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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 1980.PDF
AtR TRANSPORT NEWS IN BRIEF m CROSSAIR'S SAAB HUGS Crossair has received cer tification from the European Joint Aviation Authorities for the Flight Dynamics head-up guidance system (HUGS) on its Saab 2000 fleet, which will enable Crossair crews to per form landings in poor visibili ty. Crossair also expects the system to help when operat ing into short runways at air ports such as London City, and Berne and Lugano in Switzerland, during die win ter. Crossair's entire 2000 fleet is scheduled to be equipped with die HUGS by the beginning of 1998. • GEORGIA MODERNISATION Northrop Grumman will modernise the air-traffic- control system of Georgia under a §16 million contract. The financing is being guar anteed by the US Export- Import Bank, the first for Georgia, which plans to repay the loan through rev enue generated by overflight fees. Equipment to be pro vided includes two monopulse secondary sur veillance radars and an air space-management system. • CATHAY RETRENCHES Cathay Pacific Airways is to make 350 staff redundant, as a result of a planned move to Hong Kong's new airport. The redundancies are mainly in ancillary-service areas, which will disappear with the closure of Cathay's site at Kai Tak Airport in 1998. • SINGAPORE SIGNS Singapore and India have signed a new bilateral air-ser vices agreement, increasing capacity between the two countries by 40%, equivalent to six extra Boeing 747 week ly frequencies. It gives Singa pore Airlines access to Trivandrum, in southern India, and allows Indian car riers to operate via Singapore to New Zealand, Australia and three new points in Asia. Volga-Dnepr introduces first scheduled passenger services PAUL DUFFY/MOSCOW VOLGA-DNEPR, the Uly anovsk, Russia-based freight carrier, has introduced its first regular passenger flights, following a request from its home city's council to provide scheduled services after Simbirsk Avia ceased operating. The airline is operating ser vices between Ulyanovsk and Moscow (twice daily), St. Petersburg (three a week), and Sochi (two a week) in Russia, with a newly acquired fleet of 34-seat Yakovlev Yak-40s. The requirement for the services, from the Ulyanovsk council, followed the closure of the regional carrier, Simbirsk Avia, which operated Yak-40s and Yak-42s from Ulyanovsk. Volga-Dnepr has acquired six redundant Simbirsk Yak- 40s for its new service. • Czech Airlines plans to launch charter division in early 1998 ANDRZFJ JEZIORSKI/MUNICH CZECH AIRLINES (CSA) is planning to set up a charter subsidiary which will start operat ing at die beginning of 1998. According to CSA charter de partment manager Tomas Jan- decka, a business plan is now being prepared which should be finished by the middle of this month. After approval by CSAmanagement, the new company will apply for its operator's licence which it hopes to receive three months later. The as-yet-unnamed firm will start with fourTupolevTu-154Ms, which it is buying from its parent. CSA has been flying the aircraft on charter routes since 1 April, and the new subsidiary will pay up to CKr300 million ($8.8 million) for the aircraft, saysjandecka. He adds that die new airline hopes to expand the fleet with two leased Boeing 737s within five CSA's Tu-154Ms will be deployed with its new charter division from 1998 years. These aircraft will probably be secondhand -300s, but larger -400s are also under consideration. Jandecka says that (ISA's charter business is growing at a rate of 10- 12% a year, and already brings in 10% of CSA's revenue. In 1996, the airline carried 220,000 charter passengers, and expects this to grow to 270,000 this year. The main destinations to be served will be in the Mediter ranean, but the airline is also in talks with Dutch carrier Martinair and Germany's Condor over joint ticketing, which would allow the new charter operator to feed pas sengers into long-haul flights from Amsterdam and Frankfurt. Jandecka says that he expects the new carrier to become profitable within four years, after covering its start-up costs, including the pur chase of the aircraft. CSA is aiming to cover one-third of die Czech charter market. 3 MHI aims for entry to PW6000 project MITSUBISHI Heavy Indus tries (MHI) is signalling its interest in joining the proposed Pratt & Whimey PW6000 engine programme, which it considers a possible candidate powerplant for a new 90-seat regional jet now under study with Bombardier. The Japanese manufacturer has said that it would like to take a stake in die development of the 67- 107kN (15,000-24,0001b)-thrust class engine, but has not concluded any agreement with P&W. "MHI wants to take part in this pro gramme, if it starts," says the firm. P&W is proposing the engine to Aviation Industries of China, to power the planned 100-to 125-seat AE316/7, and for the similarly sized IPTN N2130. It is also seen as a possible alternative to the General Electric CF34-8C growth engine, which Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are supporting, for Japan's so far unfulfilled plans to produce a regional jet. MHI is engaged in a two-year feasibility study into the develop ment of a 90- and 120-seat region al jet, designated BJY and BJZ, respectively, in co-operation with Bombardier. It is believed that the company is scheduled to begin windtunnel research testing at Japan's National Aerospace Laboratory In October. MHI already holds a 10% stake in the PW4000 family. The com pany produces low-pressure-tur bine blades, vanes and discs, high-pressure-compressor cases, high-pressure-turbine ducts and combustion chambers. • 10 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 6 - 12 August 1997
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