PARIS 2013: G2 becomes E2 as Embraer launches new family with 365 commitments

Embraer has announced the line-up of its new generation E-Jets, previously dubbed E-Jets G2, with a family of three aircraft designated the E2 family – E175-E2, E190-E2 and E195-E2.

The airframer hit the ground running by announcing firm orders, purchase rights, options and commitments totalling 365 aircraft. A firm 100 orders for the E175-E2 come from SkyWest Inc, which also has 100 purchase rights. The airline group’s president and CEO, Jerry Atkin, was present to celebrate the launch and the orders.

Asked whether, if scope clauses changed again, the E175-E2 purchase rights had the flexibility to become firm orders for the either of the larger aircraft, Atkin quipped, “It’s not built into the contract as it stands, but I bet it wouldn’t be too difficult to negotiate.”

International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) has signed a Letter of Intent aimed at leading to 25 firm orders plus 25 options for the E190-E2, plus 25 firm orders plus 25 options for the E195-E2. ILFC’s chief executive officer, Henri Courpron, noted that this is the first time that ILFC has bought new aircraft from Embraer. “They’ve been very smart in the way they listened to what their customers wanted,” he added.

John Slattery, chief commercial officer of Embraer Commercial Aviation, who joked that he’d been “under instruction from CEOs [Embraer SA’s Frederico Curado and Embraer Commercial Aviation’s Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva] to have customers to go alongside the launch of the new family”, then reported that five undisclosed airlines located across Europe, South American, Africa and Asia, have signed Letters of Intent for a total of 65 aircraft.

It was Curado who set the scene for the detailed announcement of the E2 aircraft. “With this family, we are offering the best of both worlds. It’s almost a clean sheet aircraft, but there is also commonality with the existing fleet, plus the maturity of the aircraft.

“We are committing $1.7 billion to this programme, funded from the company and from the financial markets, where we’ve just had an upgrade in our credit rating,” Curado noted.

The announcement of the aircraft family’s details had echoes of what Paulo Cesar told LARA at the Dubai Air Show in 2011 (LARA, Dec 2011-Jan 2012), when he said: “We are talking to clients to understand what type of performance they want to see. Our target is to have entry into service around 2018. [It] could be similar to when Boeing produced the 737NG with almost an all-new aircraft inside the same skin. There may even be a new wing. But we will learn what the customers want and then go for a firm decision to launch.”

Luis Carlos Affonso, senior vice-president and COO of Embraer Commercial Aircraft, explained that two of the three aircraft would have different capacities. “The E175-E2 will be one row of seats bigger, with a fuselage plug of approiximately 0.5 m. The E190-E2 will stay the same size, because that’s what customers like. And the E195-E2 will have three more rows of seats, which will mean stretching the current fuselage by around 3 m,” Affonso remarked. “In a typical single-class configuration, the E175-E2 will have 88 seats, the E190-E2 will have 106 seats and the E195-E2 will have 132 seats.”

The entry into service dates are the first half of 2018 for the E190-E2, 2019 for the E195-E2 and 2020 for the E175E-2. The first flight of the E190-E2 will be in the second half of 2016.

The wings and engines have been designed specifically for the different sizes, with one for the E175-E2 and a larger one for the E190-E2/E195-E2 pairing. However, the span of each of the two wing sets will be 5 m wider compared with the current generation.

Among the other new features will be improved avionics (“we’re keeping the Honeywell Primus, but now it’s the Epic 2 suite”), a new APU and a fourth generation flybywire system.

“For the passenger, we believe our cabin is the benchmark with it’s 2 x 2 seating, but we’ll be introducing bigger bins and a new interior design,” Affonso confirmed. Embraer will work jointly with UK design company Priestmangoode on developing the cabin.

Operationally, the E175-E2 and E195-E2 will have identical range to the current generation, but the E190-E2 will have 400 nm more. “And in fuel burn improvements, the fuel cost per seat of the E175-E2 and E190-E2 will be 16% less than their current equivalents, and the E195-E2 will be 23% lower.”

Meanwhile, the company has set a target of 15% lower maintenance costs. “These should bring $1-$1.5 million per aircraft over 10 years,” said Affonso.

Rounding off his briefing, Affonso pointed out that the company’s forecast for aircraft in the 70-130 seat segment is 6,400 over 20 years. “We expect to get about 40%-45% of that,” he stated before declaring, “If we had done a clean sheet design, it could not be much better than this aircraft family.”

Photo shows (l-r) Jerry Atkin, president and CEO, SkyWest Inc.; Embraer Commercial Aviation CEO, Paulo Cesar; Henri Courpron, CEO, ILFC; and Frederico Curado, president and CEO, Embraer SA.

Bernie Baldwin, editor, Low-Fare & Regional Airlines/LARAnews.net
Le Bourget, Paris, France

PARIS 2013: Start-up Odyssey unveiled as CSeries customer

Bombardier Aerospace has disclosed that a previously announced firm order (from 24 June 2011) for 10 CS100s was placed by Odyssey Airlines, a new airline planning to operate from London City Airport.

“We are launching Odyssey Airlines with the CS100 aircraft because its transcontinental range will allow us to connect key city airports with stringent performance and environmental requirements both in Europe and further afield,” explained Adam Scott, chief executive officer, Odyssey Airlines. “We have a unique strategy that will offer a premier service with a focus on new destinations that cannot currently be served from London City Airport. For us, the game-changing CSeries aircraft offers the best-in-class airfield performance, the lowest sound profile of any commercial aircraft in production in its segment, and will provide the ability to open new markets – all of which are integral to our business model.”

“Over the last two years, Bombardier has seen Odyssey evolve into a forward-thinking and up-and-coming airline. We are thrilled to publicly welcome Odyssey Airlines to the family of CS100 aircraft operators,” remarked Mike Arcamone, president, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “The CSeries aircraft’s premium cabin, reduced environmental footprint and fantastic ability to serve a wide range of missions are the perfect pairing to Odyssey’s business plan."

PARIS 2013: COMAC and Bombardier agree Phase II of long-term collaboration

Further to a Definitive Agreement (DA) signed on 21 March  2012 covering programme commonalities between the C919 and CSeries aircraft and the Letter of Intent (LOI) signed on 13 November 2012 signalling the start of Phase II of their strategic collaboration, Bombardier and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) have signed a new DA covering four distinctive projects.

The DA is to be executed as part of the second phase of the parties’ long-term collaboration on making optimum use of commonalities between the C919 and CSeries airliners. The four initiatives on which the pair will collaborate are: specific areas of the CSeries aircraft flight test activities pertaining to non-flying tasks; implementing and maintaining the common items that were achieved as part of Phase I; sales and marketing; and certain areas of customer services related to training, technical publications and parts distribution.

The second phase of COMAC and Bombardier’s co-operation is expected to contribute further to enhancing the competitiveness of not only the C919 and CSeries aircraft programmes, but also of both COMAC’s and Bombardier’s overall businesses, while allowing customers of the C919 and the CSeries commercial airliners to realise cost benefits from the operation of both aircraft families.

PARIS 2013: Skymark looks to 737 MAX for fleet renewal

Skymark Airlines has announced its intent to select the Boeing 737 MAX as its next generation single aisle aircraft of choice, which would make it the launch customer for the family in Japan.

Boeing says it will work closely with Skymark to finalise a firm order in the coming months.

“We are delighted to deepen our partnership with Boeing and work together on the renewal of our single-aisle fleet,” confirmed Shinichi Nishikubo, president and CEO of Skymark Airlines. “The Next-Generation 737 has been a key driver of our successful growth, and we are sure that the 737 MAX will provide us with even greater efficiency and competitive edge as we move into the next stage of expansion.”

Based at its Haneda Airport hub in Tokyo, Skymark Airlines currently operates a fleet of 30 Next-Generation 737-800s on a lease from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) and other lessors.

“Skymark is a pioneer in Japan’s commercial aviation market as it continues to introduce new and innovative aeroplanes,” noted John Wojick, senior vice-president of sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “Under Mr Nishikubo’s leadership, Skymark became the first airline in Japan to bring the innovative Boeing Sky Interior to the travelling public onboard its fleet of 737-800 aeroplanes. And now Skymark is poised to become Japan’s first airline to enjoy the superior economic performance and environmental advantages of the 737 MAX.”

PARIS 2013: Azul expands OnPoint deal on CF34-10E engines

Azul has added 43 CF34-10E engines to its existing 15-year OnPoint support agreement with GE Aviation covering the maintenance, repair and overhaul of 190 CF34 engines powering its Embraer 190s.

“With Azul’s growing fleet due to the merger with Trip, it is very important to keep our maintenance standards,” said David Neeleman, founder and CEO of Azul Brazilian Airlines.

“GE Aviation is proud to support the growth of one of Brazil’s top airlines with customised maintenance solutions that optimise performance and lower cost of ownership,” commented Paul McElhinney, president and chief executive officer of GE Aviation Services. “With this expanded services agreement, GE Aviation will handle the maintenance, repair and overhaul of Azul’s entire engine fleet, including the Trip fleet of 20 E-Jet aircraft.”

PARIS 2013: ILFC firms up 50 A320neo family aircraft

International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) has exercised options to buy 50 more A320neo family aircraft from Airbus that were part of the agreement signed in April 2011 for 100 firm A320neo family aircraft.

“The A320neo family has proven to be very successful in the marketplace, and the exercise of these options is a logical extension of our current fleet strategy,” explained ILFC chief executive officer Henri Courpron. “This order further reinforces our belief in the value and operational efficiencies these neos will provide to our global customers.”

ILFC was the first leasing company to order the Airbus A320neo family aircraft and has the largest order position among aircraft leasing companies. Deliveries of ILFC’s orders are expected to begin in 2015.

PARIS 2013: Heads of Agreement deal signed for Ilyushin Finance to receive SSJ100s

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company and Ilyushin Finance Corporation (IFC) have signed the Heads of Agreement (HoA) for delivery of 20 Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft to the lessor.

The agreement envisages the financing by IFC for the lease of 15 SSJ100s in basic modification SSJ100/95B for Southeast Asia and Middle East customers. The other five aircraft in Long Range modification (SSJ100/95LR) are planned for further leasing to potential customers. The parties agreed that the deliveries to IFC would start in 2015.

Deliveries of the Russian aircraft are being financed through the dedicated Programme of the Russian Government on financial (guarantee) support for Russian industrial exports and high-tech products. The support is provided by the Government to banks extending credits to customers of Russian products.

PARIS 2013: Cardiff Aviation announces £5m inward investment.

Cardiff Aviation has agreed inward investment of £5 million, with Finance Wales, the UK SME investment company and Welsh Government subsidiary, investing £1.6 million, while the remainder will be provided or facilitated by private or privately-owned investors including joint CEOs Bruce Dickinson and Mario Fulgoni.

Cardiff Aviation’s Twin Peaks HQ is part of the Welsh Government’s St Athan-Cardiff Airport Enterprise Zone.

“This is a key investment which will allow us to expand the senior management team, and enable us to establish European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Part 21 Design Approval to join the list of maintenance and operational approvals and certification the Cardiff Aviation group already possesses,” explained Fulgoni. “This means that Cardiff Aviation will be permitted to manufacture and certify aircraft parts alongside our maintenance and training operations, thereby providing us with a full opportunity to exploit the range of technical equipment and expertise we acquired in taking over Twin Peaks from the RAF, and in establishing Cardiff Aviation.”

Dickinson, also known for being the vocalist with rock band Iron Maiden, added, “The Welsh Government has played a fantastic role in a difficult economic environment in providing tremendous support and enthusiasm. Finance Wales’s long-term backing is the fuel not just to put St Athan on the map, but has the potential to create a consequentially much wider impact across the entire South Wales aerospace industry.

“As for Cardiff Aviation, the first key role we plan to fill is that of commercial director. We will follow up with expansion of the operational and technical teams to address our current growth trend and increasingly lucrative contracts with both UK and international aviation businesses. We also plan to invest in more engineering equipment to supplement and enhance the already excellent technical capability at Cardiff Aviation.”

Finance Wales’s investment was structured by senior investment executive, Nick Larcombe, who commented, “Cardiff Aviation has taken over some impressive facilities at St Athan, which provides an excellent base to establish a potentially world-beating business. Mario and Bruce both have a passion for the aviation industry and the commitment to secure the new clients they need to drive the business forward.

That business, explained Dickinson, is becoming “a one-stop shop for aviation support including maintenance, painting, design (with Part 21 design approval), engineering and manufacturing, training, plus an ACMI operation”.

“We’re talking to a FTSE 100 company about a narrowbody paint shop and we’re also taking with a major lessor about taking on 85 of its aircraft for ACMI, core maintenance plus some line maintenance,” Dickinson reported. “And in 18 months’ time, if we’ve got the right contracts, the Welsh Government will assist us in building a widebody hangar for paint work.”

With the space the company has at its site, plus some vacant land nearby, Dickinson says there is the possibility to offer a dedicated and bespoke MRO centre – run by Cardiff Aviation – for an airline which, for any reason, might be having trouble handling its MRO at its own base. He believes low-fare airlines, in particular, would be ideal candidates to receive this service.

Photo shows (l-r) Cardiff Aviation joint CEOs Mario Fulgoni and Bruce Dickinson with Dickie Davis, head of Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Sector, Dept of Economy, Science & Transport with the Welsh Government.

Bernie Baldwin, editor, Low-Fare & Regional Airlines/LARAnews.net
Le Bourget, Paris, France

PARIS 2013: CFM claims even larger lifetime advantage with LEAP

CFM believes that after test results on its LEAP development engine cores that the engines will give operators even greater lifetime savings over the competition than was claimed at the Farnborough Air Show last year.

The company’s executive vice-president, Chaker Chahrour, stated in 2012 that an A320neo with LEAP engines would cost $3.5 million less than the PW1100G-JM over the operating life. “Now, with results we see from tests, want to raise that margin to $4 millon,” said Chahrour during the company’s show press briefing. This comes from fewer fill-ups of fuel and at least two fewer shop visits for overhauls.

“At entry-into-service (EIS), we believe we’ll be 1% better on fuel burn than the our competitor,” he continued. Then when it comes to engine deterioration over the engine’s life, which all engines do, we calculate that our engine will deteriorate less over time by 1%.”

Chahrour then explained that while these performance advantages applied to all the A320neo family, on the A321neo, LEAP would gain a further 1% margin. “The A321 tends to do longer missions than the other family members, so a lot more time in spent in the cruise. Our cruise SFC (specific fuel consumption) is better than the competition and on typical flights over the life of the engine, that adds up to 1% benefit.”

Chahrour reported that CFM has run its eCore3, incorporating the high pressure compressor, combustor and the turbine. “We’ve done just over 203 hours and we’re thrilled with the results. Component efficiency is reaching every bit of performance that we set out to achieve, plus a little more,” he noted.

Chahrour’s fellow EVP, Cedric Goubet, reported that assembly of the First-Engine-To-Test (FETT) has begun at Villaroche. “In parallel, another engine is being assembled in Cincinnati,” he added. The FETT’s initial run will be in Q3 of this year at the company’s Peebles facility.

“The challenge following testing is to produce around 1,700 LEAP engines a year by 2020,” Goubet noted. “Of our 10,000 engine backlog, half are for LEAP engines. Already we are producing at record production rates of around 1,500 engines a year and we are investing $750 million to increase current production capacities. These include four new facilities, two in the US and two in Europe, which will provide 1.5 million sq ft more of production facilities.”

CFM president and CEO, Jean-Paul Ebanga remarked that he believes the market is now set for the next 20 years. “Our strategy is to replicate the position we are in with the CFM56 versus the V2500. The re-engine programme requires more than 40,000 engines.

“We have already delivered 25,000 engines, which is important when you have 40,000 to deliver over the next 20 years. We believe that we have the experience and track record to support all those numbers in the 20 years to come,” said Ebanga.

He concluded his remarks with a statement of intent: “What we are going to deliver is the most remarkable engine.”

Bernie Baldwin, editor, Low-Fare & Regional Airlines/LARAnews.net
Le Bourget, Paris, France

A350 XWB successfully completes maiden flight

The first A350 XWB has completed its first test flight, lasting four hours and five minutes, from Airbus’s headquarters in Toulouse.

The aircraft was flown by Peter Chandler, Airbus’s chief test pilot, and Guy Magrin, project pilot for the A350 XWB. Accompanying them in the cockpit was Pascal Verneau, the A350 XWB project test flight engineer. Monitoring the progress of the flight profile were three flight test engineers: Fernando Alonso, head of Airbus flight & integration test centre; Patrick du Ché, head of development flight tests; and Emanuele Costanzo, lead flight test engineer for the Trent XWB engine.

For its first flight, the A350 XWB – carrying the registration F-WXWB – took off at around 221 tonnes. During the flight, which took the aircraft around south western France, the crew explored the aircraft’s flight envelope. This flight marks the beginning of a flight test campaign involving five A350s, and around 2,500 flight hours. It will culminate in the aircraft’s certification followed by its entry into airline service in the second half of 2014 with first operator Qatar Airways. In the low-fare airline market, AirAsia X has ordered 10 A350-900s with 5 options. To date the A350 XWB has won 613 firm orders from 33 customers worldwide.

Bombardier announces 20-year market forecast

Bombardier Aerospace released its annual 20-year forecast for the business and commercial aircraft markets.

The company’s 20-year view of the 20- to 149-seat commercial aircraft market predicts 12,800 deliveries from 2013 to 2032, worth more than $646 billion. While the overall worldwide demand remains the same as the previous year, the regional distribution has been re-aligned with an expectation for below-average GDP growth in the mature markets of North America and Europe, and for more robust growth in emerging markets.

In the 20 to 59 seat segment, Bombardier forecasts 250 aircraft deliveries; from 60 to 99 seats it expects 5,650 aircraft deliveries; and from 100 to 149 seats, the companys predicts 6,900 aircraft deliveries.

In the 60- to 99-seat aircraft market, Bombardier expects the regional jet segment will deliver 2,950 units – representing 52% of the segment total. The turboprop segment is forecast to deliver 2,700 units over the 20-year forecast period.

Strong projected traffic demand, an expanding middle class population in growth markets, and the continued relaxation of scope clauses during the forecast period, are the key driving forces behind Bombardier's commercial aircraft market forecast numbers. While demand from international markets such as India, China, Africa and Latin America is expected to increase significantly, North America is expected to remain the world's largest market in aircraft deliveries, taking an expected 3,710 new aircraft, followed by China and Europe with 2,330 and 1,700 aircraft, respectively.

The commercial aircraft market forecast numbers predict that technical obsolescence and rising oil prices will be the most critical factors influencing airline fleet decisions over the next 20 years and, with the increasing demand for more cost effective and fuel efficient aircraft, 60% of the current commercial fleet will be retired by 2032 with most of the retirements occurring in the smaller 20- to 59-seat segment.

fastjet adds 3 countries from Tanzania, delays SA launch

fastjet has been granted permission to launch international flights from Tanzania to South Africa, Zambia and Rwanda, route approvals having been granted by the relevant governments under bilateral agreements.

Ed Winter, CEO and chairman of fastjet, commented, “This is a monumental day in fastjet’s history and brings us closer to our goal of becoming Africa’s first pan continental low-cost airline. To date our growth has been inhibited by lack of international routes in our network. We have expended huge effort over the past six months in obtaining these rights and we can only thank the government and population of Tanzania who have lobbied hard to allow us to gain access to the bilateral rights to operate to these countries. We will soon announce launch dates for flights to Johannesburg, Kigali and Lusaka from Dar es Salaam.

“We are especially pleased to be launching flights between Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg and we expect this to be a particularly popular route,” continued Winter. “South African Airways has had a monopoly on this route for far too long and we are very keen to offer substantially more affordable fares to customers and further stimulate the potential traffic between these key African cities. This can only have a very positive effect on the critical trade, commercial and tourism industries between South Africa and Tanzania.”

fastjet chief commercial officer Richard Bodin added, “fastjet is currently planning a huge sales launch activity that will see it offering its customers never-seen-before fares. We hope to offer early booking passengers fares as low as $100 (one-way excluding government taxes and charges) to and from Johannesburg. We have made a commitment to the people of Africa to democratise air travel on the continent and this is another very significant step on that journey.”

Following this international route announcement, along with fastjet signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Nigeria’s Red 1 Airways to create a low-fare airline operating within Nigeria and to destinations across Africa, the fastjet Board has taken the decision to put the launch of fastjet-branded domestic routes in South Africa temporarily on hold, so that it can direct all its efforts and resources to starting its international services as soon as possible.

“Bringing the fastjet brand to South Africa is a cornerstone in the creation of our pan-African network,” Winter reaffirmed. “We remain totally committed to launching the fastjet brand in South Africa as soon as possible, but given all the time and effort the team has invested over the past months to secure our international route designations, we have taken the sensible decision to prioritise setting up these lucrative and high profile routes first, before turning our attention to launch the fastjet brand on domestic routes in South Africa.”

bmi regional marks a year of independence

bmi regional has celebrated its first anniversary as an independent airline, marking 12 significant months of development and investment during which it launched 12 new routes, created more than 100 new jobs and retained its title of the UK's most punctual airline for the eighth consecutive year.

The airline's fleet of 18 Embraer ERJ family aircraft flew more than 10 million miles and carried over 500,000 passengers in the past year.

“The past year has seen us establish bmi regional as a standalone airline and increase our reach with the introduction of 12 new routes, the opening up of two new bases in Bristol and Birmingham, and announce our first route between two mainland European cities, Toulouse and Bremen,” noted Cathal O'Connell, chief executive of bmi regional. “We saw real potential in the airline as a business and that is now being realised as we deliver enhanced connectivity between UK and European centres for business and leisure travel.

"We put our customers first by recognising their priorities. Schedule, convenience and affordability are at the heart of what we do which is why we offer high frequency with an all-jet fleet, short check in times, generous baggage allowances and complimentary food and refreshments on board. What's more, as the UK's most punctual airline eight years in a row, we also get our passengers to their destinations on time.

"The past year has been the beginning of a journey for us. The airline now has the ability to chart its own course: passenger numbers have increased hugely, our network has grown by 30% and we now operate more than 450 scheduled flights a week across a network of 23 destinations in eight European countries. The future for bmi regional is very bright,” O’Connell declared.

ArkeFly selects IFE Services for IFE solutions

Dutch leisure airline, ArkeFly, has chosen IFE Services as the carrier’s new in-flight entertainment (IFE) provider.

JetBlue inaugurates Fort Lauderdale–Medellin service

JetBlue Airways has begun its daily nonstop service between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and Jose Maria Cordova International Airport in Medellin, Colombia (MDE).

Destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean now make up almost one-third of JetBlue's route network. Medellin, Colombia's second largest city, is JetBlue's 79th destination and its third destination in Colombia. The airline also offers nonstop service from Bogota to both Fort Lauderdale and Orlando as well as nonstop service between Cartagena and New York JFK.

From Fort Lauderdale to Medellin, flights depart at 16:45 and reach the Colombian city at 19:07. In the opposite direction, take off from Medellin is at 07:05, with arrival in Fort Lauderdale at 11:48 (all times local). The flights are operated by Airbus A320s.