China Airlines, Tigerair Taiwan ink MRO agreements with Collins Aerospace: Collins Aerospace announced that China Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary Tigerair Taiwan have signed long-term contracts for Collins’ FlightSense programme. Under the contracts, Collins will provide engine accessory repair services for China Airlines’ fleet of 25 A321neo aircraft, and engine accessory repair and spares support for Tigerair Taiwan’s fleet of 15 A320neo aircraft. The fleets are powered by Pratt & Whitney’s GTF™ engines, which Collins supplies a number of engine accessories for including electronic controls, starters, pumps, valves, sensors and harnesses. “While we’ve had smaller, piece part repair agreements with China Airlines and Tigerair in the past, this contract represents our biggest, most comprehensive MRO agreement with the airlines to date,” said Henry Brooks, president, Power & Controls for Collins Aerospace. “It’s a testament to how our relationship with China Airlines has grown over the years as a result of our commitment to provide round-the-clock quality maintenance and repair to keep their fleets on the move.” Jason Tsai, vice president of Engineering and Maintenance for China Airlines said, “We have had a long-term partnership with Collins Aerospace, and we look forward to taking it to the next level with this contract to enhance our operational efficiency and safety.” Dennis Lai, chief operations officer for Tigerair Taiwan said “We appreciate Collins’ commitment to customer service and responsiveness in understanding our requirements to create solutions that work.”
Rolls-Royce, Luxaviation Group sign air mobility deal: Rolls-Royce and the Luxaviation Group said they plan to collaborate on leading the development and deployment of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). Rolls-Royce will provide electrification solutions, maintenance support services, and digital solutions for Luxaviation Group’s planned network of vertiports. Luxaviation already has a presence at over 120 VIP terminals across the world. Both companies share a vision of Advanced Air Mobility solutions including all-electric and hybrid-electric vertical take-off and landing as well as fixed-wing commuter aircraft. The Memorandum of Understanding between Rolls-Royce Electrical, Rolls-Royce Power Systems and Luxaviation focuses on operations, vertiports and surrounding infrastructure to support these exciting new markets that will transform the way we travel. The strategic partnership will look at three main areas: Charging and energy infrastructure for vertiports; Maintenance provision for electric aircraft; Digital solutions for related applications across AAM. Rob Watson, president of Rolls Royce Electrical said: “Rolls-Royce will be the leading provider of all-electric and hybrid-electric power and propulsion systems for Advanced Air Mobility. As part of our strategy, we are looking to ensure we understand how we can deliver maintenance and services for these new aircraft building on our existing MRO and analytics capabilities. We are delighted to collaborate with Luxaviation who we believe will be a leading player in the AAM industry and that this collaboration will help both partners to be at the forefront of this new market.”
Volocopter expects to generate S$4.18 billion for Singapore by 2030: Urban air mobility company Volocopter, said it expects to deliver S$4.18 billion in cumulative economic benefits to Singapore by 2030. This is just one of the many benefits that Volocopter’s UAM services will bring to the city-state, according to its Singapore Roadmap released on 14 February. The document also shares details on the potential routes, use cases, and operational considerations. “We are excited to have progressed to the next step of our UAM journey in Singapore today, by presenting a roadmap that sets out further details on the business and operation plans leading up to our commercial launch in the next two years,” says Christian Bauer, Chief Commercial Officer of Volocopter. “This can only be achieved through our close collaboration we have been fostering for the last few years with the Singaporean authorities and other local partners.” Key insights from the Singapore Roadmap include: Volocopter’s internal studies show that its UAM services can generate an estimated SGD 4.18 billion in cumulative economic benefits and create up to 1,300 local jobs by 2030; UAM will serve as an enabler to achieve the Singapore Green Plan 2030 and act as an engine for economic growth in a post-pandemic world; The initial launch will be tourist flights over Marina Bay and Sentosa, then expand its network to include cross-border flights to Indonesia and Malaysia; Volocopter envisions four to six VoloPorts in Singapore by 2030. Areas being considered: Marina South, Sentosa, and Changi; Volocopter’s consumer study in Singapore showed that 72 percent of those surveyed expressed high interest in flying in a VoloCity.
SIA Engineering starts component unit; Signs deal with North American Aerospace: SIA Engineering Company announced the formation of a component services division (CSD), a new business unit within the company, to grow its component MRO business. Effective from 1 April 2022, all existing component repair and fleet management services, which include inventory technical management services, performed by the company will be consolidated under CSD. Leveraging existing strong capabilities and long-standing relationships with component OEMs, CSD will focus on growth through acquisition and development of new capabilities, thereby broadening the company’s range of service offerings to airline customers and deepening its partnerships with OEMs. SIA Engineering also announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, SIA Engineering (Philippines) Corporation (SIAEP), has signed an agreement with North American Aerospace Industries (NAAI), an aircraft part-out specialist, to provide sustainable, end-to-end aircraft recycling solutions. Under the agreement, SIAEP and NAAI will collaborate to provide a range of services including aircraft parking and storage, component harvesting and dismantling activities on aircraft that will be parted-out and recycled by NAAI. The program will enhance SIAEC’s support in the aircraft lifecycle eco-system, centred on a sustainable platform which includes the recycling, upcycling and used-serviceability of materials. The services will be undertaken by SIAEP at its facility in Clark, Philippines.
ST Engineering announces multiple deals: ST Engineering announced that its commercial aerospace business has signed an agreement to lease up to five Airbus A320 Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) aircraft to Vaayu Group (Vaayu). Astral Aviation, one of the world’s fastest growing all-cargo airlines based in Nairobi, Kenya, will be the launch operator for the first two of the five A320P2F aircraft by sub-leasing them from Vaayu. The first A320P2F, which is being converted by ST Engineering, is expected to be placed on lease in 2Q 2022. This will also be the world’s first A320P2F aircraft to go into operation. ST Engineering will convert and lease the remaining four freighter aircraft progressively. The A320P2F is one of the two variants – the other being the A321P2F – in the Airbus narrowbody P2F programme by ST Engineering, Airbus and their joint venture Elbe Flugzeugwerke. The A320/A321P2F conversion programmes are the first in its size category with easy-to-operate volumetric usability that offers both main deck and lower deck containerised loading. ST Engineering announced that its commercial aerospace business has secured component Maintenance-By-the-Hour (MBH) contracts to support the carriers under China Airlines Group. Under the new multi-year contracts, which have durations between seven and 12 years, ST Engineering will provide integrated component support to the Airbus A321neo and A330 aircraft belonging to national carrier, China Airlines, and the Airbus A320neo belonging to low cost carrier, Tigerair Taiwan. The new contracts add to an ongoing Boeing 737-800 component MBH programme that ST Engineering has with China Airlines since 2010, while Tigerair Taiwan is a new customer. ST Engineering also announced that it has secured the extension of component Maintenance-By-the-Hour (MBH) contracts from Jeju Air to support the airline’s Boeing 737NG and Boeing 737Max aircraft. Under the extension contracts, which will take effect on 1 January 2025, ST Engineering will continue to provide integrated component support to Jeju Air’s Boeing fleet till 2030 after the existing contracts expire.
Airbus says Asia-Pacific region will need over 17,600 new aircraft by 2040: In the next 20 year passenger traffic growth of 5.3 percent per annum and accelerated retirement of older less fuel efficient aircraft will see the Asia-Pacific region require 17,620 new passenger and freighter aircraft. Nearly 30 percent of these will replace older less fuel efficient models. In a region which is home to 55 percent of the world’s population, China, India and emerging economies such as Vietnam and Indonesia will be the principal drivers of growth in Asia-Pacific. GDP will grow at 3.6 percent per year compared to the world average 2.5 percent and double in value by 2040. The middle class, who are the likeliest to travel, will increase by 1.1 billion to 3.2 billion and the propensity for people to travel is set to almost triple by 2040. Of the demand for 17,620 aircraft, 13,660 are in the small category like the A220 and A320 family. In the medium and long range categories, Asia-Pacific will continue to drive demand with some 42 percent of global requirement. This translates to 2,470 medium and 1,490 large category aircraft. Cargo traffic in Asia-Pacific will also increase at 3.6 percent per annum, well above the global 3.1 percent average and will lead to a doubling in air freight in the region by 2040. Globally, express freight boosted by e-commerce will grow at an even faster pace of 4.7 percent per year. Overall, reflecting that strong growth over the next 20 years, there will be a need for some 2,440 freighters, of which 880 will be new-build. “We are seeing a global recovery in air traffic and as travel restrictions are further eased the Asia-Pacific region will become one of its main drivers again. We are confident of a strong rebound in the region’s traffic and expect it to reach 2019 levels between 2023 and 2025,” said Christian Scherer, chief commercial officer and head of Airbus International. “With an ever greater focus on efficiency and sustainable aviation in the region, our products are especially well positioned.”
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