MICHAEL PHELAN / LONDON
Manufacturer identifies technical solutions to allow aircraft family shorter landing distances at Italian airport
Airbus is studying technical changes to improve the A320 family's short-field landing performance as it jostles with Boeing for a forthcoming Meridiana fleet- renewal order.
The Italian carrier is considering A319/A320s or Boeing 737-700/800s to replace its four BAe 146-200s and 17 Boeing MD-82/83s, and says any order is likely to be for "four or five smaller A319/737-700s with the rest A320/737-800s". A key criterion will be the smaller type's landing performance in the wet at Florence airport, where the short runway limits Meridiana to operating 146s.
Airbus and Boeing say they can provide a full payload capability into Florence's short 1,455m (4,770ft) Runway 05 for Meridiana, with both manufacturers conducting flight demonstrations for the airline.
Airbus tested an A320 in wet conditions in April, while Boeing demonstrated a 737-based Boeing Business Jet in May. Boeing says only paperwork is needed for the European Joint Aviation Authorities to approve 737-700 wet operations with 133 passengers, Meridiana's requirement. Airbus is understood to be proposing changes to its A319 to allow shorter landing distances.
Airbus confirms that it has "identified some technical solutions which will be retrofittable", thought to include further aft centre of gravity limits to reduce approach speed and "anti-droop" aileron positions to improve braking performance. Airbus is also analysing its flight-test data to determine exact wet runway grip properties, which may allow it to reduce required margins.
Sergio Rosa, Meridiana senior vice-president technical operations, says diversions will always be unavoidable at Florence in adverse weather conditions whatever the aircraft's capabilities. "They [A319 or 737] will not be able to land on Runway 23 anyway, so we'll have to accept some diversions, but we'll eliminate the take-off power problems we have today with the 146s," he says.
Alitalia has also moved to larger aircraft at Florence, operating A319s from May. Initially restricted to 100 passengers, Alitalia is now cleared to carry 124.
Saab is proposing a revised flight profile for Saab 2000 steep approaches into Lugano airport for Swiss International Air Lines. The Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation wants to limit Lugano access to aircraft approved for 6¡ approaches. The 2000 is certificated for 5.5¡ approaches and Saab is hoping to avoid supplementary certification for steeper approaches. Swiss had intended replacing the 2000s it operates to Geneva and Zurich with BAE Systems Avro RJs, but start-up carriers, including Darwin Airlines, plan to operate 2000s from Lugano from next month. A final decision is expected by mid-September.Source: Flight International
