Boeing delays first 747-8I and 787-9 deliveries

Boeing will push back delivery of the first 747-8 Intercontinental to the first quarter of 2012, and of the 787-9 to early 2014.

"The 747-8 remains on track for certification in the fourth quarter," said Boeing. "First delivery is now scheduled for the first quarter of 2012 due to a delay in flight testing and the time required to incorporate all flight-test driven changes."

On 12 October, Boeing Business Jets president Steve Taylor said the first 747-8I, destined for a VIP customer, will be delivered at the end of 2011.

The company added that it is still committed to "incorporating engineering and design changes identified during flight testing" before the 747-8I's certification.

Following the 787-9's critical design review, Boeing said the first delivery is "expected in early 2014, although we continue to look for opportunities to regain schedule".

In July, a Boeing spokeswoman said that late 2013 remained the target for delivering the first 787-9 to launch customer Air New Zealand. She qualified her remarks, however, saying that the company is "continually re-assessing that schedule".

The disclosures were buried on pages 35 and 36 of the airframer's 55-page 10-Q filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing pertained to the company's fiscal third quarter ended 30 September.

The company will continue to assess the impact of prior 787 schedule changes with suppliers and customers, including the discussion of contractual relief "related to delivery delays and supplier assertions".

Boeing said it still deems the fourth, fifth and sixth 787 flight test aircraft to be "commercially saleable", but warned that charges could be incurred if it decides one or more of these aircraft cannot be sold. Owing to significant re-work and modifications to the first three 787 test aircraft, in 2009 Boeing said these three 787s could not be sold, although the company had previously expected to do so.

Source: Flightglobal

oneworld eyes expansion into Europe, India and Asia for 2012

Oneworld is set to undergo its biggest expansion in five years, as three major and strategically-positioned airlines join the alliance in 2012.

Germany’s Air Berlin and India’s Kingfisher will become oneworld partners in the first half of the year, followed by Malaysia Airlines in late 2012.

The three carriers will increase oneworld’s network reach by around 20% and add some 150 destinations to the alliance.

“Since Star decided not to proceed with Air India’s membership, Kingfisher will be the first airline from India to join an alliance” says Michael Blunt, oneworld’s Vice-President for Corporate Communications.

“Kingfisher has a great reputation and it’s now India’s leading airline in terms of passengers carried and destinations services as well as being India’s only five-star airline as judged by Skytrax” Blunt told Australian Business Traveller.

“Air Berlin is probably less familiar to Australians, and most people see Air Berlin as technically a low-cost carrier” Blunt admits, “but they’ve grown out of that and they now describe themselves as a ‘hybrid carrier’ with lower fares than Lufthansa but still offering high quality”.

“If you fly long haul with Air Berlin they have lie-flat business class beds and within Europe they’ve got a fantastic network, so we’re really exited about that.”

Air Berlin, Kingfisher and Malaysia Airlines are all vital to filling some of the last remaining gaps in the oneworld network.

While oneworld has four airlines in Europe, for example, each of these – British Airways, Finnair, Spain’s Iberia and Hungary’s Malev – is based on the edge of Europe.

“Air Berlin gives us a network right in the centre of Europe and it connects all those points together, so for Australians its going to be fantastic” Blunt enthuses.

“In the same way, Malaysia Airlines will provide us with a footprint in south-east Asia and develop our network quite substantially.”

“These airlines expand our network into regions of the world which are really important to our core customers, who are business travellers” Blunt explains.

“Germany is Europe’s biggest economy, south-east Asia is one of the fastest-growing regions of demand in the world, and India is going to be the world’s second biggest economy in the next 20 years or so.”

“So while we don’t have the most member airlines or the biggest network, we think our airlines represent pretty much the best of each region in the world” Blunt says.

“We believe we have the best network for our target audience of business travellers, especially the international multi-sector business travellers, those are the guys we’re gunning for.”

Next up for oneworld will likely be Qantas’ new ‘premium’ Asian airline and, in the longer term, a carrier from mainland China.

“We’d like to be able to fill that gap” Blunt admits. “It’s no secret that we were interested in China Eastern, but 18 months ago they decided to go into SkyTeam alongside China Southern."

"We think the market has got a bit of change still to come about, we think there’s going to be further consolidation amongst the carriers, so in the long term we’d certainly like someone from China who can provide business travellers with interconnecting flights in the mainland.”

Source: Australia Business Traveller

Kuwait's amazing 'mega-hub' airport

The eventual plans of a two terminals at Kuwait International Airport.



Kuwait is planning to challenge Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports -- home to Gulf long-haul kingpins Emirates and Etihad -- for supremacy in the region with an impressively designed new airport.

Architects Foster + Partners plan "to create a terminal that is an exemplar of sustainable design and will establish Kuwait as the region’s leading air hub".

Construction will begin in 2012, with the first phase (including the first of the airport's triangular trefoil terminals) complete by 2016 and set to handle 13 million passengers a year.

By the time that the second, similarly designed terminal is complete, that figure will be boosted to 26 million passengers per year.

The airport is planned to be "a new symbol of contemporary Kuwait, which resonates with its rich culture and history," according to celebrity architects Foster + Partners' CEO Mouzhan Majidi.

Foster + Partners also designed Beijing's enormous terminal 3, which opened in 2008 and bears more than a passing resemblance to this latest creation; they also master-minded the new Virgin Galactic Spaceport.



Inside the terminals, sweeping arches are planned to dominate light and airy spaces, reaching a height of 25 metres in the centre of each terminal.



The sand-coloured interior façades are intended to represent Kuwait's own desert location, although nobody's saying if the almost liquid-black flooring is supposed to represent the country's oil resources.

                                        Each of the three sides to the terminals will stretch 1.2 kilometres across the airport.

                                           So fortunately moving walkways are planned throughout each of the three spines of the terminal.

                                      Airbus A380-capable gates are planned, with twin-level glass-walled jetbridges projecting under the roof's overhang. (Eagle-eyed readers will spot the A380 in the blue and white livery of national carrier Kuwait Airways).




The ceiling will be covered with photovoltaic solar panels to power the terminal, which is aiming for the LEED Gold environmental certification.


With Dubai's airport becoming infamous for overcrowding, it'll be interesting to see how Kuwait's terminal stacks up once passengers start streaming through.

Source: Australia Business Traveller

Transaero orders four A380s

Computer rendering of an A380-800 in Transaero livery. Courtesy, Airbus

Airbus confirmed Friday morning that Transaero Airlines (UN) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Airbus for four A380 aircraft, making UN the launch customer for the A380 in Russia, the CIS and Eastern Europe. The announcement had been anticipated (ATW Daily News, Oct. 28). Transaero will announce an engine selection for the new aircraft in the near future, Airbus said.

The second-largest Russian carrier plans to start operations with the A380 on its long-range network of high density routes from Moscow. The aircraft will feature a three-class cabin layout, seating about 700 passengers, according to a statement by Airbus.

“Transaero is experienced in operating long-range wide-body aircraft, and is now ready to offer the A380. I am sure that the operation of this high capacity aircraft will stimulate the development of Russia’s aviation sector, in particular airports infrastructure while passengers will benefit from a completely new experience,” UN CEO Olga Pleshakova said.

Airbus COO-customers John Leahy said, “We definitely see market potential for the A380 in Russia. Passenger traffic in this region is expected to increase at an average rate of 5.6% per year over the next 20 years.

UN launched its services in November 1991, and currently serves more than 130 routes all over the world.

Airbus said total orders for the aircraft stand at 236 from 18 customers worldwide; 59 aircraft have been delivered to seven customers.

Source: ATW

ANA completes 787's maiden service

All Nippon Airways' (ANA) first Boeing 787 Dreamliner has completed its maiden revenue service from Tokyo's Narita Airport, arriving at Hong Kong's Chep Lap Kok to overcast skies.

The special charter service departed from Narita Airport at approximately 12:40 local on runway 34L, landing in Hong Kong at approximately 15:52 local time on runway 7L, piloted by Yuichi Marui, ANA director of 787 operations and Masami Tsukamoto, who was the first ANA pilot to fly the 787 in May 2010.

The aircraft, powered by twin Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, is Boeing's Airplane Eight, registered JA801A, and flying a special charter as All Nippon Flight 7871 carrying 240 passengers made up of airline and Boeing officials, as well as members of the media and revenue passengers.

The aircraft was fitted out in the carrier's domestic and short-haul international configuration with 264 seats - 12 in business class and 252 in economy class.

This first revenue flight comes after 40 months of delays, ushering in a new era of service with majority-carbon fibre commercial aircraft.

The 787 arrives more than 16 years after the introduction of the Boeing 777-200, with United Airlines, the airframer's last all-new jet.

"We have been through hard times in the development of the Boeing 787," said ANA president and CEO, Shinichiro Ito at a press conference ahead of the flight. "But we believe ANA has acquired great growth in being the first airline to fly the airplane."

Airplane Eight was contractually delivered to ANA on 25 September and arrived at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on 27 September, kicking off a month's worth of training activities for flight and cabin crews ahead of today's first service.

Scheduled service begins on 1 November between Tokyo-Haneda and Okayama and Tokyo-Haneda and Hiroshima. International regional service from Haneda to Beijing will begin in December and a long haul flight from Tokyo to Frankfurt, Germany, is scheduled to begin on 21 January 2012, with a 158-seat two-class configuration.

The Japan to Germany route will introduce the Rolls-Royce Package B upgrade of Trent 1000 engine to ANA's 787 fleet, bringing specific fuel consumption for the engine within 1% of its initial specification.

ANA has ordered 55 787s, two of which have been delivered. The airline hopes to have 11 aircraft in service by the end of the current financial year on 31 March 2012 and another nine by the end of the next financial year.

The carrier, which became launch customer for the type in April 2004, is expected to receive all 55, including 15 787-9s, by the end of its 2017 financial year on 31 March 2018

Source: Flightglobal