Debrief

Adelaide-based charter operator Rossair entered into voluntary administration on July 4, some 13 months after a crash involving one of its aircraft killed its chief pilot and two others on board. The company, which has been in operation for more than 50 years, said in a statement the decision to appoint Ernst and Young partner Henry Kazar and director Lachlan Abbott as joint administrators was made after the business had been faced with “extreme adversities”.

Fiji Airways will be the second airline to fly the Boeing 737 MAX to Australia from December when it replaces the 737-800 with the next generation narrowbody on the Adelaide-Nadi route. It currently flies twice a week between Adelaide and Nadi. No specific start date was given when Fiji Airways announced it would deploy the MAX to Adelaide on June 29. Singapore Airlines’ regional wing Silkair was the first airline to operate the 737 MAX to Australia when started operating the type to Cairns and Darwin in January 2018.

Hawaiian Airlines is well placed for network expansion in the period ahead given its strong presence in a number of international markets and as it takes delivery of new Airbus A321neos and Boeing 787-9s, chief executive Peter Ingram says. “I think we would be opportunistic about expansion, whether that be frequency or new destinations,” Ingram told Australian Aviation on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual general meeting in Sydney in early June.

Still on Hawaiian, Gai Tyrrell has resigned as the airline’s regional director for Australia and New Zealand to take up a new role as managing director for Australasia of tour company Globus. Tyrell had been with Hawaiian Airlines since 2014.

Cathay Pacific has become the second airline in the world and first in Asia-Pacific to take delivery of the Airbus A350-1000 wit the arrival of B-LXA at Hong Kong Airport on June 20. The airline planned to use the largest member of the A350 family to launch a new route, Hong Kong-Washington DC, from September 2018. At 7,085nm, it will be the longest route by distance in the airline’s network. Qatar Airways was the launch customer of the A350-900 and A350-1000.

Etihad Aviation Group chief executive Tony Douglas will take charge of the company’s flagship airline as part of an organisational shakeup announced on July 3. The restructured Group will comprise seven business units – Operations, Commercial, Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), Human Resources, Finance, Support Services and Transformation. Etihad Aviation Group chairman His Excellency Mohamed Mubarak Fadhel Al Mazrouei said the reorganisation and restructure of the group and leadership team would help the company “lay the foundations for Etihad to optimise its value as a world-leading group” as well as streamline operations and capitalise on opportunities. Etihad Airways chief executive Peter Baumgartner, who has led the carrier since 2016, was named Senior Strategic Advisor to Douglas.

Still on Etihad, the restructure was announced a month after Etihad Airways reported an operating loss of US$1.52 billion for calendar 2017, an improvement from a reported loss of US$1.95 billion from the prior year. Total revenue rose two per cent to US$6.1 billion. Baumgartner said the airline’s transformation program – Etihad has been dropping routes and cutting jobs as part of efforts to reduce costs – has delivered “tangible results to date”, noting passenger yields rose nine per cent in calendar 2017.

Australia and India have boosted the available capacity for their respective national flag carriers as part of a new bilateral air services agreement. The new arrangements announced on June 22 allow Australian flag carriers to operate unlimited services between Australia and the six major airports in India (Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai). Similarly, Indian flag can operate unlimited services between India and six airports in Australia comprising Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and a further airport to be nominated by India. The previous bilateral allowed for 6,500 seats each way per week. Air India is the only airline with nonstop flights between Australia and India with flights to Melbourne and Sydney.

Australia’s Federal Court has ordered Air New Zealand pay a $15 million fine for price fixing in the global air freight market. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said the the Federal Court “found Air NZ made and gave effect to agreements with other airlines to fix the price of fuel and insurance surcharges on air freight services from Hong Kong, and insurance and security charges from Singapore, to various locations, including Australian airports, between 2002 and 2007”. The ACCC said Air New Zealand had also agreed to pay the competition watchdog’s $2 million legal costs. The ACCC has been one of many regulators around the world to take action in relation to the air cargo cartel.

Avalon Airport will welcome its first international flights on December 5 2018 when low-cost carrier AirAsia X begins nonstop flights to the airport located located about 20km from Geelong and 55km from the Melbourne CBD. The LCC is transferring its double daily Melbourne operation with 377-seat Airbus A330-300s from Tullamarine to Avalon. Avalon Airport chief executive Justin Giddings said the new international terminal construction was well underway.

Vietnam Airlines plans to upgauge its daily Melbourne-Ho Chi Minh City nonstop flights from 274-seat Boeing 787-9s to 305-seat Airbus A350-900s. The equipment change, due to take place from July 29 to the end of October 2018 was announced in early July as demand on the route had “spiked in recent months”. “It is great to see an increase in demand from our Australian travellers and Vietnam Airlines is delighted to announce the upgrade to some of the current fleet to the new Airbus,” Vietnam Airlines general manager for Australia branch office Hung Truong said.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) has been forced to cancel hundreds of flights due to required inspections of the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines that power its Boeing 787 fleet. The airline cancelled 113 domestic flights between July 6-12, and then announced a further 176 cancellations from July 13-22, with more expected to be announce in the period ahead. Regulators have called for inspections of the Trent 1000 due to earlier than expected turbine blade wear, which has disrupted operations of airlines around the world.

The Airbus A380 has found its first second-hand operator with wet-lease company Hi Fly taking delivery of a double-decker superjumbo that previously flew with Singapore Airlines. Hi Fly is offering the A380, which is from German leasing company Doric, for wet-lease flying on behalf of other airlines. Meanwhile, another leasing company Dr Peters said two A380s that had recently been returned from SIA at the conclusion of their leases would be broken up for parts.

‘The Airbus A380 has found its first second-hand operator.’

Virgin Australia news

Virgin Australia chief executive John Borghetti says bookings for the airline’s Sydney-Hong Kong nonstop flights that launched on July 2 have been strong, while its Melbourne-Hong Kong flights have “performed particularly well” since taking off 12 months ago. “They’ve exceeded expectations in both cases,” Borghetti told reporters prior to boarding the inaugural Sydney-Hong Kong flight. “We always knew that Sydney was going to be a quick take up and it was, but the interesting twist to it is also the amount of sales that is happening at the other end of the route. That’s very very encouraging.”

The airline has announced plans to fly nonstop between Perth and Hobart three times a week with Boeing 737-800s from September 17. It will be the only airline with a nonstop link between Western Australia and Tasmania. “Virgin Australia is proud to deliver a faster, more convenient and affordable way to travel between Hobart and Perth,” said Virgin Australia general manager for network, revenue and alliances Russell Shaw.

Qantas news

Qantas has made some temporary schedule changes due to what it says are pilot training requirements. Its twice-daily Perth-Singapore Boeing 737-800 services was replaced by a daily Airbus A330-operated flight from July 22, while the 747-400 has been rostered on the Perth-Sydney route in place of the A330.

Sydney Airport has commenced trials of facial recognition technology for passengers departing on international flights in partnership with Qantas. Passengers who consent to being part of the trial would be able to use the technology for checkin, bag drop, lounge access and boarding, Sydney Airport said in a statement on July 4, with mobile check-in and automated border processing proposed as the next phases for the trial.

Still on Qantas, the airline group will have a new chairman following its annual general meeting on October 26, with Leigh Clifford to retire from the board after more than a decade in the role. Clifford will be replaced as chairman by Richard Goyder, who was appointed as a Qantas director in November 2017.

Qantas said it expected to make a decision on where to base its proposed pilot training academy before the end of September. On June 22, it announced nine regional centres had been shortlisted from 60 potential locations. The shortlist comprised three sites in New South Wales (Dubbo, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga), two in Queensland (Mackay and Toowoomba) and one in each in the Northern Territory (Alice Springs), Tasmania (Launceston), Victoria (Bendigo) and Western Australia (Busselton).

On June 13, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) asked American Airlines and Qantas for more details on its proposed expanded alliance and joint-business agreement (JBA). The DOT said its reviewed of the pair’s application for antitrust immunity (ATI) that was lodged in February, as well as supporting confidential documents, indicated further information was required to “evaluate the joint applicants’ claims that their immunized joint business will deliver the public benefits claimed in this application”.

Qantas said on June 26 it was surveying its frequent flyers to gauge their opinions on what the airline has termed “the sky is the limit” concepts for cabin amenities on board the eventual aircraft to operate Project Sunrise nonstop flights from Australia’s east coast to London and New York. Ideas included, but were not limited to an exercise zone, communal bar, creche, work/study section or “change and refresh” stations. “It’s still early days and the final cabins may feature some or none of the ideas we’re asking for feedback on, but we want to have the conversation with our customers to help inform our planning,” Qantas head of customer strategy and product development Phil Capps said in a statement.

Finally, aviation consultancy OAG estimated Qantas generated more than a billion Australian dollars of revenue on the busy Melbourne-Sydney route in the year to March 2018. The OAG report found Qantas, which flies up to 65 flights a day on the route including many with widebody aircraft, generated US$854,692,402 (A$1.15 billion) in that 12-month period. It ranked second behind British Airways’ London Heathrow-New York JFK service, which had US$1.04 billion in annual revenue, or about six per cent of the airline’s total revenue. Five of the top 10 routes in terms of revenue involved flights to or from Heathrow.

Defence News

The federal government announced on June 26 Australia would acquire six Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton maritime unmanned aerial systems (MUAS), with the first scheduled to be delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force in mid-2023. Initial operating capability (IOC) was scheduled to occur 12 months later, with full operational capability (FOC) of all six systems expected in mid-2025.

Manufacturing of the centre fuselage for the F-35 Lightning II fighter has entered full-rate production (FRP) at Northrop Grumman’s integrated assembly line (IAL) at Palmdale in California. The centre fuselage production rate has increased to a production interval (PI) of 1.5 per day, meaning a centre fuselage for any of the three models of the F-35 is produced at the IAL every 1.5 work days.

The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) is receiving two ex-Australian Army Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters to support its emergency services work, the NSW and federal governments announced on June 22. The two helicopters, to be based in Sydney, would be retrofitted to RFS specifications after they were withdrawn from Army service, which was expected to occur from 2019.

The United States government has posthumously awarded a US Air Medal to Royal Australian Air Force Flying Officer Phillip Zupp. United States Charge D’Affaires to Australia James Caruso presented the award to Zupp’s son and <em>Australian Aviation</em> Flying Editor Owen Zupp at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on July 2 that was lao attended by then Chief of Defence Force Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, whose tireless efforts were instrumental in Phillip Zupp being recognised in this way.

New Zealand has confirmed an order for four Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft to replace its six ageing P-3 Orions. The announcement of the NZ$2.3 billion order, which in addition to the aircraft included training systems, infrastructure and introduction into service costs, was made on July 9. The first aircraft was expected to arrive in 2023, two years before the P-3 Orions reached the end of their operational life.

The Department of Defence is inviting industry to submit innovative proposals to reduce the visual and acoustic signatures of unmanned aerial systems (UAS). “Defence is looking for outcomes to reduce both the visual and acoustic detection of UAS from ground-based observation without disrupting the operation of the aircraft,” Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne said in a statement.

Industry news

Flight training school Soar Aviation has sold a 50 per cent stake in the company to private equity firm The Growth Fund. Soar Aviation founder and chief executive Neel Khokhani said the investment from the deal would support the company’s expansion plans both locally and overseas. “Australia trains the fourth-largest number of commercial pilots in the world and our flight training is highly regarded internationally. There is a clear opportunity for Australian schools to capture some of that demand and I see Soar playing a big part in that,” Khokhani said in a statement on July 5.

Brisbane, Newcastle and Perth will join 12 other sites around the world gearing up to celebrate World Helicopter Day on Sunday, August 19 2018. The event, being held for the fourth year running, aims to raise awareness of helicopters’ contributions to society and celebrate the diversity of people who design, fly and support them.

More than 30 industry associations from Australia’s general aviation community have issued a communique that outlines a set of reforms aimed to tackle the administrative and financial burden of regulatory compliance that they say has led to the decline of their sector. The communique, which includes proposed changes to the Civil Aviation Act and other initiatives was agreed to at the conclusion of a two-day summit in Wagga Wagga on July 9-10 that was attended by about 100 delegates and organised by the recently-established Australian General Aviation Alliance (AGAA).

OEM news

Boeing and Embraer have confirmed plans to establish a joint-venture that aims to boost their competitive offering in the commercial aircraft sector. Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) announced on July 5, Boeing will purchase 80 per cent of Embraer’s commercial aircraft and services business for US$3.8 billion. Meanwhile, Embraer will have a 20 per cent stake in the new JV. The deal, following months of negotiations, valued Embraer’s commercial aircraft operations at US$4.75 billion.

Still on Boeing, the airframer’s evergreen 767 program has received a new order from FedEx Express, with the global transport company putting pen to paper for 12 767 freighters and 12 777 freighters on June 19. FedEx said the 767s would arrive between 2020 and 2022, while 777 deliveries would take place in the 2021-2025 timeframe. “These aircraft will be used to continue to improve the efficiency and reliability of the FedEx Express aircraft fleet,” FedEx Express said. The company is the world’s largest operator of both the 767 and 777 freighter.

Airbus has lifted its forecasts for new aircraft deliveries over the next two decades amid strong passenger growth and the replacement of older aircraft with more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly jets. The Airbus 2018-2037 Global Market Forecast (GMF) published on July 6 said airlines around the world were expected to order 37,389 new aircraft between 2018 and 2037. The figure was up 7.1 per cent from the 34,900 expected new aircraft deliveries in the 2017-2036 GMF.

Still on Airbus, the aerospace giant has unveiled the paint scheme for the first of five BelugaXL over-size transport aircraft. The livery features a whale-inspired design that includes a pair of eyes on the fuselage and an “an enthusiastic grin” on the nose. The aircraft was scheduled to undergo ground testing before its first flight later in 2018, Airbus said on June 28.

Airbus’s A330neo certification program completed the final step in its certification program with world tour for route proving tests. From June 18 to July 7, the first A330-900 production aircraft that features the colours of launch customer TAP Portugal went through function and reliability tests such as ETOPS missions, landing at diversion airports and testing airport handling services, while visiting 15 cities across Asia and North and South America and accumulating 150 flight test hours.

Finally on Airbus, the company has rebranded the Bombardier C Series regional jets as the A220 at an official ceremony at its Toulouse headquarters on July 10. The CS100 (100-135) will now be known as the A220-100, while the new name for the CS300 (130-160 seats) is the A220-300. The first aircraft with the new Airbus livery, A220-300 C-FFDO, arrived in Toulouse as part of the official ceremony.

Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) is aiming to obtain type certification for its C919 narrobody jet by the end of 2020, with deliveries to begin the following year, COMAC general manager of the sales and marketing department Zhang Xiaoguang told the Reuters news agency in mid-June. China Eastern is the launch customer for the C919, which is of a similar size to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 family of aircraft. The European Aviation Safety Agency is carrying out the certification process.

Airports news

On July 22, Australia’s Productivity Commission released the terms of reference for its inquiry into the regulation of the nation’s airports. ““The purpose of this inquiry is to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the current arrangements and determine whether they remain appropriate,” the Productivity Commission said on its website. The previous Productivity Commission inquiry into airports took place in 2011.

Canberra Airport’s International Terminal designed by Guida Moseley Brown Architects took out the Best of Commercial Design in the Australian Capital Territory at the 15th annual Australian Interior Design Awards (AIDA). The airport’s international terminal handles a daily flight from Qatar Airways to Doha via Sydney and Singapore Airlines’ daily Sydney-Canberra-Singapore service.

Adelaide Airport in mid-June announced a three-year, $165 million terminal expansion project to increase the space available for border processing and security screening for international arrivals and departures, as well as a larger retail and dining precinct and the introduction of VIP facilities. Also, Gate 18 located in the middle of the terminal, will be permanently dedicated to international flights.

WSA Co, the government-owned company charged with building and operating the proposed second Sydney airport at Badgerys Creek, has awarded the CPB Contractors Lendlease joint-venture a contract to prepare the site for major construction. The early earthworks contract involved moving about 1.8 million cubic metres of soil to start levelling the site, as well as building access roads and drainage. Work should begin by the end of calendar 2018. Still on Badgerys Creek, WSA Co in two separate contracts appointed Bechtel to manage the airport construction and for some airport design development work. Bulk earthworks and airside civil packages are expected to go to market later in 2018, the federal government said on June 30.

Fuel company Air BP said on June 13 it has started supplying Jet A-1 at Cloncurry Airport in Queensland for commercial and general aviation customers, complimenting its existing supply of Avgas. The addition of Cloncurry, as well as Bundaberg and Busselton airports in March 2018, brings to 76 the number of airports where Air BP offers refuelling services.