Ethiopian Airways today confirmed an order for the delivery of 12 Airbus A350XWBs announced earlier, with first deliveries starting in 2017.
With this new deal, the firm order book for the A350 increases to more than 500 orders, reaching 505 aircraft. Ethiopian Airways buys the -900 version of the aircraft, signing a deal worth approximately $3 billion.
After several years of flight testing, Airbus has launched a winglet upgrade to its A320 family it promises will provide a 3.5% fuel-burn improvement over the existing wingfence design.
The winglets, which Airbus has termed "sharklets," were designed by Airbus, although the manufacturer looked at other configurations. Airbus will need to add about 200 kg. in weight to stiffen the wingbox to handle higher loads, but found enough weight savings to keep the change weight-neutral, says Airbus chief operational officer for customers, John Leahy.
U.S. Transportation Dept. Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt today revealed the formation of a new federal advisory committee that will study every facet of the aviation industry.
LaHood further promised that within one year, that committee will submit a blueprint for change.
The announcement was made during closing remarks to an invitation-only, five-hour meeting of airline, airport, labor and consumer group representatives yesterday, who were called together to discuss the future of U.S. aviation. It appeared to have covered the gamut, and ended with LaHood asking the participants to go home and send him an email with three things: how many people should be on the committee, what the mix of participants should be, and the five issues they think must be addressed for the DOT to create a road map for aviation.
British Airways and Iberia reached agreement yesterday on a proposed merger of the two airlines that would be completed in late 2010.
The airlines signed a memorandum of understanding that they expect will become a definitive agreement in the first quarter of 2010, assuming certain conditions are met, such as regulatory clearances and shareholder approval. British Airways also must come to an agreement with its pension trustees that is not too costly in the view of Iberia, which will not help fund the plan.
Boeing, on Thursday afternoon, towed the first 747-8 Freighter out of the factory in Everett, Wash. The airplane, ultimately destined for Cargolux, will be painted and begin preparations for flight test.
"It is very rewarding to see this airplane transition to the flight test phase," said Mo Yahyavi, 747 program vice president and general manager. "Our employees, suppliers and customers have put a lot of work into making the 747-8 Freighter a reality."
