Airbus working on new Sharklets for A350

By Bjorn Fehrm October 25, 2017, © Leeham Co: Airbus is working on further extending the range of the A350-900 and -1000. The company is quietly testing an extended Sharklet, which will extend the aircraft’s wingspan. An A350-900… Read More

Trump decertifies Iran nuke deal, throws Airbus, Boeing orders in doubt

Subscription Required Introduction Oct. 16, 2017, © Leeham Co.: President Donald Trump announced Friday he will decertify the Iran nuclear deal, throwing into doubt a host of related commercial deals, including huge aircraft orders. Iran Air Airbus A330…. Read More

Airbus preparing to hike A350 production rate

Subscription Required Introduction Oct. 5, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Airbus is gearing up to increase the production rate of the A350 from 2018’s planned 10/mo to 13/mo, perhaps as early as the following year, LNC has learned. The… Read More

Assessing the 25 YOA aircraft factor

Subscription Required Introduction Click on image to enlarge. Sept. 21, 2017 © Leeham Co.: Airbus and Boeing look ahead to 2021 and the next several years when wide-body aircraft begin turning 25 years old to spur orders for… Read More

Worries increase over Middle Eastern airlines

Subscription Required Introduction Aug. 28, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Market sources are increasingly pointing to weakness in the Middle East airline sphere as a threat to existing Airbus and Boeing Emirates Airline holds the future of the Airbus… Read More

Airbus looks to increase, US, Canada spending

Subscription Required Introduction Aug. 21, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Airbus continues its drive to purchase goods from suppliers outside Europe, encouraging development of an aerospace cluster around its new Mobile (AL) plant. Washington State, the home to arch-rival… Read More

Key lessors see strong wide-body market despite worries

Subscription Required Introduction Aug. 7, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Amid talk that Middle Eastern airlines, which are the largest group of users for wide-body aircraft, may defer Airbus and Boeing airplanes, there are conflicting signs that the bleak… Read More

Pontifications: Context is everything

Aug. 7, 2017, © Leeham Co.: The quote appeared on Twitter, citing the chairman of Air Lease Corp, Steven Udvar-Hazy: “I would simply but strongly encourage the OEMs to carefully review their production rate aspirations closely and realistically.”… Read More

Mid-year production update at Airbus

July 27, 2017, © Leeham Co.: It’s mid-way through 2017 and LNC is taking its second look at production and delivery stream flows for the Big Four airframe manufacturers. We examined Boeing Monday in advance of its earnings… Read More

Qantas’ ultra-long haul dream, Part 3

By Bjorn Fehrm Subscription Required Introduction July 06, 2017, © Leeham Co.: In previous articles we have learned how to fly the challenging route Sydney-London direct. From a well-informed person in Qantas we learned not to fight the… Read More