Premier Aviation Expands Paint Services in New York State

Premier Aviation, a private aircraft maintenance overhaul “MRO” Services Company, announced the successful completion of 15 aircraft paint projects on Boeing, Airbus and Embraer aircraft emphasizing the capabilities of its Rome facility. The 50,000 sq. ft. paint facility has been in full operation since August 2012 and is ready to meet the industry needs supporting both their heavy airframe maintenance customers as well as those requiring only aircraft paint.

The facility is state-of-the-art environmentally, fully equipped and able to fulfill paint requirements on any regional or narrow-body and most large wide-body aircraft. The central location in New York reduces indirect costs related to ferry flights. Cost saving combined with Premier’s airframe heavy maintenance capabilities and competitive pricing, provides a great solution for customers.

With facilities in both Canada and the USA, Premier can accommodate any customer’s schedule at short notice. Further, strong maintenance capabilities in all Premier paint facilities make the paint process a low risk event.

Get your own high-quality designed model planes from Showcase Models. Showcase Models’s vast selections of model airplanes and wooden airplane models fascinate anyone who gazes at it for its remarkable and exceptional quality.

Source: www.aviationpros.com

Airbus ordered to check wings

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) ordered last Feb. 8 that all Airbus A380 superjumbo planes be checked for wing cracks, even as the aircraft manufacturer insisted there was nothing to worry about.

The cracks had been found “following an unscheduled internal inspection of an A380 wing,” EASA said in a statement.

Further to the finding, inspections were carried out on a number of other aeroplanes during which a new form of cracking was identified which, “if not detected and corrected, may lead to reduction of the structural integrity of the aeroplane,” the statement said.

EASA, which had already said last month ordered that 20 such jets be inspected following the discovery of cracks in the wings of Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Air France planes, has expanded the checks to all 67 A380s currently in operation, a spokesman said.

The announcement came after Australia’s Qantas removed one of its A380 from service after discovering “minor cracks” in its wings, but said that there was no risk to flight safety.

When the first checks were announced last month, Airbus’s vice president Tom Williams insisted the tiny wing cracks could be easily repaired and did not pose any danger.

“This is not a fatigue cracking problem,” Williams said, blaming the cracks on design and manufacturing issues instead.

“The cracks do not compromise the airworthiness of the aircraft,” he insisted.

Airbus reiterated that stance again on Wednesday.

The EASA spokesman said the checks comprised both a “detailed visual inspection”, but also more intense testing that would be able to detect potential faults invisible to the naked eye.

There was no urgency to the inspections and those aircraft that had already flown more than 1,800 flights would be checked first, he said.

Earlier, Qantas took one of its A380s out of service Wednesday after discovering “minor cracks” in its wings.

The Australian airline stressed that it was not the “type two” cracking found across the global A380 fleet last month which was “now the subject of a European airworthiness directive.”

“To date, type two cracking has not been found on Qantas aircraft,” a Qantas spokeswoman told AFP.

The small cracking, on “some wing rib feet”, was discovered during an extra round of precautionary checks requested by Airbus on the Qantas superjumbo after it hit severe turbulence over India in January.

Seven passengers were injured and four required hospital treatment in Singapore following the incident.

“This cracking is not related to the turbulence, or specific to Qantas, but is traced back to a manufacturing issue,” the Qantas spokeswoman said.

“Airbus has confirmed that it has no effect on flight safety.”

Qantas, which has 12 A380s in its fleet, said an “inspection and repair regime has been developed” in conjunction with Airbus and it expected the jet in question to return to service within a week.

“We will follow Airbus instructions on any further action that may be required,” the spokeswoman said.

It is the second Qantas A380 to be found with wing rib cracks, with a superjumbo involved in a dramatic mid-air engine explosion over Indonesia in November 2010 also suffering cracking.

The A380 is the world’s biggest passenger jet and a key product in Airbus’s line-up as it battles its main rival, US giant Boeing, for the top spot in the world civil airliner industry.

The A380 double-decker plane entered service in 2007 after years of technical delays. There are now 67 in service around the world and, while they have never had a fatal accident, there have been teething problems.

-business.iafrica.com

A380 Wing Fixes Cause Little Disruption

A European Aviation Safety Agency mandate on A380 operators to inspect and potentially fix L-shaped wing rib-feet has so far had a minor impact on service operations at Singapore Airlines. Lufthansa also does not see major issues once its aircraft are up for review.

Singapore Airlines had by far the largest number of A380s affected by the inspection regime. It found cracks on all six aircraft inspected, with five returned to service already and a sixth to be back in operations on February 4. No major service disruptions resulted although some A380 flights were downgauged to Boeing 777-300ERs while the Airbus aircraft was being fixed.

Similarly, Lufthansa’s director of A380 introduction, Dean Rainieri, says he does not expect any major disruptions. Lufthansa currently has a fleet of eight aircraft, but they are not yet affected due to their low number of flight hours.

The situation matches Airbus projections. The aircraft maker has identified fixes that mitigate the cracking by changing its wing assembly process and also is looking to use a different material for the wing rib-feet for extra strength.

But that is not the only in-service issue the aircraft maker is dealing with on its flagship product. Fleet-wide dispatch reliability of the A380 is now at around 98%. “We were not at the levels of reliability that we had hoped for,” concedes Paul Oliver, head of customer support for the Middle East, Africa and India during Aviation Week’s MRO Middle East conference in Dubai.

However, he stresses the trend lines are in the right direction and that more than half of the aircraft’s operators are at 99%. Lufthansa is at 99.2%, according to Rainieri. The airline has operated a fleet of four aircraft at 100% for four months before encountering some glitches.

Separately, the Qantas A380 severely damaged as a result of the Nov 4, 2010, uncontained Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine failure is now “back in flying condition,” Oliver says. But the aircraft is still undergoing wing crack repairs in Singapore where is has been fixed.

 

-aviationweek.com

-cdn7.wn.com

Hong Kong Added To Qantas Airbus A380 Destinations

The arrival of two more Airbus A380s last month is enabling Qantas to introduce the aircraft on its Sydney-Hong Kong route, as well as boosting A380 service in other markets.

The aircraft are the 11th and 12th A380s for Qantas. The carrier is not receiving any A380s this year, and the next two are not due until early 2013, an airline spokesman says.

Hong Kong is the fourth destination in the Qantas network served by the A380. The aircraft will fly this route four times a week. Qantas already operates Airbus A330-300s and Boeing 747-400s on the route.

Qantas is boosting A380 service on the Melbourne-Singapore-London route from six times a week to daily. The carrier also operates a second daily flight on this route using 747-400s. The Melbourne-Los Angeles route also will receive daily A380 service, up from four times a week.

The airline already operates daily A380 flights on the Sydney-Singapore-London and Sydney-Los Angeles routes.

 

-aviationweek.com

-australianaviation.com.au

Russian Transaero signs MOU for eight A320neos

Transaero Airlines confirmed Tuesday it signed an MOU with Airbus for eight A320neos, plus four options, making it the first Russian carrier to commit to the re-engined narrowbody aircraft.

The airline told ATW it hopes to firm the MOU within 60 days; it is slated to take delivery of its first A320neo in 2017. It did not announce an engine selection between CFM International’s Leap-X and Pratt & Whitney’s PW1100G.

“It was very important for Transaero Airlines to become the first A320neo customer in Russia, the CIS and Eastern Europe,” said CEO Olga Pleshakova. “The operation of these newest, very efficient aircraft will allow us to create optimal conditions for passengers on the expanding network of domestic and international destinations.”

Russia’s second-largest carrier historically is a loyal Boeing customer and currently operates 65 aircraft, comprising 17 747s, eight 777s, 13 767s, 24 737s and three Tupolev 214s. It did operate an Airbus A310 from 2000-2002.

 

-atwonline.com

Thai Airways Finalizes A350, A320 Orders

Thai Airways has finalized its deal with Airbus for A320 narrowbodies and A350 widebodies purchases.

The deal, first announced in June, sees Thai buying four A350-900s and five A320s, as well as agreeing to lease eight A350-900s and six A320s. The latter are already in the Airbus orderbook.

Thai is due to receive its first A350-900 in 2016, with the first owned A320 coming in 2014. The first leased A320 is due next year.

At the time it announced the first commitment to the Airbus A320 and A350, Thai Airways also announced plans to buy six 777-300ERs and lease eight 787s.

All the leases are for 12 year terms.

Thai is still considering additional fleet purchases for a total of 38 aircraft for delivery between 2018-2022.

 

-aviationweek.com

A350-900 still with the production-weight issues

Airbus is pressing hard to ensure the A350-900 program will not suffer another delay, but also is having to look at cutting weight off the twin-widebody.

The first development aircraft are heavier than Airbus wants, says A350 chief engineer Gordon McConnell.

“We are about 2% away for the first aircraft from where we want to be,” McConnell says. The design for the first production aircraft is not locked, yet, so the weight savings program for in-service aircraft continues.

But McConnell stresses he has “no doubt at all” the weight mitigation program will be sufficient to meet performance guarantees made to airlines. Detailed design optimization should yield the improvements. “We are in reasonably good shape,” McConnell says.

Moreover, Airbus and its suppliers are pressing to prepare the first aircraft structures for the pre-final assembly line (FAL) process at major Airbus sites, before the FAL process itself is to begin by year-end. The first aircraft to be built is the static test model, followed by the first flight aircraft (MSN1) in 2012.

An area being watched closely is the large number of clips and other smaller items that are needed to assemble the aircraft, says A350 Executive VP Didier Evrard. “It is not rocket science, but it is a question of coping with the volume” on the accelerated schedule, he adds.

Evrard acknowledges there is pressure on the A350 program at major suppliers, but insists there are “no blockers” to the pre-FAL. In some places Airbus is working with suppliers and also helping them manage their own supply chain.

Once the pre-FAL process starts, Airbus feels it will have more control over the process, although Evrard notes that program challenges will remain.

Evrard says “traveled work” will be unavoidable, the kind of late work that has to be undertaken in the FAL, rather than earlier where it was supposed to be done; an abundance of “traveled work” crippled the Boeing 787 production ramp-up. Evrard says managing the amount of “traveled work” will be important.

Although the decision to delay fielding of the -800 model by two years was not required to keep the -900 on schedule, Evrard acknowledges “that it will definitely help” as extra engineers will be on hand to perform design clean up on the digital mock up that generally is required once assembly starts.

 

-aviationweek.com

Strong Demands for A400M

The Airbus A400M should be the leader in the large military transport market within 10 years, reckons Antonio Rodriguez Barberan, senior vice president of commercial business at Airbus Military, “because we will be the only actors left. The [Lockheed Martin] C-130s and [Boeing] C-17s will need replacing by then and their production line is closing down,” he told DTI at the new Airbus Military training center here last month.

But for now his marketing executives are holding their fire. “We are being prudent marketing the A400M,” says Barberan. “The priority this year is certification flights,” which means there are not many slots when the aircraft will be available for demonstration flights. It will nevertheless fly at air shows such as at Paris this month, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Izmir in Turkey for the centennial of the Turkish air force, which will take delivery of its first A400M in mid-2013.

Barberan and his team know which countries to target when they ramp up marketing next year: those with major air forces and a large number of old transport aircraft—such as C-130s, C-17s and Ilyushin Il-76s. “In the next 10 years Asia will be a major market,” he says, except for China, which he believes will likely develop a large military transport aircraft of its own. “But by that time the A400M should be established.” Other candidates include Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In the Americas, Mexico meets the criteria, but Brazil does not. Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer launched the KC-390 medium-weight transport aircraft program in 2009, and “so is not likely to be interested,” Barberan says. “In the medium-to-long term the U.S. market is huge and there is a capability gap which the A400M would fill in due time.” This is also true for Australia, which recently procured C-130s, “but in 20 years, when these are becoming old, we will be there.”

No presentations have yet been made to India, “but due to the size of the market the A400M would be perfect,” he says.

Barberan expects that interest in the A400M “will rocket with the first delivery to the French air force in early 2013.” Should a country express interest before then, “we might be able to consider delivery dates for new customers in or around 2015.”

Barberan believes the A400M “will be an extremely profitable program.” He says there are about 2,450 heavy transport aircraft globally that are on average 26 years old. Of these, most—1,015—are in North America, followed by Russia with 475. Russia is likely closed to the A400M, but Barberan is optimistic that U.S. and Canadian air forces will eventually buy the aircraft.

In addition, missions are changing. “We have moved from a Cold War, bipolar world in which transport aircraft were mainly for military missions to one where there are huge humanitarian needs, asymmetric threats and a requirement for rapid response. More and more these planes are supporting society,” Barberan explains. “This means the A400M will be sold for the next 40 years.” There is, as well, a “huge market for the A400M among civilian operators,” whose inquiries about procuring the aircraft “we’ve had to decline for the time being.”

Armed forces have performed more military operations in recent years, generally far from home, so there is a need for global reach and an ability to deploy in hostile areas, land on unprepared terrain and provide front-line support. The A400M with its ability to carry 30 metric tons (33 tons) for 4,535 km (2,820 mi.), or 20 metric tons for 6,390 km, drop paratroopers and loads from high and low altitudes, land and take off from short and soft unprepared airfields, and low detectability meets relevant requirements.

So, is the aircraft over its development problems? Cedric Gautier, head of the A400M program, says, “We are on track and in many areas have over-achieved our expectations.” Four test aircraft are flying and more than 1,600 test flights totaling 500 hr. had been flown by mid-May. The fifth test aircraft will make its first flight in the first quarter next year, while the sixth aircraft, which is also the first production aircraft (and the first delivered to the French air force), will make its initial flight in the third quarter of 2012.

Flight testing is making “good progress,” says chief test pilot Ed Strongman, and is on track to be completed by the end of the year. Testing of military systems and military operations has also begun.

 

-aviationweek.com

100th Airbus aircraft delivered to British Airways

British Airways has taken delivery of an A320 aircraft, making it a member of a prestigious airline club that can boast 100 or more aircraft deliveries from every member of Airbus’ Single Aisle aircraft Family. The airline has already taken delivery of two A318s, 33 A319s, 48 A320s and 16 A321s.

The 100th aircraft (an A320 powered by IAE engines) is also the 205th Airbus single aisle delivered to International Airlines Group, which was formed in January 2011 following the merger of British Airways and Iberia.

“This milestone underlines British Airways’ commitment to continue to invest in new aircraft for the benefit of our customers,” said British Airways CEO Keith Williams.

“We are very proud that a world class airline like British Airways operates every member of our single aisle family aircraft, and even prouder to deliver to BA their 100th Airbus A320 family aircraft. We look forward to broadening and deepening our partnership with BA,” said Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO.

 

Source: Airbus

Japanese Skymark Airlines Orders Airbus A380

On Feb. 16, Airbus top salesman John Leahy said the plane maker is poised to sign off on a new order for the A380 super jumbo with Skymark Airlines, a Japanese low-cost carrier.

Speaking to a gathering of reporters sponsored by French aerospace journalists’ association AJPAE, Leahy, Airbus’s chief operating officer for customers, said a purchase order would be signed shortly—perhaps as early as today—making Skymark the 19th customer for the ultra-widebody transport, after South Korea’s Asiana Airlines, which committed to the aircraft at the end of January. Although he didn’t say how big the orders will be, low-cost carrier Skymark inked a letter of intent last November for four aircraft plus two options with the intention of converting the LOI into a firm order by spring.

Skymark, which would be the first airline from Japan and the first no-frills carrier to acquire the A380, said it would introduce the initial aircraft in spring 2014 for domestic services and the others in 2014-16 for domestic and long-haul flights. It has not divulged the configuration, but judging from Japanese experience with the Boeing 747, a high-density layout along the lines of the 840-seat configuration adopted by France’s Air Austral would be a likely choice.

With new orders expected from Qatar and other prospects in the pipeline, Leahy said he anticipates that 2011 will be “the year of the A380.”

He also predicted that the aircraft will serve as a beachhead for Airbus in Japan, which is still almost totally dominated by Boeing. One favorable factor, he said, is the gradual liberalization of Japan’s airline market, which is enabling fledgling carriers, such as Skymark, which has a less conservative bent than established carriers Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, to enter the marketplace. Another is the introduction of the A380 by international carriers flying into Japan.

Separately, Leahy said Airbus engineers are studying the business case for re-engining the A318 to the A320 New Engine Option design, which was launched in December and has been adopted by Virgin America and India’s IndiGo. Right now, in addition to the A320, plans are to extend the NEO re-engining program to the A321 and the A319, in that order, and there is strong pressure, especially from Airbus’s corporate jet operations, to do so with the A318 as well. “But the market will decide,” he said.

The Airbus executive also reaffirmed that Airbus would have several hundred orders for the A320NEO by the Paris Air Show in June, and that Boeing will ultimately be forced to re-engine its 737 because of the low level of maturity of radically new powerplants capable of supporting a business case for a clean-sheet aircraft design.

 

- aviationweek.com