Aviation Sourcing Solutions Blog

Aerospace Manufacturing and Design released an article on May 19^th 2016 talking about how American Airlines has taken delivery on the Airbus A321 in Mobile, Alabama. This Airbus A321 aircraft is considered to be the first US produced Airbus in world history.

Airbus recently announced its plan to build a pilot and maintenance training center in Delhi which is planned to open by the year 2018. This is intended to support the Indian government’s “Skill India” campaign as well as the predicted continuing growth of India’s airline industry over the next 20 years.

On February 17^th 2016, Airbus had a press release on Philippine Airlines. According to Airbus, Philippine Airlines is providing high efficiency and comfort for flights going to the US and Europe. There was a Memorandum of Understanding between Airbus and Philippine Airlines for an order of new planes. This includes size A350-900s along with six other purchase options. The Memorandum of Understanding was announced during the Singapore Airshow by Fabrice Bregier, the President and CEO of Airbus along with Jaime J. Bautista, the President and COO of Philippine Airlines.

Airbus released a statement about how IAG is planning to convert two of its A330-200s, two of its A330-300s, and fifteen of its A320neo aircraft into solid orders. If this order was combined with the total amount of Airbus aircraft that IAG operates, this would bring the total to almost near 470.

Airbus announced that China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (also known as CAS) has signed a General Terms Agreement for 130 Airbus aircraft. Of the 130 Airbus aircraft, 30 are A330 family aircraft and 100 are A320 family aircraft.

Although Airbus just released its first A350-900 model last year, they are already moving forward with plans to produce the A350-1000 model. The new A350-1000 is nearly 7 meters longer than A350-900, and its wings also feature an extended trailing edge.  Other updated features include new in-flight entertainment, improved lavatory shapes, and updated cabin crew rest compartments.

Beginning in 2019, Airbus will start delivering its brand new A321neo to customers around the world. Billed as the largest single aisle jet liner on the market, the A321neo is a vast improvement upon the already popular Airbus A321. Improvements seen in the A321neo include two engine options, a 20% increase in fuel efficiency, and 900km of additional flight range. These improvements will allow the A321neo to complete transatlantic passenger flights, which has essentially been impossible until now. Also, the A321neo will see the introduction of “Cabin-Flex” features which optimize cabin space and comfortably increase the seating capacity from 180 passengers to 240.

Plans for Airbus Group SE to deliver 4 A380 superjumbos to Transaero Airlines have been further delayed. The contract which was structured to help the No. 2 Russian carrier cope with slowing travel demands in its home market will have to be put on ice for the time being. Transaero is buying four A380s, initially slated for delivery from this year. Talks of a new schedule are taking place as lower oil prices and sanctions over Russia’s annexation of Crimea weigh on the economy and ruble, crimping flight bookings.

Airbus has finalized its deal with Indian budget airline IndiGo to sell 250 A320neo aircraft. This is the second largest order by value for Airbus-it is the largest ever in the number of aircraft sold. IndiGo is the largest domestic airline by market share in India. Not only has this but it also flown one in three of India’s air travelers.

The aircraft manufacturing giant Airbus is undergoing preparation to deliver the first A330 wide-body aircraft from its China plant in 2018. The company had signed a deal with Aviation Industry Corp. of China and the Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone earlier this month to construct a cabin completion center in Tianjin, where the A320 jets are assembled. This will be constructed next to the already existing A320 final assembly plant, and will be able to assemble two aircraft per month. The facility is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017, and deliveries from the plant are planned to begin early 2018.