Company Watch - Boeing.

Jul 16, 2007

A J Walter Aviation said that Essential (EAMS), the Denmark-based MRO specialist formed from the technical department of Sterling Airlines, awarded AJW a five-year power-by-the-hour support agreement for two Boeing 737-300s owned by Jet Time. Jul 11, 2007

Chinese airlines are looking to reinforce their positions in an increasingly crowded domestic marketplace, Hainan Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Spring Airlines and China United Airlines, among others, are planning aircraft buys this year. Jul 13, 2007

Arkia Israeli Airlines To Buy two More Boeing 787. Arkia Airlines said on Tuesday it would exercise its option to buy an additional two Boeing 787 aircraft. Arkia paid between USD$140 million and USD$150 million for each of the jets, which are to be delivered in 2013, the company said. Arkia in December ordered two similar jets that are to be delivered in 2012. Rival El Al Israel Airlines recently bought two 777 jets for more than 1 billion shekels (USD$236 million), which will be delivered in late July and late August. El Al in late 2006 cancelled an option to buy 14 787s, but this week said it has reopened negotiations to buy Dreamliner jets. Jul 10, 2007

Boeing said its commercial plane orders for the year stood at 580, on a par with last year's record-breaking performance, but trailing rival Airbus with 680 orders. The Chicago-based plane maker, which unveiled its 787 Dreamliner on Sunday, reported 36 new orders in the past week, 35 for 787s and one for a private 787 jumbo from an unnamed customer. Boeing now has 677 firm orders for its lightweight, fuel-efficient 787, with Australia's Qantas Airways poised to order a further 20, according to remarks by the airline's chief executive at a Boeing event last week. Jul 13, 2007

The carbon-composite widebody Boeing 787, which is set to enter service in May 2008, is outselling Airbus's rival A350 XWB so far this year. But Airbus holds the edge in single-aisle planes. At the end of June, the European company had orders for 680 aircraft. Boeing won back the title of biggest-selling plane maker last year with a record-breaking 1,044 net orders. Airbus had held the lead in annual orders for the previous five years. Jul 13, 2007

Boeing Unveils 787 Amid Order Flurry Boeing unveiled its lightweight, carbon-composite 787 Dreamliner on Sunday July 8 (070807) in front of 15,000 cheering employees, customers and suppliers, capping a weekend of hype and a flurry of orders for the new fuel-efficient plane. Jul 9, 2007

Boeing delivered 114 aircraft in the second quarter, up from 97 in the year-ago period. Deliveries comprised 86 737NGs (compared to 70 in the second quarter of 2006), four 747s (none), three 767s (none) and 21 777s (17). It delivered 220 aircraft in the first six months of 2007 compared to 195 in the year-ago period. First-half 2007 deliveries comprised 169 737NGs, seven 747s, six 767s and 38 777s. Jul 9, 2007

China Southern Airlines and Air China set the orders in motion this week with commitments for 45 and 23 narrowbodies respectively. "As far as I know, almost every Chinese carrier intends to buy aircraft this year and we will announce our aircraft purchase very soon," Hainan Assistant President and Director-Marketing and Sales Deng Jian said. He refused to reveal the number of planes the company plans to buy. Jul 13, 2007

Gol also revised its long-term fleet plan, lowering its expected 2012 fleet size to 143 aircraft from a previously planned 152. This year it will take delivery of two more Boeing 767-300s than it had planned but one fewer 737-700. The 2008 fleet plan has been reduced by eight 737-300s and two 737-700s and increased by three 737-800s. For 2009, two fewer 737-300s will be received but it will take delivery of an additional 737-800. "The revisions to the fleet plan are expected to reduce the average age of the fleet and [lower] maintenance costs," it said. The airline said its second-quarter RPKs grew 41% on a 56% capacity increase. Jul 9, 2007

Macquarie AirFinance said it recently completed acquisition of all third-party interests in 25 aircraft owned by five joint venture companies originally established by GATX Corp. In January it acquired third-party interests in another former GATX JV owning four aircraft. The aircraft involved in the recent transaction include 19 Boeing 737-800s, five Airbus A320-200s and one Boeing 757. Jul 13, 2007

Precision Conversions announced the delivery of a fifth Boeing 757-200PCF to VarigLog. Modifications were performed at Flightstar Aircraft Services in Jacksonville. VarigLog's deal with PC is for seven full-15-pallet aircraft. Jul 12, 2007

Precision Conversions received an order for a 15-pallet Boeing 757-200 freighter conversion from Cargo Aircraft Management. Work on the ex-Delta Air Lines 757 will begin in September at the Flightstar facility in Jacksonville. Aircraft will be redelivered to CAM in December. Jul 10, 2007

Qatar Airways intends to split its widebody expansion between the Airbus A350 XWB and Boeing 787 were confirmed at the last week's roll-out ceremony in Everett, when the airline's motif appeared among the customer logos that adorned the twinjet's fuselage. Jul 9, 2007

Rolls-Royce announced that ILFC chose the Trent 1000 to power 40 of the 74 Boeing 787s it has an order. The deal is worth $1.3 billion at list prices and supersedes a previous contract covering 10 aircraft that was announced last summer. Rolls said the order represents the largest single purchase it has received from the lessor and that it now has orders and options for more than 500 Trent 1000s from 15 customers. Jul 10, 2007

Royal Brunei Airlines will lease four Boeing 787-8s for delivery beginning in late 2009, according to Rolls-Royce, which announced that it reached agreement with the carrier to provide Trent 1000 engines and a long-term TotalCare service accord. Aircraft lessor was not identified. Jul 13, 2007

Shanghai Airlines said it will purchase 2-3 aircraft this year and subsidiary China United, a Boeing 737 operator based at Beijing Nanyuan, will take an additional two. A Spring spokesperson said the LCC, which flies A320s, will "definitely buy more aircraft as aircraft lease expenses are much higher than aircraft purchased from a long-term perspective." It currently has seven aircraft on lease. Spring Chairman Wang Zhenghua noted the company plans a stock listing to finance the acquisition of six A320s in 2009. Jul 13, 2007

SpiceJet currently operates five Boeing 737-800s and three 737-700s. It has added service to Abu Dhabi, Chittagong, Lucknow and Jaipur to its network since the Omani government withdrew from Gulf Air two months ago. It reached a deal with SpiceJet last month under which the Indian carrier will provide at least six pilots to Oman Air for one year while the airline's own recruits undergo training. Jul 9, 2007

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