Rolls-Royce could shut down its civil aerospace business for two weeks during the summer in a bid to manage costs amid the coronavirus pandemic. “As we continue to manage our cost base in response to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the whole commercial aviation sector, we are proposing a two-week operational shutdown of Civil Aerospace operations which are located around the world but the majority are in the UK where our primary site is in Derby,” it says. “Exactly how the shutdown operates needs to be discussed with union and employee representatives and abide by national laws.” The announcement follows the release of R-R’s outlook in late January, in which it forecast that twin-aisle, long-haul flying hours will be at just 55% of pre-crisis levels during 2021, sharply lower than its previous forecast of 70%. R-R remarks that it is also looking at its Singapore operations. “In Singapore, we continue to look at cost management options that are practical for our operations and setup,” it says. We are engaging directly with our colleagues as well as the union and relevant government stakeholders on this.” The company will disclose its full-year results in March. R-R is profoundly affected by Covid-19, given that its civil aerospace business is heavily weighted toward larger engines on widebodies.

Airbus’s activity for the first month of 2021 centred on deliveries, with 21 aircraft handed over during January. The airframer did not record any orders – or cancellations – over the course of the month. Its two long-haul aircraft deliveries comprised an A350-900 for Turkish Airlines and an A330-800 for Uganda Airlines. Among the 19 single-aisle deliveries were 10 A320neos, one A321neo, one A319neo and four A321s, plus three A220s for Delta Air Lines and Air Canada. Airbus deliveries for January were about one-third down from those in the same month last year, when it handed over 31 aircraft. Its backlog at the end of January 2021 stood at 7,163 aircraft including 508 A350s and 297 A330s.

Canada will host Comac’s in-development C919 narrowbody for natural icing flight tests this year, as the programme inches closer to certification and service entry. Canadian pilot training school International Test Pilots School (ITPS) clinched the bid to support the programme in tests in London International airport in Ontario. It will handle the logistics of the tests, as well as provide a test pilot and meteorological services during the trials. The cold-weather test is slated for March, but ITPS says it “may slip” to the second half of the year, depending on how the coronavirus pandemic situation evolves. The latest development comes less than a month after the C919 programme completed cold-weather testing in China’s Inner Mongolia region. Comac hopes to get the type certificated by this year, before commencing deliveries to Chinese carriers, including launch customer China Eastern Airlines. There are 305 firm orders for the C919. Comac has also secured more than 700 commitments for the CFM International Leap-1C-powered aircraft.