The US government has reapproved GE Aviation’s application to supply engines for Comac’s C919 narrowbody programme, months after it mulled blocking engine sales. The enginemaker states the licence to supply CFM International Leap-1C engines will last for a term of four years. It did not indicate when the application was approved. “We are pleased that the [US] administration has come to this decision, and look to continue to serve our customers in China and beyond,” the company adds. CFM is a joint venture between GE and France’s Safran. In mid-February, media reports emerged that the US government was considering blocking the sale of the Leap-1C engine to China, with additional export limits on other systems, such as Honeywell flight-control systems. However, US president Donald Trump waded into the debate a day later, tweeting that he wanted “China to buy our jet engines, the best in the world”. He also blasted proposals that would make it difficult to sell engines and other components into the Chinese market. Apart from powering the C919, other variants of the Leap are also an option for the Airbus A320neo, and the exclusive powerplant for the grounded Boeing 737 Max. GE has obtained export licences from the US government for the Leap-1C engines since 2014, having most recently received one in March 2019. Comac has six C919 test aircraft flying, all fitted with the Leap-1C. It has more than 300 Leap-powered aircraft in its order book. Comac is looking at a 2021-2022 date for the C919’s service entry. Other than CFM engines, the C919 will also be fitted with Chinese-made powerplants. Progress on the developmental CJ-1000AX high-bypass turbofan, manufactured by AECC Commercial Aircraft Engine, is still unclear. It was reported in 2018 that the CJ-1000AX demonstrator engine achieved power-on. Chinese media reports indicate the CJ-1000AX is looking to enter service in 2021.

Source: Cirium

New Zealand’s air navigation service provider Airways could halt air traffic control at seven regional sites across the nation, as part of efforts against the coronavirus-induced slump in traffic. There are limited or no commercial services operating at these seven airports, it said in a statement today. Under review are the towers at Hawke's Bay, Gisborne, New Plymouth, Rotorua and Invercargill airports, as well as the airfield flight information service at Kapiti Coast airport and Milford Sound Piopiotahi Aerodrome. Airways operates 17 towers across New Zealand and will commence a two-week consultation process with unions next week. Chief executive Graeme Sumner said it is not viable to continue the same level of service at those sites, where traffic had been low even before the outbreak of Covid-19. “We now need to consider operating different services at these airports or that they operate as uncontrolled airspace in the same way as other uncontrolled aerodromes in New Zealand that have no Airways service – including Kerikeri, Taupo, Whangarei and Timaru airports,” he says. Airways tells Cirium that could mean digital services in the future, where controllers manage traffic from a remote location, but highlights that the company will work through a consultation process before any firm decisions are made. Last year, Airways awarded a contract to Austria-based communications and information systems supplier Frequentis to develop a digital tower system for Invercargill airport. Such towers are already in operation in Europe, including in Sweden, Norway and Germany.

Source: Cirium

Airlines around the world are in desperate need of government liquidity support which in many cases is taking too long to reach them, IATA has warned. Describing the coronavirus shutdown as "the biggest crisis we have ever had", IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac stresses that although many governments have been "very supportive" of the aviation industry, their support must arrive imminently if carriers are to be saved from bankruptcy. "We desperately need these packages to be implemented," he said during IATA's latest weekly crisis briefing, on 7 April. Assistance could come in the form of loans, loan guarantees, tax relief or other forms, he notes, but "whatever it is, we need it now". The calls are backed up by data from the association showing a 70% reduction in global flights compared with this time last year. The figure for Europe, Africa and Latin America is 90%. As most airlines have just two months of cash reserves and a host of fixed costs, they are now running out of financial legroom. Refunds totalling around $35 billion are due in the second quarter alone, IATA says. It expects total cash burn of around $60 billion in the period. Many airlines have begun issuing vouchers instead of cash refunds to customers, a practice de Juniac says is a simple "matter of survival" as the industry looks to conserve meagre cash supplies. Even with these measures, further bankruptcies are "inevitable", he says, as the sector’s improved profitability over recent years has been confined to just a few carriers. IATA also warns that a three-month industry shutdown threatens up to 25 million jobs, out of a wider pool of 65 million people who rely on the aviation industry, directly or indirectly, for work. Pouring cold water on the suggestion that passenger growth is resurgent in China, de Juniac highlights that around half of flights are still not flying, and that load factors have not risen above around 50%. He says there has been a "slight increase" in passenger numbers, but one that is "not very significant at this stage". He adds that the country's key leisure travel market remains essentially non-existent.

Source: Cirium