Retro: the events that shaped the aeronautics industry in 2019
The year 2019 was marked by ramp-ups, mergers, new aircraft and the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX. Aircraft manufacturers continued to innovate in order to offer ever more high-performance aircraft, despite difficulties in the sector.
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| The 737 MAX, the new game changer from Airbus( credits:Airbus) |
The 737MAX crash and its consequences
With the crash of a Boeing 737-8 MAX near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, of the Ethiopian Airlines company, the various aviation authorities in turn banned the plane. The United States and Canada are the last to ban it. This leads to the immediate grounding of the planes. As of this writing, the 737 MAX is still banned from (commercial) flights and more than 700 aircraft are grounded. Aircraft production is suspended.ATR launches an aircraft capable of landing (almost) anywhere.
The aircraft manufacturer ATR introduced the ATR 42-600S, "S" stands for STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing), on October 9. It can take off and land on runways as short as 800 m with 40 passengers on board. |
| The ATR 42-600S, new regional aircraft (source:ATR) |
With this new version, the French ATR forecasts a potential market expansion of 25%, targeting new routes as well as the 30-seat STOL aircraft segment. According to the manufacturer, almost 500 airports in the world have a runway of 800 to 1 000 m which the ATR 42-600S could serve.
The A321XLR, the success of the year
Launched in June 2019, the new single-aisle aircraft is a future version of the A321neo but with a long-haul range. It is capable of carrying nearly 250 passengers over very long distances. It features significant technical improvements.The different versions of the A321 allow an increase in range: +15% for the A321LR compared to the A321neo, and +15% for the A321XLR compared to the A321LR. The increased range is made possible by a new Rear Central Tank capable of carrying 12,900 litres of kerosene.
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| Vietjet ordered A321XLR (source:Airbus) |
In a single-class seating configuration, the aircraft can carry up to 244 passengers.
With the aircraft capable of flying more than 9 hours, over more than 8,700 kilometres (4,700 nm), new airlines can be operated, linking Europe to the east coast of the United States, India as well as Asia to the Middle East or Australia.
North America can be reached from South America, such as Miami-Buenos Aires. Some low-traffic routes could be profitable, thanks to high load factors in fuel-efficient aircraft.
The merger of two giants in the aeronautics industry: Raytheon and United Technologies
Combining its production capacities and above all its Research and Development skills enables it to imagine new technical solutions. To mention only two fields of application, that of aircraft cybersecurity: United Technologies provides aircraft networks and information management systems and Raytheon provides the detection, defence and reaction aspect as well as security tests, with detection of faults.End of the A380
Airbus announced on Thursday 14 February that it will cease production of the A380 in 2021. The cause is Emirates' decision not to place orders, even though the airline remains the main customer for the super jumbo jet. The latter prefers to concentrate on the A350 and the A330neo at present. |
| Some of the oldest A380 are disassembled (source: Tarmac Aerosave) |
The 777X grounded
While the plane was scheduled to take off in 2019, problems with the General Electric engine delayed the tests.Embraer, Comac and Mitsubishi
The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer made the first flight of the Embraer 175-E2 on December 12, 2019. It is expected to be certified by the end of 2021, for commercialization in 2022. In China, the sixth and final C919 prototype left the factory, with its first flight on December 27. Mitsubishi, meanwhile, is offering its SpaceJet, formerly MRJ. The first model should be delivered in mid-2020.
CFM Intern
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