Aircraft orders and deliveries up
1 min read
Commercial aircraft deliveries rose by 6% and orders by 10% in April 2014 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to aerospace trade organisation ADS Group. It reported that production rates also grew, with year-to-date deliveries increasing 7%.
Paul Everitt, ADS Group chief executive, said: "As we look ahead to the Farnborough International Airshow in July – one of the world's best shop windows for the sector – it is clear UK industry is in a good position to benefit from the substantial increase in demand. Rising passenger traffic and customer focus on efficiency is driving demand for new aircraft.
"The sector has a healthy backlog of 11,341 aircraft and 20,228 engines. This offers a very valuable long-term opportunity and is the focus for much of the work of the Aerospace Growth Partnership."
A statement from ADS added: "This latest data demonstrates the growing importance of the sector, which contributes £24 billion to the UK economy each year. Experts predict a requirement for 29,000 new large civil airliners, 24,000 business jets, 5,800 regional aircraft and 40,000 helicopters by 2032.
"With the UK specialising in the development and manufacture of some of the most complicated and high tech parts of modern aircraft, this requirement means a potential market share of around $600 billion for the UK."
Meanwhile, Saab has ordered Oxley LED landing and taxi lights for its Gripen combat aircraft.
These fixtures will replace the conventional halogen lights which are said to require frequent and costly replacement due to the damage sustained by shock and vibration, and performance degradation in extreme operating temperatures.
Oxley has received a production order for the supply of 140 shipsets of lights with delivery starting in August and continuing through to October 2015. Oxley currently supplies wing tip, tail light, position lights and the control box for the aircraft external lighting system on the Gripen C and D variants.
