Aviation Report

Russian aircraft certification authority IAC AR on Friday approved type certification for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 clearing the way for first delivery of the long-delayed aircraft, which rolled out in September 2007 and made its first flight nearly three years ago. The program was formally launched by Sukhoi in 2004 as the RRJ (Russian Regional Jet). "The type certificate confirms the compliance of the aircraft with the IAC certification norms and airworthiness directives thus opening the way to start commercial operation," Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. stated, noting that it was also granteda design organization approval certificate from IAC AR. Launch customer Aeroflot holds firm orders for 30 SSJ100s plus 15 options while Armavia, which has two on firm order with two options, was expected to take first delivery. Source :  http://atwonline.com/aircraft-engines-components/news/sukhoi-superjet-100-wins-type-certification-russian-authorities-013?cid=nl_atw_dn

After a decade of multibillion-dollar losses, U.S. airlines appear to be on course to prosper for years to come for a simple reason: They are flying less. By grounding planes and eliminating flights, airlines have cut costs and pushed fares higher. As the global economy rebounds, travel demand is rising and planes are as full as they've been in years. Profit margins at big airlines are the highest in at least a decade, according to the government. The eight largest U.S. airlines are forecast to earn more than $5 billion this year and $5.6 billion in 2012. U.S. airlines are in the midst of reporting fourth-quarter results that should cap the industry's first moneymaking year since 2007. "The industry is in the best position — certainly in a decade — to post profitability," says Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly. "The industry is much better prepared today than it was a decade ago." The airlines' turnaround has benefited investors — the Arca airlines ...

An explosion that occurred at Moscow Domodedovo Airport around 4:30 p.m. local time Monday is believed to have killed at least 35 people and injured dozens of others. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in televised remarks that evidence points to "a terror attack" at Russia's busiest airport, while US President Barack Obama condemned what he called an "outrageous act of terrorism." The blast detonated inside DME's international arrivals hall, reportedly just outside customs clearance, where crowds were gathered awaiting arriving passengers who had claimed bags from flights arriving from around the world. Medvedev said he was forming a "task force" to immediately begin investigating "while the trail is still warm." He said a "special [security] regime" would be put in place at all Russian airports and other "large transport facilities," but did not specify details. Even as first responders tended to the dead and w...

Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- EasyJet Plc tumbled 16 percent, the most in 6 1/2 years, after Europe’s second-biggest discount airline said its first-half loss may double after fuel costs rose and icy weather and strikes caused flights to be canceled. The pretax loss for the six months to March 31 will be as much as 160 million pounds ($256 million), versus 78.7 million pounds a year earlier, Luton, England-based EasyJet said today. Disruption from Britain’s coldest December on record and walkouts by air-traffic controllers in France and Spain lifted costs by 18 million pounds and 6 million pounds respectively in the first quarter, wiping 7 million pounds from profit, EasyJet said. First-half kerosene costs may be 30 million pounds higher. “With oil close to $100 a barrel, fuel is a big, big issue,” said Gert Zonneveld, an analyst at Panmure Gordon in London with a “buy” rating on the stock. “And in the economic climate we’re in it’s more difficult to compensate with price increases, especi...

What Is NextGen? NextGen is an umbrella term for the ongoing, wide-ranging transformation of the National Airspace System (NAS). At its most basic level, NextGen represents an evolution from a ground-based system of air traffic control to a satellite-based system of air traffic management. This evolution is vital to meeting future demand, and to avoiding gridlock in the sky and at our nation’s airports. NextGen will open America’s skies to continued growth and increased safety while reducing aviation’s environmental impact. We will realize these goals through the development of aviation-specific applications for existing, widely-used technologies, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) and technological innovation in areas such as weather forecasting, data networking and digital communications. Hand in hand with state-of-the-art technology will be new airport infrastructure and new procedures, including the shift of certain decision-making responsibility from the ground to the c...

Southwest Airlines this month commenced Required Navigation Performance procedures for approaches at 11 airports, asserting that "these new efficient flight procedures and enhanced avionics" will save the LCC $16 million annually. The airports at which SWA is inaugurating RNP are Amarillo, Birmingham, Boise, Corpus Christi, Los Angeles, Chicago Midway, Oakland, Oklahoma City, West Palm Beach, Raleigh-Durham and San Jose. It added that full implementation of RNP at all airports it serves would lead to more than $60 million in reduced costs annually. SWA has modified more than 444 aircraft with GPS and RNP software, including transitioning 343 737NGs from EFIS to PFD/ND, and completed more than 30,000 pilot training events The Dallas-based airline said in a statement that implementing RNP procedures marks the "culmination of a four-year project with partners Boeing, GE and Honeywell." VP and COO Mike Van de Ven added, "This milestone culminates substantial effo...

Minister for Ecology, Sustainable development, Transportation and Housing Nathalie KOSCIUSKO-MORIZET and Secretary of State for Transportation Thierry MARIANI announced the merger between ENAC (National School For Civil Aviation) and SEFA (Operations Service for Aeronautic Formations) that becomes the biggest European university for Civil Aviation under the single name ENAC. For more than 60 years, the ENAC has been unique in the field of graduate education as well as in the field of aeronautic formation. It teaches all the technical and scientific courses necessary for running the air transportation industry : - Project and Operations Civil Engineers, Controllers, electronics engineer for safety systems - Commercial Airline Pilots - Qualified technicians ... This merger will mean that : - studying materials and equipments -such as flight and control simulators- will be shared between the two institutions - strenghten the interactions between the various courses : engineers and contr...