19 Aug 2019

China Aviation Industry Newsletter 19 August

BOC Aviation delivers Airbus A330-900NEO aircraft to Lion Air BOC Aviation has delivered an Airbus A330-900NEO aircraft to Lion Air. This aircraft is from the Company's existing order book. CAAC to Pilot Direct Luggage Transfer Services at 29 Airports China's civil aviation authority announced a pilot plan to carry out direct luggage transfer services at 29 domestic airports across the country, a move to simplify boarding procedures and reduce transfer time for air passengers. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the coverage rate of direct routes between hub airports and feeder airports is 25.6 percent, and the percentage is only 0.6 percent between feeder airports. Under the pilot plan, passengers can enjoy such services through the cooperation between the airports or get code-sharing provided by the airlines. China's Modern Ark 700 Making Progress A report from the Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics has revealed that Xian's new regional turboprop, the Modern Ark 700 (MA700) has now entered production trials and the verification stage. The first aircraft, numbered 1001, is due to be rolled out in September and is expected to conduct its maiden flight shortly after. Commercial Passenger Operation Planned in 2021 for C919 Jetliner With many test flight missions accomplished, China's homegrown C919 jumbo jet plans to get an airworthiness certificate from the country's civil aviation authorities in 2021, according to the C919's chief designer Wu Guanghui. COMAC has so far received 815 orders for the C919 planes and will carry out intensive test flights in the second half of this year. Fleet expansion boosts BOC Aviation first half profit BOC Aviation increased its profit before tax for the first half of the year by 7% to $352 million owing to robust fleet growth. It signed 39 lease commitments and the average lease term of its portfolio held steady at 8.2 years, and committed lease revenue of $15.4 billion. A further 162 aircraft are on order or committed to purchase, including 87 737 Max and 52 A320neo family jets Two Airlines to Use E-Tags at Daxing Intl Airport China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines are planning to introduce battery-free electronic baggage-checking tags, that allow passengers to track the luggage status on their mobile phones, at the Beijing Daxing International Airport from next month. Passengers can apply for e-tags on their cellphone apps. The e-tag is similar in size to an iPhone 8, and is like an ID card for the suitcase. When passengers arrive at the airport, they can self-check-in the luggage with the e-tag and self-service machines, and check luggage status by scanning the bar code, the two State-owned carriers said. Through the apps, the systems will generate bag tag numbers and transmit the data to the e-tag through Bluetooth. After a few seconds, the electronic ink screen of the bag tag will display information such as the bar code and flight numbers. Every year, about 250 million paper baggage-checking tags are produced in China, which requires a huge amount of special printers and disposable materials, costing over 100 million yuan ($14.5 million). Acumen Aviation © 19 August 2019 All Rights Reserved.