ISSN 1718-7966 June 22, 2015/ VOL. 495 WEEKLY AVIATION HEADLINES Read by thousands of aviation professionals and technical decision-makers every week www.avitrader.com WORLD NEWS SKYTRAX hails Emirates’ IFE system Emirates Air Line has been awarded the ‘World’s Best Airline Inflight En- tertainment’ at the 2015 SKYTRAX World Airline Awards for the 11th consecutive year. The Skytrax World Airline Awards polled over 18 mil- lion business and leisure air travel- lers from more than 160 countries. The award was accepted by Patrick Brannelly, Emirates’ Divisional Vice President – Customer Experience, Chasing at the awards ceremony on 16 customers. The A350 June, 2015 in Paris. Emirates addi- and 787 took tionally won an award for ‘Best First their rivalry Class Comfort Amenities’. to the skies. Photos: Keith Zambian airline signs pay- Mwanalushi ments deal with MTN Proflight Zambia has teamed up with Battle of the giants MTN Zambia to offer customers an Order bonanza grips Paris with Airbus and Boeing leading the way additional payment solution when As did two years ago, the cloudy nouncement of the first operator ering the growth, we are leading in buying tickets. The service enables skies could not dampen the mood for the new A330 Regional, with single-aisle and widebody and our customers with an MTN Mobile Mon- in Paris as the 51st edition of the Saudi Arabian Airlines taking 20 A321neo is the aircraft of choice in ey account to pay for their Proflight Paris air show’s trade days drew on lease from IAFC. Airbus said the the middle of the market.” tickets at any Proflight office or from to a close. Most of their MTN smart phone. Customers the major players left Boeing also left the making bookings by phone or online with billions worth of “Our latest forecast for 32,600 planes show with a reported can also select the ‘Pay Later’ option new business. U$40.8 billion in the and confirm the transaction by pay- in the next 20 years is being proved bag. The highlight ing using the MTN service through At a wrap up press on day two was air- their phone or at MTN pay points. correct.” conference Airbus craft lessor Aer Cap’s They will then receive a virtual ticket John Leahy, Airbus’ Chief Operating Officer, Customers announced $57 bil- commitment for 100 on their mobile phone. lion worth of busi- 737 MAX-8s adding ness for a total of 421 aircraft. A330 Regional will enable airlines to the A320 Neo’s that it ordered Direct Maintenance supports The deals comprise firm orders to serve “fast-growing domestic at Farnborough last year. Other Qatar 787s for 124 aircraft worth $16.3 billion and regional routes at least cost notable orders from Boeing were Direct Maintenance has started to and commitments for 297 aircraft and maximum efficiency.” for 20 747-8Fs from Volga-Dnepr, provide dedicated B787 line main- worth $40.7 billion. Not surpris- and six more 787s for Ethiopian tenance support to Qatar Airways ingly, the A320 Family won an im- John Leahy, Airbus’ Chief Operating Airlines. Korean Air also announced at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. pressive 366 endorsements, 103 Officer, Customers said: “Our latest the airline’s intent to purchase 30 The Doha-Amsterdam route is now firm orders and 263 commitments forecast for 32,600 planes in the 737 MAXs and two additional 777- operated with the 787, seating a worth U$41.4 billion. next 20 years is being proved cor- 300ERs with options for an addi- maximum of 258 passengers having rect. The orders and commitments tional 20 737 MAX. a choice between either 22 fully-flat In the widebody market, Airbus at this year’s Paris Air Show dem- bed seats or 232 economy seats. kicked-off the show with the an- onstrate three things; Asia is pow- Continued on page 3 MARCH 9, 2015 / Vol. 480 ™ Aeroset © All Rights Reserved www.aeroset.co.uk 3 WEEKLY AVIATION HEADLINES ...continued from page 1 The delayed Bombardier C series finally took to the skies and hopefully it’s the beginning of mending the Canadian manufacturer’s somewhat tarnished reputation. Not only did the CS300 perform an impressive flight display, operator SWISS announced the conversion 10 of its 30 firm-ordered CS100 aircraft to the larger CS300 aircraft. Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation also used the event to highlight pro- gress with its MRJ regional aircraft programme. The company stated that the first of five test aircraft started low speed taxiing tests on June 8, 2015; the second has functional and engineering tests underway. The installation of the landing gear has been completed and the installing equipment is underway on the third aircraft, the wings are joined to the fuselage on the fourth and on the fifth plane the body joint and painting with ANA livery have been completed. ATR announced 46 firm aircraft orders and 35 options. The total value of the orders received amounts to U$1.98 billion dollars. A contract signed with Japan Airlines opens up a new market for ATR and enables China Airlines and Qatar Airways were among those with static aircraft displays. it to exceed 1,500 firm orders since the beginning of the programme. Photo: Keith Mwanalushi AIRCRAFT & ENGINE NEWS Binter signs agreement for additional six ATR 72-600s Pratt & Whitney receives FAA production certification for PW1100G-JM engine Pratt & Whitney received Federal Aviation Admin- istration approval to add the PW1100G-JM engine that will power the Airbus A320neo aircraft to its production portfolio. The certificates were award- ed to Pratt & Whitney’s facilities in Middletown, Connecticut and West Palm Beach, Florida. Both facilities have expanded and modernized to in- troduce state-of-the-art assembly and test capa- bility as the company prepares for its production increase. The PurePower® engine family has more than 6,400 orders, including options. The certifi- cation of the Middletown and West Palm Beach Engine Centers to produce these engines for the A320neo ensures that with volume increasing, Pratt & Whitney will be ready to meet customer commitments as its new engines are brought into Spanish Airline Binter orders six ATR 72-600s Photo: ATR service. As part of the process of certifying Pratt & Whitney to build the PW1100G-JM engines, the Spain’s Canary Islands airline Binter signed an agreement for the purchase of an additional six FAA conducted intense reviews of both facilities, new ATR 72-600 aircraft following their first batch for six ATR 72-600s in February 2014, bringing capabilities, processes, tooling, quality assurance, total orders for ATR aircraft to thirty. The new ATR order is part of the Binter’s fleet modernization test procedures and engine test results. and network improvements program. By progressively replacing its current fleet of aging turbo- props with the modern and fuel efficient ATR-600s, the airline will significantly reduce operating and maintenance costs, gain further in profitability and offer more comfort to its passengers due to its enhanced seats design. Deliveries of the 72-seat ATR-600 aircraft commence this year and Turkish Airlines selects P&W PurePower® will be completed by 2017. Binter currently operates a fleet of 16 ATR 72-500s. engines to power order of Airbus A321n- eo aircraft EASA certifies Sikorsky S-92 Rig Approach automated approach capability with a higher Turkish Airlines has signed a Memorandum of safety margin than currently is available with Understanding for Pratt & Whitney’s PurePow- Sikorsky Aircraft has announced the certification any other offshore approach procedure. The er® PW1100G-JM engines to power its order of by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) feature can be retrofitted to aircraft already op- 72 firm and 20 option A321neo aircraft. Deliver- of Rig Approach for the S-92 helicopter. Rig Ap- erating. Rig Approach was certified by the FAA ies are scheduled to begin in 2017. The Pure- proach provides operators with an automated in May 2013. The National Civil Aviation Agency Power® engine family has completed 19,000 approach to offshore rig and platform landings. of Brazil and Transport Canada certified Rig Ap- hours and 34,000 cycles of full engine testing, Rig Approach is available as an option on the proach earlier this year. Sikorsky developed Rig including 5,000 hours of flight time. S-92 helicopters, providing a fully coupled and JUNE 22, 2015 / Vol. 495 The Power Lies Under the Surface Financial Solutions Component Solutions Supply-Chain Solutions Maintenance Solutions What you see on the surface is just the tip of the iceberg. What lies beneath is a powerful organization committed to providing solutions to the aerospace industry that impact the bottom line. www.gatelesis.com 5 WEEKLY AVIATION HEADLINES AIRCRAFT & ENGINE NEWS Korean Air to order up to 50 A321neo aircraft powered by Pratt and Whitney engines Approach in close collaboration with PHI, Inc., an important Sikorsky customer that operates S-92 and S-76 helicopters globally in a range of missions including providing transportation for workers to and from offshore oil platforms. WestJet converts purchase options for five Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft WestJet has signed a firm order for five Bombar- dier Q400 NextGen aircraft. A firm order for one Q400 aircraft was also signed in March 2015. These transactions are conversions of options previously booked by WestJet. The five firm -or ders are for delivery in 2016 and 2017. GECAS orders 60 Airbus A320neo aircraft GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), the avia- tion leasing and financing arm of GE, has an- Korean Air becomes new customer for A320 Family Photo: Airbus nounced a firm order for 60 Airbus A320neo family aircraft.