A350 Finnair seat map.

Finnair will be the first A350 operator in Europe.

They have unveiled the seat map of the A350-900 that they will start receiving in mid-2015. All of their 11 ordered aircraft will be delivered before the end of 2017.

Source: Finnair

Finnair plans to begin operating its first A350s in the second half of next year, initially serving Shanghai, Bangkok and Beijing, with Hong Kong and Singapore A350 service to be added in 2016. Finnair has 11 firm orders and 8 options for A350 aircraft, which will form the backbone of the company’s long-haul fleet and drive expansion plans.

A350 miniatures passion to business; My Hobby House.

In this article we have the history of Alex Yap who has been playing with model aircraft since secondary school.

Thanks to the efforts of local airlines in promoting the aviation industry as a career choice -and also to the widely acclaimed Hong Kong TV drama “Triumph in the Skies”-, Yap worked his way throughflight school. Not satifisfied with the real thing alone, Yap has also managed to monetise his passion for aircraft miniatures.

While many boys grow up dreaming of airplanes, few actually end up running a business selling model aircraft.

Today Yap is a pilot and with 3 partners he launched 4 years ago My Hobby House as an online retailer of commercial aircraft models.

“They are not cheap! It is an expensive hobby. The only way to get them cheaper was to get a supplier. But since suppliers only sell in bulk, I thought it would be a great idea if we could buy the models in big batches and sell them as a small business,” he said.

They approached 2 manufacturers to provide them with a direct supply of models for their venture. The suppliers were enthusiastic about their business idea as the manufacturers did not have any established distribution channels in Malaysia at that time. They purchased 80 model commercial planes and looked to the Internet to help sell their stock.

Source: Airbus

“We used whatever online resources available to us to promote and sell our planes. We had to make sure that our planes sold as fast as possible because there was a new release of stock from our supplier every month. So we couldn’t hold on to our stock for too long,” he explained.

While the first few months were not easy, My Hobby House started gaining some traction among hobbyists as the go-to source for model planes. The team then invested in a website to ramp up its growing-sales online. Currently My Hobby House sells more than 500 model planes a month.

“Collecting model aircraft is quite a niche hobby so it is a small market. But there are no retailers for these miniature planes and those that sell them usually source their stock from third parties. We don’t know anyone else who is getting their planes directly from manufacturers.”

“We didn’t really think the business idea would work. We were all jobless at the time and thought this was something we could try. One of the partners even had to borrow his share of the money from his father,” said Yap with a laugh.

Based on the article “Taking flight with miniatures” published in The Star Metro.

Is the launch of A330neo the consequence or is the cause of the A350-800 cancellation?

As airlines evolve with changing times, they are pushing aircraft makers for more modern and fuel-efficient planes. The A330neo is Airbus' attempt to rejuvenate demand for its highly successful but aging A330 jet. With one of the best dispatch reliability rates of 99.4%, the A330 has been one of Airbus' best-selling models and the company has delivered more than 1.100 planes so far to more than 100 operators. But with the advent of new technology, the 20-year-old model is failing to attract buyers the way it used to. Let's find out how the successor to A330 can help Airbus gain more traction in the wide-body segment.

The wide-body segment is witnessing a major shift in technology brought about by Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. Dreamliner's arrival delay boosted A330 sales significantly as many of the airlines ran out of patience and started opting for models in service. According to Adam Pilarski, senior VP at aviation consultancy firm Avitas, "Airbus has been doing fine with the A330 because Boeing was late, but it is becoming painfully obvious that Boeing has newer technology than the A330."

With Boeing rolling out 10 Dreamliners a month at present, the scenario has obviously changed for the A330 and the plane is witnessing a predictable decline in demand. In the Q2/2014, Airbus landed just 6 new orders for A330 compared with 23 in the previous quarter and 47 in the Q4/2013. So, it was imperative for Airbus to come up with a new strategy to boost demand for this plane. 

Airbus had yet another reason to upgrade the A330. It was finding it difficult to sell the smallest version of the new A350 jets that it's building from scratch. The 276-seat A350-800 has managed to receive only 34 orders. So it made sense for Airbus to scrap this model and fill the gap with an upgraded A330. This way the larger A350 models would take on the larger versions of the 787, while the new A330 would compete with smaller 787s, much more advanced and expensive.

Based on the article “Why Did Airbus Build the A330neo?” published in The Motley Fool.

GE Aviation starts A350-1000 wing FTE manufacturing.

Production of the wing fixed trailing edge package for Airbus’ A350-1000 jetliner has begun at GE Aviation at Hamble (UK).

The first element produced is a spoiler hinge bracket (Spoiler 1 Hinge Bracket shown in the picture), which was manufactured in GE Aviation’s machining facility at Hamble-le-Rice, United Kingdom.

Trevor Higgs (left) Airbus Head of Wing and John Hunt (right), GE Aviation director of Manufacturing Technology.

GE Aviation, Hamble has full responsibility for designing and building the wing fixed trailing edge (WFTE) packages on both the A350-900 and A350-1000 models, comprising more than 3.000 deliverable components per aircraft – involving complex machined parts, structural composite panels and assemblies.

Source: Airbus

New and higher loads for the A350-1000 wing fixed trailing edge implies additional Stress and Design activities –some being performed at satellite GE Engineering centers in Poland and India- as well as concurrence with Manufacturing Engineering and coordination throughout the supply chain. There is a direct link with the A350 XWB engineering plateau established by Airbus at its Filton, UK facility to ensure close and timely collaboration with other risk-sharing partners and agreement on all technical interface requirements.

From the production point of view, GE Aviation Hamble plant is expanding its capacity and refining efficiencies, including an all-new 9.000 m2 Composites production center (will be opened in Q3/2015), which is part of a site investment of more than US$50 million to support future manufacturing and new technology developments.

Based on the press release “GE Aviation, Hamble Initiates Production of the Airbus A350-1000’s Wing Fixed Trailing Edge Package”

A350 in 2014: -62 net orders.

A350-900 order cancellation by Emirates (#50) has not been forgotten yet. During 2014 only 3 new airlines have ordered A350-900s;

• Kuwait Airways: #10
• Lybian Airlines:#2
• Iberia: #8

Source: Airbus

Adittionally, 20 cancellations for A350-1000 and 12 cancellations of A350-800...

Source: Airbus

2014, the year of the Type Certification and of the Entry Into Service is not being a good year from the Orders point of view.

Source: Airbus

A350 Spirit Aerosystem deliveries down in Q3. Ramp-up or ramp-down?

Spirit AeroSystems has reported Q3/2014 financial results reflecting continued healthy demand for large commercial aircraft and strong mature program operating performance. Spirit's Q3/2014 revenues were $1.7 billion, up from $1.5 billion for the same period in 2013 on higher deliveries.

Source: Spirit Aero

Operating income was $216 million, up from $51 million for the same period in 2013. Net income for the quarter was $168 million, or $1.20 per fully diluted share.

Source: Olivier Cabaret

During the results presentation, Spirit's CEO said: "Our performance on the A350 continues to track to plan. We've delivered 11 A350 units to Airbus this year, a total of 22 units overall, and you can see the improvement in our financial results with a 50% reduction in deferred cost per ship set versus last quarter. The improvement was primarily driven by a reduction in travel work and engineering change travel. I'll continue to stress, it's early and we have a lot more work to do."

But 4 ship sets delivered in Q3/2014 are less than 5 ship sets delivered in Q2/2014. The series  ramp-up in A350 should increase the manufacturing and deliveries of parts to pre-FAL until 2 ship sets per month by end of this year.

Source: Spirit

Deliveries:
2012       Q1:#1.   Q2:#0.    Q3:#1.     Q4:#1

2013       Q1:#2.   Q2:#1.    Q3:#1.     Q4:#4

2014       Q1:#2.   Q2:#5.    Q3:#4.     

Source: Olivier Cabaret

Based on the press release "Spirit AeroSystems Reports Third Quarter 2014 Financial Results". 

Airbus expanding A350 spare parts inventories near customer bases.

For maintenance control centers, Airbus has reshaped its real-time health monitoring service into 4 standalone modules: pre-departure check, real-time flight watch, trend monitoring and preventive maintenance.

Thanks to the uplink, operators can receive maintenance advice and real-time troubleshooting actions. 

The Airbus-Satair parts hub in Hamburg is preparing the initial provisioning of spares inventories.

Source: Airbus

For Qatar Airways, the launch operator, Airbus has dispatched the first major assemblies to Airbus’ store in Dubai.

To ensure fast delivery to other early A350-900 customers, Airbus will soon stock stores in Singapore, Europe and the U.S. with spares, the company promised.

Based on the article “Airbus Gears Up for A350-900 Service entry” published in AinOnline.