Aircraft News - Europe.

For more aircraft news, data, fleets and analysis, please go to: http://www.airguideonline.com/professional.htm Aug 28, 2006

Airbus

A380 will change air travel. The Airbus A380 superjumbo jet will launch a new era of aviation when it starts flying late this year or early in 2007, writes Mary Ann Anderson in the San Jose Mercury News. The plane will carry more passengers than any airliner in the world, and its fuselage is the widest in the industry. Aug 27, 2006

Airbus, Engine Alliance, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney

Airbus has finally flown the prototype Engine Alliance, a joint venture between General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, GP7200 A380, albeit nine months late. The 'plane is eventually due to be delivered to Emirates with a November 2007 date penciled in. All previous A380 have been Rolls-Royce powered. A second GP7200 aircraft is due to join the flight test program next spring. First delivery of an A380 to lead customer Singapore Airlines is still set for the late introduction date of December 2006. Aug 26, 2006

Aircastle Investment Holdings, Boeing

Aircastle Investment Holdings said Friday that one of its subsidiaries agreed to acquire six 737-700s leased to Danish LCC Sterling Airlines from affiliates of AP Moeller-Maersk Group for an estimated $165 million. Four of the acquisitions were completed Aug. 17 and Aircastle expects to finalize the remaining two by Aug. 31. Aug 21, 2006

Avion Group, Advent

Avion signed an agreement to purchase approximately 5% of Advent's currently issued share capital, representing an investment of [pounds sterling]1.4 million ($2.7 million) to be financed through Avion's equity and with debt. "The deal provides Avion Group access to the highly lucrative and fast growing Australian and Asian aviation markets through utilization of Star's fleet, which comprise some of the newest and highest quality aircraft within the marketplace," Chairman Magnus Thorsteinsson said. Aug 22, 2006

Avion Group, Excel Airways

Avion Group will lease three or four aircraft operated by Excel Airways of the UK to Xtra Airways of Nevada during the winter schedule. Aug 22, 2006

Avion Group, Star Europe, Airbus

Avion Group said it formed a joint venture with Australasian airline group Advent Air Ltd. calling for Avion subsidiaries Star Airlines of France and Star Europe of Germany to provide up to four A320s to Advent Air subsidiary Skywest, a Perth-based Regional. Skywest will operate the aircraft from November to April, which is its peak season and Avion's low season. Aug 22, 2006

Boeing

Boeing secures joint venture with Russian titanium firm. Boeing has created a joint venture with Russian titanium company VSMPO-Avisma to produce titanium parts for Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner. Boeing says the agreement will increase efficiency and cut waste of the expensive metal. The company currently gets half of its titanium from VSMPO-Avisma.

Aug 27, 2006

Boeing, Etihad, Lufthansa

Boeing's decision to abandon its Connexion project is not going down well with the airlines. Etihad has followed Lufthansa in publicly getting annoyed with Boeing. "Our experience with Connexion is very good and our guests are keen to use it. We are talking to Boeing in terms of short and long-term solutions by looking at a number of options," said Ian Fergusson-Brown, spokesman for Etihad Airways. "The airline is keen to meet customer expectations and our goal is to put the system into the backs of the seats. This is important for our guests to access the Internet," Brown told Gulf News. Currently, Connexion by Boeing is fitted on Etihad's Boeing 777 aircraft and plans are under way to introduce the system on the Airbus fleet. Other airlines, including Korean, are talking about compensation. Aug 26, 2006

Boeing, Monarch Airlines

Monarch Airlines placed an order for six 787-8s with purchase rights on an additional four. The order is worth $916 million at list prices. The UK airline said the Dreamliners will form the core of its future long-haul fleet, which currently comprises A330s, A300s and 767s. The 787s are scheduled for delivery from the end of 2010 though 2013. "Operating successfully in the leisure market requires flexible and innovative products. With the 787's longer-range capabilities, we will be opening up new destinations in the Americas, Asia and Africa," CEO Peter Brown said. Monarch, headquartered at Luton, currently operates a fleet of 28 aircraft (20 Airbus and eight Boeing) serving more than 100 destinations. Services are split between scheduled and charter flights, with the airline carrying more than 6 million passengers annually. Aug 21, 2006

Bombardier, Lufthansa CityLine 

Lufthansa CityLine took delivery yesterday of an 84-seat CRJ900, the first of a dozen that will come into the fleet this year. They will be replacing 50-seat CRJs as the company continues reconfiguring its fleet. "With the new aircraft model, Lufthansa CityLine is taking a major step forward economically and technologically and is thus ideally prepared to face up to the future competition," MD Thomas Drager said. First destinations for the new type include Munich, Brussels, Lyon, Munster/Osnabruck, Nice, Oslo and Geneva. In 2005, CityLine carried some 6.5 million passengers with its fleet of 80 regional jets. Aug 23, 2006

Centavia, BAe Systems 

Centavia of Serbia took delivery of a second 98-seat BAe 146-200. The startup LCC currently is operating charter flights only but is planning to launch European scheduled service in the fall. Aug 22, 2006

CSA Czech Airlines, Airbus, TFC GmbH Kaufer

TFC GmbH Kaufer was chosen by CSA Czech Airlines to supply an A320 cabin training simulator. It is scheduled for delivery to CSA's Prague training center in September 2007. Aug 22, 2006

Lufthansa Systems 

Lufthansa Systems signed a contract with Virgin Atlantic Airways to provide the UK carrier with its ProfitLine/Price IT pricing solution. Aug 21, 2006

Pulkovo Airlines, Tupolev

Pulkovo Airlines Tu-154M's flight data and cockpit voice recorders were recovered yesterday by workers sifting through the debris of Tuesday's crash near Donetsk in Ukraine that killed 170 passengers and crew "Both recorders seem to be in satisfactory condition," Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said, adding that the devices will be sent to Moscow for examination. Ukrainian Prosecutor General Oleksandr Medvedko initiated a criminal probe into the crash to determine whether safety violations occurred. The Pulkovo Airlines Tu-154M en route from Anapa to St. Petersburg carrying 160 passengers and 10 crew crashed yesterday in Ukraine, killing all aboard.The crash was the third and deadliest in the region in less than four months, following the Armavia A320 accident in May and the S7 Airlines A310-300 overrun at Irkutsk last month. The Pulkovo pilots sent a distress signal about 2 min. before the Tu-154 disappeared from ATC radar around 2:30 p.m. local time, Russian authorities said. The crash occurred 30 mi. north of Donetsk and reports from the area described a fiery scene as rescue workers attempted to recover bodies from wreckage shrouded by heavy smoke. "The plane crashed and burned in a field," reported Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network, which noted it was the third worst Tu-154 accident in terms of fatalities and the worst-ever aircraft crash on Ukraine soil. Aug 23, 2006

Pulkovo Airlines, Tupolev

Pulkovo Tu-154M aircraft that crashed was built in 1991 and had amassed 8,643 hr. and 4,782 cycles, according to Ascend's CASE database. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a commission established to probe the accident. The last major airline crash in Ukraine also involved a Tu-154; in October 2001, a then-Siberia Airlines Tu-154 en route from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk was hit mistakenly by a Ukrainian missile, killing 78 passengers and crew. Aug 23, 2006

Pulkovo Airlines, Tupolev

Reports of possible causes varied on the Pulkovo Tu-154M crash. Officials in Ukraine said a fire had broken out onboard. In Russia, authorities said the plane had encountered severe turbulence caused by stormy weather and dismissed terrorism as a possibility. Russian Emergency Situations Ministry spokesperson Irina Andrianova was quoted widely as saying the Tu-154 "most likely was hit by lightning." There were no other confirmations of that assertion. Aug 23, 2006

Pulkovo Airlines, Tupolev

Russian Airliner Crashes In Ukraine, No Survivors. A Russian airliner carrying 170 people crashed in flames on Tuesday Aug. 22 in eastern Ukraine, probably after hitting turbulence, killing all on board, officials said. The ministry said there were no survivors. Vasily Nalyotenko, deputy head of Pulkovo Airlines, which operated the Soviet-designed Tu-154, said 170 people were on board, including 10 crew and 39 children. Ukrainian officials said helicopters circling the crash site about 45 km north of the regional town of Donetsk saw the plane in flames. Bad weather in the area was still hampering rescue efforts. Flight 612 took off from the Black Sea resort of Anapa and was bound for its home base of St Petersburg. Its route went across Ukraine's eastern tip. "The aircraft issued an SOS at 15.37 (Moscow time -- 1137 GMT). At 15.39, it disappeared from radar screens," Russia's Emergencies Ministry said. The Russian Transport Ministry said the crew reported severe turbulence in a distress message sent from 11,000 metres before disappearing. It said the plane came down near a village north of Donetsk. A spokesman for the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry told Fifth Channel television in Kiev that a fire may have broken out in the plane, but Russian officials disputed this. The Tu-154, dating from Soviet times, is the workhorse of most airlines operating in ex-Soviet states. Airlines operating in former Soviet republics initially had a patchy safety record in the aftermath of the collapse of communism, but this has improved in recent years. However the crash was the second involving a regional Russian airline this year. Last month, an Airbus A310 belonging to Sibir airlines crashed and burst into flames after veering off the runway in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing 122 people. Aug 22, 2006

Sun-Air, Dornier

Sun-Air of Scandinavia, a Danish British Airways franchise carrier, reached an agreement to acquire three previously owned Dornier 328JETs. Two will be configured with 32 seats and the third will be fitted with a VIP layout. The first will be delivered in October, with the others expected to enter service in December and January. Aug 25, 2006