EMBRAER SELLS SEVEN 170s JETS TO ETA STAR GROUP
Embraer signed a contract for the sale of seven EMBRAER 170 jets to ETA Star Group, of Dubai, with options for three more, and five purchase rights for any E-Jet model. The aircraft will be operated by the newly-created Star Aviation Pvt Ltd., of India. The deal, at list price, comes to US$ 220.5 million, and could total US$ 472.5 million, if all options and purchase rights are confirmed for the EMBRAER 170.
Based in the city of Chennai, south India, Star Aviation will use the Embraer aircraft to operate regional routes on the Indian subcontinent, serving medium and low density markets. Deliveries of the aircraft will begin in 2009.
EMBRAER DELIVERS FIRST EMBRAER 190 JET TO GRAND CHINA EXPRESS
In a ceremony held, on Tuesday, at the Company’s headquarters, in São José dos Campos, Embraer delivered the first EMBRAER 190 jet to China’s Grand China Express. The airline is controlled by the Hainan Airlines Group, and is the launch customer of this E-Jets family model in China.
The aircraft delivered to Grand China Express is configured to comfortably accommodate 106 passengers in a single-class layout. The company also has an additional 49 firm orders for the same aircraft to be delivered over the coming years.
Bombardier Delivers First Q400 To Croatia Airlines
Bombardier Aerospace has delivered the first of four Q400 turboprop airliners ordered by Croatia Airlines of Zagreb, Croatia in a transaction announced on June 4, 2007. Croatia Airlines holds options on two additional Q400 aircraft.
Superjet Makes First Flight In Secret
Sources from Moscow media, Sukhoi's Superjet, the first post-Soviet commercial airplane, made its maiden flight under tight secrecy on 19 May, apparently amid fears that any mishap would spell disaster for the ambitious multibillion-dollar project. Sukhoi officials only announced the flight — and declared it a success — after the twin-engine midrange jet touched down at its test facility in the far eastern town of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
The 75- and 95-seats Superjet has 73 firm orders and 31 options for the jet from Aeroflot, AirUnion, ItAli, Dalavia and Armavia. The catalog price for the plane is $29.9 million.
EMBRAER CONFIRMS TWO EMBRAER 170 JETS OPTIONS FOR RÉGIONAL
Embraer and Régional, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air France, signed a contract for two additional EMBRAER 170 jets, confirming options originally placed in August 2007. The value of the transaction, at list price, comes to US$ 63 million. Both aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2009. This deal is already included in Embraer’s 2008 first quarter firm order backlog as “undisclosed”.
The two new EMBRAER 170s, configured in a 76-seat single class layout, will join the seven EMBRAER 170s that Régional has on firm order, the first of which will be delivered this year. The company already operates six EMBRAER 190s and has another five aircraft on firm order. Currently, Régional operates a fleet of 48 Embraer aircraft (six EMBRAER 190s, 28 ERJ 145s, nine ERJ 135s and five EMB 120 Brasilia), making it the manufacturer’s largest customer in Europe.
Bangkok Airways expands its ATR fleet with two more ATR 72-500s
ATR announced today the signature of a contract for the purchase of two ATR 72-500s that will be operated by Thailand’s Bangkok Airways. The deal is valued at US $ 37 million and has been inked with Irish-based leasing company AIR Ltd (Aircraft International Renting), a subsidiary of TAT Group, which will lease the aircraft to the airline. With these two aircraft, Bangkok Airways will bring its ATR 72-500 fleet up to 10 aircraft. Deliveries of these two additional aircraft are scheduled for late 2008 and 2009.
Aldus Aviation Purchases 11 Embraer Jets from GECAS
Aldus Aviation Limited (Irish) has launched operations as an international aircraft leasing company after purchasing eleven (11) Embraer E-jets from GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS). The deal is for five (5) E170s, two (2) E190s, and four (4) E195s. Albus, headed by experienced aircraft leasing professionals, is poised to become an important strategic partner to Embraer. It intends to specialize in the ownership and leasing of the entire E-Jet family.
GE Places Order For Chinese ARJ 21-700
GE Commercial Aircraft Services (GECAS), the aircraft leasing arm of General Electric, has agreed to purchase 5 ARJ 21-700 regional airliners from Chinese aircraft manufacturer AVIC I Commercial Aircraft (ACAC). The deal also includes options to buy 20 more of the jetliners. AVIC I unveiled the locally designed and produced ARJ 21, or the “Flying Phoenix,” last December and commercial deliveries have been promised from the third quarter of 2009. However, it was recently announced that the maiden flight of the ARJ 21-700 would be delayed by six months because some of the program’s key suppliers need to complete equipment testing to meet the requirements of the manufacturer. ACAC had originally planned to conduct the aircraft’s first flight in March but ACAC president, Luo Ronghuai, said in a statement, “We are disappointed with this delay and we expect to fly the ARJ21-700 in September or October.”
Air Berlin Orders 10 Q400s
Bombardier has announced that a previous order by an unidentified customer for ten of their Dash 8-Q400 aircraft was made by German carrier Air Berlin. The carrier expects to receive four of the 76-seat aircraft this year and the remaining six in 2009 as it replaces older Fokker 100 jets in a deal worth around $267 million USD at current list prices. The aircraft will be operated by Air Berlin partner LGW which currently operates six Dornier 228 aircraft. Air Berlin CEO Joachim Hunold says, “We intend to use the Q400s mainly on short-haul flights where the passenger volume is not sufficient for us to operate jets.” Hunold also added that the turboprop aircraft would lead to a “noticeable reduction” in costs and lower CO2 emissions per seat.
Delays starting to impact Superjet
Russia has announced that they will be postponing the first deliveries of its Superjet-100 airliner due to technical problems. United Aircraft Corporation CEO Alexei Fyodorov said test flights have been delayed from year’s end by several months because of “problems associated with the hardware of the planes.” State-owned Sukhoi, supported by the Russian government, is pouring huge sums of money into developing the 75 to 95 seat airplanes in an attempt to revamp the aviation industry within Russia.
Iraqi Government Confirms CRJ Order
Bombardier Aerospace has confirmed that the government of Iraq has placed a firm order for six of their CRJ-900 regional jet aircraft, with options to purchase an additional four. It is not clear yet whether or not these aircraft are destined for Iraqi Airways. The contract is worth $239 million USD based on current list prices.
M1 Travel Orders Three More E190s
Lebanese company M1 Travel Ltd. has confirmed options for three Embraer E190 aircrafts. This order, valued at $112.5 million USD builds on the company’s original order for five aircrafts in 2007. M1 still retains options for two E190s or E195s. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2009.
Bombardier to Offer CSeries
Bombardier received authority from its board to offer the 110 to 130 seat CSeries aircraft for first delivery in 2013, and confirmed interest in the aircraft from Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, and ILFC. Bombardier unveiled the CSeries almost four years ago and spent $100 million developing the plane, but scaled work back two years ago in favor of further stretching its CL-65 (CRJ) series of aircraft. The company has reconfigured its original design and signed up Pratt & Whitney as supplier for the jet’s engine, with a new high-pass geared turbofan powerplant that the company says will lead to 20% lower fuel burn and 15% overall cash operating cost improvement over other aircraft.
“Our decision to continue refining our business plan over the last two years has proven to be the right one. It has allowed us to take advantage of new technologies and to meet the airlines’ evolving requirements for future efficient five-abreast aircraft. Airlines worldwide have expressed their keen interest to receive formal sales proposals from us,” said Pierre Beaudoin, president of Bombardier Aerospace, in a press release.
First flight for ARJ21-700 delayed
The first flight of China Aviation Industry Corp. I’s (AVIC I) 90-seat ARJ21-700 is being delayed. The aircraft was rolled out this past December, and was due to have its first flight in March of 2008; however, a spokesman for AVIC I is quoted as saying, “It will not happen in March.” The company has yet to set a firm date for the flight.
Embraer Gets Orders From Singapore Airshow
Embraer received additional orders for E-jets from Regional (Air France) and EgyptAir today. Regional signed a contract for one E170 and one E190, confirming options that were taken in August 2007. EgyptAir firmed up options for six E170s from their September 2006 contract. All aircraft are scheduled to start being delivered in 2009.
U.S. aircraft leasing company Jetscape has signed an agreement with Embraer to purchase ten E190 aircraft, with options for an additional ten aircraft and purchase rights for another ten of the same model. The total value of the agreement is $375 million USD, at list price, and could come to $1.125 billion USD, if all options and purchase rights are confirmed. Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2009.
ATR Records Orders From Singapore Airshow
ATR announced orders for aircraft from two customers yesterday. Air Tahiti placed an order for an additional ATR 72-500 in a deal valued at around $18 million. Air Tahiti currently operates nine ATR aircraft with another three on order. A contract was also signed with Air Vanuata for one ATR 72-500 to bring their fleet of ATRs to two.
ATR continues to rack up orders in Singapore. Lao Airlines, the flag carrier of Laos, has committed to the purchase of a new ATR 72-500. This new aircraft will add to the fleet of two ATR 72-200s that the airline already operates.
