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Aviation History
1991
1991 - 3153.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Douglas continues wooing SIA BY JOHN BAILEY IN SINGAPORE McDonnell Douglas is att empting to get Singapore Airlines (SIA) to reverse its deci sion to drop the MD-11 in fav our of the Airbus A340, particularly if the airline decides to take the longer-range MD-12. The manufacturer sees SIA as a natural launch customer for the MD-12, and suggests that the two aircraft would make a logi cal combination for its medium- and high-capacity long-range routes. SIA has signed only a non-binding letter of intent to purchase up to 20 A340s, after overturning, on performance grounds, a similar agreement to buy MD-lls (Flight Interna tional, 7-13 August). Douglas Aircraft president Robert Hood met SIA president Dr Cheong Choong Kong on 22 November, fresh from signing a memorandum of understanding with Taiwan Aerospace, which may result in a new civil-aircraft consortium to build the MD-12 (Flight International, 27 Novem- ber-3 December). SIA cancelled the MD-11 deal because the aircraft would not meet its Singapore-Paris mission with the specified 28.6t payload, because of the high fuel burn of its Pratt & Whitney (P&W) PW4460 engines. The PW4460/ MD-11 combination was initially 6.7% over its guarantees, but so far Douglas- has recovered 1.7% from its "package A-l" drag- reduction programme, and be lieves that P&W will achieve another 2.5% saving from the PW4000 by 1994 (P&W is aim ing for 5.7%). Airbus has assured SIA that the A340-300 will meet the Sing apore-Paris mission, under SIA Airbus slows production Airbus Industrie is to reduce its production rates for the A300, A310 and A320 in 1993 because of a drop in orders. Jean Pierson, the consortium's 'chief executive, speaking at an Anglo-American luncheon in Paris on 26 November, said that A300/A310 production would reduce from 44 next year to 40 in 1993, while A320 output would fall from 110 to 103. Boeing and McDonnell Airbus A320 production to suffer from slower orders Douglas have announced plans recently to reduce production rates of various aircraft types. Airbus showed a profit for the year after debt payments, Pier- son reported. • On the McDonnell Douglas/ Taiwan Aerospace tie-up, Pierson suggested that the move undermined the US Govern ment's attempts to get a deal under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade over civil- aircraft develop ment subsidies, following claims by US compa nies' that Euro pean govern ments are paying unfair subsidies to the Airbus consortium. Tai wan Aerospace is partly State- ow.hed and relies heavily on Tai wan Government money to help launch its share of the MD-12. • See Newsmakers, P 18. ground rules, with a maximum payload of 28.5t. Douglas be lieves that, with the addition of a 7,4001itre belly tank the size of two LD-3 containers, the MD-11 A-l would marginally outper form the A340-300, under the same rules, meeting the original 28.6t payload requirement. Douglas is proposing the MD-12 to SIA as a straightfor ward competitor to the Boeing 747-400, of which SIA operates 12, with 25 firm orders and 19 options. With the proposed P&W PW4484, Douglas says that the MD-12 will fly Los Angeles-Singapore non-stop, be yond the capability of the 747- 400, although there would be a westbound payload restriction. Douglas says SIA is "...inter ested enough to send someone to our MD-12 performance re view soon. We view that as a very encouraging sign." The company points out that MD-11 performance figures are proven in service, whereas A340 figures remain predictions. "We are just waiting for Airbus to fall on its own sword with the A340." Airbus Industrie has hit back, saying that the MD-11 could not meet SIA's requirements on non stop routes such as Singapore- Paris, while the Airbus A340- 300 could. It says that the MD- ll'shortfall has prevented many airlines from using it on the routes for which it was bought. The A340 is an advanced- technology design, with a life time of growth potential ahead of it, adds Airbus Industrie, while the MD-11 is a derivative of. a 20-year-old airframe with no margin left for growth. For SIA, Douglas is projecting that the P&W-powered MD-12 would carry 344 passengers and their bags 14,120km (7,630nm), under SIA ground rules (6% fuel "padding" for aircraft and engine deterioration, on top of the stan dard 5% for weather contingen cies). With 375 passengers, and a 407.73t maximum take-off weight, Douglas quotes a', maxi mum range of 15,450knv with the Rolls-Royce Trent 775, 14,800km with the General Electric GE90-D1 and 14,467km with the PW4484. • El Al expects to fly to Far East El Al expects to begin flights to Japan and Australia next year, according to Moshe Katsav, the Israeli minister of transport. Katsav says that, after long negotiations, there are indi cations that both countries will allow the El Al flights. A delegation of El Al and Israeli civil aviation administra tion officials visited Australia in late November to negotiate the introduction of flights. The Is raeli carrier intends to fly to Australia via the Seychelles. As a first step towards opening Japanese routes, El Al will oper ate charter flights to Osaka — Tokyo-Narita is too congested. The Israeli aircraft will overfly the Union of Sovereign States (formerly the Soviet Union) to Japan. El Al's right to use the airspace on the flights to South- East Asia is part of the memo randum of understanding signed between the two countries sev eral months ago. Details of these flights will be finalised in De cember, when a delegation from Moscow is due to visit Israel to prepare the aviation agreement between the two countries. D DLR starts tests on drag reduction The German Aerospace Re search Institute, DLR, has started tests of a laminar-flow wing using a Dornier Do.228 utility turboprop. The project, a DLR/Dornier joint venture, will see around 100 test flights carried out by the third quarter of 1992. The aim of the project is to show that drag can be reduced substantially by the removal of turbulence over the wing. The flight tests follow an ini tial phase, which ran from 1986 to 1988. Wing-section models and a half-model were wind- tunnel tested to prove the theo retical profiles were practical. The Do.228 has been modi fied by the addition of a 3.5m composite glove to the starboard wing. Tests will involve ejecting a liquid at the leading edge to maintain a clean wing. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 4 - 10 December, 1991 11
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