Posted 23rd November 2011
Despite the current economic gloom, easyJet has announced a massive 60% increase in profits for 2011. The company claims "Firm control of costs, effective yield management, the strength of easyJet's network and a focus on customers" all helped them achieve a post-tax profit of £248m for the period. Passenger numbers increased by nearly 12% to 54.5m and ancillary revenue rose by around 13%.
Even with a £100m rise in unit fuel costs, cash generation was £424m, with £100m in net cash at the end of September.
Posted 23rd November 2011
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued a supplemental type certificate (STC) for an electronic flight bag (EFB) from navAero. The approval applies to A330-200/200F/300 series aircraft. 'Bag C22 EFB' enables operators to use information from onboard systems to "auto populate" data for third party charting and maintenance applications, as well as initiate on-ground message and data transfers as required for paperless operation. Hakan Norell, navAero CTO, says the EFB not only provides end-to-end connectivity but is "especially suitable for airlines with heterogeneous fleets".
Posted 25th November 2011
Event: 24 November 2011 - Bologna, Italy
The 'IV Open House' event was organised by COM&TEC, Italy's association for technical communications. The aim of the show was to highlight and discuss technical communication tools and methodologies for business.
In a packed three-hour presentation entitled 'Strategies for structured information', Gordon discussed three important themes in technical publishing today.
The first theme was structured information management using XML and the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). He considered why XML has not taken off quicker and what DITA will do to change this. There was also a look at using DITA for information re-use and re-purposing, and how in today's world XML & DITA allow us to cost-effectively deliver information to a wide range of environments. DITA topic design principles were examined and different strategies for re-use compared. Gordon briefly compared DITA with the ASD S1000D standard, and concluded with a look at controlled publication management.
Next, he turned his attention to the theme of authoring. The English language is estimated to have over 900,000 words; even a mother tongue English speaker can hope to manage only between 30,000 and 40,000 words. When using English as a second language, especially in a safety critical environment, it's vital to make meanings simple, non-ambiguous and clear. This is where ASD Simplified Technical English comes to the rescue. Gordon examined the concept of STE, the key advantages, STE's rule based environment, its standard dictionary and user names glossary. He finished this theme with some examples of it STE in use.
The third theme examined the previous two from a management perspective.
How do we convince senior management, with its notoriously short attention
span, that all this is not only important, but that it can save money,
improve customer satisfaction, and enhance safety? He looked at some useful
techniques to do this, and some traps to avoid. He also considered some measurable
parameters as well as "soft" benefits. To conclude the workshop, Gordon examined
case studies of successful implementations of XML/DITA and STE, taken from
the air traffic control, aerospace and automotive industries .
Read more here
6 October 2011
At October's 'Adobe Max 2011', Adobe announced how it plans to embrace cloud computing, mobile devices and social networking.
Creative Cloud, as its name implies, is a cloud-based environment for creative professionals that includes access to online versions of Adobe Apps and a community of like-minded individuals where members can share their work. The cloud service includes 20 GB of storage and will eventually include access to cloud versions of all Adobe Creative Suite tools. The community idea carries strong influences of social networking.
Adobe also announced a set of tablet apps that can use finger or stylus in the creative process. These include Adobe Photoshop; Adobe Debut, a tool for presenting ideas on a tablet to clients; Adobe Ideas, a tool for sketching ideas; and Adobe Collage, a tool for creating ideas and bringing them together in a storyboard view.
The cloud tools and the tablet tools are designed to work together to give creative professionals a strong cloud-mobile-social environment for creating and sharing content, and is part of an apparent move by Adobe away from being from a pure desktop
software vendor.
Visit the Adobe MAX website
27 September 2011
More than 500 employees representing the 787 program walked alongside the first production, all-new jetliner as part of the formal handove to senior executives of ANA (All Nippon Airways). After the ceremony in Washington, the plane took off for for Japan from where it will go into service in November.
Made from composite materials, the Dreamliner is claimed to be the first mid-size airplane capable of flying long-range routes, allowing airlines to open new, non-stop routes preferred by the traveling public. In addition, it is expected to provide airlines with new levels of fuel economy and lower operating costs.
Source: ADS News
Posted 15 September 2011
Event: 26 to 27 October 2011 - London UK
In a world where credit has become scarce, fleet life extension is an attractive prospect for airlines, both large and small – regional and global as the costs of purchasing or leasing new aircraft can significantly outstrip the costs of extending an airframe / engine's life span. The conference will explore the debate and technical considerations around mid to end-life civil aviation fleet extension as well as a number of themes including the technical and cost implications of extending an aircrafts life vs. renewing with modern aircraft. This conference will also examine future MRO strategies and analyse succesfull airline case studies.
These scinarios highlight many of the benefits of Koala's products and services. Gordon will be discussing how embracing new technologies can provide fleet operators with key information publishing and electronic distribution systems which improve quality, safety and efficiency.
Presentations will also include speakers from Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa TechnikAG, Airbus, IBERIA, Pakistan International Airlines Engineering, Airbus Freighter Conversions, International Bureau of Aviation, IATA,ARC Global, MRO Magazine, Component Obsolescence Group, CMCA UK, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Read more here
15 September 2011
Adobe CTO, Kevin Lynch has blogged on Apple’s refusal to support Flash on mobile touchscreen devices and the rise of HTML5 as a new, open standard which may one day replace Flash.
Lynch claims "We are now on the verge of delivering Flash Player 10.1 for smartphones with all but one of the top manufacturers. This includes Google’s Android, RIM’s Blackberry, Nokia, Palm Pre and many others across form factors including not only smartphones but also tablets, netbooks, and internet-connected TVs". However, he goes on to say "... to date we have not had the required cooperation from Apple ...".
See the blog here
03 August 2011
The UK's air traffic control organisation is to implement a multi-million pound project to transfer all its desktop IT services to a cloud-based infrastructure to make savings of £9m.
Over the next four years NATS plans to create a virtual desktop environment, which it hopes will shrink its environmental footprint, improve flexibility and enhance the service it provides to around 6,000 staff.
Read more at ComputerWeekly.com
21 July 2011
Koala's innovative technology for distributing documents and technical information to mobile devices, Mobile4docs, has created such an impression with aviation and aerospace professionals that we decided to launch an exclusive new web site.
You can visit the new Mobile4docs website here:
mobile4docs.com
29 June 2011
Australia's Qantas and the UK's British Airways are to strengthen ties and attempt to gain more business in Asia.
The carriers already have an agreement covering pricing and scheduling for travel between Australia and the UK. Now, with Malaysia's Malaysia Airlines set to enter the Oneworld marketing alliance, where BA and Qantas already are members, Kuala Lumpur is being touted as a potential new Qantas/BA hub.
Source: Impact Publications
8 June 2011
Alaska Airlines has announced that it is issuing iPads to its pilots as part of a drive to enhance flight safety, efficiency and environmental performance. The 1½lb devices will replace 25lb of paper flight manuals. The decision to introduce the iPad follows a trial by 100 line and instructor pilots and Air Line Pilots Association representatives at the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011.
Alaska VP of flight operations Gary Beck says the airline had been investigating electronic flight bags for several years before it found “the perfect fit”. The iPads, which are class one devices and must be stowed during takeoff/landing, contain a “GoodReader” app loaded with 41 flight, systems and performance manuals, reference cards and other materials. Alaska says the roll-out should be complete by mid-June this year.
26 May 2011
Delivery of its 200th Airbus aircraft has been celebrated by UKs budget airline easyJet. Referred to as the "big orange" because of its distinctive celebratory livery, the A320's delivery flight from Tulouse to Gatwick was met by chief executive Carolyn McCall and easyJet head of fleet and procurement Chris Essex. Because of the European economic climate and fuel price uncertainties, the company's original plan to grow capacity at 7% per year is now being kept under constant review.
17 May 2011
Skyblue Aero Services, a Type Rating Training Organisation (TRTO) specialising in ATR
turboprops, has recently started using XMetaL for its documentation. The
company is also using Koala's Modulux 2011 content management system for
topic management, version control and permissions management. "Documentation within the aviation industry is safety critical and so has to be 100% accurate at all times. One of the
key aspects we were concerned to get right was the traceability of document
modifications, which Modulux provides for us" said Skyblue's Chief
Executive, Andy Foan.
Click here to read the Press Release
11 May 2011
Airbus has become the first to certify Honeywell's new TCAS SmartTraffic system and plans to offer its advanced functions on A320, A330 and A340 models.
"The new TCAS system is a significant step towards worldwide Air Traffic Management (ATM) modernization, which is designed to make flights safer, more environmentally friendly and more affordable," said John Bolton, president of Honeywell's Air Transport and Regional business. "Airlines that use TCAS with SmartTraffic will be flying planes equipped with the most advanced collision avoidance in the world. This will considerably increase their flight efficiency and routing, and in so doing, reduce their costs substantially."
11 May 2011
Heathrow, in west London, had its busiest ever April last month. The airport reportedly handled more than 5.8 million passengers during April 2011. Another of BAA's airports, Edinburgh, enjoyed a record April, with passenger levels there reaching more than 776,000.
Gatwick airport, south of London, also reported record load factors and large passenger number growth for April as travellers took advantage of the UK bank holidays. The airport recorded an additional 702,500 passengers passing through its doors in April this year compared to April last year – a 34.2% growth.
11 May 2011
“Inevitably higher fuel costs will lead to extra capacity as we’ll see withdrawal from competitors. We have a strong balance sheet and we are well positioned in European aviation to secure peak-time slots,” announced chief executive Carolyn McCall. “Our more fuel-efficient fleet also gives us a cost advantage.” After 11 years of zero dividend payouts, easyJet also confidently announced plans to release a substantial dividend to shareholders next year.
19 April 2011
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA), Europe’s second-biggest airline, will begin trading emission rights on the European Energy Exchange AG as it prepares to join the world’s largest greenhouse gases cap-and-trade program.
Airlines are said to be the second-largest sector in the EU emissions-trading system, after power generators. Aviation joins next year with a carbon-dioxide limit of 213 million metric tons, falling to 208.5 million tons in 2013. The EU emissions program, including more than 11,000 utilities and manufacturers, requires companies that exceed their CO2 quotas to buy spare permits from businesses that emit less or pay a fine.
Source: Bloomberg.com
13 April 2011
TeamSAI executive vice president David Marcontell, speaking at the Aviation Week MRO Americas conference in Miami, expects global MRO spending to increase by 10.8% in 2011 to $46.9 billion, up from $42.3 billion in 2010, supporting a worldwide fleet of 20,203 aircraft, up from 19,675 in 2010.
Source: Flightglobal
11 April 2011
A helicopter relies on its rotor to be able to take off and land vertically. The rotor is also responsible for the noise a helicopter makes during flight. Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) in Gottingen and NASA are investigating the exact origin of this rotor noise. The aim is to make the helicopters of the future quieter.
Source: ASD News
11 April 2011
While it may have brought sighs of relief from many Part 91 and Part 135 operators, the full impact of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) decision to withdraw an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on safety management systems (SMS) remains unclear.
Put simply, the FAA has its plate full for now. But it may revisit the issue down the road, said Doug Carr, NBAA vice president of safety, security & regulation. "It doesn't mean the issue goes away," he said. In fact, in its announcement the FAA cautioned that it may "initiate additional rulemaking in the future to consider SMS for other product/service providers." Source: National Business Aviation Association, Washington DC
8 April 2011
The governments of the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and
Turkey have entered into a contract where they will collectively pay an
additional £1.75bn for the Airbus A400M. In addition, the 7 countries will
advance a loan of £1.31bn to shore up the project, already running 4 years
late and £4bn over budget. The loan is conditional against further sales -
which, given that all the signatories are tightening their financial belts
in defence spending - almost certainly means Airbus will have to look
elsewhere in the world for A400 revenues.
UK Defence secretary Liam Fox put a characteristically optimistic face on the news, saying "the signing of the agreement on the A400M project signifies a major step forward for the programme". Orders for the Royal Air Force project initial deliveries of the 22 aircraft in late 2014, beginning replacement of the long serving C-130s. Total confirmed A400M orders to date worldwide are for 170 aircraft.
8 April 2011
Normally one of the more daunting parts of a DITA installation is
customising the output to PDF from the DITA Open Toolkit (OTK), requiring
technical knowledge of XSL-FO and
XSL-T. The TopLeaf plugin from Turnkey
Systems of Australia, when used in conjunction with XMetaL Author allows
users with little or no XSL expertise to easily create output configurations (similar to stylesheets) for PDF
output in a point and click environment.
Click here for further information
22 March 2011
São José dos Campos - Embraer and Alitalia have finalized an agreement for the delivery of 15 EMBRAER 175 and 5 EMBRAER 190 jets through a lease structure to be arranged by third parties.
The delivery of the new E-Jets is scheduled to begin in the third quarter 2011. The 88-seat EMBRAER 175s and the 100-seat EMBRAER 190s will be configured in a single-class layout. The aircraft will be used on the Alitalia's domestic and European network, and will be based on the seven Italian airports: Rome Fiumicino, Milan Linate, Milan Malpensa, Turin, Venice, Naples and Catania. Source: ADS News
21 March 2011
As reported in Flight International and elsewhere, Jeppesen has announced the success of a rapid decompression test for the iPad 2. The test, was required due to mechanical differences between the iPad 2 and the early iPad used to secure Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval for Jeppesen’s Mobile TC app (mobile terminal charts).
Jeppesen has reported that no anomalies occurred during the test, which took place at 51,000ft. The certification programme lasted 3 months and also included verification that the iPad would not interfere with other avionic systems. As a Class 1 certified EFB, the iPad is to be introduced into service by NetJets subsidiary Executive Jet Management. Jeppesen announced that Executive Jets will be using Mobile TC on 10 different aircraft types.
21 March 2011
New York and London are to be linked with virtually hourly services by oneworld carriers American Airlines and British Airways following EU approval of the airlines’ relationship.
Previously, of the 11 daily flights to New York, five left Heathrow at almost exactly the same time, leaving gaps of up to three hours between services. Now flights will depart every hour, on the hour between 13:00 and 20:00 from Heathrow. There will also be a maximum of only an hour and a half between morning departures with the first outbound (BA) at 08:30 arriving at JFK 11:00 (all times local).
A mixture of Boeing 747s and Boeing 777s are used for the services.
Source: www.luchtzak.be
9 March 2011
U.S. and the European Union appear ready to cement an air-safety pact that both sides say should improve aviation oversight and save millions of dollars. The coordination will also help harmonize air-safety rules in the world's two biggest aviation markets, reducing duplication costs and confusion for airlines, pilots and manufacturers. The pact could come into force as soon as May 1. Source: The Wall Street Journal
7 March 2011
The Federal Aviation Administration and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement to collaborate on research aimed at providing seamless air traffic service on routes between the United States and Europe. Both sides will investigate the interoperability of avionics, communication protocols and procedures, including the FAA’s NextGen and its European equivalent, SES, managed by EuroControl.
7 March 2011
Airbus says Asian airlines will take delivery of 8,560 aircraft in the next 20 years – a third of all deliveries in the world in that time. The manufacturer cited the continent’s rapidly-growing economic growth as the major driver for the increase in demand. Boeing meanwhile predicts a higher number of 10,320 commercial airliner sales in Asia Pacific between 2010-2019. Airbus’ SVP of product strategy, Christopher Emerson, says their forecast is based on "stronger-than-average traffic growth in the region, together with the replacement of many existing aircraft”.
1 March 2011
Lufthansa plans to double its current Airbus A380 fleet to four by mid-summer, and stresses the recent Rolls-Royce Trent 900 issues should not affect its planned delivery schedule for the superjumbo aircraft in 2011 Source: Flightglobal.
1 March 2011
UK air navigation service NATS reports that January 2011 saw "the first significant monthly increase" in the number of flights handled since the onset of the global economic downturn. The number of flights handled by NATS rose 4.6% compared with the same month in 2010. Disruption caused by heavy snow in January 2010 meant figures for that month were depressed, but after stripping out the weather factor NATS says that underlying growth would still have been between 1% and 2%. Source: Flightglobal.
28 February 2011
Ryanair's Chief Executive Michael O'Leary is quoted as saying, "We are proud to take delivery of our 300th brand new Boeing 737 aircraft. The total value of the Ryanair fleet is now over $18 billion." The airline will take delivery of a total of 37 of these aircraft during 2011 and is the world's largest operator of the 737-800.
25 February 2011
UK airport operator BAA has reported revenues of £2.1 billion (US$3.4 billion) for the year ended 31 December 2010 – a rise of 4.9 percent over the previous 12-month period.
25 February 2011
Bombardier Aerospace have upped the ante for the rapid delivery of parts to resolve Aircraft on Ground (AOG) situations for its customers in the Middle East and Asia with the announcement of a dedicated PartsExpress aircraft based in Dubai. The PartsExpress aircraft, a Challenger 601 business jet, is now available round the clock to transport parts, expert technicians and test equipment at short notice from Dubai International Airport to Learjet, Challenger and Global aircraft operators across the Middle East and beyond, reaching into Turkey, Kazakhstan, India and North Africa.
25 February 2011
UK airport operator BAA has reported revenues of £2.1 billion (US$3.4 billion) for the year ended 31 December 2010 – a rise of 4.9 percent over the previous 12-month period.
25 February 2011
Bombardier Aerospace have upped the ante for the rapid delivery of parts to resolve Aircraft on Ground (AOG) situations for its customers in the Middle East and Asia with the announcement of a dedicated PartsExpress aircraft based in Dubai. The PartsExpress aircraft, a Challenger 601 business jet, is now available round the clock to transport parts, expert technicians and test equipment at short notice from Dubai International Airport to Learjet, Challenger and Global aircraft operators across the Middle East and beyond, reaching into Turkey, Kazakhstan, India and North Africa.
31 January 2011
Under an Air Services memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the French Civil Aviation Authority, UAE and France will increase passenger flight frequencies up to 57 weekly.
31 January 2011
Ryanair reported a €10.3m (US$14m) third quarter loss for the 3Q, citing the effects of cancelled flights due to industrial action and snow in November and December 2010. However, the company bullishly forecasts that it will make profits “towards the high end” of €380-400m (US$519-547m) in the year to March 2011.
31 January 2011
Air New Zealand has taken delivery of the first of two A320s, financed though Air Lease Corporation. “This is the first of our new Airbus domestic fleet, with thirteen more A320 aircraft due to be delivered over the next five years,” said Rob McDonald, CFO of Air NZ. “The aircraft will enable us to increase capacity on routes that are beginning to face capacity constraints at some airports during peak times.”
Boeing has said it now expects to deliver its first 787 Dreamliner to the launch customer, All Nipon Airways, in the third quarter of this year. Delays have been exacerbated by an in flight fire emergency in November 2010.
Despite recessionary pressures worldwide Airbus announced January 18th to that it is increasing the A380 list price by 8.4 per cent adding a $29m to the former price. Airbus also has increased the average price for all other models by 4.4 per cent, with retroactive effect from the start of 2011, citing "rising rates of production, industrial investment, and the weak dollar"
Rockwell Collins has purchased Computing Technologies for Aviation (CTA), which specialises in flight operations software including the Scheduler's Tool Kit, Aircraft and Crew Scheduling, Charter Quotes, flight logs, and crew legality. Rockwell will combine its own flight information solution, Ascend, with CTA's services.
Flybe has awarded FlightSafety International a contract to supply two flight simulators for its new training academy at Exeter International. The simulators will be used to train both Flybe pilots and other Q400 and E-Jet operators. The Q400 simulator is scheduled for in February, with the E-Jet following soon after. FlightSafety will also be providing Flybe with Embraer 170/190 training services at its facilities in Amsterdam and at Paris Le Bourget.
SR Technics and have agreed a software and services deal with Armac Systems which will see SRT making greater use of Armac's RIOsys inventory planning solution software and consultancy services. The software will be used to support the company's expansion into Asia and America.
Indian budget carrier IndiGo looks set to be the launch customer for the A320neo having signed a MoU for 180 aircraft, according to Airbus the largest single firm order for large jets in commercial aviation history" (although N.B. it's an MoU at this stage). At list prices, the deal would theoretically be worth approximately $16bn. Whether the engine provider (the 'e' in 'neo') is to be P & W or CFM, has not been revealed.
