Korean Air extends contract for B787’s wheel bulkhead: Korean Air and Kawasaki Heavy Industries have signed an agreement to extend the existing contract for producing the aft wheel well bulkhead, a structure of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, for the next nine years. Korean Air has been producing parts of Boeing 787 Dreamliner since 2005 and has been responsible for parts including the bulkhead for the fuselage, the raked wingtip and flap support fairing for the wing among others. Korean Air has delivered 1,100 shipsets since 2005, and with the recent agreement, will deliver the products for almost a decade from 2022, securing about US$300 million in terms of revenue. Korean Air continues to focus on improving its competitiveness through joint development for advanced technologies while securing follow-up contracts with major clients to maintain stable revenue. In May 2020, Korean Air signed a follow-up contract with Airbus for A350 cargo doors and signed a joint development agreement with Airbus to participate in the ‘Wing of Tomorrow Project’ in June 2019.
BARIG demands coordinated and science-based approach for international travel: BARIG, the association of international and German airlines operating in Germany, says it is alarming that in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, individual countries (within the EU and worldwide) are increasingly introducing individual travel restrictions. These uncoordinated measures lead to a difficult to manage patchwork of regulations, which causes massive uncertainty among travellers. The urgently needed international “track and tracing” solution that creates compatibility between the individual state apps and enables data exchange is still missing. Instead, the pandemic management must be coordinated, transparent and at the highest level in order to regain the trust of travellers and to help the heavily burdened international economy to get back up on its feet. The specific demands of BARIG include: Joint assessment of the COVID-19 situation within the EU and worldwide by the responsible state ministries and higher-level institutions such as the European Commission and a coordinated procedure derived from this; Coordinated implementation of the “Take-Off Aviation Health Safety” protocol developed by ICAO, EASA and ECDC; Compatibility of the tracing apps published by the states; Clear information for the travelers about possible measures always in coordination with the travel industry.
Royal Air Philippines selects Sabre: Sabre announced a new distribution partnership with fast-growing regional carrier Royal Air Philippines to enable the airline to power future revenue growth while reaching new, high-yield market segments. Royal Air Philippines was established as an air charter service in 2002, before entering into commercial operation in 2018 with its inaugural domestic flight from Clark to Caticlan and subsequently building a strong international network to China. The airline is now committed to adding more domestic routes, along with regional routes throughout Asia Pacific, to its schedule to become the country’s fastest-growing airline, and needed a robust, wide-reaching distribution solution so it can move forward with its goal to connect the Philippines to more destinations and travellers around the world.
Air New Zealand RNP makes Queenstown ATR flights more reliable: Air New Zealand’s ATR turboprop flights into and out of Queenstown are set to benefit from Required Navigation Performance (RNP AR) technology. In 2016, the airline entered into a partnership with aircraft manufacturer ATR to equip its 68-seat turboprop fleet with RNP AR. The technology enables pilots to fly to lower altitudes with a more precise and efficient route into the airport, saving fuel and emissions and helping reduce the impact of bad weather on services. Air New Zealand Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer Captain David Morgan says RNP is now operational on the airline’s ATRs operating to and from Queenstown. “While all aircraft were upgraded with the necessary equipment last year, we have been working through a programme of training with our pilots, with oversight from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). In the past month we have reached a major milestone with this project in receiving approval from the CAA to proceed with full RNP AR operations into and out of Queenstown.” The airline has 27 ATR 72-600 aircraft in its fleet. The airline’s larger A320 aircraft, which also operate to and from Queenstown, are already RNP AR enabled.
Routes launhces hybrid event: A new event is being launched by Routes that will provide a platform for the aviation industry to rebuild air services in the post-pandemic era. Taking place between 30 November – 4 December, Routes Reconnected is a hybrid event comprised of virtual and physical components, helping to facilitate conversations between the global route development community that will make a meaningful difference to the industry’s recovery. The five-day event will consist of three virtual days of meetings, on-demand content and virtual networking opportunities, as well as two full days of in-person meetings at the Hilton, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Routes Reconnected builds on Routes’ work to support the global aviation route development industry over the past 25 years by delivering face-to-face meetings, industry leading conference content and brand profile opportunities for its customers. The company has invested in a comprehensive digital platform for Routes Reconnected that will help to combine the best features of virtual and in-person events, delivering real value for the community. More than 25 airlines have already registered including Air Belgium, Air Dolomiti, Air New Zealand, American Airlines, HK Express, IndiGo, Japan Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, KLM, Lion Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Middle East Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, SunExpress, TAP Air Portugal, Transavia, TUI Group, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Wizz Air and Volotea. In excess of 50 countries are expected to attend and there will be over 30 hours of on-demand content delivered by 40 speakers.
ACI and ICAO’s global management accreditation programme goes virtual: Airports Council International (ACI) World has announced its global ACI-ICAO Airport Management Professional Accreditation Programme (AMPAP) will deliver the gateway component of the programme in a virtual classroom format for the first time. AMPAP seeks to develop a new generation of airport leaders in all areas of the airport business and is a strategic initiative delivered through a partnership between ACI and the International Civil Aviation Organization and aims to: Increase the professional knowledge and capability of airport management personnel worldwide; Encourage the adherence to uniform standards and awareness of best practices at the world’s airports; Promote the recognition of professional excellence in airport management; Expand communication among airport executives globally to facilitate better knowledge sharing between the world’s airports. Delivering this component of the course virtually provides an effective for airport management executives to concentrate on professional development in a safe environment during periods where the delivery of a traditional classroom course is not possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adoption of ATPCO’s NDC Exchange accelerates: ATPCO has announced the addition of new sales channels to NDC Exchange, the neutral, industry-owned platform that connects the airline ecosystem and helps accelerate the adoption of airline retailing. Farenexus Group, FlightBridge, Onriva, and Winding Tree are new channels that are now in production with NDC Exchange, while Flyline and WellTravel will go live with airlines in the coming weeks. These channels join a growing community of organizations that are already in production with airlines such as Air Canada, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic. With NDC Exchange, integrations take weeks, not months since it eliminates the need for sales channels to develop and maintain multiple APIs or wait for airlines release schedules. This enables airlines to get new products and offers to market faster. ATPCO is also working with Farenexus to solve some real-life use case as proofs of concept (POC) initiatives that may ultimately become part of the NDC Exchange service. The POCs cover the inclusion of consolidator fares; inclusion of ATPCO’s Routehappy content to drive the Next Generation Storefront (NGS) calculation, and a centralised check-in service for interline tickets.
Unisys introduces new payment capability: Unisys announced the development of a new secure payment platform based on Unisys Digistics air cargo software. The new platform enables cargo providers to move cargo faster and reduce payment costs while providing more convenient payment options, including direct ACH debits, prefunded accounts or credit card payments. Delta Cargo, the air freight division of Delta Air Lines, recently announced that they have implemented the platform to offer customers an additional option to pay for their shipments’ destination charges. Developed as part of a collaboration between Unisys and PayCargo, a provider of electronic invoicing and settlement solutions for the shipping industry, the integrated solution enables carriers to process payments more quickly, while allowing clients to have their cargo released on the same day. In addition, all payments made via PayCargo can be viewed on the AWB Charges function within the Unisys Digistics solution for auditing and payment tracking. Airlines do not need to access multiple systems, and the automated data flows save time and avoid costly human errors.
ALSIM cements relationship with CAFUC in China: Alsim announced it has been awarded a recent tender for the supply of four AL42 simulators sold to CAFUC (Civil Aviation Flight University of China), increasing the fleet of Alsims within the CAFUC to nine simulators. Dedicated to PPL & IR training, this device, first developed in developed in 2005, is an exact replica of the latest Diamond 42 Aircraft with features such as real Garmin G1000 NXI avionics and the Alsim VFR High Definition Visual System. Mike Tonkin, Alsim Global Business Development director, said “it’s a true pleasure for Alsim to have been chosen by the CAFUC. Since last year when we installed the five 172s the relationship with the CAFUC has been very positive. It is great to work with such a professional flight training university. We are all aware of the high pilot demand in Asia, and in China in particular. We look forward to continuing to support Chinese pilot training market.” Civil Aviation Flight University of China (CAFUC) is the only full-time regular institution of higher education for civil aviation pilots, as well as technicians of other civil aviation specialties and high-quality applied professionals in engineering, management and arts required by national economy, under the direct jurisdiction of CAAC.
Cathay Pacific to cut single-use plastics: The Cathay Pacific Group has released its 2019 Sustainable Development Report, providing a comprehensive overview of Cathay Pacific’s and its subsidiaries’ approach to and performance in the areas of environmental, social and governance that are of great importance to our stakeholders. With a focus on climate change, the efficient use of resources, waste management, and supporting our people and community, the Report sets out the Group’s efforts in moving towards greener aviation. Some highlights from 2019 include: New single-use plastic reduction target of 50 percent by the end of 2022, removing nearly 200 million pieces of single-use plastic from our operations annually; Fighting climate change by adding six new, more fuel-efficient Airbus A350s to the fleet, and scaled up climate change risk and mitigation planning. Download the report here.
Amadeus’ financials hurt by COVID-19 travel shutdown: Amadeus said its first-half revenue fell by 54.7 percent, to €1.2 billion while EBITDA decreased by 83.6 percent to €194.1 million and adjusted profit declined by 113.4 percent to a loss of €89.2 million. Travel agency bookings fell by 78.6 percent to 65.9 million and passengers boarded contracted by 56.2 percent to 415.2 million. Excluding the impact of cancellations and bad debt effects associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as upfront financing fees in relation to new credit agreements, underlying revenue, EBITDA and adjusted profit growth3 fell by of 43 percent, 65.2 percent and 89 percent respectively. “The second quarter of the year marked a very difficult moment globally for the travel industry in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Luis Maroto, president and CEO of Amadeus. “The large-scale lockdowns across regions had a severe impact on travel, flight scheduling, on air bookings (further worsened by cancellations), and passengers boarding aircraft. Consequently, our revenue, EBITDA and adjusted profit were considerably impacted during the quarter…Despite this difficult background, we have remained highly active, supporting our customers closely to overcome this situation and adapt their operations.” Download the Amadeus report here.
Honeywell Forge reaches 10,000 aircraft one year after launch: Honeywell announced that Ural Airlines, a Honeywell Forge Flight Efficiency customer, has launched Honeywell’s fully integrated analytics platform to utilise aircraft data and drive airline profitability, all from a single dashboard. This also marks a major milestone for Honeywell Forge Flight Efficiency as it is now being used on over 10,000 aircraft, one year after its launch in June 2019. Honeywell Forge Flight Efficiency is a component of Honeywell Forge enterprise performance management software and includes in-air and on-ground solutions for flight operations, flight efficiency and connected maintenance in a single user interface. By providing alerts and identifying savings opportunities, the solution can help airlines maximize their profits while improving workflows between pilots, ground maintenance and operations to increase productivity. Ural Airlines, based in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, will use Honeywell Forge Flight Efficiency’s advanced data analytics platform to lower fuel consumption and drive operational efficiencies across its fleet of 48 Airbus aircraft, including the Airbus 319, 320 and 321.
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