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Aviation History
1992
1992 - 0175.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT LOT has scrapped its Antonov An-24s in favour of western aircraft LOT looks to Boeing in replacement plans BY DOUGLAS BARRIE IN WARSAW Polish national carrier LOT is in negotiation with Boeing over the purchase of a further two Boeing 767-300ERs and the short-lease of two Boeing 737s, as it tries to withdraw its Soviet- built aircraft from service. The airline has embarked on a rapid fleet-replacement pro gramme. In the last 12 months it has withdrawn Ilyushin Il-18s and Il-62s, along with Antonov An-24s. It is now scheduling the withdrawal of Tupolev Tu- 134As and Tu-154Ms. Piotr Ikanowicz, senior vice- president finance for LOT, says that the aim is to "...stop Tu-134 operations by the end of this year and Tu-154 operations by the end of 1993". The target, he continues, is "...by the beginning of 1994 to have all-western equipment, with a very young fleet, the average age of which NEWS IN BRIEF VIETNAM LINK Asiana Airlines has re-opened air links between the Republic of Korea and Vietnam for the first time since 1972. Asiana operated a chartered Boeing 737 service from Seoul to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) on 15 January. Korean Air has ap plied to operate a charter service between the two cities. will be two and a half years." The airline recently concluded a deal with Boeing for the pur chase of nine 737s — five Series 500s and four Series 400s — having also had bids from both McDonnell Douglas and Airbus. Originally, four of the aircraft were to be introduced in No vember and December of 1992, two in each month. Ikanowicz says it is also "...now close to signing an agreement to lease two 737s from May of this year". The intention is to ease the introduction of the aircraft into service, by spreading this over a longer period. The shift from Soviet to west ern aircraft types is spurred by various factors, says Ikanowicz. "There is a negative passenger appeal of Soviet equipment. We have also currently got enormous problems with the supply of spare parts and heavy maintenance." He explains: "Previously, we dealt with Aviaexport. The prob lem now is that we are having to deal with different factories and different countries following the break up of the Soviet Union. The cost of spares has also gone up markedly." Despite the present disadvan tages of operating Soviet aircraft, LOT has sold off its Il-62s to a start-up Ukrainian airline. The price of $15 million for seven aircraft, however, reflects the emerging problems of operating such types. • SEA floats fresh ideas for Milan Italy's Societa Emercizio Aero-porto (SEA), which admini sters Milan's Linate and Malpensa airports, has made radical alterations to its plan to expand Linate. State-owned car rier Alitalia has also agreed to transfer its international flights to Malpensa as part of its plans for the restructuring and devel opment of both airports. Linate Airport was built to accommodate 4 million passen gers a year but now suffers serious congestion, handling 9.5 million a year. Under the new plan, Malpensa will be expanded to an annual capacity of 12 million passengers for intercon tinental, charter and east Euro pean flights. Linate will operate as Milan's domestic airport for both cargo and passengers. In spite of the switch in em phasis, a L40 billion ($33 mil lion) expansion of Linate's terminal is planned to be com plete by the end of this year. Phase One of the Malpensa Airport's development is due to be completed by March 1995, and will include priority work to be undertaken on runways, taxiways, the aircraft apron as well as new passenger terminals. New road and rail links are also being planned. The airline is confident that a L400,000 billion shortfall in fi nancing for Phase One at Mal pensa Airport will be met by the Government, which has passed a law already awarding L900,000 billion for the completion of the first phase. The overall cost of the project is set at LI.5 trillion, L200,000 billion of which has been in vested directly by SEA. "We risk losing our market [Milan's status as an interna tional hub] to Switzerland," says Visconti, "if the project is not fully financed. The project is not local to Lombardy but is part of a national airports plan. Italy cannot afford not to finance the scheme fully." Despite the continuing crisis in international air transport, SEA has seen an increase in passengers of 14% at Linate and 5.4% at Malpensa during the first 11 months of 1991. D War-torn Adria recovers Adria Airways, the former Ljubljana-based Jugoslav carrier, has resumed operations following its enforced grounding in October. The airline had to cease flying when Jugoslav trans port authorities withdrew its op erating licence, thus invalidating agreements covering interna tional operations. Adria says that internal con flict in 1991 "...caused more harm to Adria than could ever be imagined". After a long struggle by au thorities and Government agen cies in the emerging nation of Slovenia, the new state's interna tional recognition has encouraged the most impor tant European countries to re cognise Adria's new national li cence. After an interim period, international ap provals are ex pected to follow United Nations membership for Slovenia and, therefore, International Civil Aviation Organisation accep tance for Adria. After Jugoslav fighters at tacked four Adria aircraft at Ljubljana Airport, causing severe damage, other airliners in its fleet were based abroad but con tinued services to Zagreb. Al though Ljubljana became available briefly in August, Adria moved operations in mid- September to Klagenfurt in Aus tria, from where it served both the north and south regions of former Jugoslavia. • Adria Airways no longer needs to fly from Austria FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 29 January - 4 February, 1992
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