CHINA ROADMAPS AVIATION RECOVERY FOR THE GLOBAL INDUSTRY

Asia Digital Engineering (ADE), a wholly owned subsidiary “to consolidate engineering personnel across AirAsia’s group airlines”. The entity has obtained approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) to start operations which commenced on September 9, 2020. AirAsia will consolidate MRO operations into one entity. Mahesh Kumar Jaya Kumar, AirAsia’s Head of Fleet and Technical Asset Management, has been appointed Chief Executive of ADE. The entity will leverage technology and other digital trends to reduce maintenance costs, increase productivity and efficiency, while maintaining a high level of safety, quality and airworthiness of the fleet. “ADE will be an avenue to earn additional income which will contribute to the overall increase in revenue for AirAsia.” In a separate statement, AirAsia Group indicated that ADE will be based at its global headquarters in Sepang, Malaysia, and targets to reduce the group’s maintenance costs by ten per cent. ADE expands AirAsia Group’s expertise in aircraft engineering, said Chief Executive Tony Fernandes. “This new business division provides numerous efficiencies and will leverage off our combined 19 years of experience in operating and maintaining a large fleet of over 250 Airbus A320 and A330 family aircraft.”

Boeing to move 787 production to South Carolina

The Boeing Company announced that it will consolidate production of 787 jets at its facility in North Charleston in South Carolina starting in mid-2021, according to the company’s best estimate. The decision comes as the company is strategically taking action to preserve liquidity and reposition certain lines of business in the current global environment to enhance efficiency and improve performance for the long-term. “The Boeing 787 is the tremendous success it is today thanks to our great teammates in Everett. They helped give birth to an airplane that changed how airlines and passengers fly. As our customers manage through the unprecedented global pandemic, to ensure the long-term success of the 787 programme, we are consolidating 787 production in South Carolina,” said Stan Deal, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “Our team in Puget Sound will continue to focus on efficiently building our 737,747, 767 and 777 airliner families and both sites will drive Boeing initiatives to further enhance safety, quality, and operational excellence.”

The company began assembling 787-8 and 787-9 airplanes at its Everett site in 2007 and brought the North Charleston facility on line as a second final assembly line in 2010. However, only the North Charleston site is set up to build the larger 787-10 model. Production of the smaller 787 models will continue in Everett until the programme transitions to the previously-announced production rate of six airplanes a month in 2021. Boeing said it is assessing potential impact to employment in Everett and North Charleston and will communicate any changes directly to its employees.

Undelivered Jets with Airbus and Boeing

Airbus and Boeing are sitting on large fleets of undelivered commercial jets, reflecting the continued slow pace of aircraft delivery amid the aerospace industry’s most-severe downturn. On October 1, 2020, the companies held 622 jets that have completed first-flight, but have not been delivered. The figure is down slightly from July, when a FlightGlobal analysis tallied 628 undelivered Airbus and Boeing jets. Boeing’s 423-strong fleet of stockpiled 737 MAX significantly inflate the tally. Boeing stockpiled 737 MAX in 2019 when it continued producing the jets amid the regulatory grounding, which prohibited Boeing from delivering the aircraft. Excluding the Max, the airframers hold 199 produced-but-not-delivered commercial aircraft – a six fewer than at the end of July.

Airbus’ inventory stood at 144 aircraft on October 1, 2020, down from 166 at the end July 2020. Undelivered fleet of Airbus includes 10 A220s, 89 A320-family jets, 14 A330s, 26 A350s and five A380s. Boeing’s undelivered fleet on October 1, 2020 stood at 478 aircraft, up from 462 in July 2020. The jump largely reflects more undelivered 787s. Boeing held 44 of those jets on October 1, 2020, up from 31 several months ago. Additionally, manufacturers have said travel restrictions have hindered their ability to hand over new aircraft. In August 2020, Airbus delivered 39 jets and Boeing 13, according to the manufacturers’ most-recent figures.

REGULATORY AFFAIRS Restrictions Imposed by DGCA on Cargo Flights

After a gap of almost three decades, the central government has amended its Open

Sky Policy for foreign cargo carriers with a view to ensuring fair and equal opportunity in the air cargo capacity offered by Indian registered operators. The operations of foreign ad hoc and pure non-scheduled freighter charter service flights will now be restricted to six airports. These are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, according to the orders issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on September 18, 2020. The Open Sky Policy had been adopted by the central government in 1990 that allowed air taxi-operators to operate flights from any airport, both on a charter and a non-charter basis and to decide their own flight schedules, cargo and passenger fares. The earlier policy on the subject promulgated by the DGCA in May 1992 had stated that cargo flights by scheduled and non-scheduled operators, both Indian and foreign, may be cleared freely from airports where customs and immigration facilities are available. Cargo flights into India were also permitted. DGCA data reveals that while Indian non-scheduled operators carried 4,752 passengers in the international segment in 2018-19, no cargo was carried that year. The fresh limitations on airports that can be used will not apply to all-cargo flights operated under humanitarian and emergency needs through the United Nations and other multilateral bodies of which India is a member.

Major Relaxations Provided to Airlines

Domestic and international flights resumed with many restrictions which are gradually being done away with. Domestic passenger flights are now operating at their 60 per cent of pre-COVID-19 capacity. When domestic services resumed on May 25, 2020 after a gap of two months, they were not allowed to operate more that 33 per cent of their capacity, which in June was increased to 60 per cent. Several cities initially put a cap on the number of flights arriving. In a staggered manner, these restrictions have been relaxed leading to an increase in domestic traffic. International air traffic got a leg-up after India started signing air bubbles with specific countries allowing both-way traffic. At present, India has air bubbles with 14 countries. Airlines are now allowed to implement their own check-in baggage policies instead of one check-in bag of up to 20 kg per passenger, a rule that was put in place when domestic flights commenced on May 25. In August 2020, the government allowed airlines to serve pre-packed meals, snacks, beverages on domestic flights and hot meals on international flights. No meals were allowed on domestic flights in the initial months. International flights were allowed to serve snacks, pre-packed cold meals.