Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts

Saturday, December 17, 2011

DTN News - AIRBUS NEWS: 7,000th Airbus Aircraft Delivered – An A321 To US Airways


DTN News - AIRBUS NEWS: 7,000th Airbus Aircraft Delivered – An A321 To US Airways
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 16, 2011: Airbus delivered today its 7,000th aircraft, an A321, to US Airways – the airline that operates the largest fleet of Airbus aircraft in the world – from the Airbus facility in Hamburg, Germany. This milestone comes just two years after the delivery of Airbus’ 6,000th aircraft which underlines the continued vibrancy of the commercial aviation sector and the market’s clear vote for eco-efficient aircraft.
 
The 1,000th Airbus delivery was an A340-300 that went to Air France in 1993, nineteen years after the first Airbus aircraft was delivered – an A300B2 also to Air France, in 1974.
The 2,000th delivery was six years later in 1999. It took half that time, just three years, to get to the 3,000th delivery in 2002 and three more years to reach 4,000 deliveries. The tempo went up another notch taking Airbus only two years to hand over its 5,000th aircraft, an A330-200 to Qantas in December 2007. The 6,000th Airbus was an A380 which was delivered to Emirates in January 2010.
"It’s particularly fitting that our 7,000th aircraft is an A321 going to US Airways. The airline not only operates the largest fleet of Airbus aircraft in the world; with over 220 A320 Family aircraft flying in US Airways colours today, they also operate the largest fleet of our best-selling, eco-efficient A320 Family," said Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO. "This milestone is a tribute to the hard work and commitment of Airbus teams around the world. We have improved efficiencies company-wide and this has enabled us to deliver record numbers of latest generation aircraft at continually increasing rates, with an environmental footprint ever decreasing."
"Airbus has been a long-term strategic partner to US Airways. Today we celebrate a significant milestone in Airbus’ history," said US Airways’ Chief Executive Officer, Douglas Parker. "It is an honor to be the recipient of their 7,000th delivery. On behalf of the 32,000 employees at US Airways, we applaud this tremendous accomplishment and look forward to a continued successful partnership."
By the end of the year, US Airways will operate a fleet of 93 A319s, 72 A320s, 63 A321s and 16 A330s. The airline also has firm orders for an additional 58 A320 Family aircraft, eight A330 aircraft and 22 A350 XWBs on backlog.
Over 8,200 A320 Family aircraft have already been ordered and more than 4,900 delivered to more than 340 customers and operators worldwide reaffirming its position as the world’s best-selling single-aisle aircraft family. The A320neo has over 95 percent airframe commonality with the current A320, making it an easy fit into existing fleets while offering up to 500 nautical miles (950 kilometres) more range or two tonnes more payload at a given range.

ORDERS & DELIVERIES

THE MONTH IN REVIEW: NOVEMBER 2011

Airbus maintained its sales and delivery pace in November, booking 149 orders for its A320, A330 and A380 jetliner families, while delivering 59 aircraft from these three product lines.
The A320neo new engine option for Airbus’ best-selling A320 Family once again led the month’s new business, with orders coming from key customers in the Middle East, United States and Europe.
ALAFCO, the Kuwait-based international aviation lease and finance company, ordered 50 A320neo jetliners, stating that this fuel-efficient new version was an absolute “must have” for its portfolio. 
Qatar Airways selected the A320neo as the reference aircraft for expansion of its short- to medium-haul fleet, ordering all three aircraft types offered in this latest version: 30 A320neos, 14 A321neos and six A319neos. 
Additionally, Aviation Capital Group – the United States-based global aircraft leasing company – signed a purchase agreement for 30 A320neo aircraft, while Transaero became the A320neo’s first customer in Russia and CIS with its order for eight of the jetliners.
With these bookings, firm orders for the A320neo Family reached 1,196, ordered by a total of 21 customers.
In other new business for November, Qatar Airways became the latest Airbus customer to place a repeat order for the A380 – adding five of the 21st century flagship airliners to its five already on contract.   This brings total A380 orders to 243 from 18 customers.
Completing the month’s bookings were Hawaiian Airlines’ order for five more A330-200s – which will support the continued expansion of its network and replace the carrier’s current 767-300s; and BOC Aviation’s contract for an A330-300.
The sustained delivery cadence continued in November, with Airbus providing nearly two new aircraft per day.  Its deliveries were composed of 45 A320 Family jetliners, 11 A330s (including another of the new A330-200F freighters), and three A380s (one each to Korean Air, Emirates and Qantas).  As a result, Airbus delivered a total of 477 aircraft to 84 customers in 2011 through the end of November, compared to 461 during the same 11-month period last year.
With November’s new business and deliveries, Airbus’ total backlog stood at a new record of 4,453 – consisting of 3,348 A320 Family jetliners, 925 aircraft in the A330/A340/A350 XWB families, and 180 A380s.

O&DS VIEWER

Review the worldwide Airbus orders and deliveries totals with the summary table, below.  For a full listing, utilise the link underneath the summary table to download the latest Excel file – which is updated monthly and lists all firm commercial aircraft transactions, including the family of Airbus executive and private aviation jetliners. 
Summary to 30th November 2011
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News
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Tuesday, September 20, 2011

DTN News - UAE DEFENSE NEWS: Dassault Close To UAE Deal On Rafale Jets - Paper

DTN News - UAE DEFENSE NEWS: Dassault Close To UAE Deal On Rafale Jets - Paper
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - September 20, 2011: Dassault Aviation is expected to put an offer to sell about 60 Rafale fighterjets to the United Arab Emirates this month, in a sign that negotiations are progressing, Les Echos newspaper reported on Thursday.

Last month another French newspaper said an agreement could be reached between September and the end of the year.

No one at Dassault was immediately available to comment

The UAE has been in talks with Dassault since 2008 over the purchase of 60 Rafale jets, estimated at 10 billion dollars, to replace the fleet of Mirage 2000s they bought in 1983.

French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet said in July the United Arab Emirates was France's best bet in the short term for clinching an export deal for the Rafale. (Reporting by Caroline Jacobs; Editing by Will Waterman)

Potential customers (Wikipedia)

Dassault Rafale Taxies to the runway for take off at Aero India 2011, Yelahanka Air force base Bangalore.

The Rafale is one of the six fighter jets competing for India's tender for 126 multi-role fighters. In April 2009, media reports surfaced stating that the Indian Air Force (IAF) had disqualified Rafale from the competition for not meeting minimum performance requirements of the IAF.[46] However, India's Defence Ministry dismissed these media reports and said that the Rafale was still in the race for the contract.[47] In April 2011, the IAF shortlisted Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoonfor the $12 billion contract.[48]

In January 2006, the French newspaper Journal du Dimanche reported that Libya wanted to order 13–18 Rafales "in a deal worth as much as $3.24 billion".[49] In December 2007, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi openly declared the Libyan interest in the Rafale.[50] Greece has also expressed an interest in the French fighter, possibly in exchange for its fleet of Mirages.[51] Libya did not order any Rafales; ironically, less than three years later during a Libyan uprising of 2011 in 2011, French Rafales were dispatched over Libya as a part of the 2011 military intervention in Libya; missiles such as SCALP EG were deployed from carrier-based Rafales.[52] During 2006, the British Royal Navy considered the Rafale as an alternative to the F-35 JSF, but decided to proceed with the F-35.[53][54] However the aircraft carriers will be modified in order to operate CATOBAR aircraft such as Rafales.[55]

In February 2007, it was reported that Switzerland was considering the Rafale and other fighters to replace its F-5 Tiger IIs.[56] The one month evaluation started in October 2008 at Emmen Airforce Base consisting of approx. 30 evaluation flights. The Rafale along with the Gripen and the Eurofighter were to be evaluated.[57] In September, La Tribune reported that a sale to Morocco had fallen through, the government selecting the F-16 instead.[58] In October 2007, La Tribune's earlier report appeared to have been confirmed that the Rafale would not be bought.[59]

In January 2008, O Estado de S. Paulo reported that the Brazilian Defence Minister visited France to discuss the possibility of acquiring Rafale fighters for the F-X2 program. In June 2008, the Brazilian Air Force divulged a Request For Information to the following companies and their aircraft: F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-35 Lightning II, Dassault Rafale, Su-35, Gripen NG and Eurofighter Typhoon.[60] In October 2008, it was reported that Brazilian Air Force had selected three finalists for F-X2; Dassault Rafale, Gripen NG and Boeing F/A-18E/F.[61] On 7 September 2009, during a visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Brazil announced a pact with France and that the nations are in contract negotiations to buy 36 Rafales.[62] The crash of two Rafales in the Mediterranean off Perpignan on 24 September 2009 after a midair collision, comes at a delicate time for the Brazil-France negotiations.[63] On 5 January 2010, media reports stated that the final evaluation report by the Brazilian Air Force placed the Gripen ahead of the other two contenders. The decisive factor was apparently the overall cost of the new fighters, both in terms of unit cost, and operating and maintenance costs.[64][65] Some sources say that Rafale was chosen by the Defense Ministry,[66] but there has been no confirmation on this. In February, 2011, the press announced that the new president of Brazil,Dilma Rousseff, had decided in favor of the American F-18 fighter.[67] On 28 February 2011, the Minister of Finance, Guido Mantega, said the issue would not be resolved in the current year, citing "lack of resources", due to budgetary constraints for the new fiscal year.[68]

In February 2009, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that Kuwait was considering buying up to 28 Rafales, but with no firm order then. The same month, France offered Rafales to Oman to replace its ageing fleet of SEPECAT Jaguars.[69] But in 2010, Oman prefers to order the Typhoon.[70]

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was interested in a version of the Rafale that would be upgraded with more powerful engines and radar and advanced air to air missiles.[71] They have now started to explore a purchase of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.[72] This is reported to be because France's Defense Minister Hervé Morin has asked the UAE to pay 2 billion euros of the total cost to upgrade the Rafale.[73]

Leaked United States State Department cables have said that "French representatives have tried to spin the Rafale's dismal performance in the global market to be the result of U.S. government political pressure rather than the aircraft's shortcomings".[74]

[EDIT]VARIANTS

Rafale B/C
Rafale A
A technology demonstrator that first flew in 1986. It has now been retired.
Rafale D
Dassault used this designation (D for discret or stealthy) in the early 1990s for the production versions for the Armée de l'Air, to emphasise the new semi-stealthy features they had added to the design.
Rafale B
This is the two-seater version for the Armée de l'Air; delivered to ECE 05.330 in 2004.
Rafale C
This is the single-seat version for the Armée de l'Air; delivered to ECE 05.330 in June 2004.
Rafale M
This is the carrier-borne version for the Aéronavale, which entered service in 2002. The Rafale M weighs about 500 kg (1,100 lb) more than the Rafale C. Very similar to the Rafale C in appearance, the M differs in the following respects:
  • Strengthened to withstand the rigors of carrier-based aviation
  • Stronger landing gear
  • Longer nose gear leg to provide a more nose-up attitude for catapult launches
  • Deleted front centre pylon (to give space for the longer gear)
  • Large stinger-type tailhook between the engines
  • Built-in power operated boarding ladder
  • Carrier microwave landing system
  • "Telemir" inertial reference platform that can receive updates from the carrier systems.
Rafale N
The Rafale N, originally called the Rafale BM, was planned to be a two-seater version for the Aéronavale. Budget constraints and the cost of training extra crew members have been cited as the grounds for its cancellation.

[EDIT]OPERATORS

France
180 ordered, 93 delivered as of December 2010[75]


*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News

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