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Aviation History
1986
1986 - 3524.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Boeing and MDC size up propfan market SEATTLE Boeing is considering vari ations of its proposed propfan-powered 7J7 due to be in service in 1992. It may offer a small 100-110-seat model as well as or instead of a larger 150-seat model. McDonnell Douglas too is looking at both 110- and 130- seat variations of its MD-91X. The 100-seat market is becoming crowded. BAe and Fokker are already there with the four-engined BAe 146 and twinjet Fokker 100. Boeing says it has never specified a size for the 7J7 and plans are still flexible. It will be offering guarantees for the aircraft in the second quarter of next year for delivery in 1992. McDonnell Douglas (MDC) MD-91X will be available a year earlier and, like Boeing, MDC has not determined the size. Its first propfan will be either a 100-110-seat DC-9-30 replacement or a slightly larger 130-seat update of the newly-flown MD-87. The next project, the 155-seat MD-92X, will be in service in 1992, MDC hopes. It aims to extend the life of the MD-80 with the two propfan versions and thus offer a low cost propfan which is technologically less advanced than either the 7J7 or A320 before producing the all-new MD-94. MDC is concentrating tech nological developments on the MD-90 series tail which will be common to at least the first two models. Otherwise tech nology is based on the MD-88. Its advantage over the A320 will be in the powerplant— MDC is confident it can achieve a 35 per cent to 40 per cent fuel saving with a prop- fan over equivalent turbofans. By using an existing airframe and technology the MD-91X and -2X should have a cost advantage over the 7J7. But Boeing is adamant that it will not pass on the 7J7's devel opment cost to airlines but will absorb it itself through improved production effi ciency. MDC is the only manu facturer to test two different propfans on the same aircraft and under the same condi tions. An MD-80 will fly with a General Electric UDF in June next year and testing will start with an Allison/ Pratt & Whitney engine next December. The manufacturers' predic tions of the size of the market for small, short/medium- range aircraft vary. Boeing, in its market outlook published earlier this year, predicts a requirement for 575 aircraft of 125 seats or less by the year 2000 and for 2,553 short/ medium-range aircraft in the 125-185 seat category. MDC expects the world's airlines to buy 1,166 short- range 110-seat aircraft and 1,786 160-seaters. Airbus, which includes secondhand aircraft in its calculations, predicts that some 4,489 aircraft of 100-175 seats will be delivered between now and 2005. All three manufacturers expect demand for aircraft of this size to peak in the early 1990s with, deliveries trailing off rapidly towards the end of the century. Airbus expects the peak in 1990, MDC between 1990 and 1995, and Boeing puts the peak for under 125-seat demand in 1994 and 1995, and says the numbers of 125-185-seat air craft delivered will be greatest in 1988 and 1993. This sug gests that time-wise Airbus with its A320 in service in 1988 may be best placed to establish itself in this particu lar sector. Saab wins new SF.340 orders WINDSOR Saab has three new customers for its 34-seat SF.340 turbo prop with orders it describes as "very significant". The aircraft has won a first toe hold in Latin America with an order from Argentine regional Lapa (Lineas Aereas Privadas Argentinas). French regionals Brit Air and Europe Aero Service (EAS) have ordered' one each. One of the largest existing customers, Crossair, has ordered another three aircraft, taking its fleet to 13. Lapa's order is for two to replace the Shorts 330s in its fleet. It will receive the first new aircraft this month and the second in late January. Lapa also has a Bandeirante on lease and Saab is particu larly pleased to have won the order in view of the increasing links between Argentina and Brazil in the aircraft manu facturing field. The Brit Air order is signifi cant because it comes from an ATR42 operator and proves, Saab says, that the two aircraft are complementary rather than competing. "It confirms what we have always thought—that there is quite a difference between the 30-40 seaters and 45-50 seaters," a spokesman says. Morlaix- based Brit Air also operates Saab recently delivered an SF.340 to Isle of Man-based Manx Airlines IVHHW Bandeirantes and was tipped as a potential Brasilia launch customer. French domestic carrier EAS wants an SF.340 to set up a commuter division based at Charles de Gaulle. Its aircraft will be delivered in late spring next year. With two new European customers Saab claims that, excluding Shorts which it says is not a direct competitor, it has 70 per cent of the Euro pean market for 30-40 seaters, leaving 30 per cent for Embraer and de Havilland Canada. New airline aims for Mediterranean GATWICK A new charter airline, Mediterranean Express, plans to start operation with two BAe One-Elevens next summer. It will fly from Gatwick and Luton to holiday destinations mainly in Italy. Vice- chairman Rocco Laitano is also chairman of tour operator Quo Vadis, and up to 50 per cent of Mediterranean Express' capacity next summer will probably be used flying to Italy for that company. The aircraft, BAe One- Eleven 400s which have been in service with Faucett in Peru, are now on lease in the USA. They will be completely serviced and then hushkitted in the UK, says Capt Peter Ecob, in charge of Mediterranean's operations. The hushkits are to arrive by the end of this year. As a new arrival Mediterranean had great difficulty getting slots at Gatwick, says Capt Ecob. There were not enough slots available to keep two aircraft busy. "The only useful way of using them was to use Luton and Gatwick together," says Capt Ecob. Operations should start in May. The company hopes to be able to do two round trips a day with each aircraft over the summer. Some 350 pilots have replied to advertisements so far. Managing director James McDivitt sees "a growing demand for specialised medium-small inclusive tour groups". 4 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 27 December 1986
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