Iberia plans fleet expansion
Iberia says that thanks to gradual recovery in all its markets it will add nine aircraft to its fleet in the first half of 2022. This will comprise three Airbus A350-900s and six A320neos, with deliveries starting this month, it said. Over the next two years the airline plans to add another A350-900s with a new cabin configuration, plus three more A320neos, while the first A321XLR is also scheduled to arrive by the end of 2023.

According to Iberia’s chairman and CEO Javier Sanchez-Prieto, “The arrival of new aircraft is a clear sign of a recovery which we expect to be consolidated in the course of the year, and it will also enable us to offer a very ambitious summer program this year while increasing efficiency and contributing to the sustainability of our operations. The fleet expansion is the best possible news for our staff, which can use the encouragement after these two years of the pandemic.’ In the course of 2022 Iberia expects to take delivery of a total of six Airbus A320neo, which will replace planes retired due to low demand during the pandemic.

The first two of these joined the fleet in February, with four more are due to arrive in the coming months. The six new units will bring Iberia’s A320neo fleet to a total of 14. The remaining three units on order are to be delivered in 2023. The first aircraft of the eight-unit A321XLR order IAG placed for Iberia in 2019, is also scheduled to arrive in late 2023. This new aircraft model will allow the airline to operate new transatlantic destinations and increase frequencies in key markets, it says.

CDB Aviation delivers A320neo to flynas
CDB Aviation has delivered the first of up to five Airbus A320neo aircraft to new airline customer, flynas, the Saudi Arabia-based air carrier. Patrick Hannigan, CDB Aviation’s Chief Executive Officer, said: ‘The Saudi market continues to bounce back strongly post-pandemic and flynas will be well-positioned to take advantage of significant pent-up demand.’

The first aircraft, with a capacity for 174 passengers, was delivered in Toulouse, France, as part of the companies’ purchase- and leaseback-agreements announced in late January 2022. CDB Aviation expects to take delivery of the remaining A320neo aircraft and lease them back to the carrier.

STARLUX takes delivery of first A330-900 aircraft
ALC has delivered on lease to Taiwan’s STARLUX Airlines its first wide-body aircraft – an A330-900. This is the first of 26 Airbus wide-bodies set to join the airline’s fleet, comprising eight A330neo and 18 A350s. The A330neo aircraft and one A350 are being acquired on lease from ALC, while the airline has 17 A350s on direct order with Airbus. The A330neo joins an existing fleet of seven single-aisle A321neo aircraft and will complement the airline’s network by flying regional routes from Taiwan to the wider Asia-Pacific.

airBaltic has taken delivery of its first Airbus A220-300 certified to operate up to 148 seats. Until now it could only use 145 seats on these aircraft.

airBaltic gets first increased capacity Airbus A220-300
Latvian airline airBaltic has taken delivery of its 33rd Airbus A220-300. This is the first of eight planned Airbus A220-300 aircraft deliveries for airBaltic in 2022 and is part of the order for 50 Airbus A220-300 placed by airBaltic. It also holds 30 options and purchase rights for the same aircraft type. Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic noted: ‘This is the first airBaltic Airbus A220-300 aircraft which is certified to operate up to 148 seats. Until now we could use 145 seats on the aircraft, however, going forward the existing fleet will gradually be recertified for this additional capacity, which will further drive efficiency of our operations.’ Since May 2020, airBaltic operates all its flights with a single aircraft type – Airbus A220-300, thus minimizing the complexity and benefiting from the additional efficiency provided by the aircraft.

IAG to grow widebody capacity
IAG is planning to add 15 widebody aircraft to its fleet in 2022. According to IAG chief executive Luis Gallego following the removal of 50 long-haul aircraft from the group’s fleet during the Covid-19 crisis, ‘we need to bring in new aircraft to restore the capacity’. As a result, IAG expects to add 25 aircraft this year – 15 of them widebody aircraft. IAG expects that group-wide capacity for 22 will run at 85 per cent of 2019 levels.

Etihad Airways improvement for 2021
Etihad Airways recorded a strong recovery in passenger operations along with a significant improvement in financial performance for 2021, posting a much-reduced loss of US$476 million for 2021 (2020: US$1.70 billion).The airline carried 3.5 million passengers in 2021, with an average seat load factor of 39.6%. Passenger loads doubled in the second half of the year, reaching 70.1% in December as travel demand peaked during the winter holiday period. The airline recorded a particularly strong surge in passenger volumes in Q4 following the September relaxation of mandatory quarantine periods in Abu Dhabi.

Airbus and CFM join forces on hydrogen
Airbus has announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with CFM International for the two companies to work on a hydrogen propulsion system. CFM is a 50:50 joint company created by General Electric and Safran Aircraft Engines. The aim of the two companies is to both ground and flight test a hydrogen-fuelled direct combustion engine with the aim of bringing it into service by 2035 as part of a zero-emissions aircraft.

The demonstration programme Airbus and CFM will initially work on will involve the use of an A380 flying testbed which will be equipped with liquid hydrogen tanks that will be made ready at French and German Airbus facilities. Airbus will be responsible for the hydrogen propulsion system requirements, overseeing all flight testing, and providing the A380 platform to test the hydrogen combustion engine in cruise phase. CFM will be responsible for modifying the combustor, fuel system and control system off a GE Passport turbofan engine that will run on hydrogen.

The US-built engine, which already exists, was chosen for this programme for its physical size, advanced turbo machinery and fuel flow capability. It will be mounted along the rear fuselage of the flying testbed to facilitate the monitoring of engine emissions, including contrails, separately from those of the engines powering the aircraft. CFM will also carry out a comprehensive ground test programme ahead of the A380 flight test.

‘This is the most significant step undertaken at Airbus to usher in a new era of hydrogen-powered flight since the unveiling of our ZEROe concepts back in September 2020,”’said Sabine Klauke, Airbus Chief Technical Officer. ‘Hydrogen combustion capability is one of the foundational technologies we are developing and maturing as part of the CFM RISE Program,’ said Gael Meheust, president & CEO of CFM.

Elix delivers hydrogen test plane
Elix Aviation has delivered one Dash 8-300 to Universal Hydrogen (USA). This aircraft is the first delivery from Elix Aviation to Universal Hydrogen and will be used as a test aircraft in the development of its hydrogen powerplant systems.

Embraer, Wideroe and RR plan zero-emission plane
Embraer, Wideroe and Rolls-Royce have announced plans to study a conceptual zero-emission regional aircraft. The 12-month cooperation study – in the context of pre-competitive research and development – will address passenger requirements to stay connected in a post COVID-19 world but do so sustainably and seeks to accelerate the knowledge of the technologies necessary for this transition. Such technologies will allow national governments to continue to support passenger mobility while reusing most of the existing infrastructure in a more sustainable way.

AirAsia has scaled back its plans for a rights issues, saying 'A larger fund raise is now not only unnecessary but will also be punitively dilutive, particularly to existing retail shareholders who may not be able to fund a bigger rights issue at this difficult time.'

Embraer delivered 141 jets in 2021
Embraer has released that for the fourth quarter of 2021 it delivered 55 jets, comprising 16 commercial aircraft, 26 light commercial jets and 13 mid-size executive jets. This was in comparison to a total of 71 jets in the fourth quarter of 2020. For the full financial year 2021, the company delivered a total of 141 jets, comprising 48 commercial aircraft, 62 light executive jets and 31 mid-size executive jets. This was in comparison to a total of 130 jets for the full year 2020. As of December 31, 2021, Embraer’s firm order backlog stood at US$17 billion, the highest figure since 2018.

AirAsia X to raise $40 million
Due to improved cash flow and a robust business outlook AirAsia X now says it is planning to raise less money in a rights issue than it had initially planned. The airline will raise RM116 million ($28 million) in a rights issue and RM50 million ($12 million) in a special rights issue. Initially, the airline had planned to raise up to RM300 million ($72 million) and a special issue of RM200 million ($48 million) as part of its restructuring plan. ‘We will be able to sit through any eventualities in the next couple of years, even if borders do not open, which however will not be the case,’ AirAsia X chief financial officer Andrew Littledale said in a statement. ‘A larger fund raise is now not only unnecessary but will also be punitively dilutive, particularly to existing retail shareholders who may not be able to fund a bigger rights issue at this difficult time.’

Air New Zealand plans capital raise
Air New Zealand plans to launch an equity capital raise by the end of March or early April. The company made a $376 million loss before tax in the first six months of its current financial year. To date Air New Zealand has received more than $2 billion in government support , with a revised support package of $500 million agreed in December. Although the airline has now $1.4 billion in liquidity, it will have to repay the last of three PAYE aids of around $100 million in March. It will then start issuing redeemable shares, which will become incrementally available once the Crown Facility reaches $850 million.

FBH saved Kenya Airways $45m
Kenya Airways saved $45 million by negotiating hourly rates (Fly By Hour) in place of fixed cost leases, according to its CEO Allan Kilavuka. The carrier has a fleet of 36 aircraft, primarily Embraers, 17 of which are on lease from Nordic Aviation Capital and GECAS. The carrier is planning to cut its aircraft fleet to 30 from the current 36, a cost-cutting measure that is likely to also bring a reduction in the number of employees.

CALC senior appointments
China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings has made four senior appointments. Richard Wall has joined as Chief Technical Officer from SMBC Aviation Capital , where he has led the EMEA & Americas based Technical Asset Management teams since 2006. He replaces David Morris, who is approaching retirement age but will remain with the company as Director of Irish subsidiary CALC Global Leasing Limited. Luis Ayala has joined as Chief Development Officer. He was previously Managing Director of GA Telesis Asset Transaction Group. Donald Liu has joined as Deputy Chief Commercial Officer, Greater China. He was previously Deputy General Manager of Sichuan Haite High-tech Co.and Head of its aircraft leasing division.

George Ren has been appointed Managing Director, Corporate Finance. He has extensive experience in international financial institutions for almost two decades, particularly in financial products, syndicated bank loans and structured financing.