Aircraft News - Europe

AirGuide Business, Jan 14, 2008

Airbus

Airbus will announce its final order tally for 2007 at the end of January. At the end of November it had logged 1,204 gross orders, well above its record of 1,111 gross orders set in 2005 Jan 7, 2008

AWAS, Airbus

AWAS Orders 75 Airbus A320s. Dublin-based aircraft leasing firm AWAS said on Wednesday Jan. 9 it had agreed to buy 75 Airbus A320 aircraft and that it had options to buy a further 25 in a deal worth USD$6.9 billion at current list prices. AWAS, which is owned by European private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners, last year acquired Pegasus Aviation Finance making it one of the world's three largest aircraft leasing companies. AWAS owns or manages a total of 320 aircraft. The company said last month it had placed an order with Boeing for 31 single-aisle 737 planes worth about USD$2.3 billion at list prices. The narrow-body 737 competes with Airbus's A320 family of aircraft. Jan 9, 2008

AWAS, Airbus

Irish leasing firm places large order for Airbus jetliners. Airbus has won a large order from Irish leasing firm AWAS for up to 100 jetliners. The deal is worth $6.9 billion based on list prices. Airbus and Boeing have said that they expect demand for jetliners to slow this year. Jan 9, 2008

BAE Systems, Boeing, American Airlines

BAE Systems is to equip American Boeing 767-200s with test antimissile systems. BAE Systems received a $29 million award from the US Dept. of Homeland Security to equip three American Airlines 767-200s with its Jeteye infrared aircraft missile defense systems on a test basis. DHS already has conducted trials of the system's missile-defeating capability at government test ranges. Systems on American Airlines aircraft will be used to evaluate Jeteye's compatibility with daily passenger airline operations and maintenance. Jan 8, 2008

Finnair, ATR, Utair

Finnair announced the sale of the last three ATR72s operated by its Aero subsidiary to Russia's Utair. Aero's four other ATR 72s were sold last year to ATR Leasing. The company now no longer operates any propeller aircraft, although Finnair Technical Services will continue to provide ATR maintenance for third parties. Jan 7, 2008

Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce To Cut 2,300 Jobs. British aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce plans to cut 2,300 jobs from among its managerial, professional and clerical staff to help offset rising costs and the effect of the weak dollar. Rolls-Royce said the restructuring would have no impact on its 2007 results. Rolls-Royce, like other British companies which carry out a large part of their business in dollars, has seen profits hit as sterling reached a 26 year high against the US currency last year. Credit Suisse analysts forecast in a recent broker note, looking at the pound backing away from those highs, estimated that "every 1 cent move in the long-term dollar assumption added GBP12 million pounds to (Rolls-Royce's) long-term EBIT (earnings before interest, and tax)". Jan 11, 2008

SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Bombardier

SAS Scandinavian Airlines flagged continued worries about fuel prices and said replacing its fleet of Bombardier DHC-8-Q400 aircraft with larger planes was hurting efficiency. Three of SAS's Dash 8 Q400s had to make emergency landings in late 2007 and the airline has grounded the whole fleet permanently. The airline has said it expects the impact of the Dash 8 Q400 problems to be between SEK600 million and SEK700 million in 2007. Strikes in the first half of the year cost it a further SEK300 million. Jan 10, 2008