Corporate Affairs
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SA regional airline aligns fleet modernisation with growth plan
South African private-sector airline Airlink and Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer have jointly announced that the carrier was leasing five of the manufacturer’s twin-engined E-Jet family airliners. The aircraft, three E170s and two E190s, will be obtained from ECC Leasing, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Embraer. Deliveries will start during the first half of this year. The deal makes Airlink the first Southern African airline to operate E-Jets.
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Emirates returns the A380 airliner to its Johannesburg route
Major international airline Emirates, based in Dubai, on Wednesday reintroduced the Airbus A380 Superjumbo on to its Dubai-Johannesburg route, to meet growing passenger demand. Previously, the airline had operated the A380 on its Johannesburg route for a few months in 2011/2012, but the market had not proved mature enough and the type was more needed on other routes. “This time, it’s going to stay!” assured Emirates senior VP: commercial operations Africa Orhan Abbas. Johannesburg is now the airline’s busiest route in Africa, with four flights daily; until now, they have been operated by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. From today, one of these daily schedules will be flown by an A380. Emirates is the world’s biggest operator of the Superjumbo, with 92 in service and another 50 on order.
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A400M reportedly wins second export order
French aerospace journal “Air et Cosmos” and British defence media group Jane’s have both reported that the Indonesian government has approved the purchase of five Airbus A400M military airlifter aircraft. Both cite local Indonesian media as the source of the information. According to the French publication, the deal will be worth $2-billion.
“Air et Cosmos” points out that this makes Indonesia the second export client for the A400M, after near neighbour Malaysia. The publication speculated that Malaysia’s experience with the aircraft may have influenced Jakarta’s decision. Malaysia ordered four A400Ms, three of which have now been delivered.
Furthermore, the journal noted that Indonesia has extensive experience with other Airbus defence products, operating both the CN235 and C295 light/medium transport aircraft. Indeed, the CN235 was originally developed as a joint project between Spain’s CASA (now part of Airbus) and Indonesia’s IPTN (now PTDI or Indonesian Aerospace), and is manufactured in Indonesia as well as in Europe. PTDI also manufactures components for the C295 and Airbus’ giant A380 airliner and has assembled C295s for the Indonesian Air Force.
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Local light passenger and utility aircraft programme taking off
Wonderboom Airport, in Pretoria (within the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality), is the nest within which a fledgling civilian aircraft manufacturing company is developing. Based in the airport’s Hangar 1, Falcon Air has developed and is producing its Falcon 402 general aviation aircraft, albeit currently at a low rate of production. Falcon Air is not the only South African company which has designed and builds civilian aircraft, but the others produce gliders or small piston-engined aircraft, such as single-seat sports planes, two-seat training or recreational types or, at most, four-seater light aircraft. The Falcon 402 is a very different bird, able to carry eight people (one or two pilots and six or seven passengers) or cargo and fly for some 800 nautical miles (nm) and still have reserve fuel in its tanks.
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Airlink continues fleet modernisation and growth programme with Embraer
South African private-sector airline Airlink and Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer jointly announced on Thursday that the carrier was leasing five of the manufacturer’s E-Jet family airliners. The aircraft, three E170s and two E190s, will be obtained from ECC Leasing, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Embraer. Deliveries will start during the first half of this year. The deal makes Airlink the first South African airline to operate E-Jets. “This is the beginning of the implementation of a well planned growth and modernisation strategy for Airlink that includes replacing our current fleet of Avro RJ85s over the next three years,” explained airline CEO Rodger Foster. “The strategy calls for a total of 13 E-Jets, and we are in the process of sourcing the balance of the fleet requirement – an additional eight E190s – from the market.”
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Airbus very happy with its production and delivery results last year
Despite 2016 being an “unusually difficult year from a production perspective”, European airliner manufacturer Airbus Commercial Aircraft met all its delivery targets for the year, company President Fabrice Brégier told journalists worldwide on Wednesday. “I’m very proud to tell you we have delivered 688 aircraft, which is another Airbus record. We’ve enjoyed 14 consecutive years of production growth. In December alone we delivered 110 aircraft.”
Last year saw the company ramp-up production of two new types in its product range – the A320 new engine option (neo) and the all-new A350XWB. Both programmes suffered difficulties, the A320neo with delays in engine deliveries and the A350XWB with problems with cabin fittings, including lavatories and some seats (both supplied by sub-contractors).
“We knew we had a good aircraft [in the A350XWB], but we experienced more difficulties than we anticipated,” he stated. Nevertheless, the company delivered 49 of the new-generation airliners last year, a three-and-a-half times increase over the figure of 14 for 2015, in what Airbus calls the fastest ever ramp-up for a wide-body airliner. All deliveries have been of the A350-900 version. The first of the stretched A350-1000 versions made its maiden flight in November. (The second A350-1000 made its first flight on Tuesday.)
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Airbus very happy with its 2016 production and delivery results
Despite 2016 being an “unusually difficult year from a production perspective”, European airliner manufacturer Airbus Commercial Aircraft met all its delivery targets for the year, company president Fabrice Brégier told journalists worldwide on Wednesday. “I’m very proud to tell you we have delivered 688 aircraft, which is another Airbus record. We’ve enjoyed 14 consecutive years of production growth. In December alone we delivered 110 aircraft.” Last year saw the company ramp up production of two new types in its product range – the A320 new engine option (neo) and the all-new A350XWB. Both programmes suffered difficulties, the A320neo with delays in engine deliveries and the A350XWB with problems with cabin fittings, including lavatories and some seats (both supplied by subcontractors).
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South African commercial aviation sector outperforming economy, index shows
The South African commercial aviation sector “is alive and well and outperforming most other sectors of the economy by a considerable margin” reported the Commercial Aviation Association of Southern Africa (Caasa) in a statement released on November 29. The release marked the publication of the “Caasa Aviation Activity Index (CAAI): 3rd Quarter 2016”. There was, however, a “modest decline” in comparison to the second quarter.
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SAA still years from break-even
National carrier South African Airways (SAA) does not expect to reach break-even point for another five years. “We remain committed to ensuring that the airline becomes financially self-reliant and the arrival of these aircraft mark a stepping stone in our move in that direction,” assured SAA acting CEO Musa Zwane. “Our projections indicate that we will break even by year 2021 before we start becoming profitable again.” Zwane issued his statement on Friday, to mark the arrival of SAA’s first new Airbus A330-300 wide-body airliner, at the company’s base at OR Tambo International Airport, in Kempton Park, east of Johannesburg, on Friday. The airline has ordered five of these airliners, to increase efficiency and widen its route network.
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Govt appoints consultants to help decide future course for airlines
A notice (NT008-2016) on the website of National Treasury has confirmed that a joint venture between Bain and Company South Africa and Abacus Advisory has been appointed the “professional service provider(s) for developing the optimal group corporate structure for the realignment of the state-owned airline assets”. The Bloomberg news agency has reported that the contract was valid for three months and had been awarded in October.