A new state owned Russian airline Rosavia informed recently that Airbus and Boeing had proposed their bids for the Russia’s tender for 50 firm narrow body orders. The decision on the order will be taken on December 20, 2009.

But at the same time Turkish Airlines had also negotiations with Airbus and Boeing at which an order for 70 aircraft was discussed. The price of the order is USD5 billion. But it is still uncertain whether the deal will be divided among them or a single manufacturer will get it. A timeframe for the order is still unknown.

It is expected that Qatar Airways will soon announce about new aircraft deals at the Air Show that will take place in Dubai on November 15, 2009.

In case Airbus or Boeing got big shares from these orders, it would result in a satisfactory close of, generally, not a very successful year and a preferential position in the battle for orders. If orders are placed, that would also serve as a positive sign for the next year for the manufacturer and aerospace sector.

Because of a number of cancellations, Boeing fell behind Airbus this year. One can say that the European manufacturer is considered to be behind it US competitor concerning new orders but it has the less number of cancellations.

Income Report Made by Safran

Safran, a French aerospace company, reported about its income results for the nine months to 30-Sep-2009. According to the report its income went up by 1.7% and the total income went down by 3.5% on an organic basis.

According to Jean-Paul Herteman, group CEO, the global financial downturn affected two major operating units of the company – Aerospace Propulsion and Aircraft Equipment with actually no organic growth. Safran decided not to give a detaoled outlook for 2010 but mentioned the year is going to be challenging.

The airline company offered a free flight to customers who had made an early booking of the flight from London’s Gatwick airport to Doha and who could not cope with their nerves and thus were not able to contribute to historic progress.

Gary Woodward, general manager operations and technical supply at Shell, assured that such option would give a chance to abate dependence on oil-based fuel. GTL fuel is characterized as gas with low emissions of air pollutants which can help improve air quality at local airports air quality but at the same time it has higher carbon content in comparison with ordinary fuel.

Environmentalists started to denounce aviation because it influenced negatively on climate change. An agreement was promulgated last month according to which emissions should be cut to 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2050.

Fuels based on substances ranging from coconut oil to algae were examined by various manufacturers and airlines, including Virgin Atlantic, Continental Airlines and Air New Zealand. For the last two years five test flights among them a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 trip used both biofuels and GTL. One engine of the Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 operated on a 20 per cent biofuel mix of babassu oil and coconut oil.

Despite the fact that coal-to-liquid kerosene was used by commercial airlines in South Africa, Monday’s flight is considered to be the first that used gas-to-liquid moreover it is beneficial for the environment. (via FT)

“This 5-Star Airline Certification is the ultimate quality approval that an airline can receive in recognition of its front-line Product and Service quality. We are delighted to see Qatar Airways again measuring up to the highest quality requirements that are inherent in the 5-Star status,” said Edward Plaisted, Skytrax CEO commenting on the certification.

Qatar Airways is the only airline in the Middle East that has such a ranking and one of only six five-star airlines worldwide. Skytrax also placed Qatar Airways in the world’s top 10 for in-flight entertainment. The airline is also the only one in the Middle East where the First Class seats convert into 180-degrees fully flat beds.

This is not surprising for the impressive services Qatar Air has to offer. Last year, the company has been showered with awards, including winning the Best Business Class in the World at the World Travel Awards ’08, the travel industry’s Oscars.

Qatar Airways operates 64 Boeing and Airbus aircraft serving 83 cities across Europe, Middle and Far East, Africa, North America and South Asia and is scheduled to receive 200 aircraft worth over $40 billion.