Short Takes
April 21st 2016
MANUFACTURERS: Airbus and Siemens have signed a collaboration agreement to work on hybrid electric propulsion systems to create hybrid aircraft seating up to 100 passengers that will be partly powered by electricity. Read More » Boeing says it has begun preliminary talks with Iranian carriers about potential aircraft and services sales. GE Aviation has started ground testing the GE9X, the sole engine option for the 777X. Cebu Pacific Air has ordered 6,600 Recaro SL3510 seats for its 30 on-order A321neos, with deliveries from 2017. All Nippon Airways (ANA) has extended its On-Site Support agreement with UTC Aerospace Systems for its Airbus and Boeing fleets. The agreement, valued at more than $60 million, includes total repair and inventory support services for air management, electric power and engine systems, as well as support for ANA's B787 variable frequency speed generators and auxiliary starter generators.
MRO: SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC) has signed an agreement with Snecma (Safran) to become an authorised on-site support service provider for CFM’s LEAP-1A and LEAP-1B engines in the Asia-Pacific.
ROUTES: Air Busan will add a twice-weekly Incheon-Ulan Baatar A320 route from June 24. Air China will deploy its brand-new B787-9 (first delivery May 5) on one of its two daily Beijing-Frankfurt rotations from July 15, and it will place the Dreamliner on the daily Beijing-Rome route from August 1. Alitalia will add a four-weekly Rome-Beijing A330 commencing July 18. EastarJet will launch a daily Incheon-Fukuoka B737-800 service from May 27. Finnair will replace the A330-300 with the A350-900 on the Helsinki-Incheon service from June 28 through to September 30. Fuji Dream Airlines will introduce a twice-weekly Shizuoka-Sapporo (Okadama) E170/E175 from June 4, complementing its five-weekly flights to Sapporo’s Chitose. Hainan Airlines has replaced the B767 with the A330-200/300 on the thrice-weekly Beijing-Prague service. HK Express will add a third daily Hong Kong-Narita A320 rotation commencing October 30, complementing its double daily flights to Haneda. Hong Kong Airlines will add a twice daily Hong Kong-Narita A330-300 route starting July 1. Juneyao Airlines will launch a twice-weekly Nanjing-Okinawa A320 service from July 1. VietJet Air will start a four-weekly Ho Chi Minh-Tainan A320 route beginning June 22.
TECHNOLOGY: Lion Air and its subsidiaries Batik Air, Wings Air, Malindo Air and Thai Lion Air have selected Sabre’s AirCentre solution to manage its entire airline and crew operations, with the aim of optimising the performance of its flights and reducing costs.
