Company Watch - Airbus.

Airbus mulls Chinese assembly plant. Airbus is considering assembling single aisle planes in China, a move that could help it win orders in the region. Chinese leaders said there is no timetable for a decision.

May 1, 2006

Airbus secured ETOPS approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency for A330-243 and A330-343 aircraft fitted with Trent 772Cs. Airbus said the new engines will improve aircraft performance in high altitudes and hotter temperatures. The first A330 fitted with Trent 772Cs is slated for delivery to Air China in late May. May 1, 2006

Armavia said yesterday that the A320 that crashed into the Black Sea off the Russian coast Wednesday had undergone all proper maintenance checks, including an overhaul in Belgium last month. Rescue workers continued to search the sea for debris and clues to the cause of an accident that killed all 113 aboard. The black box has not been retrieved from the aircraft, which sits 500 m. below the water surface, according to Russian media reports. Heavy rain and low visibility have been offered as the accident's cause by the airline and Airbus. Armavia said it will pay victims' families $20,000 each via an insurance fund. Armavia A320 carrying 105 passengers and eight crew crashed early yesterday morning into the Black Sea about 3 mi. off the Russian coast near Sochi. All 113 aboard are believed dead as the result of the accident that occurred in what Airbus called "very poor weather conditions." Armavia, a carrier based in Yerevan, capital of Armenia, and the largest airline of that country, last week suffered the loss of an Airbus A320 and all on board. The aircraft plunged into the sea after struggling through heavy cloud and driving rain while trying to land at Sochi, a Black Sea resort in southern Russia. This is the sixth Airbus A320 fatal accident since the aircraft went into service in 1988 and will, once again, raise doubts on the 'fly by wire' control systems reaction under certain conditions and any manual override. The aircraft in question had accumulated over 28,200 flight hours in close to 14,400 flights. By the end of April, almost 2,750 A320 family aircraft had been delivered, with the number of operators reaching 175. To date, the entire fleet has accumulated some 46m flight hours in some 26m flights. The Armenian airliner coming from Yerevan reportedly missed its first approach into Sochi and was making a second approach when it lost contact with air traffic control and crashed at about 2:15 a.m. local time in a driving rainstorm. "To all appearance, not human factor but weather conditions are the cause of the crash," Armenia's leading airline said in a statement released on PanARMENIAN.Net. Russian officials dismissed terrorism as a possible cause. The aircraft, powered by CFM56-5As, began operating for Armavia in February 2004 and had accumulated more than 28,200 flight hr. in nearly 14,400 flights, according to Airbus. http://www.u8.am http://www.airbus.com May 4, 2006

Bush, Merkel may discuss Airbus-Boeing trade dispute. President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel may discuss the trade dispute between Airbus and Boeing when they meet this week. A German government official said there are signs of progress being made toward settling the dispute, which is due to go before the World Trade Organization if it isn't resolved. May 2, 2006

Biman Bangladesh Airlines is set to purchase six A330s and four 777s, according to Director-Marketing and Sales Mahmoodur Rahman, who was quoted in Gulf News. The Bangladesh Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism reportedly recommended a combination of Boeing and Airbus aircraft to augment an aging fleet comprising five DC-10-30s, four A310-300s and four F28s. Biman also is planning to offload 61% of its shares through an IPO, as the government wants to improve the performance of the loss-making airline, which carried 1.52 million passengers in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2005. May 1, 2006

Airbus and China Aviation Suppliers Import and Export Corp. extended the cooperation agreement covering their joint-venture training and support center in Beijing for 20 more years. The facility has been in operation for a decade and features both flight simulators and spare parts servicing. May 2, 2006

Frontier Airlines yesterday finalized its February deal with Airbus for six new A320s and the conversion of eight existing A319 orders into four A318s and four A320s. The carrier also will acquire three additional A319s from leasing companies, Airbus announced. It will take delivery of the A318s next year and the 10 A320s from 2008 through 2010. May 3, 2006

GECAS President and CEO Henry Hubschman has a gut feeling that Airbus will unveil a significantly redone A350 by the Farnborough Air Show in mid-July. Speaking to media in Washington Friday, Hubschman said, "I don't know what they are going to do, but my tummy says they are going to make changes." He also noted that although GECAS has signed an MOU for 10 A350s, it has not finalized the order. There is industry speculation that Airbus is weighing offering a significantly larger and heavier version of the new model; currently the largest is the A350-900 weighing in at 246 tonnes and seating around 300 in three classes. Asked to comment on how he would view such an aircraft, Hubschman said he had not formed an opinion: "I have no thoughts...I want to see what they have." He stressed that with any aircraft, "commonality is very important if you're going to make several versions." He also pointed out that as an operating lessor, his primary concern is that an airplane have broad market appeal: "The best market is narrowbodies," and the larger an aircraft becomes, "the narrower the market becomes." May 1, 2006

Turkish Airlines leased two A319-100s formerly operated by defunct Independence Air. The carrier also signed a codeshare agreement with Croatia Airlines for flights between Istanbul and Zagreb. May 2, 2006

Volito Aviation Group purchased an A319-112 from Sachsen Landesbank. Aircraft is on lease to TAP Portugal through March 2012. PK AirFinance provided financing. May 3, 2006