The Week in Brief 22 September 2011

Singapore Airlines has firmed up an agreement with Airbus to lease another 15 A330-300s. Originally announced in June, the final agreement was signed by SIA CEO Goh Choon Phong during a visit this week to Airbus’ headquarters in Toulouse, France. The aircraft will be delivered between 2013 and 2015 and will be operated on routes within Asia as well as to points in Australia and the Middle East.


Hobart International Airport has today announced a $20 million runway upgrade project. The Runway Overlay project involves a rejuvenation of the runway surface as well as significant upgrades to the lighting system.


Qantas Captain Richard de Crespigny, who very professionally handled that Qantas A380 engine failure emergency last November, has been announced as the keynote speaker for the forthcoming Flight Safety Foundation International Air Safety Seminar (IASS) in Singapore on November 1. Captain de Crespigny will provide a detailed description of the incident – including how the flight crew reacted to the event, interacted with the passengers and then handled an engine that wouldn’t shut down on the ground and was leaking fuel – in front of an expected 300+ aviation professionals from all segments of the industry.


Malaysia Airlines’ freight subsidiary MASkargo has taken delivery of the first of four A330-200Fs it has on order. The A330-200F can carry 70 tonnes of payload, with a range capability of up to 4000nm. The aircraft’s performance and flexibility will enable MASkargo to fly direct freight services from its Kuala Lumpur base to destinations across Asia, with onward capability to Australasia, Europe or the US. The A330-200F is the all-freight version of the A330.


Rolls-Royce has signed a letter of intent with Japan’s Skymark Airlines to provide Trent 900 engines to power six Airbus A380s the airline will put into service from 2014. Skymark became the first Japanese airline to order the big Airbus when it placed its order in November 2010.


The Air France-KLM Group is planning to sign for up to 60 A350 XWB aircraft, of which 25 A350-900 will be firmed up shortly. The A350 XWB (Xtra Wide-Body) Family is an all-new long range product line comprising three models capable of flying between 270 and 350 passengers in typical three-class layouts on flights of up to 8500 nautical miles. The group says the A350s are essential in its long-haul fleet modernisation strategy.


Leading GA aircraft manufacturer Cirrus Aircraft has appointed co-founder Dale Klapmeier as its new Chief Executive Officer. Klapmeier replaces former Cirrus President and CEO Brent Wouters, who held the position since December 2008 but is no longer with the company. Dale Klapmeier and brother Alan founded Cirrus in 1984; the latter left the manufacturer in August 2009. For nearly 10 years in a row, the Cirrus SR22 family of aircraft have been the best-selling four-place airplane in the world. China’s state-owned CAIGA acquired Cirrus in March of this year and is said to be highly interested in fast-tracking the Cirrus Vision SF50 personal jet program.


Long-serving Qantas ambassador John Travolta has signed up to promote Bombardier’s Learjet, Challenger and Global business jets. An avid pilot, Travolta owns a Learjet 24 and recently added a pre-owned Challenger 601 to his jet fleet.