Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews Oct 9, 2013 What Air India couldn’t do- Etihad can. The carrier today announced its intention to purchase from Air India five Boeing 777-200 LRs, the longest range passenger aircraft in operation to support its accelerated network growth plan. The two carriers signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) in Mumbai earlier this week paving the way for the deal. Subject to approvals, the aircraft will be delivered to Etihad Airways from the beginning of 2014 and each will be re-fitted in a three class cabin configuration consistent with similar aircraft in the Etihad Airways fleet.  It is expected the first aircraft will enter service in April 2014. The five Air India 777-200LR aircraft, which Etihad Airways is purchasing, are on average, six years old, helping the airline to maintain its overall position of having one of the most modern fleets in the industry. The 777-200 LRs will be used on the airline’s new route between Abu Dhabi and Los Angeles, announced yesterd...

Posted by:  Neelam Mathews Jan 8, 2012   Even as India is believed to have given a June deadline to Dassault to present its offset plans, LaTribune reports Brazil, yet to decide on its MMRCA, has said Rafale’s maintenance costs are higher compared to its competitors, the Gripen (Saab) and F-18 (Boeing). “This does not mean that the Rafale is out of play,” it notes. (French to English translation of the article in Google of the Tribune  isn’t the world’s best! Apologies) But, here goes- some major points: There are many supporters of the Rafale that say:. "This is the most technologically advanced aircraft……We have many things to learn from cooperation with Dassault Aviation…..But the French offer must be better explained or otherwise improved," said an official to the Tribune. “As for the F/A-18 Hornet (Boeing), another rival for the Rafale, it benefits from euro / dollar rate to be competitive with the French aircraft,” quotes the paper. Like...

Neelam Mathews Oct 10, 2012 Given the high taxes throttling India's MRO industry, it might do India some good to learn from Singapore's MRO report card. ST Aerospace today announced it has secured new contracts worth about S$590m in the third quarter of 2012.  This total contract value is in addition to the component repair management Maintenance-By-the-Hour (MBH) contract worth about US$80m (approximately S$102m) awarded by AirAsia in July this year.   The contracts are for airframe, component and engine maintenance and engineering design support, which will be carried out through its global network.     During the quarter, ST Aerospace redelivered its first VIP Boeing Business Jet, a contract secured for B level check and interior modifications.  Additionally, it completed airframe maintenance and modification work for 156 aircraft.  For passenger-to-freighter conversions, it redelivered three converted Boeing 757-200 freighters to FedEx Expres...

Neelam Mathews Nov 15, 2011 Brazil has the eleventh-largest defense expenditure in the world in 2010 and, due to its strong economic growth during the forecast period, it is expected to become one of the top ten defense spending nations by 2016, says an ASD Report. Brazil ’s defense expenditure has grown faster than the majority of the world’s largest defense budgets, at a CAGR of 20.59%, and is expected to register another fast growth rate in the forecast period, at a CAGR of 16.69%. Interestingly, Brazil has not come under military attack in over 50 years, and traditionally favors negotiation over military force to resolve disputes with other countries. As Brazil’s long-term focus is the reduction of its reliance on foreign arms suppliers, it is working towards enhancing its indigenous defense capabilities through technology transfer agreements. Brazil’s defense expenditure is expected to grow during the forecast period (2011–2016) due to Brazil’s aim to become the leading a...