in the future once China’s first passenger airplane takes to the skies. China took the wraps off its first passenger jet, the twin-engine C919, early this month in an effort to create its presence in the aviation industry and contend with the likes…

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Bombardier expects tough 2016 before transformation hits stride by 2020

Swiss CS100 Cseries

Bombardier has warned of another challenging year in 2016 before its efforts to reverse the company’s fortunes — including cost-cutting efforts and shifts in production to low-cost centres — come to fruition by 2020. “Despite short-term challenges, the potential for Bombardier is great and we are turning the business around,” CEO Alain Bellemare said Tuesday…

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World’s First Supersonic Private Jet Gets its First Order

Aerion AS2

After 13 years of developing a high-speed business jet on paper, billionaire-backed Aerion Corporation is a big step closer to making supersonic passenger travel a reality again. The company—funded by both Texas billionaire Robert Bass and European aerospace giant Airbus—just inked its first order for 20 of the $120 million jets. If Aerion can execute…

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Airbus Gains Regulatory Approval for New A320neo

Airbus A320neo

Airbus Group SE on Tuesday said it had received European and U.S. regulatory approval for its A320neo single-aisle jet clearing the way for first customer deliveries of the plane. Both the European Aviation Safety Agency and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration granted the so-called type certification for the A320neo powered by PW1100G engines from Pratt…

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Missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 can be found soon: Boeing captain

Search for MH370

After 20 months of search operations, missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 could be found in a matter of months after the hunt switched to an area identified by a British Boeing 777 captain. Captain Simon Hardy’s theory, claimed as credible by Australian investigators, is based on the assumption that the MH370 made a controlled ditch…

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Ethiopian Airlines to order 10 narrow-body planes, Considering CSeries or E2

Ethiopian Turboprop

Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest carrier, wants to buy 10 narrowbody planes and is considering Canada’s Bombardier and Brazil’s Embraer jets among others, as it plans to nearly double its fleet between now and 2025, chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam said Monday. Tewolde, speaking on the sidelines of a global aviation forum in Montreal, said that he…

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Airbus Sees Revamp of Superjumbo After 2022 Amid Slow A380 Sales

British Airways A380

It may be almost a decade or longer before Airbus Group SE debuts an improved version of its little-loved A380 superjumbo jet as the European planemaker tries to convince airlines that there’s demand for such a large plane, the chief executive officer of the airliner unit said. Some carriers “don’t love the A380” because many…

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Boeing bests Airbus in orders for small luxury jets

Boeing and Airbus jets

Boeing has jumped ahead of rival Airbus in narrow-body business jet orders. Boeing announced four orders for 737 Max-based business jets this week at the National Business Aviation Association Convention and Exhibition, in Las Vegas. Boeing now has nine orders for 737 Max-based Boeing Business Jets, or BBJs, putting it ahead of Airbus, which has…

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Back to the Future: Russia Ready to Reenter the Passenger Plane Big Leagues

Ilyushin Il-114 Dvurekov

A quarter-century after the collapse of the Soviet Union, an event which resulted in the near-destruction of the country’s once-proud civil aviation industry, Russia is looking to resurrect its production of civilian aircraft, from the Sukhoi Superjet 100 to the Ilyushin Il-114, German newspaper Handelsblatt reports. The newspaper notes that while the long-haul civil aviation…

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Boeing Pegs Latin America’s 20-Year Demand to Top 3,000 New Jets

Aeromexico Boeing 787

Boeing Commercial Airplanes issued the latest in a series of 20-year forecasts for aircraft demand in various regions, and projected that Latin America’s commercial aviation demand would require more than 3,000 new jets by 2034. “The economies of Latin America and the Caribbean will grow faster than the rest of the world over the long…

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Embraer Could Be on the Verge of a Major Coup in the U.S.

Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer has had great success in the U.S. market lately. As the regional airline industry has migrated toward 76-seat jets, it has captured a slew of orders for its E175 jet from legacy carriers like American Airlines and United Continental and their regional airline partners. For the past few years, more than…

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Boeing confident Gulf airlines can keep growing amid oil price volatility

Qatar Airways Boeing 787

Boeing expects Arabian Gulf carriers to weather the impact of lower oil prices on regional economies and sustain their rapid growth. In an interview at last week’s Dubai Airshow, Bertrand-Marc Allen, the president of Boeing International, said that the UAE’s efforts to beef up its aviation manufacturing capabilities will also help to mitigate any volatility…

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