13 Nov 2017

USA Aviation Industry Newsletter 13 November

Boeing, Azerbaijan Airlines Announce Deal for 787 Dreamliners, Freighters, 787 Landing Gear Exchange Program Boeing and Azerbaijan Airlines announced an order for five more 787-8 Dreamliners and a commitment to purchase two large freighters. The agreement, announced at the 2017 Dubai Air Show, is valued at about $1.9 billion at current list prices.  The freighter commitment will be finalized at a later time. Azerbaijan Airlines also announced it will be the launch customer for the 787 Landing Gear Exchange Program whereby Boeing Global Services will provide the carrier with a lower-cost solution for overhauled and certified landing gears for its Dreamliner fleet, which now grows to seven airplanes. Boeing, Emirates Announce Commitment for 40 787-10 Dreamliners Boeing and Emirates, one of the world's largest airlines, announced a commitment to purchase 40 787-10 Dreamliners at the 2017 Dubai Airshow. The deal, including airplanes and related equipment, is valued at $15.1 billion at current list prices. Emirates is the world's largest Boeing 777 operator and will be the first to receive the new 777X in 2020. In selecting the 787-10, Emirates complements their 777 fleet with a medium twin-aisle airplane that offers 25 percent better fuel efficiency per seat and emissions than the airplanes it replaces. Boeing Forecasts $730 Billion Market for New Airplanes in Middle East Boeing [forecasts that airlines in the Middle East will need 3,350 new airplanes over the next 20 years, valued at an estimated $730 billion. Boeing presented its 2017 Current Market Outlook (CMO) for the region during the Dubai Airshow. "Traffic growth in the Middle East is expected to grow at 5.6 percent annually during the next 20 years," said Randy Tinseth, vice president of Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The fact that 85 percent of the world's population lives within an eight-hour flight of the Arabian Gulf, coupled with robust business models and investment in infrastructure, allows carriers in the Middle East to channel traffic through their hubs and offer one-stop service between many cities." Boeing Forges Ahead with Flight-test Campaigns Boeing Commercial Airplanes can on occasion be surprisingly coy. Questioned regarding progress with various jetliner variants (and sub-variants), it restricts comments to “Limited information is available publicly on our flight-test program.” Nevertheless, the U.S. manufacturer is busily at work preparing for the 777-9 large twin-aisle twinjet scheduled to fly in 2019, completing the 787-10 test campaign and finalizing certification work on the re-engined single-aisle 737 Max 9 (737-9). China signs for 300 Boeing aircraft China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (CASC) has signed orders and commitments covering 300 Boeing aircraft, valued at more than $37 billion at list prices. The deal, which was signed in Beijing on Nov. 9, coincided with US president Donald Trump’s state visit to China. Chinese president Xi Jinping also attended the signing ceremony. Boeing said the agreement includes orders and commitments for 300 single- and twin-aisle aircraft, although the manufacturer did not specify aircraft types. According to some Chinese news reports, the 300 aircraft include 260 Boeing 737 family aircraft and a total of 40 aircraft from the 787 and 777 families. US airlines opposed to Gulf carriers 'are never going to give up': Qatar Airways CEO Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker, speaking at the CAPA Asia Aviation Summit, said US airlines opposed to the growth of Gulf carriers "are never going to give up" and claimed the US carriers are "fighting a proxy war" for their European partners. He also claimed the US airlines "are doing this to divert the attention of their employees" following a series of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and described Chapter 11 as "a kind of subsidy". Mr Al Baker said the major US airlines "are lying to their people", while Qatar Airways is creating jobs in the US. He said "These three American carriers are misleading the whole country" and described the campaign against Gulf carriers as a waste of time and energy. Acumen Aviation © 6 November All Rights Reserved.