GEnx-2B Engine Powers Maiden Flight of Boeing’s New 747-8 Aircraft
February 10, 2010
EVENDALE, OHIO – February 9, 2010 – Four GEnx-2B engines powered the maiden flight for Boeing’s new 747-8 Freighter aircraft, which flew yesterday at Paine Field in Everett, Washington.
“The first flight of the GEnx-powered Boeing 747-8 aircraft is the culmination of about five years of engine design, development and testing at GE,” said Tom Brisken, general manager of the GEnx program. “GE is excited to play an important part in the 747-8 program, and we look forward to completing the flight test program and delivering to our first customer, Cargolux, later this year.”
The first flight of the Boeing 747-8 aircraft lasted almost four hours and is part of an extensive flight testing program that will demonstrate the capabilities of the aircraft. The GEnx-2B engine is the first GEnx engine to fly on a new aircraft for Boeing. Later this year, the GEnx-1B engine is expected to take its first flight powering the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Optimized for the Boeing 747-8 aircraft, the GEnx-2B engine shares a common core and 80 percent of the line-replaceable units with the GEnx-1B. The GEnx is the fastest selling engine in GE’s history with about 1,300 engines on order and more than 400 of these orders are for the GEnx-2B engine.
Based on the proven architecture of the GE90, the GEnx engine will succeed GE’s CF6 engine. Compared to the CF6 engine, the GEnx-2B engine will offer 13 percent improved fuel efficiency, which translates to 13 percent less CO2. The engine achieves these improvements with aerodynamic advancements that enable higher pressures and improved energy extraction from a more compact core architecture that has significantly fewer parts.
The GEnx’s innovative twin-annular pre-swirl, TAPS, combustor will dramatically reduce NOx gases as much as 60 percent below today’s regulatory limits and other regulated gases as much as 90 percent. Based on the ratio of decibels to pounds of thrust, the GEnx will be the quietest engine GE has produced due to the large, more efficient fan blades that operate at a slower tip speed, resulting in about 30 percent lower noise levels. The GEnx will be the world’s only jet engine with both a front fan case and fan blades made of carbon fiber composites.
IHI of Japan, Avio SpA. of Italy, Volvo Aero of Sweden, MTU of Germany, TechSpace Aero of Belgium, Snecma (SAFRAN Group) of France and Samsung Techwin of Korea are revenue-sharing participants in the GEnx program.
The GEnx is part of GE’s “ecomagination” product portfolio–GE’s commitment to develop new, cost-effective technologies that enhance customers’ environmental and operating performance.
Team K-MAX Demonstrates Successful Unmanned Helicopter Cargo Resupply to U.S. Marine Corps
February 10, 2010
DUGWAY, Utah, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) and Kaman Aerospace Corporation, a subsidiary of Kaman Corporation (Nasdaq: KAMN) have successfully demonstrated to the U.S. Marine Corps the capability of the Unmanned K-MAX® helicopter to resupply troops by unmanned helicopter at forward operating bases in Afghanistan.
During a series of flights last week in subfreezing temperatures at the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground, UT, the Unmanned K-MAX demonstrated autonomous and remote control flight over both line-of-sight and satellite-based beyond line-of-sight data link.
“We met or exceeded the requirements within the scheduled three-day timeframe of the demonstration,” said Dan Spoor, Aviation Systems vice president at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems & Sensors facility in Owego, NY. “The system performed a rigorous set of cargo resupply scenarios as programmed, allowing the ground-based operator to monitor progress, and make adjustments to aircraft positioning only when requested by the Marine Corps for demonstration purposes.”
Performance attributes demonstrated included hovering at 12,000 ft. with a 1,500-pound sling load; delivering 3,000 pounds of cargo well within the six-hour required timeframe to a forward operating base (two 150 nm round-trip flights); remotely controlling flight and a precision load delivery by a ground-based operator in both day and night conditions; and uploading a new mission plan to the aircraft’s mission management system during flight.
As an optional demonstration, Team K-MAX showcased the Unmanned K-MAX helicopter’s four-hook carousel, which enables multi-load deliveries in a single flight. Lifting a total cargo of 3,450 pounds, the aircraft flew to three pre-programmed delivery coordinates, autonomously releasing a sling load at each location. At the customer’s request, the fourth load delivery was performed under manual control by the ground operator.
“The Unmanned System performed operationally representative cargo resupply scenarios, and each time the system delivered as promised,” said Sal Bordonaro, President, Kaman Helicopters, a division of Kaman Aerospace Corporation. “This capability gives the Marine Corps a proven unmanned power lifter to bring vital cargo to troops on the battlefield without the need for ground vehicles and manned helicopters.”
Team K-MAX has flown the Unmanned K-MAX nearly 400 hours in unmanned mode since 2007. The demonstration fulfilled an $860,000 U.S. Marine Corps contract awarded to K-MAX manufacturer Kaman Aerospace in August 2009.
A manned version of K-MAX has accumulated more than 250,000 flight hours, conducting repetitive lift operations for the construction and logging industries worldwide.
Mexico to invest $48 billion in infrastructure in 2010
February 8, 2010
Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderon, announced that the government plans to invest $48 billion in infrastructure this year, stating: “Investing in infrastructure is the key to elevating our competitive economy and improve the quality of life for our people.” He also stated that National Infrastructure Program, implemented by his administration, has increased over the past three years from 3% to 5% of the GDP.
Azul Linhas Aereas carried 2.2 million passengers in its first year
February 8, 2010
According to founder and CEO of the Brazilian LCC, David Neeleman, announced the airline has carried 2.2 million passengers with a load factor of 80% in its first year and the goal is to be profitable in 2010. The airline’s fleet will reach 21 aircraft in 2010 from its current fleet of 14 Embraer ERJs and will add four destinations.
Peru is moving ahead on airport infrastructure development
February 8, 2010
During 2010 the government is moving forward on its airport development with $150 million already committed for specific projects. These include a request for proposals to be issued later this year for six regional airports; as well as a second airport in Cusco.
GOL reports January traffic growth of 32.1%
February 8, 2010
Brazil’s “model airline” reported significant RPK growth to 3.060 billion, for a 32.1% growth over the same month last year. It also grew 8.5% over December 2009. It also recorded a 77.9% load factor in January, compared to 68.9% in the same month last year. The airline reports these figures are the result of Brazil’s economy as well as capacity increases.
GOL anuncia Estatísticas de Tráfego de Janeiro de 2010
February 6, 2010
São Paulo, 5 de fevereiro de 2010 – A GOL Linhas Aéreas
Inteligentes S.A. (Bovespa: GOLL4 e NYSE: GOL), a maior companhia
aérea de baixo custo e baixa tarifa da América Latina, anuncia as
estatísticas preliminares de tráfego relativas ao mês de janeiro de
2010.
Comentários da Administração
No mês de janeiro, a demanda de tráfego aéreo da GOL registrou
crescimento de 32,1% (31,4% no mercado doméstico e 36,9% no mercado
internacional), em comparação a janeiro de 2009, representando um
aumento sequencial da demanda pelo segundo mês consecutivo.
O principal fator para o aumento na demanda na malha da GOL foi o
efeito combinado do melhor cenário econômico no Brasil e na América
do Sul, principalmente sob o ponto de vista de confiança do consumidor
e do posicionamento estratégico diferenciado da GOL nos mercados em
que atua baseado em: (i) maior frequência entre os principais
aeroportos; (ii) alta produtividade; (iii) pontualidade; (iv)
qualidade no atendimento ao cliente; (v) gerenciamento dinâmico de
tarifas, beneficiando os clientes que programam suas viagens
antecipadamente com preços mais baixos, incentivando a demanda e
reduzindo o estoque de assentos disponíveis para voos demandados com
pouca antecedência; (vi) ampla vantagem em custos; e (vii)
revitalização do SMILES, o maior programa de milhagem da América
Latina, com mais de 6,6 milhões de clientes e mais de 150 parceiros
comerciais.
Especificamente sobre o mercado internacional, a melhoria na demanda
também se deve aos ajustes realizados na malha área internacional
incluindo o lançamento de novas rotas ligando o Brasil ao Caribe com
voos para Aruba e Curaçao. Adicionalmente, esse mercado também
reflete os benefícios da integração dos sistemas de reservas GOL e VRG
ocorrido em janeiro de 2009, além do reposicionamento dos canais de
vendas ocorrido durante o ano de 2009, incluindo a abertura e reforma
de lojas em aeroportos no exterior visando melhor adequá-los ao
modelo de negócios da GOL e ao perfil dos clientes com origem nessas
localidades.
Em comparação a dezembro de 2009, a demanda cresceu 8,5% (5,3% no
mercado doméstico e 35,3% no mercado internacional) pelos mesmos
fatores que levaram o aumento da demanda na comparação com janeiro do
ano passado. No caso do mercado internacional, na comparação com
janeiro de 2009, a valorização do Real em relação ao Dólar de 19,1%
foi um fator que contribuiu positivamente para esse crescimento, além
das novas rotas para o Caribe que tiveram seu pico de vendas durante
o mês de janeiro.
Como resultado, a Companhia apresentou uma taxa de ocupação total de
77,9% em janeiro de 2010 (77,3% no mercado doméstico e 81,8% no
internacional), sendo que o mercado internacional ficou 24,5 pontos
percentuais acima dos 57,3% registrados em janeiro de 2009 e 11,5
pontos percentuais acima dos 70,3% verificados em dezembro de 2009.
Dados Operacionais
Janeiro 2010* Janeiro 2009* Var.%(YoY) Dezembro 2009* Var.%MoM
Sistema Total
ASK (mm) (1) 3.936,7 3.369,1 16,8% 3.702,9 6,3%
RPK (mm) (2) 3.066,0 2.320,3 32,1% 2.827,0 8,5%
Taxa de
Ocupação (3) 77,9% 68,9% +9,0pp 76,3% +1,5pp
Mercado Doméstico
ASK (mm) (1) 3.443,2 2.854,4 20,6% 3.278,6 5,0%
RPK (mm) (2) 2.662,3 2.025,4 31,4% 2.528,7 5,3%
Taxa de
ocupação (3) 77,3% 71,0% +6,4pp 77,1% +0,2pp
Mercado Internacional
ASK (mm) (1) 493,5 514,6 -4,1% 424,3 16,3%
RPK (mm) (2) 403,7 295,0 36,9% 298,3 35,3%
Taxa de
Ocupação (3) 81,8% 57,3% +24,5pp 70,3% +11,5pp
( * ) Dados preliminares para janeiro de 2010; dados Agência Nacional
de Aviação Civil (Anac) para janeiro de 2009 e dezembro de 2009.
A Companhia vem mantendo sua estratégia disciplinada de adicionar
capacidade, visando maximizar seu resultado operacional. Em janeiro
de 2010, a Companhia aumentou sua capacidade no mercado doméstico em
20,6%, enquanto a demanda teve um aumento de 31,4%. Essa estratégia é
claramente mais positiva no mercado internacional, enquanto a
Companhia reduziu sua capacidade em 4,1%, obtendo porém, um aumento
na demanda de 36,9%.
Os yields mantiveram o ritmo de recuperação gradual e no mês de
janeiro ficou acima dos 19 centavos.
(1) Assento-quilômetro oferecido (available seat kilometers ou “ASK”)
é a soma dos produtos obtidos ao se multiplicar o número de assentos
disponíveis em cada etapa de voo pela distancia da etapa média de
voo.
(2) Passageiro-quilômetro transportado (revenue passenger
kilometers ou “RPK”) é a soma dos produtos obtidos ao se multiplicar
o número de passageiros pagantes em uma etapa de voo pela distancia da
etapa média de voo.
(3) Taxa de ocupação (“load factor”) é a capacidade efetivamente
utilizada de assentos da aeronave, calculada dividindo-se o número de
passageiros-quilômetro transportados pelo número de
assentos-quilômetro oferecidos.
ICAO is forecasting a 4.5% growth in 2010 and a boom in 2011
February 6, 2010
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is forecasting a 4.5% growth in airline traffic in 2010 and 6% growth in 2011 and 2012. In 2009 world wide traffic fell the greatest percentage since WWII.
Buenos Aires’ Aeroparque airport will serve regional destinations
February 6, 2010
The approval for airlines to operate from the capital city’s convenient airport to Brazil, Chile and Paraguay is effective as of March 1. The request for the authority came from Aerolineas Argentinas. It is not clear whether other regional airlines will be authorized, but this is a good step in making Argentina more accessible.
American Airlines is adding three new flights to Mexico from Dallas
February 6, 2010
The US carrier has announced that it will be adding three flights between Mexico and the United States on April 6. The new flights are between Dallas and Monterrey, Guadalajara and San Luis Potosi. The new service will increase the airline’s service to Mexico to 47 daily flights.
<Comentarios de Elenita
 |
Estimados lectores:
La historia que sigue es sobre una carrera aérea que se realiza la semana entrante. O sea, que se enterarán del resultado después de leer este artículo. Todos... Read more » |
 |
|
 | ||
