The AviTrader Aircraft and Engine Marketplace

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AviTrader WEEKLY AVIATION HEADLINES Airbus starts final assembly of first A350 XWB Final assembly of the first A350 XWB is now underway at the brand new final assembly line in Toulouse. This latest step in the A350 XWB’s progress is achieved as Airbus starts joining the 19.7 metre long centre fuselage with the 21 metre long front fuselage. This first A350 XWB airframe will be used for the static structural tests that all new aircraft undergo as part of their certification process. The assembly of the first flying A350 XWB, MSN1, will start during summer. The centre fuselage was delivered to Toulouse on Wednesday 4th April 2012 by Beluga from Airbus in St Nazaire, France. The front fuselage was previously delivered from St Nazaire to the A350 XWB final assembly line on the 23rd December 2011. Delivery and installation of the aft fuselage from Hamburg, Germany will take place in the coming weeks, followed by the wings delivered from Airbus’ wing assembly site in Broughton, UK. A350 XWB first centre fuselage being aligned with front fuselage for join-up Airbus GOL receives authorization to provide MRO services for other aircraft models GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. received authorization from the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) to provide conventional and electrostatic painting, weighing and recalibration services for other companies’ aircraft in its Maintenance Center in Confins, Belo Horizonte. The agency’s authorization, which also represents a new revenue source, covers Boeing 737-700 and 737-800 Next Generation aircraft, identical to those of GOL’s fleet, as well as Boeing 737-300 aircraft, part of Webjet’s fleet, and other models from other manufacturers which are capable of fitting into the painting hangar. GOL’s Aircraft Maintenance Center was expanded in 2010, to reach its current capacity of up to 120 aircraft per year. The expansion absorbed investments of R$65m, enabling the Center to undertake heavy fuselage maintenance, preventive main- 6 April 16, 2012 / Vol. 334
AviTrader WEEKLY AVIATION HEADLINES tenance, aircraft painting and internal aircraft configuration for GOL’s entire fleet. BAE Systems to supply Avro RJ D-C cargo hold modification kits to Swiss International Air Lines BAE Systems won a contract from Swiss International Air Lines to supply D-C cargo hold fire detection and suppression system modification kits for the conversion of the airline’s 20-strong fleet of Avro RJ jetliners. Swiss has taken the decision to modify its aircraft ahead of a possible European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) mandated requirement. Both the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) have mandated this upgrade and, as a result, BAE Systems Regional Aircraft has in the past provided modification kits to airlines in these countries. The fleet of BAe 146/Avro RJs operated by Cobham Aviation Services in Australia, as well as the original fleet of Avro RJs operated by Mesaba Airlines in the United States (now largely operating with CityJet in Ireland) have been converted. OTHER NEWS Butler National Corporation announced additional resources are being focused on acquisition opportunities. Clark D. Stewart, CEO of Butler National said, “Our goal over the next twenty-four months will be to acquire companies that build on our current position in the FINANCIAL NEWS ILFC refinances $550m secured term loan International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) closed a new $550m senior secured term loan. The loan will bear interest at LIBOR plus 3.75% per annum with a LIBOR floor of 1.0%, and is priced at 99.5% of par value. It will be secured primarily by a first priority perfected lien on the equity of certain of the Company’s subsidiaries that directly or indirectly own a pool of aircraft and related leases. ILFC used the proceeds to prepay in full and at par its $550m senior secured loan originally scheduled to mature on March 17, 2016, which bore interest at LIBOR plus 5.0% per annum with a LIBOR floor of 2.0% and was priced at 98% of par value. L-3 agrees to acquire Thales’ civil aircraft simulation & training business L-3 Communications entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Thales Training & Simulation Ltd’s civil aircraft simulation and training business. The purchase price is £83m (approximately $132m) and will be funded with cash on hand. Headquartered in Crawley, United Kingdom, the business employs approximately 400 people. It is a leading manufacturer of commercial flight simulation equipment, with an installed base of more than 540 simulators and a significant global customer roster. The business also operates a training center in Asia. Its advanced civil aircraft simulators are com- aerospace industry. We believe there may be opportunities to make acquisitions compatible with our current industry offerings and generate high margins.” Craig Stewart, president of Aerospace for Butler National, will lead the effort and work to identify opportunities to enter new aviation markets and expand the products offered by Butler through acquisitions. Gulf Coast Avionics and Pacific Coast Avionics added the Flight Companion from Matchbox to their product offerings. The FC-1 Flight Companion is a new lightweight multi-functional electronics instrument that provides a variety of alerts to assist pilots with their cockpit management functions. Flight Companion capabilities include an altitude alert system that alarms with change of more than plus-or-minus 100 feet from a pre-set altitude and a tank timer that provides a 30 minute tank countdown and an LED flash alert that the tank is being timed out. In addition to the Flight Companion, a related Matchbox product called the DVM828 is a self-contained digital voltage monitor that plugs directly into an existing cigarette lighter connector and monitors the status of the aircraft battery and charging systems. Lufthansa Technik is opening a new sales office in Istanbul – a step that acknowledges the growing importance of the Turkish market. Turkey is one of the ten most strongly growing countries around the world and leads growth in Europe. Aviation in particular is steadily gaining importance. Copa Holdings’ system-wide passenger traffic increased 22.5% year over year in the month of March 2012, while capacity increased in the same proportion. System load factor for March 2012 was 76.0%, flat when compared to March 2011. Finnair traffic rose by 11.6% and the overall capacity grew by 3.6% year-on-year. Passenger load factor improved by 5.6 points and was 78.0%. LAN Airlines reported that system passenger traffic increased 14.7% as capacity rose 8.2%. As a result, the Company’s load factor for the month increased 4.7 points to 82.4%. Republic Airways reported that March traffic was in line with the same month last year, on a decrease in capacity of 2%. Consolidated load factor was 80% in March of 2012 versus 78% in the same month last year. SAS Group reported that capacity in March 2012 increased by 3% and traffic increased 9.3%. Passenger load factor increased by 4.2 points to 72.3%. Southwest Airlines reported March 2012 combined traffic results for Southwest Airlines and AirTran. The Company reported traffic decrease of 0.9% while capacity decreased 0.9% compared to March 2011. The load factor for March 2012 was 81.8%, compared to the combined load factor of 81.9% in March 2011. pliant with U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, European Aviation Safety Agency and International Civil Aviation Organization regulations. The acquisition is anticipated to be completed in the summer of 2012, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, and will be substantially structured as an asset purchase for income tax purposes. For the 12 months ending December 31, 2012, the new civil aircraft training and simulation business is expected to generate sales of approximately $150m. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to L-3’s results of operations. Cytec to acquire advanced composite materials company Umeco Cytec Industries announced its firm intention to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Umeco plc (‘Umeco’), an international provider of advanced composite materials, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $439m (£274.3m based on a 1.60 exchange rate). The board of directors of Umeco intends to unanimously recommend the transaction to Umeco shareholders. The acquisition of Umeco will allow Cytec to further enhance and leverage its position as a technology leader in advanced composite materials. The transaction will expand Cytec’s presence in both aerospace and industrial applications, an area where Cytec sees excellent opportunities for growth and value creation. 7 April 16, 2012 / Vol. 334
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