Debrief

The smallest member of Boeing’s 737 MAX narrowbody airliner family, the 737 MAX 7, completed its first flight on March 16. The aircraft, N7201S, took off from Boeing’s Renton facility at 1017 local time, landing at nearby Boeing field three hours and five minutes later. Boeing test and evaluation captains Jim Webb and Keith Otsuka took the aircraft through a series of flight controls tests, as well as checks of its systems and handling qualities. “Everything we saw during today’s flight shows that the MAX 7 is performing exactly as designed,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ vice-president and general manager of the 737 MAX program, Keith Leverkuhn. Certification was planned to occur in 2019.

The General Electric engine that will exclusively power Boeing’s new 777X has completed its first test flight. GE Aviation’s 747 flying testbed with the GE9XTM engine on the wing took off from Victorville in California at about 1040 on March 14. During the four-hour flight, the aircraft and engine “completed the entire test card and validated key operational and functional characteristics enabling the test campaign to progress in subsequent flights”, GE Aviation said.

Portuguese charter and defence aviation services company Hi Fly has become the first airline to acquire an Airbus A380 in the second-hand market. The company said an A380 will join its fleet in mid-2018 and be ready to fly for airlines around the world on a wet-lease basis. Hi Fly’s A380 is a second-hand aircraft that first flew for Singapore Airlines and was returned to lessors in late 2017. The company plans to seat 471 passengers comprising 399 passengers in the main deck and 12 first class and 60 business class passengers on the upper deck. Hi Fly will be the first Portuguese and fourth European airline to operate the A380.

QANTAS GROUP NEWS

Airbus said at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg on April 10 Qantas would be the launch customer for its Airbus A380 “Cabin Flex” solution which enables up to 11 premium economy seats or seven business class seats to be added to the upper deck of the aircraft thanks to a new cabin door area arrangement on the upper deck. Airbus said the A380 Cabin Flex made available the extra space for additional seats by allowing the upper-deck at “Doors 3” to be deactivated.
“The enhancement is available either for line-fit and retrofit. Qantas has chosen to be the launch operator of the A380 Cabin-Flex on its current A380 fleet from mid-2019,” Airbus said in a statement.

Jetstar group chief executive Gareth Evans told the Routes Asia 2018 conference in Brisbane on March 18 the low-cost-carrier’s Australian operation planned to operate the Boeing 787-8 alongside the forthcoming Airbus A321neoLR on some Australia-Bali routes. Jetstar has earmarked the A321neoLR for both Australian domestic flights and services to Bali from Melbourne (2,363nm) and Sydney (2,495mm). That would free up Boeing 787-8s currently serving Bali to be redeployed to other destinations. However, Evans said the 787s would not disappear completely from the Bali route, ensuring that Jetstar would continue to offer a business class product to the popular Indonesian tourist destination. “What we are not doing is we are not replacing the 787s to Bali,” Evans said. “They will still have 787s operating to Bali and we will still offer the configuration and the offering that we do today.”

Still on Jetstar, the LCC lans to commence nonstop flights between Brisbane and Uluru from August 3. The Qantas-owned low-cost-carrier (LCC) will serve the new route three times a week, with flights scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Flight JQ667, to be operated by Airbus A320 equipment departs Brisbane at 0600, arriving at Uluru at 0910. The reciprocal JQ668 takes off from Uluru at 1000 for a 1325 landing back in Brisbane.

Air services provider dnata has agreed to purchase Qantas’s catering businesses for an undisclosed sum. The transaction, announced on April 11, involved Qantas selling its Q Catering (based in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney) and frozen food maker Snap Fresh to the Emirates Group-owned dnata. The deal required Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) approval. The sale also included an agreement for dnata to supply catering for Qantas flights for an initial 10-year period, while the airline would continue to work with key suppliers in menu design and development such as Neil Perry’s Rockpool.

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA GROUP NEWS

Virgin Australia’s first Sydney-Hong Kong nonstop flight will take off on July 2 2018. The airline’s daily nonstop service will be operated by Airbus A330-200 widebodies featuring 20 business class seats with direct aisle access for every passenger and 255 seats in economy at eight abreast. It will compete against Cathay Pacific, which has four flights a day, and Qantas, which has two flights a day, on the route. Virgin Australia’s Sydney flights have been scheduled as a morning departure from Sydney, arriving in Hong Kong in the early evening. After about two hours on the ground, the aircraft returns to Sydney as an overnight service. The start of Sydney-Hong Kong will also coincide with Virgin Australia’s Melbourne-Hong Kong service dropping from daily to five times weekly.

Also, Virgin Australia has named veteran aviation executive Merren McArthur as the new chief executive of the airline group’s low-cost carrier (LCC) unit Tigerair Australia. The announcement on March 21 said McArthur would begin her new role on May 7 2018. McArthur has been at Virgin Australia since 2008, when she joined the company as its general counsel and later as group executive for alliances, network planning and revenue management. Her most recent role is as group executive for Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) and Virgin Australia Cargo. ““Merren has done an outstanding job in transforming and strengthening both the VARA and Cargo businesses and I am confident that she will make an invaluable contribution in this new role,” Virgin Australia chief executive John Borghetti said in a statement.

In other news, Virgin Australia group executive for airlines Rob Sharp told the Routes Asia 2018 conference in Brisbane on March 19 the airline’s order of 40 Boeing 737 MAX narrowbodies provided the flexibility to decide on which was the best aircraft for its domestic and international network depending on market conditions. “There are a number of variants of the MAX. They have different route dynamics and as we look at future route options, we can look at the variants that make sense for our customer needs and our network,” Sharp told delegates in response to a question. “We have set up internally our steering committees and all the effort that is needed to actually get ready for a new aircraft type. This new technology is actually very much suited for fuel efficiency. It’s new product on board so that will be a great addition to the fleet.”

Finally, Virgin Australia plans to begin a new Brisbane-Alice Springs service from June 19. The twice-weekly offering will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays and be operated by Alliance Airlines with Fokker 100 and Fokker 70 jets on behalf of Virgin Australia. The flights have been scheduled as a morning departure from Brisbane, with VA1023 arriving at Alice Springs at 1305. After about 35 minutes on the ground, the reciprocal VA1026 takes off for Brisbane, touching down in the Brisbane capital at 1700.

AIR NEW ZEALAND NEWS

Air New Zealand has moved quickly to announce plans to expand its schedule on the Tasman after its alliance with Virgin Australia ends in late October. (see separate story). According to the Airline Route website, which publishes flight schedules loaded into global distribution systems, Air New Zealand will resume nonstop flights on two new routes – Brisbane-Queenstown and Brisbane-Wellington – as well as add extra frequencies on trunk routes such as Auckland-Sydney, Auckland-Melbourne and Auckland-Brisbane. There are also plans to boost its schedule from Christchurch to Brisbane and Melbourne and seasonal increases on Queenstown-Sydney and Auckland-Gold Coast.

Still on Air New Zealand, the airline is calling for tougher penalties for the misuse of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, after one of its flights was involved in a near miss while approaching Auckland Airport for landing. Flight NZ92 from Tokyo Haneda, operated by Boeing 777-200ER ZK-OKF, was about five metres from a drone during its descent into Auckland on March 25. Air New Zealand chief operations and integrity standards officer Captain David Morgan said thankfully for all concerned an inspection of the aircraft showed no contact with the engine. “It’s clear the time has now come for tougher deterrents for reckless drone use around airports to safeguard travellers, including imposing prison terms in the case of life-threating incidents,” Captain Morgan said.

Also, Air New Zealand will join a select number of airlines in the 7,000nm club from November 30 2018 when it commences nonstop flights between Auckland and Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The new route will be served three times weekly with Boeing 787-9s that feature Air New Zealand’s premium heavy configuration of 27 seats in business, 33 in premium economy and 215 in economy for a total of 275. At 7,112nm, Auckland-Chicago will be the airline’s longest nonstop route measured by the Great Circle distance and its first of more than 7,000nm. Currently, there are 21 routes served by 12 airlines with a Great Circle distance of more than 7,000nm. Chicago will be Air New Zealand’s fourth destination on the North American mainland alongside Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco in the United States and Vancouver in Canada. The airline also flies to Honolulu, Hawaii, and Buenos Aires, Argentina in South America.

AIRLINE NEWS

Jetgo has commenced ticket sales for its nonstop Brisbane-Karratha flights scheduled to begin on June 25. The route will be operated twice a week with Embraer E190 regional jets configured with 98 seats in a two-class configuration. The initial schedule from June 25 to September 21 has Brisbane-Karratha flights operating on Mondays and Thursdays, departing at 1430 and arriving at 1730. The aircraft will then overnight in Karratha before taking off at 0700 on Tuesdays and Fridays, arriving in Brisbane at 1330. From September 24 onwards, the schedule shifts to Brisbane departures on Monday and Wednesday and Karratha departures on Wednesday and Friday. Jetgo also planned to extend its Brisbane-Karratha flights to Singapore from late September. However, the a

Fiji Airways chief executive Andre Viljoen said the rising cost of fuel will be one of the airline’s major challenges for 2018 after posting a fourth straight year of record profit in calendar 2017. The airline group, which covers Fiji Airways, Fiji Link and other subsidiaries, reported profit before tax of FJ$95.8 million (A$61.3 million) for the 12 months to December 31 2017, up 13.4 per cent from the prior corresponding period. “Fuel prices will continue to be a challenge for all airlines and we will not get complacent with the fiscal discipline required to meet our financial targets,” Viljoen said. It was the fourth year in a row the company posted a new record high full year profit before tax.

Cathay Pacific has posted its first back-to-back full year loss since the airline was established in 1946 as intense competition hit the bottom line, including on its Australian routes where demand was weak. The airline reported a net loss of HK$1.259 billion (A$04 million) for the 12 months to December 31 2017, a deterioration from a HK$575 million (A$93 million) loss in the prior year, representing Cathay’s biggest loss in nine years and only the fourth annual loss in its history. Cathay Pacific said the performance of its Southwest Pacific network, which covers Australia and New Zealand, was below expectations with demand weak. “Increased capacity from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Australian carriers put pressure on yield and the number of transit passengers,” the airline said.

In other Cathay Pacific news, the airline is planning to add a sixth weekly Adelaide-Hong Kong flight from October and introduce a split schedule with early afternoon departures from Adelaide on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays and evening departures on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. All flights are operated by Airbus A330-300s featuring 39 business class seats with direct aisle access for every passenger, 21 premium economy seats at seven abreast and 191 economy seats in a 2-4-2 layout for a total of 251 seats. Cathay Pacific said the new schedule would offer more convenient connections to popular locations in North Asia, China, North America and continental Europe, including Cathay Pacific’s new Dublin route.

China Airlines’s Australian network has become an all-Airbus A350-900 operation following the upgauging of its Brisbane and Melbourne services to the next generation widebody in late March. Brisbane received its first China Airlines A350-900 service when CI53, operated by B-18901, touched down at about 1030 local time. A short time later, CI57, operated by A350-900 B-18909, landed at Tullamarine a little after 1200. China Airlines commenced A350-900 flights to Australia in December 2017, when it upgauged the Taipei-Sydney route. The airline has said previously the replacement of the A330-300s with the A350-900 on its Australian routes was part of efforts to win passengers in this country travelling to Europe via its Taipei hub.

Embraer has lost another airline operator in Australia with Cobham Aviation Services confirming it has parted company with its E190 regional jet after three years of operations. The aircraft, VH-NJA, left Australia for Europe via Indonesia on February 24, and landed in the Polish capital Warsaw on February 27. Cobham Aviation Services said VH-NJA had been returned to its lessor. Cobham took the E190 in 2014 to to service its contract with petroleum giant Chevron for its Gorgon project off north-west Western Australia. The contract with Chevron is now being serviced by RJ100s.

Canberra Airport is offering airlines a $600,000 incentive to Qantas and Virgin Australia to reduce flight cancellations on flights to and from Sydney. The airport said it would pay $100,000 a month over the next six months to the airline with a cancellation rate on Canberra-Sydney at or below the national average for that month. If both carriers come in below the national average, then the airline with the lowest number of cancelled flights will get the monthly incentive. “We are prepared to put our money where our mouth is to encourage airlines to stop the practise of cancelling flights and increase transparency about why flights are being cancelled,” Canberra Airport managing director Stephen Byron said in a statement. “All we want is a fair go for our passengers who do not deserve a cancellation rate worse than what other travellers get around the country―just get us back to the national average.”

Virgin Australia alliance partner Etihad Airways will end its Abu Dhabi-Perth nonstop flights on October 1. The route is operated daily with Boeing 787-9s until April 14, when it is being downgauged to Airbus A330-200 equipment. The end of flights between Abu Dhabi and Perth leaves Etihad Airways with three Australian destinations in its route network – Brisbane (daily with 787-9s), Melbourne (twice daily with Boeing 777-300ERs) and Sydney (double daily with Airbus A380s). Perth is the latest route to be cut or reduced as the Abu Dhabi-headquartered carrier undergoes a review of its operations in a bit to improve the financial of the company. Virgin Australia was to have started its own Abu Dhabi-Perth flights with A330-200s in 2017 but cancelled the service even before the inaugural flight took off due to what it said at the time were changes in market conditions that made the route unviable.

DEFENCE NEWS

An Army CH-47F Chinook heavy lift helicopter has been embarked aboard the Navy’s landing ship HMAS Choules for the first time. The recently completed “first of class flight trials” aboard the Choules were held in the Coral Sea off the coast Queensland. They were to define “Ship Helicopter Operating Limits” so that the CH-47F can operate from the vessel in an operational environment. The flight trials were conducted by the Army’s 5 Aviation Regiment and the Navy’s and Aircraft Maintenance and Flight Trials Unit (AMAFTU) and involved more than 206 launches and 66 flight hours, Navy Daily reported.

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has declared initial operational capability (IOC) for the Boeing P-8A Poseidon, meaning the maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft can now be tasked on operations. Defence Minister Senator Marise Payne announced the milestone at the RAAF’s 2018 Air Power Conference in Canberra on March 20. “Together the P-8A Poseidon and the future MQ-4C Triton aircraft will provide Australia with one of the world’s most advanced maritime patrol and surveillance capabilities,” Minister Payne said. The P-8A Poseidon fleet, operated out of RAAF Base Edinburgh, are replacing the RAAF’s ageing AP-3C Orion aircraft.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Air travel technology provider SITA is keen to expand the use of biometrics as part of efforts to help speed up and improve the passenger experience. SITA president for Asia Pacific Sumesh Patel said a trial on the use of biometrics at checkin and boarding with Air New Zealand flights at Brisbane Airport had shown passengers would spend less time at checkin and helped speed up boarding.Patel further discussions with the Australian government, airports and airlines would lead to biometrics being used for other aspects of the passenger experience, such as for self-service bag drop and immigration clearance, as well as potentially duty free sales and entry into airport lounges. “These are other pieces of the trial that we are also working with them and that will include the other touchpoints,” Patel told reporters in Sydney in early April.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is seeking feedback in response to an independent review of its new fatigue risk management rules. The review was announced in August 2017, when CASA deferred the introduction of Civil Aviation Order (CAO) 48.1 in response to feedback from the aviation community. The final report, released on March 22, said the independent review team “supports the need for CAO 48.1”. “Scientific knowledge about fatigue and its effects on human reliability are strong enough to assert the existence of a significant risk exposure that needs to be properly managed,” the report said.

Boeing has marked the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Boeing Research & Technology Australia (BR&T-Australia). Established in 2008, BR&T-Australia has worked with government and university partners to lead and collaborate on major technology projects spanning advanced manufacturing, autonomous systems, defence, and virtual reality/augmented reality systems. “Our BR&T-Australia team strengthens our business by ensuring that the best of Australian innovation and technology enhances our world-leading products and services,” said Boeing’s chief technology officer Greg Hyslop.

New Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Infrastructure and Transport Michael McCormack told the Australian newspaper on April 9 he is considering proposed changes to the Civil Aviation Act put forward by Dick Smith. The proposed changes involve changing the wording of the act to say the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is charged with ensuring the “highest level of safety in air navigation” in addition to having consideration for “an efficient and sustainable Australian aviation industry”. Currently the wording of the act says CASA has to “regard safety as the most important consideration” in its role regulating the industry.

To celebrate the centenary of the Great Air Race in 1919, the Northern Territory government is backing a new Great Air Race to be held in 2019. The competition will be for electric-powered aircraft, with batteries to be charged using renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, or by hydrogen fuel cells, with the hydrogen to be produced by renewable energy. And competitors will have to complete the journey within 30 days.

Boeing HorizonX has chosen Adelaide-based Myriota as its first non-US investment. Myriota makes small low-cost, low-power transmitters for two-way communications between ground-based micro-transmitters and low Earth orbit (LEO) nanosatellites to securely share data over narrow bandwidths. The technology has applications in logistics, defence, utilities, agricultural, environmental and maritime industries, where the Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity via traditional means is extremely challenging and expensive. “Part of the mission of Boeing HorizonX is to pursue and accelerate innovations coming out of startups around the world. By investing in Myriota, we are proud to support Australia’s startup ecosystem and growing space industry,” said Steve Nordlund, vice president of Boeing HorizonX. “Myriota’s technology influences how we think about space-based communications and connectivity in remote locations.” Boeing HorizonX, which was established in 2017 and is the vehicle in which Boeing makes investments in early-stage businesses, was part of the $15 million round alongside Australian venture capital firms Blue Sky and Main Sequence, Singapore-based Singtel Innov8 and Right Click Capital.

BUSINESS JET NEWS

Gulfstream’s newest business jet the G500 made a stop in Melbourne in mid-April as part of a six-month around-the-world promotional tour. Powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada PW800 engines, certification and entry-into-service for the G500, which seats up to 19 people, has a range of 5,200nm and a long-range cruising speed of Mach 0.85, was expected to occur later in 2018.

Business aviation services company Jet Aviation announced on April 11 it had signed a binding agreement to buy aircraft sales and support company Hawker Pacific for US$250 million (A$322 million). Jet Aviation president Rob Smith said the acquisition of Hawker Pacific represented a significant step in expanding the company’s presence in the Asia Pacific and Middle East. Meanwhile, Hawker Pacific chief executive Alan Smith said the company’s acquisition by Jet Aviation was an excellent outcome for its investors, employees and customers. Jet Aviation is part of aerospace and defence giant General Dynamics, which is the parent company of Gulfstream.