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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0009.PDF
Alii UiAnSPUIif Airbus wins A330 orders from Swissair, Austrian and Sabena JULIAN MOXON/PARIS IN A FLURRY of pre-year-end activity, Airbus Industrie an nounced orders from eight airlines, covering virtually its entire aircraft range, the most significant of which is the joint selection by Swissair, Sabena and Austrian Airlines of the A3 30-200 for their long-haul-fleet needs. The deal, which is not yet cov ered by a firm contract, will include firm orders for nine A330-200s, plus 19 options. Pratt & Whitney has been chosen to provide engines, in the form of PW4168s. Swissair will replace its eight A310-300s with nine A330-200s from October 1998, including four ordered directly from Airbus and five which will be leased from International Lease Finance (ILFC). Austrian is replacing four A310-300s with four A330-200s, from August 1998, and has taken options on four more aircraft. Sabena has placed a single firm order for an A3 3 0-200, for delivery in September 1998, and will also take three A3 30-200s on lease from ILFC. In the interim, Sabena will lease three ex-Air Inter A330-300s in 1997 from Airbus (Flight International, 4 -10 December, 1996). Sabena also holds five options for delivery between 1998 and 2000. The airline's three A310s will be sold in early 1997 to ILFC. The diree carriers are drawing closer in other ways — they will increase their co-operation with Delta Air Lines from February 1997 by operating in common all of their flights between Vienna, Zurich and Brussels to the USA. All seats will be placed in a "pool" with aligned fares struc tures, which the incoming presi dent of Swissair, Philippe Bruggisser, says will create a "much deeper" alliance than that envis- ••^!^'M-;i'^iMii^;":-;:i:i Austrian Airlines Sabena Swissair Grand Total Firm 4 1 4 9 Options 4 5 10 19 Leases 0 6* 5 11* Total 8 12 19 39 Schedule Aug 98-2000 From Sept 98 From Oct 98 Notes: * • Includes three A330-30OS which Sabena will lease in 1997 as an interim measure. All the A330-200S are Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered. aged by Air France and Delta. Swissair says that it is "renewing its long-haul fleet" by replacing die A310-300 with the'larger A3 30- 200, and that it expects the arrival of the aircraft to "...substantially improve the profitability of this sector of operations". The airline says that a decision on replacing its five 747-3 00s ".. .will be taken later". • German charter operator Condor has confirmed its purchase of six CFM International CFM56- powered A320s for delivery from early 1998 Flight International, 18- 24 September,?' 14), while TAP Air Portugal has signed a firm contract for 18 A319s, of which five aircraft can be switched to A3 20s. • Turkish carrier Onur Air will add a fourth A321 to its fleet, and Lufthansa has added a further A340-300 to its existing order- book, bringing total orders for die type to 18 and making it the world's biggest operator of the type. • Colombian airline ACES (Aero- lineas Centrales de Colombia) is to purchase four A320s and has options on a further four. The air craft will be used to replace Boeing 727s now being operated on the ACES domestic network. J Marshall closes in on more TriStar cargo-conversion deals MARSHALL AEROSPACE, which completed die last of its ten contracted Lockheed Tri Star cargo conversions in De cember, says that it is close to a deal to modify more aircraft. According to Michael Milne, marketing and business develop ment director, the Cambridge, UK-based maintenance specialist "...expects to announce a signifi cant order for modified L-101 Is" in die next few weeks. Ten TriStars have been modified to date, including ex-British Airways -200s for American International Airways, ex-Gulf Air aircraft for International Air Leases/Arrow Air and an ex-LTU - 200 (which is leased to Millon Air) for International Lease Finance. Marshall says that it is negotiating Marshall is preparing to carry out more TriStar modifications to convert options held into firm orders for modification in 1997. The oldest TriStars are now approaching 25 years old, but Milne says that Lockheed is con ducting an ageing-aircraft "review and approval" process to support an operational life of 45,000 flight cycles. "Lockheed looked for a life which should be easily achievable without additional significant work on the airframe," says Milne. A supplemental type certificate has been awarded to Marshall for an increase in the TriStar 200F's maximum landing weight from 167,000kg to 172,520kg. The company is considering boosting maximum take-off weight by 16,344kg and maximum zero fuel weight by 6,810kg. • NEWS IN BRIEF • SYRIAN ARAB AIRBUS Syrian Arab Airlines is reported to have signed a contract for six Airbus A3 20s in Damascus on 8 December. The aircraft, which are scheduled for delivery from the second half of 1998, will replace the airline's fleet of Boeing 727s. • CITYLINE REGIONAL JETS Lufthansa CityLine has added three more Canadair Regional Jet orders, for deliv ery in March 1997 and early 1998, replacing three Fokker 50s. With the introduction of these aircraft, the carrier's Regional Jet fleet will total 31 aircraft. Three additional Regional Jet options are held. • VALUJET STALLED In late December the US Federal Aviation Admini stration denied Valujet Air lines permission to resume service between Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, and West Palm Beach and Fort Meyers, Florida, and add more aircraft. Under a consent agreement, Valujet is required to seek authority from the aviation agency to expand beyond its current fleet of 15 McDonnell Douglas DC-9s. Valujet has been cleared by the FAA to substitute charter aircraft on the new routes. • HOLD FIRE Without waiting for impend ing US Federal Aviation Administration regulation to be confirmed, member carri ers of the US Air Transport Association have agreed vol untarily to retrofit cargo- hold fire detection-and- suppression systems to all public-transport aircraft not already equipped with them, and are working with indus try to develop appropriate equipment. The FAA says that it believes that most of the systems will be in place by the time the rulemaking process has been completed. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 1 - 7 January 1997
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