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UPDATE: The first EVER aircraft landing on the remote British island of St. Helena took place September 15, 2015 as a South African Calibration Beechcraft King Air 200 landed at the new HLE (St. Helena Airport), just a few weeks shy of the 200th anniversary (October, 1815) of the arrival on the island of defeated and exiled, His Excellency Napoleon Bonaparte the Emperor of France, who died on the island on May 5, 1821. A new chapter begins for St. Helena this coming February, 2016 when Comair of South Africa begins its regular 3,672 Km Boeing B737-800 weekly Saturday service from Johannesburg, South Africa, a service that will bring modernity to the islanders, quick access to medical care and transportation for locals and tourists measured in hours and not days.

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UPDATE: of article on St. Helena’s new airport of April 21, 2015 The British island of St. Helena is now a little less remote with the first EVER aircraft landing on the island on September 15, 2015 when a South African Beechcraft King Air 200 calibration airport landed at the new $US 310+ million Saint … Continue reading →

UPDATE: Another exciting week at Bombardier, as stock surged upwards ($1.86 per share) on the news that Beijing Infrastructure (China) wants to buy Bombardier Transportation (Trains) division for $8.0 billion (valuation 60% higher than expected), which will have an IPO latter this year to provide liquidity for cash burning CSeries program. Still no new good news, and Bombardier stock (TSX:BBD.B) risks being a “penny” stock in a few weeks, as Macquarie sets target price of stock at $1.00 and recommends selling the stock now before it plunges, even though it’s AirFinance leasing division (165 aircraft, of which 94% are A320’s/B737’s) has 40 + 10 CS300 on order ? Another CSeries lessor, LCI says Bombardier needs to “start turning interest into orders from market leading airlines”, also that “two marquee customers that will each take in excess of 25 aircraft” is a must, as otherwise “LCI could abandon its 20 x CS100/300 orders”. Off course the CSeries order book lacks breath and quality (e.g. little known and struggling airBaltic of Latvia is it’s launch customer for the CS300 ?) and Bombardier needs a big new order soon to revive confidence in the program, as it is becoming clear that the current 243 orders are realistically only 150 at best while the A320neo line has 4,193 firm orders and the Boeing B737Max line has 2,869 orders, is the 100-149 seat market even viable for 2 OEM’s (Embraer and Bombardier) ? Lastly, Russian Ilyushin Finance (IFC) is talking about keeping its CSeries orders after cancelling this summer, yet EU/US/Canadian sanctions are in place (for Russia’s annexation of Crimea last year, its 4th occupation of another state’s territory since 1992) against Russian government majority owned banks, oil companies, several Putin’s close “friends/oligarchs” and current sanctions do include United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) the holding company for most of Russia’s aviation/aerospace industry, including the Sukhoi SSJ-100 SuperJet program) which also owns Ilyushin Finance (IFC), therefore any CSeries deal would be in violation of existing sanctions, and surely Canadian will stand by its obligations to STOP such a deal as NATO is facing renewed Russian aggression and a new “Cold War” is on, and no ‘western’ airline should order the Sukhoi SSJ-100 airliner as it would be a PR disaster these days one that could face a customer backlash/boycott. A Canadian election is set for next month and many Ukrainian and Eastern European citizens expect the Canadian Government to hold a ‘tough’ line on Russian expansion and aggression.

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Well another exciting week at Bombardier has passed, as the stock (TSX:BBD.B) as its stock climbed to $1.37 on September 9th and then on Friday September 11th it hit $1.86, having hit a new bottom at $1.11 on August 24. ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————- The struggling CSeries still has only 243 ‘firm’ (53 x CS100 and 190 x … Continue reading →

SUMMARY: Another Canadian airline has shut its doors again, as IMP Group’s CanJet Airlines has packed it in after 15 years of trying everything to be successful, from being sold to Canada 3000 and then revived, then went into scheduled services, then went into charter flying for tour operator Sunquest followed by ACMI flying for Air Transat and when that ended a failed quick and poorly planned attempt at becoming a tour operator as well, but CanJet Vacations lasted 2 months at best, again poor execution of a business plan and now it has run out of ideas. The airline has run the gauntlet of airline business models without any long term success or profit, the problem is more to do with execution than the business plans used, a common Canadian aviation problem. Now it will dry lease out its last 4 x B737-800’s and return them to their owners in May, 2016, but with no operations the AOC will be gone, and that is worth something for Canada’s aspiring ULCC start-ups like Canada Jetline or Maple Leaf Travel who have no AOC or money right now. Canada needs a ULCC, the business model is proven and LCC companies like Indigo Partners LCC and Irelandia Aviation surely would love to give it a try in Canada where 85% of domestic travel is in the hands of the duopoly of Westjet Airlines and Air Canada. Why are airlines like Air Transat allowed to lease in 10+ foreign B737-800’s on ACMI leases when Canadian aircraft and crews are available ? foreign ACMI leases should be allowed only when there is no Canadian lift available, time for the government to investigate this matter.

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As expected (my Blog May 19, 2015), Canada has lost another airline last week, when CanJet Airlines, shut down the operation of its last operational Boeing B737-800 which was operating on an ACMI lease for Air Transat out of Toronto, and was downgraded to just a dry lease, forcing the company to furlough its last … Continue reading →

UPDATE: of June 8, 2015 article – Evektor s.r.o. the Czech design office that is behind the Evektor EV-55 Outback, a 10-14 seat twin PT6A-21 powered un-pressurized STOL utility aircraft with so much sales potential, is struggling to make headway after the takeover of the company by Malaysian investors who are very new to the aviation industry. The market for a twin engine competitor to the Textron Aviation Grand Caravan is out there, but certification is going to be a major challenge for the inexperienced Czech/Malaysian company. The company has been hit by several major lawsuits for several accidents with its small LSA (light sport aircraft) 2 seat SportStar aircraft (produced by its 66% directly and 34% “indirectly” owned Evektor-Aerotechnik a.s.) and by a lawsuit from its ex-USA dealer, which has resulted in the Czech court freezing the bank accounts of Evektor-Aerotechnik a.s. in regard to a $3.2 million judgement against the company in a Florida court, forcing the company to file for “reorganization” (+/- US Chapter 11 bankruptcy), which is presently in insolvency. The Malaysians and Czechs are way over their heads with this program, and with no sign of the MSN 002 prototype (the first production standard unit) flying any time soon, certification is 3+ years away at best and it starts when MSN002 starts flying (1Q/2016 ?) and in no way will it deliver the first certified aircraft in 2017 as promised to its Malaysian launch customers, in fact, the program has a low probability of ever making it through certification, production and commercialization as it stands now. All indications point to a possible sale of the program to a ‘foreign’ OEM (e.g. China) as EASA certification will take much longer than they planned, and apparently there are no plans to sell the aircraft in the US market, meaning no FAA certification, which reduces the market potential of the aircraft by 70% at least, so where is this going ? and what about the $50+/- million the Czech Government invested in the program ? the aircraft is only possible thanks to the tax payers of the Czech Republic and the shareholders of Evektor s.r.o. should not be profiting from its sale if the EV-55 is not going to be certified and built in the Czech Republic, time for the Police to investigate the whole thing.

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On June 8, 2015, I published an article on the Evektor EV-55 Outback, twin engine turboprop utility designed and built in the Czech Republic, and now going through EASA certification under its “de facto” new owner after a hostile takeover in what was originally only an investment by Malaysian investment group Apirasi Pertiwi Sdh. Bhd. … Continue reading →

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