Global aerospace firms have secured tentative or firm orders for more than 400 airplanes at the Dubai Airshow, building on signs of a recovery from a global pandemic that has shattered the industry’s profits. After major orders for narrowbody jets and a new freighter earlier this week, Airbus secured a tentative deal for up to 30 A320neo narrowbody jets from Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways, while Boeing ended a recent dearth of orders in India. Most of the planes ordered were narrowbody models in highest demand from low-cost carriers like Europe’s Wizz Air and Boeing’s latest customer, Indian startup Akasa. “I believe this is a sign of recovery. The second half of the decade when most of these aircraft will be delivered is a long time from now, so it is reasonable to expect that at that point traffic will exceed pre-COVID levels,” said independent aviation adviser Bertrand Grabowski. “It is also reasonable to expect that those who emerge from the crisis with lower costs and higher efficiency will win,” he added. A major question marks hangs over Asia, previously the engine of new jetliner demand, executives said, while some fretted over the concentration of orders among a few carriers. Airlines and suppliers nonetheless seized on signs of a fragile recovery, using the deadline of air show publicity to try to win last-minute concessions. <br/>
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From Indian startup Akasa Air to discount airline investor Indigo Partners, airlines have splashed out with commitments for almost 400 new aircraft at the Dubai Airshow. “Our industry is very resilient,” said Airbus Commercial Chief and Head of Airbus International Christian Scherer on aircraft demand at the outset of the airshow. The airframer has racked up the bulk of airline commitments — some 303 aircraft so far — in Dubai. This tally does not include the 111 aircraft — including the newly launched A350 freighter — ordered by lessor Air Lease Corporation. The headline deal came from Indigo for 255 A321neos that will be split among its four budget airlines: Frontier Airlines, JetSmart, Volaris, and Wizz Air. But Boeing is holding its own at the show. The Chicago-based planemaker landed an order from Indian startup Akasa Air for 72 737 Maxes — split between the 737-8 and high-density -8200. Akasa plans to begin flights next summer and is led by former Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube and backed by Indian businessman Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. The Akasa order comes nearly three months after India’s aviation regulator, which had been one of a few notable global holdouts along with China and Russia, recertified the Max at the end of August. “We booked about 309 orders net this year — 720 gross — that’s a pretty good start,” Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal said at the start of the airshow. “Those discussions are continuing at this airshow and the year’s not over. We expect more orders before the year’s end.”<br/>
The FAA said on Tuesday it is in direct talks with the telecom industry about its aviation safety concerns involving the planned use of spectrum for 5G wireless communications.b"We are having very productive discussions and we will figure this out," FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said at an event in Washington. "It remains to be seen what mitigations - whether it's adjustments to deployment or actions that we need to take within the aviation sector - what those will look like." Earlier this month, AT&T (T.N) and Verizon Communications (VZ.N) agreed to delay the commercial launch of C-band wireless service from Dec. 5 until early January. The FAA issued a Nov. 2 bulletin alerting manufacturers, operators and pilots that action may be needed to address potential interference caused by the 5G deployment with sensitive aircraft electronics like radio altimeters. The FAA bulletin said operators "should be prepared for the possibility that interference from 5G transmitters and other technology could cause certain safety equipment to malfunction." Wireless trade group CTIA said in a letter to the White House that in nearly 40 other countries, "C-Band 5G spectrum is deployed and planes land safely every day without any evidence of harmful interference." CTIA asked the Biden administration to "reject further calls to delay C-Band 5G services. Aviation safety is critically important. It is also not at risk due to C-Band 5G operations." The FAA is considering issuing an airworthiness directive. Dickson said airlines need at least 30 days' notice.<br/>
Russia will lift its COVID-19 ban on flights to countries including Bangladesh, Brazil, Mongolia, Costa Rica and Argentina from Dec. 1, the government coronavirus task force said on Tuesday. The government stopped normal commercial flights abroad when the pandemic struck last year, but it has since been gradually relaxing the restrictions. The flight bans dealt a heavy blow to Russia's airlines.<br/>
The head of the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority told Al Arabiya TV on Tuesday that the kingdom had restored 45% of pre-COVID passenger traffic estimated in 2019 at around 100m passengers. The Saudi-owned TV channel quoted Abdulaziz Al-Duailej, head of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, as saying he expected the number to increase to 50% by the end of this year.<br/>
Airbus has officially launched a freighter version of its A350 twin-engine aircraft, a sign that the airframer believes cargo demand will continue to grow and an acknowledgement that it is playing catch-up in this lucrative market with archrival Boeing. Lessor Air Lease Corp. (ALC) is one of the new freighter’s first customers, announcing an order for seven A350Fs at the Dubai Airshow. That order is part of the leasing giant’s 111-aircraft order Airbus order, which includes aircraft up and down Airbus’ product line. “We had the vision to be first adopters of the A321 and are convinced we have made the right choice again on the A220 and A350F, responding to what we see the market will need in the period of recovery ahead,” ALC Executive Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy said. Airbus admitted in its Q2 earnings call that Boeing dominated the air freighter sector. The U.S. airframer has a lineup that includes the 747-8F, 767F, and the 777F, while Airbus’ offerings were much more limited. At the time, Udvar-Hazy recommended that Boeing double down on the sector and capitalize on its advantage against Airbus. “Boeing needs to focus on that,” he said at the time. Airbus in July announced the initial research and development on the A350F had begun, but with the announcement this week in Dubai, the manufacturer has officially launched the program. Airbus did not specify an entry-into-service date for the new aircraft. The A350F is expected to have a maximum structural take-off weight of 109 tons and is capable of flying fully-laden for 4,700 nautical miles — or Hong Kong to Moscow. The aircraft can reach 6,000 nautical miles — Hong Kong to Paris, for example —with its maximum volumetric weight of 92 tons, Airbus said.<br/>
The patchy return of scheduled flights is diverting record numbers of wealthy travellers to private jets, prompting an aircraft crunch as the industry scrambles to increase capacity. More than 4.2m private jet flights have taken place this year, according to aviation data provider WingX, with a record number in each of the past six months. In the first week of November they were up 54 per cent on the same period last year, and up 16% on 2019. Flexjet’s CE “pretty much spent the last nine months shopping for aircraft”, said the fractional ownership company’s European managing director Marine Eugene. Industry executives say rising wealth among the rich, particularly in the US, has also stoked the private flying boom. Demand is so high that Flexjet has stopped taking on new customers for its entry-level Jet Card programme. So has NetJets, which has reported the highest demand for flying in its near 60-year history and is investing about $2.5b in 100 new aircraft. Used jet inventories are at historic lows, according to Jefferies, with just 861 aircraft for sale in October, half the number available a year previously. But sales are rising despite the low numbers available. Consultancy Ascend by Cirium said second-hand sales in the first nine months of the year had been almost 10% higher than in the same period in 2019. “For the first time in a very long time you are seeing distressed buyers . . . people are paying above asking price and there is simply a dearth of availability that has never been seen,” said Anna Kopinski, an analyst at mba Aviation. <br/>