In its latest forecast, Bombardier expects total deliveries of 11,500 business jets worth $256 billion between this year and 2018. The fleet will grow from 13,500 to 23,800 aircraft, predicts vice president of marketing for business aircraft Philippe Crevier, who points out that the industry is buffered in the current economic downturn by a $70...
more“Up slightly.” That’s the hopeful phrase often on the lips of those in business aviation these days when describing the health of the industry. Up slightly–ever so slightly in some cases–and in too many cases, not at all.Speaking at the NATA (National Air Transportation Association) Air Charter Summit and FBO Leadership Conference in mid-June, Dassault...
moreInvestigative journalism organization ProPublica filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in December, asking the FAA to release the list of requests for aircraft to be blocked under the NBAA Block Aircraft Registry Request (BARR) program. In March, the NBAA sent a letter to the FAA, objecting to the release because “the potential disclosure of...
moreThe radical shifts in business aviation over the past year were the focus of last month’s 16th annual Corporate Aircraft Transactions seminar held in New York, hosted by Insight. While examining how most aspects of the industry have been affected, many participants expressed their surprise at how fast the industry was overtaken by the economic downturn....
moreWorkers at Bombardier’s de Havilland plant in north Toronto ratified a new three-year labor contract yesterday, averting a strike that stood to affect 2,750 workers and halt production of the Q400 turboprop. Eighty-four percent of the workers, who are represented by two local Canadian Auto Workers chapters, voted to accept the new agreement, reached on June...
moreBoeing announced today that it has joined the first 747-8’s wing box to the airplane’s 40-foot-long center fuselage section in the final assembly bay at its factory in Everett, Wash. Meanwhile, workers continue to prepare the wing and center section for final body join, when the center fuselage-wing assembly gets connected to the forward and aft fuselage...
moreThe Qantas Group has reduced its firm order for 65 Boeing 787-9s by 15 airplanes, delayed first delivery of the type by three years and suspended delivery of its order for fifteen 787-8s for four years, the Australian flag carrier said in a statement today. Still the biggest customer for the delay-plagued Dreamliner with total orders for 50 of the jets,...
moreSearch teams have found the bodies of the captain and a flight attendant among the victims of the crash of Air France Flight 447, the company confirmed today. So far crews have recovered at least 50 bodies from the Atlantic Ocean out of the 228 aboard the Airbus A330-200 when it crashed in the early morning hours of June 1.While Brazilian teams continue the...
moreBoeing announced today that it has postponed first flight of the 787 Dreamliner once again, this time due to a need to reinforce areas within the side-of-body sections of the aircraft. Last due to fly by the end of this month, the 787 remains grounded nearly two years after its July 8, 2007, rollout ceremony. Boeing said it identified the need to delay the...
moreAirbus today delivered the first A320 aircraft assembled at its Final Assembly Line China (FALC) in Tianjin. Airbus president and CEO Tom Enders handed over the airplane to Dragon Aviation Leasing chairman Li Hai during a ceremony in Tianjin to mark the event. Dragon has signed a contract to lease the aircraft to Chengdu-based Sichuan Airlines. Tianjin...
moreVirgin Atlantic Airways announced today that it signed a $2.1 billion firm contract to buy six Airbus A330-300s and lease another four from Netherlands-based lessor AerCap. The airline said it has financed all 10 deliveries via AerCap.The airline plans to take delivery of the first five airplanes in 2011 and the balance of the order in 2012, ahead of the...
moreIf you can imagine the Paris Air Show as a stock market then what it has enjoyed this week is a nothing less than a rally–and a very welcome one at that. The world’s aerospace industry arrived here at Le Bourget on Monday morning in a torrential downpour of rain that seemed to symbolize its torrid fortunes over the past year. It will go home over the...
moreTarmac Aerosave–an Airbus joint venture with waste treatment specialist Sita, engine maker Snecma, engineering firm Aeroconseil, maintenance company Equip’Aero and spare parts specialist TASC Aviation–has begun aircraft dismantling operations in Tarbes, southwest France. In February, Tarmac moved into its new 97,000-sq-ft facilities, which include a hangar...
moreThe 2009 Asian Aerospace show in Hong Kong is set to achieve significant growth in visitor numbers with organizers reporting that pre-registrations are more than 100 percent up on the same period ahead of the inaugural show in 2007. As of this week, just over 2,250 trade visitors had registered for the September 7 to 10 event and Reed Exhibitions aims to...
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