Russia's United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) plans for its 130-140-seat commercial narrowbody jet to enter the market in 2016-20, said its head, Mikhail Pogosyan, last week at the International Air Transport Forum in Ulyanovsk. The aircraft is intended as a link between the future stretched Sukhoi Superjet 100 version with 110-115 seats and the smallest, 150-passenger version of the MS-21.

With markets in Europe imploding and the U.S. economy looking shaky, Singapore Airlines (SIA) is expanding its business by focusing on Asian markets and in particular growing its short-haul narrowbody operation, SilkAir.

OEM supply chain oversight has been increasing during the past 6-7 years, a period that coincides with the well-publicized problems Boeing had with its supply chain for the 787 program. But in the broader context, OEMs have responded to a steady—and often remarkable—increase in aircraft orders since 2005 that slowed for most airframers only briefly in the 2008-09 global recession.

An Emirates Airbus A380 lands at Sydney Airport after a flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The carrier is one of the leading players in the highly competitive Australia-Europe market, which includes the so-called kangaroo routes to London. Traditional powers Qantas Airways and British Airways are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with Asian and Middle Eastern carriers that have geographical advantages due to their hub locations. Sydney Airport photo.

New A350 production plan could add big costs for suppliers

LAN Airlines expects to receive its first Dreamliner on Aug. 31.

The big order rates for CFM International's Leap and Pratt & Whitney's PW1100G geared turbofan engines that will power this decade's new single-aisle and regional jets are pushing up production rates at key suppliers, particularly for those with flexible strategies for working in the supply chain, such as fuel-systems-maker Woodward Inc.

Bombardier's CSeries jet, which is scheduled to enter service late next year, sports a clean-sheet design, next-generation Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan (GTF) engines and advanced materials. Unfortunately for the Montreal-based aircraft builder, the new 110-149 seat aircraft's technical merits have been overshadowed by the buzz about the program's struggle to gain market acceptance. While customers have ordered 1,425 reengined Airbus A320NEOs and another 649 Boeing 737 MAXs, the CSeries has won just 138 firm orders since its formal launch more than four years ago.