Regional Express plans a Massive Fleet Expansion

Regional Express (Rex), the largest independent regional airline in Australia, will begin an extensive fleet expansion and modernization program.  It includes the lease of 25 advanced 34-seat Saab 340B plus aircraft. 

The Saab 340B plus aircraft features a redesigned wing to increase take-off and climb perfornace.  Passenger comfort is also enhanced with the cabin's new noise cancelling system.  The Saab 340 has been described as the ideal turboprop aircraft for today's regional airline environment because of its low operating cost and fuel efficient engines. 

Rex Managing Director Deoff Breust said that the 25 aircraft would be delivered and in service by January 2007.  The expansion is required to meet the increased demand of commercial aviation in Australia.   

The Most Popular Aircraft

The Boeing 737 twin-engine airlines is the best selling commercial jet aircraft.  To-date, Boeing has delivered more than 5,000 of them.

And the most popular general aviation aircraft is the Cessna Skyhawk.  Phoenix East Aviation also considers it the best single-engine training aircraft in the world.  The C-172 has an excellent reputation for safety; it is also very forgiving of student pilots' mistakes, which is a mandatory characteristic for flight training.

The Cessna 172 is known and respected worldwide.  It was first manufactured 50 years ago, and  The company has delivered over 35,000 aircraft since the introduction of the first Skyhawk model in 1956.   

Largest US Passenger-Carrying Regional Airlines

The expansion of US regional airlines have created lots of opportunities for new pilots.  Did you ever wonder which of those airlines are large, and which are smaller, in terms of passengers emplaned?

The Regional Airline Association has published statistics for first quarter, 2006, and the airlines are ranked as follows, in terms of number of passengers:

Skywest Airlines (4,468,074 passengers emplaned) is number one, followed by American Eagle Airlines, ExpressJet Airlines, Mesa Airlines, Atlantic Southwest Airlines, Comair, Pinnacle Airlines, Horizon Air, and Chautauqua Airlines at number 10.

Numbered 11 to 20 are PSA Airlines (1,159,907 passengers emplaned), Mesaba Airlines, Trans States Airlines, Shuttle America, Piedmont Airlines, Executive Airlines, Colgan Air, Freedom Airlines, Gulfstream International Airlines and Gojet Airlines.

Airbus A380 to Make its First Landing In Africa

Ethiopia will be the first to host Africa's maiden flight by the world's largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, a testing flight that will build confidence in Africa's aviation industry.  This first flight was sent for October of this year. So far, a series of super jumbo A380 successful test flights have been conducted in Singapore, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Hamburg, Madeline (Columbia) and Nunavut (Canada).

Ethiopian aviation authorities have expressed confidence that the newly constructed runway at Bole airport can safely carry the weight of the A380 passenger service.

Ethiopian Airlines, which is owned by the government, has ordered 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets, whose delivery will commence in 2008.

Mini Jets -- a New Breed of Plane

For all of you who are considering pilot training and a career as a pilot, well, your opportunities are just about to get exponentially greater.  A new breed of plane is arriving this fall, promising air-taxi services and jets for smaller companies -- and this means there will be a significantly greater need for pilots. 

With three "Very Light Jets" (VLJ) in production, two of which will begin deliveries in the next few months, and more than 3,000 orders booked, a new age in aviation is just beginning.  VLJs won't revolutionize air travel, but they will create new options for travelers.  They likely will be an alternative for the corporate fleets of big companies and also a cheaper way to send an executive to a meeting 500 miles away than using a bigger jet with transcontinental range. 

Already they are enticing a few medium-sized companies, such as advertising agencies and law firms, to get their own corporate planes, and entrepreneurs who fly themselves for business and recreation. About half the orders to-date are from companies that want to start air-taxi services, to fly business people, for example, to small towns without the hassle of long drives or lengthy airline connections.

Nothing about the design of the VLJ is so radical that safety is expected to be a concern; all have been tested rigorously prior to government certification. What is different is who will be flying them -- the jet cockpit is now more open to less-experienced pilots. 

They are also less expensive than the standard business jet. The Cessna Mustang costs about USD2.6 million (50% less than the smallest Cessna Citation), the Adam A700 costs USD2.25 million and the Eclipse 500 is just USD1.5 million. Already Eclipse has orders for more than 2,500 jets. That's twice as many business jets that Cessna has delivered in the past six years.

And that's not all.  Embraer, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer known for its regional airline jets, havs taken more than 240 firm orders for its small jets, which won't even start flight testing until mid-2007. Honda Motor (yes, the auto manufacturer) is getting into the airplance business with a HondaJet, a prototype of which has already been flying for the past three years. Canadian manufacturer, Diamond Aircraft, just this July introduced a five-seat personal jet priced at USD1.4 million. And Cirrus Design is working on a single-engine jet with a safety parachute for the entire plane, with an estimated price tag of USD1 million.

Strong Growth in Asian Aviation

Two of the biggest events in recent Asian aviation history occurred this past September with the long-awaited opening of the new Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport and the compeltion of the takeover of Dragonair by Cathay Pacific.

Bangkok's new airport will help ease congestion at the Thai capital, although the airport's capacity for 45 millions passengers annually will most likely be quickly swallowed up, because of rapid growth of Asian commercial aviation overall.  Don Muang airport handled 39 million passengers last year, which was nearly ten million more than its design capacity.  Reportedly, there are already plans to develop more capacity at Suvarnabumi, including an LCC terminal with capacity for 15 million passengers.

In addition, two other leading Asian hubs, Singapore Changi and Hong Kong International Airport are also attaining development milestones: Both are adding significant capacity ahead of the projected demand.  Changi in September completed a USD150 million upgrade of one of its terminals. 

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Airport Authority recently confirmed they are studying the feasibility of constructing a third runway in expectation of exponential growth in mainland traffic.

And the big news is Cathay Pacific's "Deal of the Decade." The airline has now taken complete ownership control of Dragonair, signaling the start of an integration process that will give Cathay coveted access to 22 destinations that Dragonair serves.

ATA Announced New Contract

ATA Airlines announced that it was once again awarded a contract with the U.S. Air Force for fiscal year 2007.  ATA is one of The USAF Air Mobility Command's primary providers of charter airlift service, transporting military troops and their families throughout the world. 

According to Gary Ellmer, Senior V-P of Operations and General Manager - Charter, "Flying for the military will remain one of the cornerstones of ATA's charter business plan for many years to come."

While the military is its largest charter contractor, ATA also offers group and sports charters all over the world.  ATA also serves 13 domestic and two international airports, plus more than 50 other U.S. destinations through its codeshare connection partnership with Southwest Airlines, as part of its scheduled service operations.

The World's First Airline - a Bit of History

Some Aviation Trivia....

The first airline in the world to hold scheduled service was the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line.  The service began in the winter of 1914.  One or two (maximum) passengers sat on wooden seats and enjoyed Florida sunshine and salt spray directly on their faces (yes, an open cockpit!)

Route Expansions Update

Route Expansions - Aviation Industry Continues to Grow

Mexicana Airlines is promoting its new route from Baltimore-Washington International to Mexico City. 

JetBlue has announced service to Newburgh, N.Y. from Florida and added routes to Chicago's O'Hare from New York's JFK Airport and Long Beach Airport in Long Beach, California.

Delta Airlines has begun flying a new route from New York's JFK International Airport to Accra, Ghana.

United Airlines just last week launched nonstop service from Washington-Dulles International to Tokyo and Kuwait City.  This is the first Middle Eastern city serviced by the airline directly from the United States.

Alaska Airlines has just added five new nonstop routes to Mexico from Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle. This will significantly expand the airline's service to Mexico. These new flights, coupled with additional frequency on existing Mexico routes, will increase the airline's overall Mexico capacity by 22 percent.