FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1995
1995 - 1046.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Rivals capitalise on Air Inter strike woe JULIAN MOXON/PARIS AIRLINES WHICH have been taking advantage of lib eralisation to compete with French domestic carrier Air Inter at Paris Orly Airport are reaping the benefits of continuing strikes at the Air France subsidiary. Since January, AOM and Air Liberie have been operating flights to Marseilles and Toulouse respectively — two of the most profitable routes in France. The two airlines have seen a surge in load factors and have increased capacity to cater for passengers hit by the trouble at Air Inter. Both have introduced Mc Donnell Douglas DC-10s and Airbus A3 00s, in place of McDonnell Douglas MD-83s, to fly the routes. Air Liberte has recorded an increase in monthly traffic, from 29,000 passengers in January to 46,000 in March, with load factors rising by four points, to 71%, while AOM has seen traffic between Orly and Marseilles increase from 19,800 to 42,300. The airline saw load factors go up, from 42% in February to 63% in March. There are few positive signs that the strikes at Air Inter are coming to an end. The latest stoppage, due on 9-10 April, was to have been the fourth in a series which has cost the airline at least FrlOO million ($20 million). The action is because of the threat of 660 job losses when Air France and Air Inter combine their European operations to form a new European airline. The dispute also centres on pro ductivity agreements, deemed necessary if Air Inter is to remain competitive. Air France president Christian Blanc, increasingly concerned about the competition, now wants to bring forward the planned start of the new European airline by, according to one source, "at least several months", from 1997. He has formed five groups representing union interests to discuss the plan, which will joint other work ing parties now planning the future airline. • Air Liberte has made clear its interest in taking over AOM, owned by the troubled Credit Lyonnais. AOM recorded a loss of Fr207 million in 1994 on a turnover of Fr2.8 billion, and has required more than Frl.l billion of financing in the last four years. J Kendell confirms Saab 340 orders WAGGA WAGGA-BASED Kendell Airlines, owned by Ansett partners News Corp and TNT, has confirmed orders for two new Saab 340Bs for July delivery. The two aircraft, which had been under preparation for another operator, will be flown on two New South Wales regional routes which Kendell now operates using Ansett Fokker 50s. Firm orders for the twin General Electric CT7-powered model 340 total more than 400, says Saab. • Qantas will advise troubled ASTAAS QANTAS MAY STEP INTO a consultant-management role at the troubled Aerospace Technologies of Australia Aircraft Services (ASTAAS). Qantas managing director James Strong has confirmed that the carrier has held discussions with the Australian Government, which is preparing ASTAAS for privatisation, on the provision of management expertise. He adds that the arrangement would not commit Qantas to any maintenance or engineering ag reements with ASTAAS. • VIF takes Asia's first 328 DAIMLER-BENZ AEROSPACE has handed over the first of five Dornier 328 high-speed turboprop airliners to VIF Airways of India. Hyderabad-based VIF is the first Asian oper ator of the type. Regional destinations for the 328 include cities in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra, as well as major centres such as Bombay, Bangalore and Madras. APIC presses ahead with API! proposed for MD-95 AUXILIARY POWER Inter national (APIC) has begun the risk-reduction demonstration phase of the APS 2100 auxiliary power unit (APU) selected by McDonnell Douglas (MDC) for the yet-to-be-launched MD-95. Initial risk-reduction activity is concentrated on noise tests of the Labinal/Sundstrand engine. The trials are taking place at Turbomeca's acoustic testing site in Bordes, France, where a com plete MD-95 tail unit has been assembled. "Initial results are very encour aging," says APIC president and chief executive officer, Horst Kreiner. "The tests prove new low-noise concepts developed for the engine." APIC is reticent about revealing details of the qui eter APS 2100 installation, which mainly concern treated inlet and exhaust duct lining and revised inlet geometry. "We're also looking at a redesign of software and hard ware of the FAD EC [full-authori ty digital engine-control], and we've entered the definition phase for that," says Kreiner. APIC is responsible for the entire MD-95 APU installation, includ ing the Sundstrand drive system. The APS 2100 is derived directly from the APS 2000, which is in competition with AlliedSignal APUs for the Boeing 737 market. Since entering ser vice in 1991, some 460 have been delivered. APIC, which recently collected further orders for the Japan Airlines 737-400 fleet, is confident of expanding its market penetration as designated suppli er to International Lease Finance. APIC's market expansion co incides with the completion of a fundamental company restructur ing. Programme management of the APS 3200 has been assigned to APIC Bordes in France. "That way we're one hop from Hamburg and lh from the delivery centre at Toulouse," says Kreiner. Programme management of the APS 2000 will be handled by APIC in San Diego, California, with Sundstrand's Gas Turbine division, putting it in the same time zone as Boeing and MDC. 3 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 12 - 18 April 1995 11
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
