ISSN 1718-7966 AUGUST 26, 2013 / VOL. 403 WEEKLY AVIATION HEADLINES Read by thousands of aviation professionals and technical decision-makers every week www.avitrader.com WORLD NEWS Mitsubishi’s MRJ (left) Doubts rise over ILFC sale is now not The sale of ILFC, the aircraft leas- expected ing unit of US insurer AIG, is close to take to the skies for to collapse, according to The Fi- commercial nancial Times, after New China service until Trust, one of the three backers 2017 of a Chinese-led buying group, Mitsubishi pulled out of the deal. P3 Invest- Aircraft Corp ments, another of the Chinese backers, is still negotiating with potential investors. If the deal Now Mitsubishi announces third delay to new jet launch falls through, AIG is expected to Delay follows Bombardier’s third push-back of all-new CSeries maiden flight list ILFC on the stock market by back to June, and then for a fur- as early as next month. Japan’s Mitsubishi Aircraft Cor- space consultancy Teal Group told poration announced a third delay The Montreal Gazette that the ther month to July. The company Etihad eyeing Croatia stake to the launch of its next-genera- delay meant “we’re getting into has since said that the test flight Etihad, the national carrier of tion Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) familiar territory. It’s extremely will now occur ‘in the coming Abu Dhabi, is understood to be program, with the maiden flight easy to underestimate challenges, weeks’. Earlier this month, it particularly when you’re entering eyeing a minority stake in state- of the all-new 70-90 seater now announced that it had started a new business area with new owned Croatia Airlines - only scheduled for the second quarter low-speed taxiing, one of the last technology demands.” weeks after sealing a deal to buy of 2015. First deliveries have been tests before flight. pushed back to the middle a 49-per-cent share in Serbia’s JAT It is also thought that Airways. Etihad also owns stakes of 2017 - nearly two years behind schedule. “It’s extremely easy to underestimate Transport Canada ap- in Germany’s airberlin, Seychelles challenges, particularly when you’re proval for Bombardier’s flag carrier, Air Seychelles, Virgin The news came after Com- entering a new business area with Flight Test Vehicle One Australia, Ireland’s Air Lingus and mercial Aircraft Corp of Chi- new technology demands.” has been held delayed India’s Jet Airways. na’s decision to push back after the Lac Mégantic the maiden test flight of its Richard Aboulafia, Teal Group train disaster that killed Air Canada in CSeries buy? first large passenger plane, dozens of people last Calvin Rovinescu, Air Canada’s the C919, to 2015 from a The MRJ, which has so far secured month, with the regu- chief executive, has said that the target first-flight date of 2014. 165 firm orders and 160 options, latory body “applying additional carrier is looking at Bombardier’s It has also delayed the entry into is Japan’s first domestically-manu- levels of due diligence”. new CSeries commercial airliner as service of its smaller ARJ21 region- factured passenger aircraft since al jet for at least two years. Boeing and Airbus have also expe- an option to replace around 100 the YS-11 turboprop programme ageing regional jets. “Of course rienced similar delays in launching The MRJ delay also comes only a ended in 1973, and has involved it hasn’t flown yet, but we like new aircraft. Boeing’s new com- month after Bombardier, the Ca- up to Y180bn ($1.8bn) in devel- the CSeries based on what we’ve posite jet, the 787 Dreamliner, nadian airframer, revealed it had opment costs. Mitsubishi admit- seen so far on paper,” he said. The was three years late in making been forced to delay the launch of ted that design and certification move would be a boost to Bom- its debut flight, while Airbus’s its larger all-new CSeries narrow- had taken ‘greater resources’ bardier after recently losing out A380 superjumbo was held up body for a third time. than anticipated. on hoped-for large bookings from by nearly two years. The all-new British low-cost carrier easyjet and The CSeries is the first completely The first test flight of Bombar- Airbus A350 is now projected to IAG, parent of British Airways, Ibe- new single-aisle non-regional jet dier’s CSeries, meanwhile, had enter service in the second half of ria and Vueling, which both chose to be launched in the past 30 originally been scheduled for the 2014, a year after the company’s Airbus A320 family jets instead. years. Richard Aboulafia of aero- end of last year, but was pushed original target delivery date. 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IAC AR confirmed the SSJ100 LR’s compliance Nordic Aviation Capital confirmed that it has with the Interstate Aviation Committee’s current aviation regulations. This will allow sold one ATR 72-212, MSN 349 to Hawaii Is- Russian airlines to operate land Air. Nordic Aviation Capital A/S is a glo- the SSJ100 long range ver- bal aircraft leasing company dedicated to the sion. A Supplement to the worldwide sale, purchasing and financing of Type Certificate for SSJ100 commercial jet and turboprop aircraft. Long Range was issued upon successful completion of the certification test program. Adria Airways completes sale of one On February 15, Sukhoi Su- of their CRJ-200s perjet 100 LR prototype per- Adria Airways completed the sale of one formed its ferry flight across of their CRJ-200s to the Kazakhstan air- Russia from Komsomolsk- line, SCAT Air Company of Shykment, Ka- on-Amur to the Flight Test zakhstan. The 2005-vintage aircraft, serial Center in Zhukovsky to start A long range version of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (above) has been certified number 8010, is powered by General Electric certification program. Sukhoi CF34-3B1 engines. The deal was arranged by Cabot Aviation. Turkish Technic approved by Director Boeing and ILFC deliver first 787 MRO & PRODUCTION General of Civil Aviation of India Dreamliner to Aeromexico Turkish Technic continues to expand its serv- Boeing delivered the first 787 Dreamliner to Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Servic- ice area with the recently held approval of Mexico City-based Aeromexico. The airplane es opens new hangar in Schoenefeld DGCA of India. The approval certificate cov- is the first of nine 787-8 airplanes that Aer- ers base and line maintenance services of Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services omexico will operate, including five on lease Boeing 777, Boeing 737, Airbus 320 and GmbH (LBAS) opened an additional hang- from ILFC. The airline will operate a total of Airbus 330 aircraft. The approval also cov- ar at its home base in Berlin-Schoenefeld. 19 Dreamliners, including 10 787-9 models ers Hamilton Sundstrand APS 2000 and APS Hangar capacity has now been increased ordered last year. 3200, Honeywell GTCP-85-129H and GTCP- by 50%, and 12 new jobs have been cre- 131-9B types APU’s and Landing Gears of air- ated since the start of the year, 10 of them craft types mentioned above. OHI Group takes delivery of three mechanics. This brings the number of staff AW139 Helicopters currently employed at LBAS up to 183. Fol- Atlasjet chooses Turkish Technic Pool OHI Group took delivery of three AW139 heli- lowing the renovation and comprehensive Services copters equipped for offshore transportation modernization of a hangar taken over from on August 8th, 2013 at the AgustaWestland Lufthansa Technik, the additional capacity Atlasjet, one of the fastest growing airlines of Philadelphia factory in the USA.