It has been a while

I'm sorry for the long time no update but I've been quite busy, from now on I'll try to post some updates every once in a while.

A quick summary on most news:

Orders:
Virgin America orders 60 new A320's of which 30 will be A320neo's.
Thomas Cook orders 12 A321's to be equipped with Sharklets.
Tui Airlines PLC orders 2 A330-300 to be operated by French airline Corsairfly
Leasing company GECAS orders 12 A330-300's

Unfortunately one order for 12 A330-200F has been canceled bringing the net orders for January to 20 aircraft.

Deliveries:
Airbus' January deliveries came out on 33 airframes consisting of:
1 A319
22 A320
3 A321
1 A330-200
4 A330-300
2 A380

IndiGo signs MoU for 180 A320 family aircraft

Indian airline IndiGo signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the purchase of 180 Airbus A320 aircraft, the order consists of 30 "regular" A320 aircraft and 150 A320neo aircraft making IndiGo the first A320neo customer.

IndiGo has an existing order of 61 aircraft and operates 39 A320's at the moment.

An engine manufacturer for the A320neo has to be selected at this moment, the airline can choose between the Leap-X by CFM and the PurePower pw1100g by Pratt & Whitney. Looking at the size of the order both manufacturers will probably be offering huge discounts on the engines to secure the order.

Picture by: Airbus via www.luchtvaartfoto.nl

Asiana Airlines orders 6 A380s

The South Korean airline Asiana and Airbus announced an order for 6 A380 aircraft on January 6th.

The aircraft are planned for delivery in 2014 and will be dispatched on Asiana's premium routes to Europe and the USA.

The type of engine selected is still unknown at the moment.

Asiana's order for the superjumbo jet is the first announced since a Qantas Airways A380 was involved in an uncontained engine failure during a Singapore-Sydney flight on 4 November.

EasyJet orders 15 extra A320s

British low-cost carrier easyJet announced an order for 15 additional A320 jets to be added to the current order of the company. Furthermore the airline converted 20 current A319 orders in to larger A320s and secured production options for 33 A320 family aircraft.

The 15 new aircraft are scheduled for delivery from 2012 to 2014.

China Eastern orders 50 A320 family jets

After some silent holidays finally some news again.

According to www.flightglobal.com the Chinese airline China Eastern has announced an order for 50 new Airbus A320 jets. The new aircraft will be delivered from 2012 to 2015.

At the moment it is still unknown what type of engine has been chosen and if the aircraft will be equiped with the new "Sharklets".

LAN Airlines Firms Up Order for 50 Airbus A320-Family Jets

LAN Airlines of Chile firmed up it's memorandum of understanding for the order of 50 Airbus A320 family jets which the airline had announced at the 2010 Farnborough Airshow.

The order includes both the A320 and A321 a new aircraft in the LAN fleet, the aircraft will be fitted with the new large wingtip devices for the A320 family called Sharklets.

These Sharklets will enhance the eco-efficiency and payload/range performance and are part of the continuous improvement program for the A320, the Sharklets are expected to enter service with Air New Zealand at the end of 2012.

LAN will start receiving the Sharklet equiped A320s in 2013.

Airbus confident in A350 schedule

Looking at the lessons learned from the setbacks from the A380 and B787 Airbus strives to address any development issues before the start of the A350 final assembly scheduled for late 2011.

Airbus says it will succeed in carrying it's next generation long-haul aircraft, the A350XWB by avoiding the problems repeatedly encountered by Boeing with the B787 Dreamliner, now late by nearly three years.

The Airbus management at the headquarters in Toulouse displays it's confidence in the program.

"There are situations in a program of this type with a totally new aircraft with many new technological firsts" said Fabrice Bregier, CEO of Airbus. "We can not rule out everything, but we do everything to solve any development problems before the plane goes into production."

Airbus has delayed the pace of the program by two months to perform all possible tests on the wing junction with the fuselage to ensure it was strong enough. Unlike Boeing where this problem was discovered on the assembly line in Everett in the United States where many manufactured parts (the wing-fuselage junction in particular) produced in Japan and Italy did not meet the specifications set by Boeing.

"The A350 has made a great leap forward," said Tom Enders, Airbus President, despite the schedule slip of delivery by six months, from first to second half of 2013. According to the management, "the problem is not to lose a few months but to ensure that at each stage the maturity is there."

Airbus says it has learned from the disappointments of the A380 program and wants to avoid the sam mistakes for the A350. "We switched teams because we want to know the truth, they must inform us of problems so we can anticipate, react and adjust as they are identified and not when it's too late."

Airbus has started the pre-assembly of pieces that will then be delivered to Nantes Saint-Nazaire and Hamburg where the pre assembly of entire sections is planned from spring 2011 or later. Final assembly of the first aircraft is expected to begin late 2011 in Toulouse.

The target of Airbus is to deliver the first aircraft of more than 550 total ordered to launch customer Qatar Airways in the second half of 2013.

Source: www.lefigaro.fr