Gardner Aerospace UK supplier continues growing with A350 pylon plug.

Gardner Aerospace Derby aerospace components firm has secured a £35 million loan to support its expansion plans.

The cash has been secured from the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

It will use the investment to fund growth across its manufacturing sites in Basildon, Broughton, Hull, Pershore and its headquarters in Derby.

A decade ago, Gardner was a UK firm employing 1,200 people in 11 obsolescing factories and with annual revenues of £40 million ($62.4 million). Today it is an international concern, employing 200 more and delivering revenues 3 times greater.

By acquiring and then investing in small companies in France, Poland and Toulouse, Gardner was able to survive and grow as the big OEMs turned to subcontractors in low-cost economies.

The company provides the pylon plug for the Airbus A350 XWB.

Source: Aviation Week

This is made from machined parts originating in Hull, England; and some from Bangalore, India; and is assembled at Mazères, conveniently close to the Airbus plant at Toulouse. International, indeed.

Paul Noel, director of asset-based lending at RBS, said: "Gardner has grown significantly over the last 5 years and has successfully secured a number of new long-term contracts for key aircraft components.

"The newly agreed facilities will further support continued growth."

Based on the article “Derby firm secures £35m loan” published in Derby  Telegraph

1st Spanish crew onboard A350.

Qatar Airways´ Captain Ramón Íñiguez García and Copilot Antonio Godia is the first Spanish crew to be in charge of an Airbus 350-900.

Source: tablondenoticias.com

Iniguez started his career in Spain in 1989 as a copilot in a Spanair´s MD80. Later he also flew a Boeing 767.

Since 1994 he took the controls as captain of an MD80 and in 2001 did the same with a Boeing 767, until Spanair was closed.

He joint Qatar Airways as captain of an A320 and today is the first Spanish captain of an A350.

Ramón Íñiguez went to USA to learn to fly after being graduated in Biology in Spain.

His passion for flying at his born-town Huesca became him pilot of cargo aircraft, general aviation and finally  commercial planes in Spanair.

Based on the article “Íñiguez y Godia es la primera tripulación española en la historia en pilotar un A350-951” published in Tablondenoticias.com

No First Class planned in Cathay Pacific´s A350s

Cathay Pacific has decided against installing first class on its Airbus A350-1000 jets, opting instead for a larger premium cabin featuring its new international business class seats.

Source: Australian Business Traveller

The move, which a spokesperson for Cathay Pacific has confirmed to Australian Business Traveller, will see both the A350-900 – due to debut in February/2016 – and the slightly larger and longer-range A350-1000 flying in a 3-class configuration of business class, premium economy (featuring an all-new design) and economy seating, although not an inflight bar.

Source: Airbus

Cathay Pacific's current first class seat was introduced in 2007 and after receiving a 'mid-life refresh' in 2013 is still regarded as among the world's better first class seats.

Source: FlightRadar24

The airline's A350-900 is expected to sport 38 business class seats, 28 premium economy seats and 214 in economy. 

It will also be kitted out with satellite Internet to run technology and pricing trials.

Based on the article “Cathay Pacific nixes first class for Airbus A350-1000” published in Australian Business Traveller

A350 4th generation inflight entertainment system IFE.

A350 marketing director Mike Bausor pointed out that the embedded inflight entertainment system on board has been greatly approved.

“IFE is a basic feature on board the A350 XWB.” 

“What the customer gets is a choice between 2 providers; one which is Panasonic and the other Thales.“

“Both of those systems are what we call 4th generation IFE, and the beauty of that is that we actually multiple the bandwidth by 5, so that means that even in coach all screens are wide-screen and high-definition, which couldn’t be achieved before.”

“On top of that, the aircraft comes with connectivity – wifi, GSM, live TV and all of these good things.”

“The other good thing about 4th generation IFE is the electronic box that used to be at your feet under the seat, has now been … integrated completely into the seat-back, so that there again you provide more comfort for the passengers by providing a totally unencumbered foot space.”

“Even the cable that goes from seat to seat now runs under the floor so you don’t get that plastic strip…it’s a completely flat floor which is unique to the A350.”

Based on the article “Airlines have not yet picked 10-abreast layout for A350: Airbus” published in Runway Girl Network.

No customer has actually frozen 10-abreast layout for A350. Not yet.

Have any Airbus A350 XWB customers selected a 10-abreast economy class seating configuration for the new widebody? The answer to that question depends on whom you ask at Airbus.

Last week, while the A350-900 was in New York Newark, the question was posed by Runway Girl Network to A350 marketing director Mike Bausor.

“So far no customer has actually selected 10-abreast,” Bausor said definitively.

Source: @airbus

Bausor said airline customers “need to freeze their definition around about … 18 months to 24 months before delivery so as we go forward, I think we’ll see a lot more configurations being frozen”, but no customer has locked down a plan for 10-abreast. “Not yet,” he confirmed. “I think we will see that.”

His revelation contrasts to a recent statement made by Airbus executive VP, strategy and marketing Dr. Kiran Rao, who said that while he was not at liberty to provide the names of customers that have chosen 10-abreast, there are “probably less than a handful of airlines on 10-abreast”.

Rao also revealed that Airbus is working to make the 10-abreast layout more comfortable, by playing with angles on the sidewalls, tweaking the armrests, and employing other clever modifications to achieve a seat width that could be just 16.9” versus the 16.4” seat width originally advertised for the high-density 3-4-3 option.

Asian airlines and Air Caraïbes are most likely to be first adopters.

“Obviously for operators that plan to do longhaul, low-cost – the kind of thing we see emerging very much today in Asia, where we’ve got to remember that people are smaller there as well – there we can actually do 10-abreast configuration: 3-4-3,” said Bausor.

 

 

Based on the article “Airlines have not yet picked 10-abreast layout for A350: Airbus” published in Runway Girl Network.

A350 debuts at Oshkosh.

Airbus experimental test pilot Captain Frank Chapman flew his dynamic Paris Air Show demonstration routine of 7 minutes in the Airbus A350 as it made its EAA AirVenture debut on Monday 21/July.

Source: Airbus

Chapman said he was less constrained by airspace boundaries than he was at the Paris Air Show last month because there is no nearby airport to Wittman that could create a traffic conflict.

Source: @delanman

At Paris Le Bourget, demo pilots have to be very careful not to intrude into nearby Charles de Gaulle’s Class D airspace.

Source: Airbus

For the demo at EAA AirVenture, he set Config 3 [drooped nose devices, slats and flaps extended] because the A350’s digital fly-by-wire flight control system provides crisper roll response in that configuration.

Source: Airbus

“I couldn’t believe the sea of airplanes and campers on the ground. It just blew me away. When we landed, everybody was so enthusiastic. The welcome was just overwhelming.”

Source: Airbus

Landing weight for the aircraft was 430,000 lb and VREF final approach speed was 135 knots indicated. Landing rollout on Runway 36 was less than 5,000 ft.

Source: @macjp

Based on the article “Airbus’s Chapman Flies A350 Paris Air Show Routine At Oshkosh” published in Aviation Week.

You can be an A350 pilot in 8 days … if you are already an A330 pilot.

With the A350 conceived as the natural replacement in the Airbus product line for the A330 family, the manufacturer had to ensure the desire to introduce advanced technology into the new twinjet did not create too big a step for pilots transitioning from the earlier type.

Source: Airbus

While on the face of it, the new cockpit with its 6 huge glass display screens looks a world apart from its predecessor, the reality is that once crews have undergone conversion training the 2 environments feel very similar, said Christian Norden, head of A350 flight crew training at Airbus.

“When A330 pilots first enter the A350 cockpit they say ‘that’s totally different, that won’t work’, because this is not the A330,” said Norden.

“At the end of the conversion course (4-day ground course + 4 days of systems training), they make their first take-off and first landing in the A350, and everyone so far has said ‘it’s an A330’.”

Source: Alexander Hassestein 

The A330 and A350 have approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency and the US Federal Aviation Administration for a common type rating. “So every A330 pilot can say ‘hey, I’m an A350 pilot already,’” quips Norden.

“From September onwards Finnair plans to make A330/A340/A350 common rating.”

Airbus is currently working on the differences program between the A380 and A350, with a 5-day course being targeted, said Norden.

“We have to make a little bit of manoeuvring training because coming from a quad to a twin, engine-out handling is different. So we have to make use of a full-flight simulator.”

The program is likely to comprise a 2-day ground course, 2 days in the simulator and a 1-day skills test, he added.

Based on the article “Airbus keeps pilot conversion to A350 from A330 simple” published in FlightGlobal.