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Aviation History
1998
1998 - 0010.PDF
MIR TRANSPORT Airbus loses as El Al takes cut-price 737s EL AL WILL INTRODUCE the first of five Boeing Next Generation 737s on its services to Europe in early 1999, following the airline's selection of the 737 over the rival Airbus A320 family. Although the Israeli airline's tra ditional preference has been for Boeing aircraft, the Airbus A319 and A3 20 had been the front run ners before the airline's board meeting, held in mid-December. Just before the meeting, the Israeli defence and finance minis ters met El Al chairman and presi dent Joseph Ciechanover to discuss the possible implications of select ing Airbus aircraft. Ciechanover says that, when Boeing learned that Airbus was being favoured, it cut its offer by 6%. Airbus was not advised about the new offer until shortly before the final board meeting. The last- minute offer enabled El Al to con clude a deal for five 737-700/800s for $170 million. Airbus sources claim that the consortium was "ambushed" by the El Al board. "We will not com pete again in Israel, which is a Boeing captive market," they say. El Al's long-range, 360-seat air craft competition starts this year and the airline says that it hopes that Airbus will offer the A3 40. • NEWS IN BRIEF • ACA WANTS O'HARE Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA) is seeking to establish a major presence at Chicago O'Hare Airport, using its recently acquired Bombardier Cana- dair Regional Jets. It aims to compete against American Eagle, which will operate its EmbraerERJ145satO'Hare. ACA also maintains a major hub at Washington Dulles International where it oper ates as a United Express carri er, and has asked the US Department of Trans portation for 36 slots at O'Hare. The airline propos es to operate between Chicago and six cities, start ing in March. BA outsources maintenance of A320/DC-10 in FLS deal ANDREW CHUTER/LONDON BRITISH AIRWAYS is to out source maintenance and com ponent support for the airline's entire fleet of Airbus A320s and McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30s to FLS Aerospace. A contract is due to be signed later this month. The tie-up with BA will be the culmination of a hectic month for FLS Aerospace. The Danish- owned, UK-based maintenance company has signed a memoran dum of understanding to acquire Irish rival TEAM Aer Lingus, and at the same time has announced deals which have increased its 1997 order intake from £130 million ($216 million) to £180 million. The BA contract, believed to be valued at close to £50 million, will also task Europe's largest third- party maintenance company with painting the majority of BA!s narrowbody fleet of aircraft in the airline's new corporate colours. BA and FLS decline to comment The negotiations with BA ex tend a relationship between the two companies which has already seen FLS subcontracted to under take overnight transit C checks on Continental Airlines DC-10s at Gatwick on behalf of BA and undertake some 747 maintenance. To make better use of capacity, the two companies have also agreed to swap hangars on either side of Gatwick's single runway. The A3 20 contract, to be carried out at London Stansted Airport, will run for five years, while the DC-10 work will go to Manchester for the next three years. Completion of the deal would strengthen FLS' chances of becoming the maintenance provider for die "no-frills" airline being set up by BA at Stansted. FLS Manchester is further extending its DC-10 work after securing a three-year £20 million contract with Continental for C and D checks on the airline's entire 31 -strong fleet. The contractor is now completing a five-year deal involving heavy maintenance on 26 of the carrier's DC-10s. The second, bigger, contract is with Caledonian Airways for the full maintenance support of two DC-10-30s and six Lockheed L-1011 TriStars at Gatwick. The value of the work is estimated to be worth in excess of £30 million. The volume of work now being booked at FLS - about twice the 1996 level - has left the company capacity constrained at its three UK operations. In a bid to acquire addi tional growth capability, it is now looking at purchasing Aer Lingus' maintenance arm TEAM. FLS has a 90-day period of exclusivity while it undertakes due diligence. The Danish contractor report edly beat AlliedSignal and BF- Goodrich to the deal, but both companies are waiting in me wings to see if FLS is satisfied by its inspection of the accounts and labour agreements. TEAM Aer Lingus has more staff than FLS, with only about half the turnover. The Dublin-based operation almost went out of busi ness about two years ago, largely because of strikes over manage ment attempts to change working practices. State aid, which caused FLS unsuccessfully to complain to the European Commission, and an agreement with the unions, res cued the situation. • Additional reportingby Ian Goold. DHL-Europe boosts fleet of A300B4 freighters THE EUROPEAN arm of US express-parcels carrier DHL has increased its Airbus A300B4- 2OOF freighter acquisition pro gramme to nine aircraft. The airline has also received its first Daimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus (Dasa Airbus)-converted aircraft, following certification of the cargo conversion. The aircraft, one of three ex- Egyptair A300B4s being leased from Pinnacle Aircraft Leasing, is being operated for Brussels-based DHL International by Hunting Cargo Airlines. DHL has already conducted flying trials with a Channel Express A300B4 freighter (converted by British Aerospace Aviation Services) on a 90-day wet lease. DHL says that this lease may now be extended, or another air- DHL is putting the first Dasa-converted ASOOFs into service craft taken. Two ex-Continental Airlines A300s will also be leased from US company Household Finance, and three more wet-leased from Switzerland's Farnair. German Federal Aviation Authority approval of the A300 freighter conversion, which had originally been expected in the third quarter of 1997, was finally granted in December after five test flights. Hunting is operating the first aircraft on DHL's daily Stockholm-Copenhagen-Brussels run, while die Channel Express air craft is being flown on the Stockholm-Copenhagen-EastMid- lands service. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 7 - 13 January 1998
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