All articles by David Kaminski-Morrow – Page 196
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News
Rolls-Royce shores up defences as airlines’ widebody engine activity drops
Rolls-Royce has disclosed that the primary impact of the coronavirus crisis on its civil aerospace business has been a reduction in widebody engine flying hours by 25% over the first quarter, including a 50% fall in March. It expects “further deterioration” during April, and beyond, given the increasing grounding of ...
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Superjet 100s contracted to support UN peacekeeping
Sukhoi Superjet 100s are to be deployed in support of United Nations peacekeeping operations for the first time, following a procurement process. The Russian foreign affairs ministry and Russia’s permanent mission to the UN have been supporting a bid for participation using the type. Federal air transport regulator Rosaviatsia states ...
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A350-1000 brought in to shuttle medical supplies from China
Airbus is continuing its medical supply shuttle operation between China and Europe, adding an A350-1000 test aircraft to the list of types recruited for the effort. The A350-1000 (MSN59) operated from Tianjin to Hamburg, before flying on to Toulouse on 5 April. Airbus says the twinjet, flown by a flight-test ...
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Lufthansa Group finance chief resigns citing health reasons
Lufthansa Group chief financial officer Ulrik Svensson has resigned from his position, citing health reasons. The German airline company has disclosed that he will step down on 6 April. It has not given any further details on the circumstances behind Svensson’s decision. He has served as the company’s finance head ...
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Boeing acknowledges ‘realities’ of market after Avolon cuts Max order
Lessor Avolon’s cancellation of 75 Boeing 737 Max jets is set to provide a degree of relief to the US airframer as it rejigs the extensive backlog for the re-engined aircraft. But Boeing also acknowledges that the decision is the “right step” to “align with the realities of the marketplace”. ...
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Lessor Avolon cancels or defers over 100 aircraft
Lessor Avolon is cutting its delivery commitments over the next four years by over 100 aircraft, through a combination of cancellations and deferrals including the axing of 75 Boeing 737 Max jets. Avolon says the unplaced Max aircraft had been due to arrive over 2020-23. It is also deferring another ...
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EASA advises carriers to switch off recirculation fans
Europe’s safety regulator is advising commercial aircraft operators to adopt new procedures to switch off air-conditioning system recirculation fans regularly, as part of measures to limit the risk of coronavirus contagion. Supplementary procedures to turn off the fans periodically would “accelerate cabin air exchange”, says the European Union Aviation Safety ...
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Ryanair taking €300m charge over fuel-hedge ineffectiveness
Budget carrier Ryanair is predicting net profits of €950 million-1 billion for 2019-20 as the tail-end of its fiscal year started suffering the effects of the coronavirus crisis. It states that it is conducting fewer than 20 flights daily, and expects its fleet to stay “largely grounded” for at least ...
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IAG cuts capacity by 90% as BA puts cabin crew and pilots on leave
IAG is to cut capacity by around 90% during April and May, up from the figure of 75% previously indicated. The group’s British Airways division has confirmed it will put more than 30,000 cabin crew and ground-based employees on furlough for the two-month period. BA will apply to take advantage ...
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Wizz Air details crisis impact on traffic as it wraps up fiscal year
Budget carrier Wizz Air has become one of the first European airlines to detail the full coronavirus impact on traffic in March, a month during which airlines started embarking on widespread fleet grounding. Wizz Air says booked passenger numbers fell by nearly 36%, to 1.75 million, as it cut capacity ...
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Crisis accelerates approval of A320 seat-bag cargo modification
European regulators have approved an interior modification for Airbus A320-family jets which enables seats to be converted into cargo-transport facilities, after an accelerated development effort in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. The cargo seat-bag configuration has been developed by Baltic parts firm Colibri Aero and design specialist J&C Aero ...
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Airbus uses dormant Spanish operation to build medical visors
Airbus has turned to medical equipment production at its otherwise-dormant Spanish facilities, manufacturing visor frames through 3D printing. Spain has been badly affected by the coronavirus crisis and Airbus aircraft production at its centres in the country has been temporarily suspended after the government brought in strict new containment measures. ...
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Emirates transfers all freighter operations to Dubai International
Middle Eastern carrier Emirates is consolidating freighter operations at Dubai International from 1 April, suspending operations at the city’s Dubai World Central hub. Emirates is re-organising its freight network in response to the disruption from the coronavirus crisis. It says the decision to concentrate on Dubai International, the main passenger ...
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News
A220 uncontained engine failures linked to resonance phenomenon
Airbus A220 operators are being instructed to remove certain full-authority digital engine control software, and install a new version, after a series of engine failures involving fracture of low-pressure compressor rotors. Four such incidents have been registered, says the US FAA in a directive for the type’s Pratt & Whitney ...
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Emirates to receive capital injection from Dubai government
Emirates is to be given a capital injection by the Dubai government, to support the Middle Eastern airline in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak. The operator – which has a fleet of Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s – has suspended passenger flights in line with United Arab Emirates restrictions, ...
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Engine thrust incidents spur safety alert over biocides
European and US safety regulators are cautioning operators over the potential effects of misapplying biocides to aircraft fuel, including multi-engine loss of thrust control. The manufacturer of one type of biocide, however, has ordered a suspension to using the product after an incident which appeared not to have resulted specifically ...
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Eurocontrol: All-cargo flights stay level as passenger traffic collapses
Efforts to maintain supply lines during the coronavirus crisis has meant all-cargo flights have barely declined in Europe despite the wipe-out of passenger operations across the continent. Pan-European air navigation organisation Eurocontrol states that, on 26 March, it logged 1,127 all-cargo flights – a fall of just 1% on the ...
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EasyJet founder threatens board over Airbus fleet expansion
UK budget carrier EasyJet’s founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, is threatening methodically to dismantle the company’s board if it fails to take action to reduce the airline’s commitment to additional Airbus jets. Haji-Ioannou, who has previously expressed concerns over the airline’s expansion, has laid out his attack plan in a strongly-worded communication ...
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Mahan A310 crew overran after displaced threshold blunder
Iranian investigators have found that a Mahan Air Airbus A310-300 crew mistakenly landed long and overran at Yerevan after failing to check which end of the landing runway was subject to a displaced threshold. The A310, arriving from Tehran on 26 May last year, had been cleared for an ILS ...
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Airbus suspends Spanish production as outbreak restrictions tighten
Airbus is suspending most of its production in Spain for more than a week, as it continues its efforts to address the coronavirus situation. Spain has been particularly hard-hit among European countries. Airbus says it is to suspend the “majority of production” until 9 April, in the aftermath of new ...