Boeing nears 787 GEnx and 330min ETOPS certification

Boeing is days away from being granted General Electric GEnx-1B engine-airframe certification for its 787, a milestone expected to be paired with 330min extended operations (ETOPS) approval, says the programme's top engineer.

"It's here, it's finished," says Mike Sinnett, 787 chief project engineer of the 330min ETOPS requirements, "The certification work is done. So now it's just rolling it through the process with the GE [certification] coming in the next couple of days, [Japan Airlines] will be able to seek operational approval and we'll be done."
Japan Airlines is expected to take delivery of its first 787s later this month and will serve as the launch customer for the GEnx-1B engine inaugurating US service with the type in April connecting Tokyo-Narita and Boston's Logan International airports.
The route will not require a 330min ETOPS certification, though the aircraft will be certified to fly routes that require a diversion airport between 3h and 5h 30min flying time.
GE says its GEnx-1B engine pairing certification with 787 will include both its baseline Block 4 and Performance Improvement Package (PIP1) configurations, the latter of which is expected to deliver a 1.4% improvement in specific fuel consumption, due to an increase in the number of low pressure turbine (LPT) blades.
The first delivery to JAL will be fitted with PIP1 configuration engines, says GE.
Airplane 35, a 787 for Air India, completed flying for GEnx-1B certification testing on 23 February.
United Airlines, which takes delivery of six 787s in 2012, is expected to be the first carrier to require the 330min requirement for creating the most optimal routing between its Houston, Texas hub and Auckland, New Zealand.
While the 180min approval for Trent 1000-powered 787s was granted ahead of its October 2011 service entry, final approvals for the 330min certification was split into a second block of requirements with a "software adjustment" necessary to meet US Federal Aviation Administration regulatory criteria.
The now-complete airframe tests cleared the way for airframe approvals beyond the initial 180min airframe certification which hinged on completion of a software upgrade to change the low fuel quantity indication on the 787's flight deck.
Engine approvals were granted to Rolls-Royce for 330min ETOPS certification for its Trent 1000 in May 2011 and General Electric followed on the baseline Block 4 GEnx-1B in December, and again on 8 March for its PIP1 configuration.

source: http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/boeing-nears-787-genx-and-330min-etops-certification-369474/ 

Emirates to seek compensation for A380 wing-part cracks

Emirates is to seek compensation from Airbus for the disruption to its operation caused by the discovery of cracks in wing-rib feet on A380 aircraft.
The carrier is the largest operator of the type with 21 in its fleet. It estimates the grounding of the aircraft - six at a time - to effect temporary repairs will cost it $90 million in lost revenue by the end of March.
As a result, it will look for compensation from the airframer.
Emirates says the cracks have been discovered in 10 of its A380s, but believes it is likely that all 21 will require remedial work.
It is also concerned over the likelihood of future groundings in order to apply a long-term solution for the problem.
On 8 March EADS, Airbus's parent, said it had made a €105 million ($138 million) provision to cover the cost of repairs to the initial 67 in-service A380s.
No mention was made of any provision for compensation and the airframer could not immediately indicate whether there would be additional costs arising from manufacturing changes.
On 8 February the European Aviation Safety Agency ordered inspections of wing-rib feet on all A380s. Emirates has a further 69 A380s on order.
Airbus was not immediately available to comment on the potential Emirates claim.

source: http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/emirates-to-seek-compensation-for-a380-wing-part-cracks-369434/ 

GEnx approval key to 787 JAL deliveries

Japan Airlines (JAL) will shortly become the second 787 customer to receive its aircraft, as Boeing nears imminent certification of its General Electric GEnx-1B-engined variant and a restart of deliveries that stalled in early February for repairs required because of improper shim installation on aft fuselages.
The airline has completed both route-proving and maintenance training following the visit of GEnx-1B-powered 787 test aircraft ZA005 to Japan for service-ready operational validation trials that lasted from 20 February to 9 March.
Jim Albaugh, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, says JAL will take delivery of its first aircraft in "the weeks to come". Airplanes 23 and 33, both with 186 seats and registered JA822J and JA825J respectively, are expected to be handed over to the carrier in late March, say programme sources, ahead of the 22 April start of its Boston-Tokyo Narita service.

© Boeing Japan Airlines had expected to receive the aircraft in February

JAL had expected its first 787, and fellow Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways its sixth, in February but both required repairs to shims in the aft fuselage. Services from Narita to New Delhi and Moscow, as well as Tokyo Haneda and Beijing are planned to start following the 787's inaugural US service. Boeing is nearing imminent FAA certification for the GEnx-1B engine-airframe for its 787, a milestone expected to be paired with 330min extended operations (ETOPS) approval, says the programme's top engineer.
"The work's all done, it's just a matter of churning through all the paperwork at this point," says Mike Sinnett, 787 chief project engineer of the 330min ETOPS requirements. "So now it's just rolling it through the process with the GE [certification] coming in the next couple of days. [JAL] will be able to seek operational approval and we'll be done."
JAL's Boston link will not require a 330min ETOPS certification, although the aircraft will meet requirements to fly routes that require a diversion airport between 3h and 5h 30min flying time away.
GE says certification for the GEnx-1B-powered 787 will cover both its baseline Block 4 and Performance Improvement Package (PIP1) configurations, with the latter expected to deliver a 1.4% improvement in specific fuel consumption because of an increase in the number of low pressure turbine blades.
JAL's first 787 is fitted with PIP1 engines, says GE. Boeing completed flying for engine-airframe certification on Airplane 35, a production model for Air India, on 23 February. United Airlines, which will take delivery of six 787s in 2012, is expected to be the first to require the 330min requirement for its routing between Houston and Auckland.


source: http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/genx-approval-key-to-jal-deliveries-369691/ 

ISTAT 2012: Lufthansa, ALC vie to be 787-10X launch customer

Lufthansa and Air Lease Corp (ALC) are vying for launch customer status on Boeing's proposed stretched 787-10X.
Nico Buchholz, Lufthansa senior vice-president of corporate fleet, sees the aircraft as an ideal fit for the carrier as the airframe is not over-optimised to fly further than necessary for its route network.
The carrier has conducted extended evaluations of both the 280-seat 787-9 and 323-seat 787-10X to fill the approximately 200-to-300-seat fleet segment that is currently occupied by the Airbus A330-300, A340-300 and A340-600.
Boeing's newly-appointed senior vice-president of marketing, Mike Bair, says the 787-10X potentially provides a "absolutely astounding" improvement in performance, with 50% lower operating costs than the A340-600.
If Boeing moves ahead to "launch the airplane, we could be a definitive launch customer for the -10, in tandem with [ordering] some -9s. So that's in the oven," says Steven Udvar-Hazy, chief executive of ALC.
But Udvar-Hazy says any order depends on "Boeing's ability to translate talk into a firm commitment to build the -10".
ALC is also pressuring Boeing for an additional 1.4-1.8t (3,000-4,000lb) maximum takeoff weight above the baseline 251t, which would add 400nm (740km) to the aircraft's range. This will "make a big difference" for some customers, says Hazy.
The "simple stretch" of the 787-9, adding 5.5m (18ft) of fuselage, would create an aircraft capable of flying between 6,705nm to 6,745nm depending on the engine selection, say those familiar with the concept.
"It still serves probably 85% of the long-range routes and will have really good economics on seat mile costs and more cargo with the stretch both in front of and in the back of the wing," says Udvar-Hazy.
The launch of the -10X could be paired with a 353-to-407-seat 777X concept at the end of the year, says Udvar-Hazy, who believes that service entry of the third 787 model would occur before the revamped 777.
"The issue that we are looking at is exactly when in the production cycle should we put this into the line." says Bair.
"We're looking at maturity in rate ramp-up on the current [787-8] and how we're going to balance that against the introduction of the -9. When we're comfortable we've got an industrialisation plan that works, the [787-10X] itself is pretty obvious."

source: http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/istat-2012-lufthansa-alc-vie-to-be-787-10x-launch-customer-369681/ 

India needs 1,043 aircraft over next 20 years: Airbus

Airbus forecasts that India will need 1,043 new aircraft over the next 20 years.
Despite the current climate in India's aviation industry, the airframer was optimistic about the outlook.

These 1,020 passenger and 23 freighter aircraft are valued at $145 billion, said Airbus head of marketing for India Joost Van Der Heijden at a press conference at the India Aviation air show.

Of the 1020 passenger aircraft, 160 will replace retiring aircraft, while the remaining will cater to the strong demand growth expected in India. Airbus expects 646 aircraft to be single aisle, 308 to be twin aisle and the remaining 66 to be very-large aircraft such as the Airbus A380.

"Globally, we target 50% of the market. In India, we hope to have a very strong position as well," said Van Der Heijden when asked how many of the 1,043 new aircraft Airbus expects to supply.

"Despite [the] near-term challenges, the Indian economy is forecast to continue expanding, helping India's growth in domestic air travel to reach even higher growth rates of nearly 10% annually," said Airbus.

When asked whether the manufacturer is concerned about the financial situation of some of its customers such as Kingfisher, Van Der Heijden would only say he expects strong demand in the region to continue and thus the continual need for more aircraft.
He also declined to comment on whether the manufacturer foresees any upcoming order cancellations from India.

Airbus' forecast also places India as the world's fourth-largest market in terms of aircraft numbers and value.

India's annual passenger traffic growth rates stands at 7.2%, above Asia-Pacific's growth of 5.9% and almost double the world average.

source: http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/india-needs-1043-aircraft-over-next-20-years-airbus-369582/