ATW Daily News

Dubai Airshow News

Monday November 16, 2009

Dubai Airshow features 890 exhibitors
ANZ is launch customer for A320 'sharklets'
Lion Air subsidiary orders up to 30 ATR 72s
Additional stories

Kiran Rao, Airbus executive VP-sales & marketing, and COO-Customers John Leahy pose with a model of the A320 with sharklets.

Dubai Airshow features 890 exhibitors

The Dubai Airshow, the region's foremost aviation exhibition, opened yesterday to a mood of quiet optimism that the worst of the economic downturn is behind the industry.

Some 890 companies from 47 countries are exhibiting, an increase over the previous show in 2007 at the height of the economic boom. Up to 150 new-to-market exhibitors from 20 countries are making their debuts at the show and more than 50,000 visitors are expected. There are 130 aircraft on static display and 14 will take part in the flying display.

The show was opened Sunday by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VP and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai. He told the Khaleej Times in an interview that the number of exhibitors this year makes the Dubai Airshow the "industry's fastest growing."

He added, "It is most gratifying to see that the UAE example is being followed by many countries which come to realize how important the air transport industry is in diversifying sources of income."
by Geoffrey Thomas

ANZ is launch customer for A320 'sharklets'

Air New Zealand launched the Airbus "sharklet" program with its recent order for 14 A320s (ATWOnline, Nov. 3).

Yesterday Airbus COO-Customers John Leahy unveiled here the 8-ft.-high sharklets for new-build A320s that will give the aircraft a 3.5% reduction in fuel burn and an annual 700-tonne CO2 saving over current models. The first A320 fitted with the sharklets will be delivered to ANZ in 2012 to be followed by A321 and A319 models in 2013.

ANZ CEO Rob Fyfe in a video announcement at the show said the sharklet program was a significant factor in the carrier's recent order for A320s as part of its drive to be "the world's most environmentally friendly airline."

List price for a shipset of sharklets is $900,000, which can be recovered with three years of fuel savings at current prices, Airbus said. Weight of the devices is 200 kg., although there is a neutral weight effect due to other aircraft weight savings. They give the A320 another 110 nm. in range, 500 kg. of payload and improved takeoff performance from short or high-altitude runways, according to the manufacturer.

Leahy said that from Quito in Ecuador, which is at 9,200 ft. elevation, a sharklet-fitted A320 would have a 2-tonne increase in takeoff performance that would equal 20 more passengers with an overall 10% reduction in fuel burn per passenger. He also noted that the devices would result in lower engine maintenance costs and increased climb rate by up to "400 nm. earlier to 39,000 ft."

Responding to a question from ATWOnline, he said Airbus is looking at a retrofit package for the existing A320 family fleet. "This is not a simple refit as it requires wing box rework, but we are talking to Aviation Partners about a refit program," he said. The sharklet, however, is an Airbus design and not related to Aviation Partners, which developed the blended winglets for various Boeing aircraft.
by Geoffrey Thomas

Lion Air subsidiary orders up to 30 ATR 72s

Wings Air, a subsidiary of Lion Air, signed for 15 ATR 72-500s with options for 15 ATR 72-600s. The contract signing firms up an MOU announced late last year for 10 plus 10 options respectively. Total value of the order is $600 million.

The aircraft will be delivered between late 2009 and 2011. They will enable the airline to develop feeder routes for its main hubs and also will replace MD-80 and 737-300/-400 services on some lower-density routes.

Ethiopian Airlines and Airbus confirmed an MOU for 12 A350s, announced in July, valued at just over $3 billion. The deal was signed at the show by Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders and Ethiopian Airlines President Girma Wake, who told media he believes the aircraft will "serve our market well."

The order takes firm commitments for the A350 to 493. First deliveries of the A350-900 to Ethiopian would be 2017, and the carrier is considering leasing some A350s in the interim. At the same time, Rolls-Royce announced an order for Trent XWB engines for the Ethiopian aircraft.

Airbus COO-Customers John Leahy told media here that the A350 program is in good shape and no customers are contemplating cancellations because of the global economic crisis.

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise announced yesterday at the show that DAE Capital, its aircraft leasing and financial business arm, selected IAE V2500 engines to power 20 of its new A320s for delivery from 2011. The order is valued at $340 million. The 20 aircraft are part of a 70-aircraft order the leasing company announced in July 2008.

Bob Genise, CEO of DAE Capital, told ATWOnline that the company has been following the sharklet program for the A320 and will be talking with Airbus. He also told media that leasing rates had dropped about 25% but bottomed out in May and are showing signs of recovery.

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