KfW IPEX-Bank has been mandated by Air Lease Corp. as arranger and sole lender for a seven-year commercial debt financing of one new Airbus A330-200 leased to Vietnam Airlines. The transaction closed Dec. 22.
Spirit AeroSystems has delivered its first composite center fuselage section for the Airbus A350 XWB. The upper and forward lower shell composite fuselage panels were joined in Spirit's Saint-Nazaire, France, facility before being delivered to Airbus. Spirit won a contract with Airbus in May 2008 to design and produce Section 15 of the A350 XWB's composite fuselage. The first center-fuselage panels were shipped from Spirit's North Carolina facility to Spirit's Saint-Nazaire facility in October.
Lufthansa (LH) will operate a scheduled Boeing 747-400 flight between Frankfurt and Washington Dulles Thursday using a biofuel blend. The carrier noted it will be the first scheduled commercial biofuel flight on a transatlantic route. It said the flight is expected to emit 38 tons fewer carbon dioxide (CO2) than a similar flight fully utilizing traditional jet fuel.
Hainan Airlines’ subsidiary Hong Kong Airlines (HX) has placed a firm order for 10 A380s, according to widely published reports. According to Bloomberg, the order is valued at about $3.8 billion at list prices. The Hong Kong-based carrier will reportedly receive the first A380 in 2015. An Airbus spokesperson told ATW the manufacturer will not comment on the order before its annual press conference Jan. 17.
Hungarian state-owned Malev Hungarian Airlines (MA) must pay back the equivalent of up to $350 million in illegal state aid between 2007 and 2010, the European Union's competition watchdog said Monday.
The first six weeks of American Airlines' (AA) Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization (ATW, Jan. 1) appear to have gone largely as planned, with the Dallas-based carrier and regional affiliate American Eagle operating normally and parent AMR Corp. giving no indication that the company won't be able to meet basic financial obligations.
Hainan Airlines’ subsidiary Hong Kong Airlines (HX) has placed a firm order for 10 A380s, according to widely published reports. According to Bloomberg, the order is valued at about $3.8 billion at list prices.
Join ATW and global airline leaders at the Eco-Aviation Conference & Awards Ceremony on June 20-21, 2012. This was the first and still is the only conference in North America devoted to addressing a broad cross section of topics arising from commercial aviation’s impact on the environment. This event focuses on the rising public concern over global warming and the impact that continued growth of commercial aviation will have on climate change in the future.
The EU has been further isolated from the world by last month’s ruling to include aviation in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) according to Airlines for America (A4A). “This further isolates the EU from the rest of the world and will keep in place a unilateral scheme that is counterproductive to concerted global action on aviation and climate change,” A4A said in an initial reaction.
The China Air Transport Assn. (CATA) is reworking its lawsuit strategy against the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) in the wake of the Dec. 21 Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) ruling. “We won’t change our clear-cut stance of opposing the EU ETS, although we have to adjust our lawsuit strategy owing to CJEU dismissal of the Airlines for America’s argument,” CATA deputy DG Chai Haibo said.
Lufthansa has announced that it will include the full cost of the EU ETS in its fuel surcharge from Jan. 1, while warning that European-based airlines are now at a disadvantage. The airline estimates that the ETS will cost €130 million ($167.3 million) in 2012, and while there will be no immediate increase; the next fuel surcharge review will take into account that additional cost.
Includes: Top 20 World Airports Top 20 Reporting Airlines World Airline Traffic Jet Fuel Price Monitor U.S. Fuel Cost and Consumption US Ontime Performance US Consumer Complaints US Mishandled Baggage Transport Aircraft Deliveries Aircraft Values Airline Traffic by Region
Next year will be critical for the credibility of the Single Sky project, one of the best examples of where Europe can make a huge difference in the lives of its citizens. Flights in Europe are still far too expensive. These extra costs are ultimately paid by passengers. And cost-efficiency is just one of several areas where we are weak.
