Aviation News in Brief 14 March 2020

Aviage Systems wins avionics contract: Aviage Systems said it has signed a three-year avionics MRO service contract with Hainan Airlines, providing inspection, repair and overhaul service of Boeing 787 IMA (Integrated Modular Avionics) components. The deal represents the first collaboration between the company and Hainan Airlines. Last June, Aviage Systems received its CCAR-145 certificate and is the only certified China-based MRO shop for Boeing 787 IMA at present. Snowflake Software joins Cirium: Flight and navigational data company Snowflake Software has become part of the Cirium aviation analytics group. Based in Southampton in the UK, Snowflake has accelerated the integration and exchange of flight, weather and aeronautical data through its cloud-based Laminar Data platform. This will now be brought together with Cirium’s flight status, schedule, fleet and traffic analytics. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. SunExpress selects GE Aviation for digital agreement: SunExpress has selected GE Aviation for a comprehensive safety contract including eFOQA Mainline. The program covers the SunExpress fleet including Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 airplanes and expands upon a previous agreement to enable advanced analytics with enriched data sets that will ultimately drive greater understanding of flight trends. Implementation is currently underway. FOQA (Flight Operations Quality Assurance), also commonly referred to as FDM (Flight Data Monitoring), is the process of analysing and reviewing routinely recorded flight data. Airlines and operators that adopt FOQA are better able to identify and eliminate potential safety hazards in flight operations. Willis Lease Finance reports annual pre-tax profit of US$88.9 million: US-based Willis Lease Finance reported annual total revenues of US$409.2 million and pre-tax profit of US$88.9 million for the year ended 31 December 2019. Aggregate lease rent and maintenance reserve revenues were US$299.7 million for 2019. The company’s results also include US$18.2 million of non-cash write downs. Etihad announces move to Beijing Daxing: Effective 1 June 2020, Etihad Airways will transfer all its flights to and from Abu Dhabi and Beijing, and its flights to and from Beijing to Nagoya, Japan, to the new Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX). The daily flights will continue to be operated by Etihad’s fleet of  Boeing 787 Dreamliners. BOC Aviation posts net profit of US$702 million: BOC Aviation reported an annual profit before tax of US$775 million and a net profit after tax of US$702 million for 2019, both increasing by 13 percent year-on-year. In January, the company announced an order for 20 Airbus A320NEO aircraft and in March 2020 committed to acquire 22 new Boeing 787-8 aircraft for lease to American Airlines. As of 11 March 2020, the company had a total fleet of 561 aircraft comprising 316 owned, 40 managed and 205 aircraft on order. Frequentis modernises voice comms  at HKIA: The Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (HKCAD) has selected Frequentis to commission the Frequentis’ VCS3020X at the backup air traffic control centre of the Hong Kong International Airport. This will allow the continuous modernisation of HKCAD’s voice communication system (VCS). The VCS from Frequentis at the backup air traffic control centre has worked in parallel with the VCS installed by Schmid, during an earlier phase of the project. Hong Kong International Airport has experienced year-on-year growth in aircraft movements for more than a decade. To manage continued airspace demand HKCAD chose Frequentis to complete their VCS project in order to enhance air traffic control (ATC) communications infrastructure for improved and resilient ATC services. Recaro installs first seats from SPRINT programme for Air Lease: Recaro Aircraft Seating installed its first shipset of its BL3530 seats from the SPRINT programme on Air Lease’s B737 aircraft at the start of March. Introduced in late 2019, the SPRINT programme develops and ships predefined BL3530 seats for lessors within two months of the order being submitted. The SPRINT programme can equip either an A320 or B737 with the BL3530 Economy Class seat, which lessors can customise with one of five different predefined e-leather dress covers: light blue, dark blue, light grey, dark grey or red. Recaro is the first aircraft seating manufacturer to introduce a seating programme that offers lessors a customisable seat with a two-month turnaround. Kerry Logistics moves into new Heathrow facility: Hong Kong-based Kerry Logistics Network has moved its air freight division in the UK into a new facility close to London Heathrow Airport as it continues to grow its air freight volumes. The new office and warehouse in Feltham is located at the Skyport Heathrow site. Operating 24/7, the facility provides a fully temperature-controlled bonded warehouse including deep frozen storage, pick and pack machinery, vacuum cooling and other operations to meet tight delivery schedules and product shelf life requirements. Kerry Logistics now occupies 40,000 sq ft of warehouse space in the facility, as it gears up to manage the continued growth of its air freight division. Leonardo’s net profit hits US$916 million: Helicopter maker Leonardo announced its 2019 annual results with a net profit of 822 million euros (US$916 million) on revenues of 13.8 billion euros. The helicopter division grew both its revenues and profitability in 2019 thanks to growth in its customer support and training operations and as well as military and government programmes. In January Leonardo acquired Swiss company Kopter, creator of the upcoming light single SH09, and this type will bring Leonardo into an entirely new market segment. Leonardo said it expected to achieve double-digit profitability and revenue growth in 2020. The company did say it will be affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Several areas could be affected, including commercial campaigns, the company’s supply chain, production and the timing and processes of customers accepting deliveries. “Leonardo has made and is making extensive and widespread use of remote working but cannot, at the moment, exclude selective and temporary partial and targeted suspension of operations of certain departments within production sites which by nature do not offer the possibility of remote working,” the company said, adding “the board of directors believes that what is happening does not change the group’s solid medium-long term fundamentals.”