Club News

Embraer Considers Building a New Turboprop Plane Unveiled- announced at Aviation Club UK – Article by Robert Wall

Embraer Considers Building a New Turboprop Plane  Thursday, September 14, 2017 03:10:00 PM (GMT)

By Rober Wall      LONDON — One of the world’s biggest plane makers, Embraer SA, is in talks with airlines about potentially developing a turboprop regional airliner amid signs demand in the U.S. for such aircraft may be ready to rebound.      The company this week hosted two days of talks in Europe with airlines from around the world to gauge their interest in a new plane to satisfy demand for the next 20 to 30 years, said John Slattery, president of Embraer Commercial Aviation. “We are at the early stages of assessing what the business case could be,” he said Thursday.      The plane principally would compete with Canada’s Bombardier Inc. and ATR the European turboprop maker owned by Airbus SE and Italy’s Leonardo SpA.      Mr. Slattery said current turboprop designs now being sold are “decades old” potentially opening the door for a plane featuring a new airframe, engines and other enhancements. “We are serious about it,” he told the Aviation Club in London.      The Brazilian aircraft maker is best known for making 70-seat to 100-seat regional jets heavily used on routes with not enough demand to warrant operating larger Boeing Co. or Airbus planes.      Mr. Slattery said the feedback from the so called airline advisory board was instructive. Plane makers typically hold such meetings to get customer feedback and refine their aircraft concepts before formally offering new aircraft designs for sale.      Embraer would likely introduce more than one version to cover different passenger numbers. The exact sizes haven’t been defined yet. He wouldn’t say when Embraer may decide whether to introduce a new turboprop plane.      Turboprops tend to fly fewer passengers on shorter distances. But they typically burn less gas than their regional jet cousins offering airlines a way to cut their fuel bill. Turboprops fell out of favor in the U.S. because passengers generally preferred jets they viewed as more comfortable and modern.      But after a prolonged orders lull, ATR, which has the largest market share, said it has won a preliminary 20 aircraft deal with Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Silver Airways Corp. The first of the planes, being introduced through a plane rental company, could be delivered before year-end, an official for the plane maker said.      Mr. Slattery said the U.S. market for smaller airliners for now likely will remain focused on regional jets, though new turboprop technology could help spur a renaissance.      ATR projects a demand for more than 2,500 turboprops globally through 2035. The company also has considered launching a more than 90-seat turboprop, larger than its existing models, though the company held off on committing to such a design.      Embraer built turboprops from the mid-1980s through the 1990s, though more recently has focused on building regional and private jets. The newest generation of its regional jets is due to enter service next year.      Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com

 

Annual Reception Success at House of Lords

The Aviation Club UK

On the eve of the publication of the Government’s consultation to kickstart the new UK Aviation Strategy, guests from across the aviation industry, parliamentarians and Aviation Club UK members attended the Aviation Club UK’s annual reception at the House of Lords, hosted by Lord Clarke of Hampstead CBE, British trade unionist and Labour peer.

Jane Middleton, Immediate past chairman and chair of Airlines UK, thanked and introduced host Lord Clarke.  Special guest Bob ‘the cat’ Bevan MBE, after dinner speaker, Crystal Palace supporter and raconteur entertained the guests with his sparkling wit and jokes..

Heathrow Airport sponsored the event and Flybe Chief Executive Christine Ourmieres-Widener donated flights.  

Amongst some 130 guests were Geraldine Wilmot of Boeing, who flew in from Seattle specifically to attend the Reception, Orbis UK Chief Executive, Rebecca Cronin and Paul Morris, Senior Manager, Aircraft Field Line Maintenance, FedEx (who donated the current aircraft to Orbis) along with Charity Partnership Manager, Kathryn Sweet. They were delighted to join members at this special event and enjoyed to opportunity to network with guests, including long term Orbis supporter Irena Badelska.

Grayling At Aviation Club UK

Fast-moving political events including last week’s protests following the Grenfell Tower fire and plots against Theresa May promise to make the Aviation Club UK’s next lunch on 12 July 2017 even more topical than usual.

Guest speaker is secretary of state for transport Chris Grayling MP, whose public row with Labour’s John McDonnell over the Grenfell action put him squarely back in the spotlight.

CLICK HERE To download the full article from BTN

Guardian Of The Skies

The Aviation Club UK

One of the most important regulators in the world is set to speak at the Aviation Club UK next month on Thursday 15 June 2017.

Michael Huerta runs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the USA, and is responsible for the safety and efficiency of the largest aerospace system in the world with more than 47,000 employees who provide aircraft and airport safety oversight and air traffic services to more than 50,000 commercial and private flights each day…

Download the full media release HERE.

Pieter Elbers, CEO KLM Outlines Importance of UK Market at Aviation Club UK Lunch

The Aviation Club UK

Pieter Elbers addressed Aviation Club UK members and guests at their Club luncheon on Wednesday 5 April.  Elbers confirmed the importance of the UK market to KLM quoting the following key messages:

The UK is KLM’s single most important market out of the Netherlands. In three years’ time we have increased the number of seats to the UK by 20%. Last year, we opened three new UK destinations (Inverness, Southampton and London City). This is proof of our commitment to the UK and our faith in the further development of this market.

Currently, with 17 destinations and 71 frequencies a day we welcome on board as many as 4.2 million passengers per year. This means almost 1 out of 6 KLM passengers flying through Schiphol enter via one of our UK routes. With our network we offer services to the world from more cities in the UK than any other airline, we are UK’s regional “home carrier”!  

What sets us apart from the competition? Most of all, we want to offer our passengers a memorable experience. KLM will not be the most luxurious, nor have the lowest cost, but instead we have made a choice for customer intimacy. This is in our DNA.

Digital enables large scale customer intimacy. We have now rolled out over 14.000 iPads for frontline staff. This will enable them to personalize their service to customers and to solve problems more directly.  Ever since the ash cloud in 2009 when we evolved our social media response KLM has been a frontrunner in digital and social media. Since then a lot has happened. The world around us evolved. And so did we.

With 100,000 incoming messages a week that are answered within the hour, we still excel in social media. But also on digital we have a good track record:

      Over 130 million visits per year on klm.com

–      Selling 1 out of 3 tickets via our website

      Almost half of all online visits are on mobile

      70% online check-ins

‘Recently Citibank published a thorough and interesting update on digitization in the airline industry, where KLM was ranked as the number one digital scoring European airline. At KLM with over 18 million followers we have more social media presence than IAG Group and Lufthansa Group combined. And we continue to invest in our leading digital position.

We believe we should be where our customers are.  I can honestly say that we at KLM feel at home in the UK and we wish to make UK customers feel at home with KLM.

To view the Bloomberg news article CLICK HERE

Aeromexico Leads Latin American Surge

The Aviation Club UK

The Aviation Club UK welcomes its first speaker from Latin America next week when Aeromexico CEO, Dr Andres Conesa, joins the Club’s second lunch of the year on Wednesday 8 March 2017 in central London ..

To download the full release click here