Commercial Aviation News

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft today congratulated launch operator Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) on the successful entry-into-service of the CS100 aircraft. The maiden commercial flight of the CS100 aircraft has departed Zurich for Paris Charles de Gaulle. “We salute SWISS on the CS100 aircraft’s successful entry-into-service and thank the airline for its outstanding support to the C Series aircraft program,” said Fred Cromer, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “We also congratulate all the employees and suppliers who have worked tirelessly to bring us to this great milestone. It is an outstanding achievement and continues to build the momentum for the C Series aircraft program."

A look at the Airbus A350-1000 in this Airliners.net photo in Toulouse, France. Photo was taken yesterday showing the aircraft being towed to the paint shop to have some paint applied to her green state. Note the triple bogie main gear, look familiar?

American Airlines has deferred its Airbus A350 orders by two years news reports suggest. Citing trying to reduce capital expenditure and streamlining capacity as some of the issues, American Airlines is looking to now take delivery of the first A350-900XWB late in 2018 rather than the Spring of 2017. Once this happens, deliveries of the 22 A350s will continue through to 2022 barring no more deferrals. According to a quarterly financial filing made by the company, it will take delivery of two of the type late in 2018 followed by five in 2019 and 2020 and ten through 2021 and 2022. The original plan was to have all aircraft comprising the order delivered by 2020.

The first Airbus A350-900XWB for Thai Airways has started testing and is expected to be delivered to the customer at the end of the third quarter. Four of the type appear to be outright bought by the company and another eight will be on leasing arrangements. The first A350 for Thai has already made its first flight and is conducting a myriad of tests to ensure it is fit for commercial operation. Thai's A350-900XWB's will be configured in two classes comprising of 321 seats.

Airbus expects to have the first A320NEO with the revamped PW1100G engines delivered this week the airframer said. Lufthansa has been the only customer to have taken delivery of two A320NEOs but with the long lead up and start times and since then Airbus halted deliveries until they could have the problem fixed. This has led to long waits for customers like initial launch customer Qatar Airways who through its chief executive officer have threatened to switch to the competing manufacturer for similar market single-aisle aircraft. Over 25 Airbus A320NEOs have not been delivered to customers as yet so hopefully with the new fixes deliveries can get underway. Airbus says that the first A320NEO with the new 'golden-engines' will be handed over to Lufthansa this week. Airbus has also started making deliveries of the A320NEO with PW's competitor, the CFM Leap-1A...the first example went to Turkey-based carrier Pegasus Airways.

Looks like Malaysia Airlines has put in an order for Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. 25 firm purchases and 25 options have been made... if the options are exercised it would total approximately 5.5 billion dollars at the current list prices. Deliveries are expected to commence in 2019 and will gradually replace the airline's 56 Boeing 737-800s. The mix will be between the CFM International LEAP-1B powered Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 9 aircraft but the exact quantity of each is not known at present.

And here she is having been painted now in the Airbus livery.

An overhead shot by Airbus of an Airbus A321NEO test aircraft conducting water-ingestion tests. It made for a spectacular looking photo. Of course these types of tests are done to ensure that the aircraft can functionally operate on rain-soaked runways without problem.

It appears that British Airways as overhauled the interior or all 18 of its Boeing 747-400s to bring them up to standard with some of the brand new aircraft types they have now. Upgrades included mood-lighting, new seats and of course in-seat IFE (in flight entertainment). Have a glimpse here...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/t.../British-Airways-new-Boeing-747-interior.html

Cathay Pacific is dropping its quad-engined Airbus A340s as the company takes deliveries of more fuel-efficient twin-engined Airbus A350-900XWBs. By the end of 2017, Cathay Pacific is expected to be rid of all of their current A340 aircraft as it anticipates taking delivery of A350-900s in rapid succession. The company already has three A350s in operation and expects that nine will be delivered before the end of this year and another ten during 2017. It isn't just the A340 that is on the chopping block, the Boeing 747-400 is also going fast! Their remaining three 744s are expected to be out of the fleet by October.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) has taken delivery of its 50th Boeing 787. This also makes it the first commercial airline in the world to have 50 Dream)Liners in their possession. The aircraft has the decals "ANA's 50th 787" to commemorate the event. The aircraft was formally delivered to ANA on August 17th at the Boeing Everett delivery facility. "The 787 Dreamliner has played a significant role in opening up new routes into new markets, while also forming the backbone of our long-haul fleet," said ANA president and chief executive Osamu Shinobe.

The E195 is celebrating a birthday! It was ten years ago today, September 1, 2006, that the first E195 was delivered to a customer. Embraer’s largest commercial jet was handed over to Flybe, the UK’s biggest regional airline.

The CSeries program is rolling on with Swiss expected to receive their third CS100 next month. A third CS100 aircraft is scheduled to be delivered to SWISS next month, and the CS300 – the larger C Series variant – is expected to enter service with airBaltic in the fourth quarter. For the full year, the Company has adjusted its C Series delivery forecast from 15 to 7 aircraft as a result of engine delivery delays by its supplier Pratt & Whitney.

“The C Series engine is performing very well in service. We are working very closely with Pratt & Whitney to quickly address this supplier ramp-up issue and to ensure we have a strong supplier base to support our long-term growth objectives,” said Mr. Cromer. “We are very confident in our production ramp-up plan, including our ability to meet our production goal of 90 to 120 aircraft per year by 2020.” The C Series program continues to meet its program milestones and gain traction in the market. Including significant orders from Air Canada and Delta earlier this year, the Company has more than 300 firm orders and up to 800 orders including options and commitments. With the certification of the CS300 and the CS100’s entry-into-service, the C Series program has transitioned from the development phase into production ramp-up. Last week, Bombardier also announced that it has received the second and last $500 million installment of the Government of Québec’s investment in the C Series aircraft program, further strengthening its liquidity position.

AeroMexico's first Boeing 787-9 emerges with new special livery ahead of delivery. The livery is a culmination of a shortlist of designs from a competition held by the Air Carrier two years ago. "As Mexico's flagship carrier, this aircraft will become an icon of our fleet and a reflection of what Mexico is today, with culture and tradition represented in what we consider to be one of the most sophisticated creations of modern aviation engineering," says Aeromexico chief executive Andres Conesa.

The U.S. FAA is warning aircraft passengers not to turn on or charge Samsung Galaxy Note 7 mobile devices onboard due to multiple cases of lithium-ion battery fires, including a car that reportedly caught fire while the phone was charging. “In light of recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung about its Galaxy Note 7 devices, the [FAA] strongly advises passengers not to turn on or charge these devices on board aircraft and not to stow them in any checked baggage,” said an agency statement issued on September 8. Since then, a number of airlines around the world have either banned the use of the device onboard their aircraft or do not want it stored in the checked luggage.

Yesterday (September 13) American Airlines took delivery of their first Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The Fort-Worth based Commercial carrier has the aircraft configured to 285 seats broken up into 207 economy seats, 27 extra-roomy economy seats, 21 premium economy seats and 30 business class seats. With the delivery out of the way, American will start revenue service with this particular aircraft (MSN 40639) (N820AL) on October 4th 2016 with a flight from DFW to LHR. There after it is expected to do domestic flights and then later in the year do long-haul from DFW to EZE and MAD.

Hong Kong Airlines has put in an order for nine (9) Airbus A330-300s. "Today's announcement underscores our plan to operate an extensive regional network in Asia," says the carrier's president Zhang Kui, in a joint statement with Airbus. "The A330’s flexibility also allows us to further deploy these aircraft to some long haul routes in the future, and we are going to operate the all-new A350 XWB in 2017 which will open a new chapter of our international operations."

In this photo by Roberto Leiro, we see Venezuelan carrier Avior's first Airbus A340-300 widebody jet. It is the first of six that the airline plans to acquire. The aircraft arrived in Venezuela on September 6th after a 5.5 hour flight from Rio. The aircraft executed a low level pass to greet the crowd that gathered to see its arrival.

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft announced today that its CS300 jetliner, the second CS300 flight test vehicle, has embarked on a series of European and Middle Eastern route-proving flights alongside first operator airBaltic of Latvia. The flights – which will operate from the airline’s base in Riga include stops in Vilnius, Lithuania, Tallinn, Estonia and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - will use airBaltic air and ground operational practices. “It’s exciting for the airBaltic team to welcome the CS300 to its home base in Riga for the first time to see the aircraft simulate operations in our route system that covers much of Europe - all in advance of our first delivery later this fall,” said Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer, airBaltic. “The CS300 aircraft has outstanding performance, admirable efficiency and an impressive cabin that offers maximum comfort and we are looking forward to introducing this fine aircraft to our passengers and airports in our network.”

Comac has delivered the second ARJ21-700 Regional jet to Chengdu Airlines. The second aircraft was delivered on September 29th...nearly a year after the first one was delivered to Chengdu. The second article has been delivered in a two-class configuration with 78 seats. If you cast your minds back you will remember the first unit was one-class (all economy). Registration of the second aircraft is B-3322.