broadreach
30th Jul 2005, 02:00
Earlier this week Gol signed with Boeing as the launch customer for " ... an enhanced version of the 737-800 that will be able to fly into airports with runways of less than 5,000 feet..." Full article below.
It's a firm order for 30 aircraft, doubling Gol's current seating capacity.
The benchmark airport for this is said to be SDU in Rio, 4,341', zero overrun, and where -700s and A-319s are the norm. SDU's currently limited to Sao Paulo shuttle flights and a few regionals while major terminal expansion goes on. When it reopens it will be presumably be back to all destinations and fairly heavy use.
The enhancements are not specified in the article below but elsewhere I've read they include increasing capacity to 178 seats for Gol while maintaining 34" pitch, and "aerodynamic improvements". Faster-acting spoilers were mentioned but surely that cannot be all the story. Boeing are said to have been working on the mods since mid-2004.
Can anyone elucidate or conjecture on what stol magic Boeing have managed to pull out of the hat? There would seem to have been some pretty major mods to require a launch customer.
Hmm, just looking at runway lengths, noticed LCY's only 50' shorter than SDU!
Cheers,
broadreach
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Boeing, Brazil's GOL make deal
Aggressive low-cost airline orders 30 additional 737-800s
By JAMES WALLACE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER AEROSPACE REPORTER
When Constantino de Oliveira Jr. announced in early 2000 that he would launch a low-cost airline in Brazil, the former amateur race car driver and pilot envisioned that GOL might eventually do for South America what Southwest Airlines did in this country.
He may be proved right.
Born in the industry downturn after 9/11, GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. is already Brazil's second-largest carrier -- it overtook Brazil's ailing flagship carrier Varig a couple months ago -- and is more profitable than budget big shots Southwest or JetBlue.
Yesterday, Oliveira, GOL's chief executive, accompanied his father to The Boeing Co.'s Renton plant, where the elder Oliveira signed papers for a firm order for 30 more 737-800s -- about $2 billion at the plane's listed price.
The airline is the launch customer for an enhanced version of the 737-800 that will be able to fly into airports with runways of less than 5,000 feet, such as the one in Rio de Janeiro.
The order doubles the number of 737-800s of which GOL will take delivery between next June and 2012. If the airline decides to exercise purchase rights for 41 more 737-800s, it will join an elite group of airlines that have fleets of more than 100 737s.
Oliveira, known as Junior, has no doubts that GOL will take all 101 Boeing jets.
"We have been growing very fast, and the market is growing very fast, not just in Brazil but in South America," he said in an interview.
His father is chairman of GOL's board. The elder Oliveira made his fortune running a bus company.
GOL currently operates a fleet of 35 older 737-300s and some 737-700s. It will be at 70 planes by 2009, Oliveira Jr. said.
The region's most aggressive airline plans to expand throughout South America. It recently opened a route between Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, Argentina. It expects to end 2005 having carried more than 14 million passengers.
Earlier this month, GOL announced plans in 2006 for a low-cost Mexican airline as part of a joint venture.
Not bad for a startup budget airline that began service in late 2001 with six planes flying to seven airports in Brazil. GOL now operates about 370 flights per day to more than 40 destinations.
The performance improvements on the 737-800 will allow GOL to expand to airports with short runways. These aerodynamic changes being made by Boeing will be offered as an option on the 737-800 and 737-900 to other customers as well.
Oliveira said GOL has one of the highest 737 utilization rates in the world. Its fleet averages about 14 hours of flying per day. That compares with about 10 hours per day for Southwest's 737s and nine hours a day for 737s operated by Ryanair, the largest low-cost airline in Europe.
GOL is also one of the world's most profitable airlines, with operating margins of about 20 percent, he said.
Oliveira would not say discounts his airline received from Boeing for the 60 737s. Over the past year, Boeing customers have been getting big discounts on its hot-selling 737 as the aerospace giant regains sales momentum against rival Airbus. Boeing will not talk about airplane pricing other than to say it can sell its jets more cheaply now because of efficiencies made throughout its production system.
"We will keep our competitive advantage in terms of costs," Oliveira said when asked about pricing on the Boeing deal.
The planes will be bought with loans from the export-import bank, but Oliveira said GOL has more than enough cash on hand to cover the required 15 percent. The airline raised about $150 million last year as part of its IPO. GOL's profits are expected to rise 58 percent this year, to $255 million.
"We are well-prepared to compete," Oliveira said. "Our vision for the next five years is to be recognized as the airline that popularized lost-cost airplanes in South America."
It's a firm order for 30 aircraft, doubling Gol's current seating capacity.
The benchmark airport for this is said to be SDU in Rio, 4,341', zero overrun, and where -700s and A-319s are the norm. SDU's currently limited to Sao Paulo shuttle flights and a few regionals while major terminal expansion goes on. When it reopens it will be presumably be back to all destinations and fairly heavy use.
The enhancements are not specified in the article below but elsewhere I've read they include increasing capacity to 178 seats for Gol while maintaining 34" pitch, and "aerodynamic improvements". Faster-acting spoilers were mentioned but surely that cannot be all the story. Boeing are said to have been working on the mods since mid-2004.
Can anyone elucidate or conjecture on what stol magic Boeing have managed to pull out of the hat? There would seem to have been some pretty major mods to require a launch customer.
Hmm, just looking at runway lengths, noticed LCY's only 50' shorter than SDU!
Cheers,
broadreach
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Boeing, Brazil's GOL make deal
Aggressive low-cost airline orders 30 additional 737-800s
By JAMES WALLACE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER AEROSPACE REPORTER
When Constantino de Oliveira Jr. announced in early 2000 that he would launch a low-cost airline in Brazil, the former amateur race car driver and pilot envisioned that GOL might eventually do for South America what Southwest Airlines did in this country.
He may be proved right.
Born in the industry downturn after 9/11, GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. is already Brazil's second-largest carrier -- it overtook Brazil's ailing flagship carrier Varig a couple months ago -- and is more profitable than budget big shots Southwest or JetBlue.
Yesterday, Oliveira, GOL's chief executive, accompanied his father to The Boeing Co.'s Renton plant, where the elder Oliveira signed papers for a firm order for 30 more 737-800s -- about $2 billion at the plane's listed price.
The airline is the launch customer for an enhanced version of the 737-800 that will be able to fly into airports with runways of less than 5,000 feet, such as the one in Rio de Janeiro.
The order doubles the number of 737-800s of which GOL will take delivery between next June and 2012. If the airline decides to exercise purchase rights for 41 more 737-800s, it will join an elite group of airlines that have fleets of more than 100 737s.
Oliveira, known as Junior, has no doubts that GOL will take all 101 Boeing jets.
"We have been growing very fast, and the market is growing very fast, not just in Brazil but in South America," he said in an interview.
His father is chairman of GOL's board. The elder Oliveira made his fortune running a bus company.
GOL currently operates a fleet of 35 older 737-300s and some 737-700s. It will be at 70 planes by 2009, Oliveira Jr. said.
The region's most aggressive airline plans to expand throughout South America. It recently opened a route between Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, Argentina. It expects to end 2005 having carried more than 14 million passengers.
Earlier this month, GOL announced plans in 2006 for a low-cost Mexican airline as part of a joint venture.
Not bad for a startup budget airline that began service in late 2001 with six planes flying to seven airports in Brazil. GOL now operates about 370 flights per day to more than 40 destinations.
The performance improvements on the 737-800 will allow GOL to expand to airports with short runways. These aerodynamic changes being made by Boeing will be offered as an option on the 737-800 and 737-900 to other customers as well.
Oliveira said GOL has one of the highest 737 utilization rates in the world. Its fleet averages about 14 hours of flying per day. That compares with about 10 hours per day for Southwest's 737s and nine hours a day for 737s operated by Ryanair, the largest low-cost airline in Europe.
GOL is also one of the world's most profitable airlines, with operating margins of about 20 percent, he said.
Oliveira would not say discounts his airline received from Boeing for the 60 737s. Over the past year, Boeing customers have been getting big discounts on its hot-selling 737 as the aerospace giant regains sales momentum against rival Airbus. Boeing will not talk about airplane pricing other than to say it can sell its jets more cheaply now because of efficiencies made throughout its production system.
"We will keep our competitive advantage in terms of costs," Oliveira said when asked about pricing on the Boeing deal.
The planes will be bought with loans from the export-import bank, but Oliveira said GOL has more than enough cash on hand to cover the required 15 percent. The airline raised about $150 million last year as part of its IPO. GOL's profits are expected to rise 58 percent this year, to $255 million.
"We are well-prepared to compete," Oliveira said. "Our vision for the next five years is to be recognized as the airline that popularized lost-cost airplanes in South America."