Airbus beats Boeing in 2010 orders

Airbus A320neo as seen on airlinesanddestinations.com

Rival companies in the aviation industry Airbus and Boeing have been battling for years for domination on the commercial aviation world stage. With 200 last minute orders at the end of 2010, Airbus pushed ahead of Boeing in the number of aircraft orders. With a total of 644 orders and $84 billion. This latest installment of orders made up Airbus' 10,000th order in their 40 year history. 60 of the orders going to Virgin America because of the introduction the new A320neo which is designed to increase fuel efficiency by 15% and therefore decrease costs. This would triple virgin America's fleet of A320s to 111 by 2019. Boeing came in with 625 orders for the year.


This was a huge shock for the European company and comes after a drop in the aviation market, and it has now bounced back. American executive of Airbus John Leahy said that it was due to the increasing amount of low-cost carriers in Asia and emerging markets.

Virgin America A320 The Guardian

In terms of deliveries last year's figures show Airbus ahead again with 574 despite cancellations of Boeing's 530 deliveries. Another main reason of why Boeing is falling behind in the order race is that of the 787 Dreamliner which 
has been delayed again until the third quarter of the year.
However China is set to buy 200 Boeing aircraft at a value of $19 billion in a new deal which in total comes to $45 billion for the US according to a Washington official.


Airbus is set to employ 3,000 people to work on projects such as the A350 which is set to rival the Dreamliner and other future projects.
Boeing has so far sold 20,663 aircraft since they started in January 1958. but for eight years Airbus has sold more aircraft than Boeing. Both companies have more than doubled their order intake as the industry recovers from recession.


Sources: BBC news
                Mizoram Express.com

The end of the runway for BA

After 23 years, from Concorde to Terminal 5, and several union strikes, British airways have given the world a lot to talk about, BA is no longer an independent company on the stock market as it has agreed to combine with the Spanish airline Iberia, which formally completes this weekend.

BA aircraft lined up: luxuo.com

The combination will form the world's their largest airline. With Iberia taking 45% and BA taking the further 55% of the company.

"The merger will create a strong European airline well able to compete in the 21st Century," said BA chief executive Willie Walsh.

From when it changed from a government department to a private company in 1987 transformed by Colin Marshall. From here on it became a very successful airline and one of the most prolific and dominant global airlines in the world.

BA has been forced to change due to competition from low cost airlines from Europe, and this consolidation of the two airlines is the first step into the new way in which BA are going to change the way they do business.

Willie Walsh can't continue growing his business at Heathrow and without a third runway, therefore BA is being grown elsewhere.

Despite disputes from cabin crew, little changes are expected from service from BA, as their contingency plan is very well advanced.

So, British Airways is no longer an independent company, it has faced great highs being the Flag carrier for Britain and representing the UK globally. There were also lows following 9/11 but BA has always continued growth where suitable and there has never been a dull moment.

Let us hope that this new airline will be a success as predicted.

British Airways - Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde 102
© Steve Flint on airliners.net

Sources: BBC News

               Sharecast

               BBC News today

Boeing delays 787 delivery date again

Boeing has postponed the delivery date of the Boeing 787 for the first of its new airliners for the third quarter of 2011.

Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
 © William T Shemley on airliners.net

This is due to an on board electrical fire during a test flight on November 9th 2010. Boeing said that the new schedule gave it time "to produce, install and test updated software and new electrical power distribution panels".


“This revised timeline for first delivery accommodates the work we believe remains to be done to complete testing and certification of the 787,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. “We’ve also restored some margin in the schedule to allow for any additional time that may be needed to complete certification activities,” Fancher said.


The plane, already three years overdue hoping to make the first deliveries in May 2008 has been plagued with problems. The first deliveries of the aircraft were meant to be to All Nippon Airways of Japan next month.


The news had been widely anticipated by markets, and the company's share price rose slightly at the start of New York trading following the announcement.


However the problems with Dreamliner have damaged Boeing's reputation. Qatar airways head for example said the company had "very clearly failed" with the new plane.




Since the flight tests began at the end of 2009 the 6 test aircraft have accumulated over 2,500 hours between them. Let's hope that it wasn't a complete waste of time.

Boeing 787-8 taken from 787flgihttest.com

Sources: ATW online
               BBC news
               Reuters.com
               787flighttest.com

Gatwick Filming trip January 2011

Weather pending, near the end of month I'm going to be going down for a trip to Gatwick airport (EGKK/LGW), it should be a great day for filming opportunity, so watch out for some uploads at the channel near then.

Virgin Atlantic 747-4Q8 (G-VAST) landing at Gatwick (EGKK)
(Taken from airliners.net)

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