Company Watch - Airbus.

Oct 2, 2006

Air France Industries was selected by China Eastern Airlines to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul services for the CFM56-5Cs powering its five A340-300s and CF6-80C2s powering its 10 A300-600s. The CFM56 work will be done in the AFI shop at Paris Orly while the CF6-80C2s will be serviced at Orly or the new KLM Engineering & Maintenance facility located at Amsterdam Schiphol. Sep 26, 2006

Airbus A350 XWB entry-into-service date appears to be sliding 6-12 months owing to the ongoing A380 wiring difficulties. At the Farnborough Airshow, Airbus said the 314-seat A350-900 would be the first variant to enter service, in mid-2012. However, sources at Airbus said that "the program is likely to slip into 2013 because all the engineering talent is focused on the A380," echoing a previous statement by ILFC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy Sep 29, 2006

Airbus expected to streamline procurement in overhaul. European jetmaker Airbus is overhauling its operations as it faces problems with two of its jetliner programs. The company will reveal the results of an internal audit in the coming weeks. It is expected to streamline its procurement system. Sep 25, 2006

EADS issued a short statement Friday saying the board would "continue this [A380] discussion in the near future." Airbus sources suggested to this website that the board did not endorse the extent of the restructure recommended by new Airbus CEO Christian Streiff. Sources also said that the board "wanted to gauge reaction from airline customers" to the revised delivery timetable. Oct 2, 2006

Key customers were to be notified over the weekend of the full extent of the latest delivery delay for the A380. Two customers said that "we expect to have something to say Tuesday." On Sept. 21, EADS confirmed that the program faced further delays due to complex wiring issues. The board of EADS met in Amsterdam Friday to consider what is reported to be a far-reaching restructure of Airbus with transfer of more A380 assembly work to Toulouse and in the longer term more outsourcing of work beyond Europe. Oct 2, 2006

EADS may consider shifting Airbus work to other countries. EADS board members are expected to meet today to discuss problems at Airbus and consider shifting more work to other countries. Also, European and U.S. aviation regulators say the strong wake from the Airbus A380 superjumbo jet will require permanent changes in air traffic control rules. Meanwhile, busy airports will have to juggle A380 landings and take-offs to keep smaller airliners clear of the A380's four engines, which at take-off generate as much thrust as 3,500 cars. Sep 29, 2006

KLM Engineering & Maintenance will provide total support for eight CF6-50C2 engines powering A300B4 freighters operated by ACT Airlines of Turkey under an 18-month contract. Sep 28, 2006

Lufthansa Technik yesterday announced a Total Component Support Agreement with Air Deccan covering the Indian LCC's newly arriving fleet of up to 60 A320s for a period of 10 years. Under terms of the $150 million deal, LHT and its Indian subsidiary, One Stop Airline MRO Support, "will independently serve" the Air Deccan fleet with the provision of components at the carrier's Bangalore hub. According to LHT, the arrangement enables the airline to participate "in one of the world's largest pools for aircraft components [in which] nearly 1,000 different part numbers of LRUs have been pre-selected." Sep 28, 2006

Phoenix Aircraft Leasing of Singapore purchased two PW4000-powered A310-200s from China Eastern Airlines. Sep 29, 2006

Pratt & Whitney and MTU Aero Engines completed assembly of the first production PW6000 last week at MTU's Langenhagen facility. LAN Airlines is the launch customer for the PW6000-powered A318. Sep 25, 2006

AFI signed a contract with Vietnam Airlines to provide fleet support for four A330s to be delivered from October. Under the agreement, AFI will provide engineering services and will assign staff to Hanoi for line and light maintenance services. It already provides full MRO support for the GE90s powering the airline's 777s. Sep 26, 2006

Editor: Aram Gesar, eMail: [e-mail]

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Sep 25, 2006