New Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental revealed

The new Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental unveiled at Boeing's Seattle plant on the 13th February in front of 10,000 Beoing employees and their families and invited guests in the hangar where the first 747 was unveiled in 1968. Boeing say that is is set to seat 51 more passengers than the current 747 at 467 in three class configuration. And will burn less fuel while doing so. And will be capable of flying 8,000nm at MTOW and at maximum passenger and baggage capacity.

Shockingly however, the firm has won only 33 orders so far for the passenger version of the aircraft from Lufthansa and Korean Air Lines, with 74 cargo versions being sold with some already flying. Although Boeing said they are confident that they will receive more orders once the passenger plane enters service later this year.

© Royal S King at airliners.net

The original 747 has sold more than 1,400 since it is was launched 42 years ago until the 747-400 was withdrawn from sale last year.

Aside from the capacity other features of the Intercontinental include new wings, a new tail, a sharper nose, state-of-the-art GE engines and a new cockpit. And while it carries fewer passengers than the Airbus A380, it will the world's longest airliner at 76.25 metres comparing to the A380's 72.73 metres.

The new model is seen as the newest rival for the Airbus A380, with the 787 Dreamliner set to A350 which are designed to bypass busy hubs and takes passengers closer to their final destination.

So the newest 747 which will always be the aircraft which identifies closely with Boeing than any other, when people think of Boeing, they think of the 747 and since its release it has proven and still proves to be one of the most iconic passenger airliners in the world.

Sources: BBC News

                Wikipedia - Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A380

New EasyJet livery to save costs

As we all know airlines are always in fierce competition with one another, and trying to make the most profit. Many airlines and aircraft designers have already started thinking of innovative ways to do this such as using composite materials for the aircraft body, light weight carpets and even merging airlines together. The newest initiative is from EasyJet who, starting on today are beginning a trial use of a chemical on the paint of its aircraft which is designed to reduce drag and friction as the aircraft flies through the air. It is trialling the chemical which it calls "revolutionary nano-technology coating" on 8 of its fleet so far, but if the trial is successful then the chemical will also be applied to the rest of its 175 strong fleet.
The polymer in use only adds an extra 130g to the weight of the aircraft which comes as a huge benefit to the airline.

© Danijel Jovanović on airplane pictures.net

How does it work?
Firstly, a company who distributes the coating in the UK TripleO gives the plane a "polarising wash" Which opens the pores on the surface of the material to be treated and electrically charges it with a positive polarity. Which allows the coating to bond to the existing paint. The coat is then applied and makes the paint extra shiny which then reduces the build up of debris on the planes main structure, the leading edge of the wings and other areas, thus reducing friction and drag on the surface of the aircraft.


The new coating is set to reduce costs by 1-2% and so would have been a huge benefit to the airline last year with 40% of the airlines costs on fuel at £730 million, if the suggested 2% was to prove correct, the airline would have reduced this by £14million.
Chief executive of EasyJet Carol McCall says that the customers would stand to benefit: "If we can find new ways of reducing the amount of fuel used by our aircraft, we can pass the benefits on to our passengers by offering them low fares and a lower carbon footprint."


So as the airline industry tries to cut their costs, who knows what will be next, but we be sure the technology in use for these pioneering ideas if successful will continue to be used for years to come.


Sources: BBC news
                Wikipedia
                Airfleets.net

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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