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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 1452.PDF
HEADLINES Cessna plans wide Citation Cessna plans to develop a new "widebody" version of the Citation light business jet and is believed to have selected the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW500 as the engine. The new aircraft is thought to be based on the Citation V and will probably have the laminar-flow wing developed for the Cessna Citationjet. The aircraft is understood to be Cessna's answer to growing competition in the market from Beech Aircraft, which is believed to be working on a stretched development of the - 400A Beechjet. Cessna will not confirm the specific existence of the new Citation variant, but says: "We have some developmen tal programmes that are in progress, but we are not pre pared at this point to announce any new aircraft." The company is already working on an improved ver sion of the Citation V, the Ultra, its response to the suc cessful Beech 400A Beechjet. Despite the Ultra's increased performance and sophisticat ed avionics, the Beech has a marginal advantage in fuse lage diameter, compared with the Citation V's 1.49m. The stretched Beech is also expected to be powered by the new PW500 turbofan. Q See General Aviation, P24. SIA boosts 747/A340 orders and leases 777s BY KAREN WALKER IN SINGAPORE Singapore Airlines (SIA) is on the verge of announcing one of the most important airliner deals of the decade — up to a massive $3.5 billion order for Airbus A340s and Boeing 747-400s and 777s. The order will double SIA's fleet size by 2003, while maintaining its sta tus as the owner of the youngest fleet of any major inter national airline. The deal is understood to be for six 747-400s, plus six options; up to eight 777s and ten Airbus A340s. The 777s will most probably be leased. Engine suppliers will be Pratt & Whitney, with its PW4056 for the -400s; General Electric/Snecma, with the CFM56 for the A340s; and, it is believed, GE, with its GE90 for the 777s. Rolls-Royce also bid. SIA would not confirm the figures on 10 June as Flight International went to press, but most of the manufacturers involved were expecting an imminent announcement. The airline says only that "..it is cer tainly quite likely that we shall be making an announcement SIA enlarges 747-400 fleet with new order by the end of June". The new orders are thought to come on top of firm con tracts for 13 747-400s and five freighters, plus 13 options, and seven A340s, plus 13 options. Even so, an SIA source expressed no surprise at the total number of aircraft involved. "We are growing at a rate of 8-10% a year and expect to maintain that through the next decade. Current purchase plans are looking to double the fleet size by 2003, bringing the numbers up to 120 or more air craft. If we are to maintain our current rate of growth, then the new aircraft we order will cater to that growth. In addition, we will be selling and replacing aircraft to main tain an average aircraft age of just five years." One of the airframe builders says that the order was a familiar move by SIA. "Many times now, they have placed big orders when the market is depressed. Now it can satisfy its aircraft requirement into the next century at bargain prices." The 777s will replace SIA's A310s, starting in 1996. • Slovenia nears Kf ir purchase The former Yugoslavian republic of Slovenia is in the final stages of negotiating the purchase of between 20-30 ex-Israeli air force Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) Kfir fighter aircraft. Israel is understood already to have informed the US Government of its controver sial proposed sale. The deal would need Washington's approval because the fighter is thought to be fitted with the General Electric GE J79-71E engines. The negotiations have gone ahead in spite of the fact that Slovenia is included in the United Nations arms embargo on the states of the former Yugoslavia. Under UN Reso lution 713, all weapons exports to former Yugoslav republics are banned. IAI has been trying to offload ex-air force Kfirs to sev eral countries, including Chile and the Philippines, and it received US approval for both deals, although they subse quently fell through. The Slovenian acquisition of Kfirs would transform its com bat capability, assuming it can fly and support them, making it one of the most potent air forces in the region. Slovenia is now limited to a mixed fleet of helicopters, including Mil Mi-8 Hip and Soko Gazelles inherited from the Yugoslav air force. The Kfir can carry a vari ety of air-to-air and air-to-sur face missiles. One possi ble site for the aircraft would be at Maribor, a former Yugoslav air force base which is fitted with hardened shelters. There are suggestions that the proposed sale is part of a wider "barter deal", including the supply of industrial pro duce from Slovenia to Israel. • Kfir sale would break UN embargo FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 15-21 June, 1994
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