Airbus A380: how the airlines compare

Here is the definitive guide to current A380 operators Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qantas, Air France, Lufthansa, Korean Air, China Southern, Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways. 

Thai Airways became the ninth carrier to take delivery of the Airbus A380 in September 2012, and has a total of six superjumbos on order, configured for 507 seats with 12 in Royal First Class, 60 in Royal Silk business class, and 435 in economy.

First and business class cabins feature fully-flat beds, and all passengers benefit from AVOD in-flight entertainment systems, individual power sources, and wifi internet and mobile phone access.

iPad & airlines pilots: The case of Air France & American Airlines

Air France: iPads serving the needs of flight safety

Air France is the first major European airline to equip its 4,100 pilots with an iPad digital tablet. Boeing 777- qualified pilots have been using it on a daily basis since June, and all the Company’s pilots will be equipped by summer 2013.

Interview with Sébastien VEIGNEAU, First Officer on B777 & iPad project pilot correspondent. 

What are the advantages of using this tablet?

The Flight Operations Division and the Air France IT Systems Division have been working together with Apple to personalize this tool and adapt it especially for our pilots. It will simplify access to information, notably for consulting regulatory documentation, and facilitate our communication channels within the Company.

Starting in 2013, iPad will offer training and refresher e-learning modules, i.e., aircraft system revision, self-service briefings, flight path and airfield recognition. With this tool, Air France has chosen to promote use of new technologies and is the first European airline to equip its pilots. 

No crisis for 787 despite big Qantas cancellation

Boeing has suffered its largest Dreamliner cancellation so far after Qantas scrapped its firm order for 35 787-9s worth 6.62€ billion, taking the cumulative cancellation tally beyond 200.

However, with the move to terminate the Dreamliners on order for its mainline division being triggered by the Australian flag carrier's financial woes, the cancellation is not seen as having any major repercussions for the 787 programme.

Boeing secured the landmark 787 order from Qantas back in December 2005 with a deal for 65 aircraft for its mainline and Jetstar operations, when the Dreamliner saw off the rival Airbus A350 in an intense sales campaign. The Dreamliner was selected "as the cornerstone of Qantas's domestic and international fleet renewal programme".

At the time, Airbus was offering the old A330-dervived A350 and the loss of Qantas to the 787 likely helped spur Toulouse's decision to adopt the all-new XWB design.

Regional airlines must choose whether to align with a major carrier or go it alone

"The regional airline model is broken", has become a commonly repeated refrain.

Sean Menke, president and chief executive of Pinnacle Airlines said it right before the carrier filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Comair president Ryan Gumm said it right before Delta Air Lines shut down his regional airline. Helane Becker, analyst at Dahlman Rose, said it while discussing the problems that US regional airlines are facing.

What all of them are saying is that US regional carriers are too dependent on major airlines and relations between them have reached such a crunch that it is doubtful many regionals will survive.

Gulfstream G650 - Key Data

Gulfstream-PlaneView-cockpit

The Gulfstream G650 comes with ultra-high speed, ultra-long-range features and is the most expensive business jet manufactured by US-based Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation. The G650 project started in May 2005 and was unveiled in March 2008. The prototype of G650 was rolled out on 29 September 2009 at Gulfstream's 308,000ft2 manufacturing facility in Savannah, Georgia, US.

The maiden flight of the G650 jet liner took place on 25 November 2009 and the first series of flight tests were completed in December 2009. The aircraft is expected to receive a joint certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in 2011.

Gulfstream G650 finally gets green light from FAA

Gulfstream's flagship business jet - the G650 - has been granted full type certification by the US Federal Aviation Administration, clearing the way for the US airframer to deliver the first ultra-long range business jet before the end of the year. 

The approvals come within days of the G650's smaller super midsize G280 stablemate securing final approval from the US and Israel. Gulfstream, based in Savannah, Georgia, has received more than 200 orders for the Mach 0.925 G650 to date and the backlog for the $65-million aircraft is five years. 

The 18-seat, Rolls-Royce BR725-powered G650 is fitted with a full three-axis, fly-by-wire system and an advanced flight deck with four 14-inch displays and a head-up display. It is fitted with enhanced and synthetic vision as standard. 

FREE PDF - Top 100 aerospace companies 2012

Our Top 100 ranking of aerospace manufacturers' 2011 financial performance reveals the beginning of a sharp divergence in fortunes between companies supplying civil programmes and those reliant on military sales.

Click to view the full 2012 Top 100 aerospace companies listing as a PDF

For a quick summary of the aerospace industry financial situation today, think three words: civil versus defence. The 2011 financial data analysed by PwC to compile our latest Top 100 report on the following pages highlights the beginning of the end of the post-9/11 military spending surge, but the economic impact on defence-focused companies will not really hit hard until 2013.

BAE Systems, EADS in merger talks to create $100bn turnover business

EADS, the Airbus and Eurocopter parent, is in talks with defence manufacturer BAE Systems over a possible merger that would create the world's largest aerospace and defence company with an annual turnover of almost $100 billion.

In a joint statement released to the London Stock Exchange, BAE confirmed that discussions between the two manufacturers were under way.

If the merger goes ahead, the firms' combined annual turnover would be $95.8 billion, based on their 2011 figures, with around $74 billion generated by aerospace operations. This would dwarf EADS's chief rival Boeing, which recorded turnover of $68.7 billion in 2011.

The merger would give EADS a long-sought foothold in the US defence market. Since beginning to shift the centre of gravity of its business stateside in the 2000s, BAE has become one of the Pentagon’s biggest contractors.

Space Shuttle Endeavour to Head to California

Endeavour shown here atop a modified Boeing 747 in
anticipation of its upcoming ferry flight.

Endeavour – the last NASA shuttle ever constructed – is slated to journey to a new home this week, as it prepares to leave Kennedy Space Center aboard a modified Boeing 747 and head toward Los Angeles, California.

After a series of delays due to anticipated thunderstorms along Endeavour’s route, the scheduled ferry flight has been pushed back to a Wednesday morning sunrise takeoff.

NASA officials say they are currently discussing how the delays will affect Endeavour’s flight plan, which was originally slated to include a stop in Houston ahead of a Thursday arrival in L.A. The space shuttle is now expected to arrive on Friday.

Built to replace Challenger after the tragic loss of the shuttle in 1986, Endeavour made a total of 25 missions before its retirement in the spring of last year. During those missions, the shuttle covered 122,883,151 miles, spent 299 days in orbit and accomplished a number of major milestones, including the delivery of the first American-made component to the International Space Station and the flight of the first African-American female astronaut into space.