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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 1462.PDF
MIR TRANSPORT Great Lakes rebuilds its route structure GREAT LAKES Aviation has started to rebuild its route structure after its aircraft were grounded in a dispute with the US Federal Aviation Administration over maintenance procedures. The regional airline, which feeds traffic to United Airlines and Midway Airlines, began offering limited services from 23 May to five US cities after being grounded for about a week. It plans gradually to expand flights to more cities. Services resumed after Great Lakes reached a consent agree ment with the FAA. Without ad mitting wrongdoing, Great Lakes agreed to pay a $1 million penalty, $700,000 of which will be suspend ed for a year if it complies with the terms and conditions set by the avi ation agency. The FAA says that the airline, based in Spencer, Iowa, allowed unqualified mechanics to work on its 53 twin-turboprops, including 41 Raytheon Beech 1900s and 12 Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias. Great Lakes, meanwhile, re ported a $5 million 1997 first-quar ter net loss, and says that it will end services to Mexico. The results fol low a $3 million loss in the fourth quarter of 1996. • WORKSHOP ++ Hunting Aviation Aircraft En gineering Centre at East Midlands Airport in the UK has become an approved maintenance centre for all models in the Boeing 727 series ++ Finnair's Technical divi sion and Lufthansa Technik have signed a letter of intent on forming a strategic partnership in aircraft maintenance. As a first step, Finnair is to support five Lufthansa Cargo McDonnell Douglas MD- HFs. The first work under the con tract starts in June 1998 ++ H+S Aviation has formed a propeller- repair-and-overhaul venture. H+S Proptech will have a product range covering Hamilton Standard. McCauley, Hartzell and Dowty pro pellers. ++ Pemco World Air Services has signed a deal with Northwest Airlines for the main tenance of six Boeing 727-200s. NAPO predicts An-38 exports MAX KINGSLEY-JONES/MOSCOW THE RUSSIAN production plant responsible for final assembly of the Antonov An-38 turboprop is confident that the new regional airliner will find market niches in Russia and overseas. Novosibirsk Aircraft Manu facturing Association (NAPO)mar- keting director Valery Skvortsov, where the Ukrainian-designed, Western-powered airliner is assembled, says that An-3 8 deliver ies will commence later this year to the first customer, Khabarovsk- based Vostok Aviation Company. "The first aircraft is flying to Khabarovsk this month to begin operational proving with the air line," he says. This follows Russian certi fication of the aircraft in April. The An-38 is powered by Allied- Signal Engines TPE33 Is driving Hartzell propellers (Flight biter- i/ational, 21-27 May). Skvortsov says that marketing of a commercial product is a new experience for NAPO, given its long-standing tradition of building military aircraft only. In conjunc tion with various agencis, includ ing Aviaexport, NAPO has carried out what it says is a conservative market study, forecasting the demand for some 95 An-3 8s from Russian airlines through to 2000. Russia has near-term market for 95 An-3 8s, with export prospects for 150 more Launch customer Vostok is expected to take a further seven air craft by the turn of the century, while a preliminary agreement has been reached with Chukot-Avia for ten aircraft. Other Russian airlines which have signed letters of intent include Petropavlovsk-Kam- chatskiy Aviation Enterprise (AE), Mirninskiy AE, Novosibirskiy AE, Ulyanovskiy AE and Nikolaevsk- on-Amur AE. Skovortsov is also targeting air lines in other Russian regions such as Siberia, Yakutia and the Far East, which he says are in desperate need of new regional aircraft. Export opportunities also exist, believes Skvortsov, with airlines in India, Thailand and Latin America being targeted. Skvortsov claims that interest already shown by for eign airlines suggests a potential for the sale of 150 aircraft. "We can already build up to 32 aircraft a year, and this can be expanded to 50 aircraft annually, if necessary," says Skvortsov. There had been plans to offer a Russian-powered An-38 deriva tive, equipped with the OMKB TVD-20, but this engine is still under development and therefore not yet available. Skvortsov says that a Russian- powered An-38 would be an attrac tive proposition, with at least one prospective customer, Novosibirsk Airlines, having a preference for such an aircraft. • Harbin signs CAG to complete Y-12s in Canada CANADIAN AEROSPACE Group (CAG) has agreed to become the Western completion centre for China's Harbin Y-12 twin-turboprop 19-seat aircraft. A contract for two aircraft from an Alaskan operator is close to being finalised, says CAG, and the first airframe is almost complete at Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing. CAG says that its North Bay, Ontario, site will become the only Y-12 completion centre outside China. The Y-12 rV, powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6As, received US certification in 1995 and CAG plans to install Western instrumentation, interiors, wheels and brakes before delivery. The deal covers 400 aircraft. Renamed the Twin Panda, the Y-12 will be marketed as a replacement for the de Havilland Twin Otter, with a price of "under $3 million". CAG expects to receive the first aircraft by July, with delivery to the customer by the end of this year, after supplemental type-certifi cation of Western equipment installed during completion. J Palestine Airways prepares for 1 June start from Egypt PALESTINE AIRWAYS, the new airline of the Palestinian audiority, is due to start services on 1 June, although initially it will operate from an Egyptian airport. It will use two Fokker 50s donated by the Dutch Government - a fur ther two have yet to be delivered. A new airport, built by the Palestinian authority in Dahania in the Gaza Strip, will eventually be the home base of the new airline, but the Israeli authorities have yet to agree to the operational and security arrangements. The first flights, therefore, will initially be from Al-Arish Airport in Egypt, near the Israeli border. Palestine Airways is to launch scheduled operations to Amman in Jordan, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Larnaca in Cyprus, and Istanbul in Turkey. Further destinations are planned later. • 14 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 4 - 10 June 1997
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