Hawker Beechcraft Global Customer Support will make available factory-completed Hawker 400XPR and 800XPR business jets, the company announced here in Dubai. Through the program, GCS plans to help customers locate and buy airframes for installation of XPR program updates and any other customer-specific options.
Aviation
Bell Helicopter Textron has high hopes that three aircraft making their Dubai Air Show debuts–the Bell 407AH and 429, and Bell Boeing V-22 tiltrotor–will soon find permanent homes in the Middle East.
CFM International is busy developing the Boeing 737 MAX’s version of its Leap turbofan and is zeroing in on specifications. Critically, the Leap-1B will have a fan diameter somewhere between the current CFM56-7’s 61 inches and the Leap-1A’s (for the Airbus A320neo) 78 inches.
Like the key air transport sectors that it serves, Honeywell’s worldview is increasingly shifting eastward as markets in the Middle East and Asia continue to show strong growth. And the emphasis of the U.S. group’s technological development work remains focused on trying to ensure that traffic growth can be achieved without compromising safety.
Abu Dhabi Aviation (ADA) is convinced that its decision to expand globally, driven partly by local competition in the offshore oil and gas industry, is proving correct. The company now has contracts in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Spain, Pakistan, Eritrea, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Australia, India, Afghanistan and Indonesia, and more in the pipeline.
Evidently regarding discretion as the better part of valor, Airbus has revised the production schedule for its planned A350 XWB, owing to delayed sub-assemblies under production by partners in Europe and the U.S. Airbus has moved the twin-aisle twinjet’s first-flight date from late 2012 to the first quarter of 2013.
Despite his keen interest in moderating his company’s backlogs, Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh said the company decided “about six or nine months ago” to boost Boeing Capital’s market exposure, primarily because the company’s customers have expressed a desire for more financial support. Not long ago the company had made a strategic resolution to draw down its exposure to aircraft financing.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is about to get its first-ever rotorcraft manufacturer, with local company Quest Helicopters unveiling a completely new design on today at 1:15 p.m. on the Dubai Air Show’s static display.
ExecuJet Aviation is offering aircraft buyers a more direct and straightforward way to finance and operate business jets through its relaunched SimplyFly program. The package offers a quick decision on financing and the opportunity to have the aircraft managed under a five-year lease.
Unglamorous though they are, aerostats are carving a substantial niche in the airborne surveillance business. They come in all sizes, from 30 feet long and a volume of 2,500 cu ft, to a massive 242 feet and 590,000 cu ft.