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Aviation History
1998
1998 - 1044.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT MARKETPLACE ++ US cargo carrier Atlas Air has signed a long term contract to oper ate Boeing 747-200 freighter ser vices for Alitalia, with an ex-Philippine Airlines 747-200F being converted by Boeing. ++ Stansted, UK based AB Airlines has leased two ex-Jet Airways Boeing 737-300s from Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services (AWAS). ++ Air Malta has con cluded a deal to take two new Boeing 737-300s from AWAS as well as its first two -400s on seven month lease from Malaysia Airlines, with three year extension options. ++ AWAS has concluded long term extensions of several existing Boeing 737-300 leases to operators including Varig, Virgin Express, Trans-Brazil (2), Ansett Australia and British Midland, along with a 757-200 to Air 2000, and two Airbus A300-600RS to China Northern. ++ New Italian car rier Volare. based in Verona, has begun operations with two ex-Air France Airbus A320s, leased from GATX. A third aircraft is due in November and a fourth in April 1999. ++ Braathens has received the first of three 134-seat Boeing 737-700s it is acquiring on lease from International Lease Finance. The airline will also take six 737- 700s ordered directly from Boe ing. ++ GE Capital Aviation Services has ordered one more Airbus A319, six A320s and three A321s, all powered by CFM International CFM56 engines. ++ Midway Airlines has converted options on three Canadair Regional Jet 200ERs, worth $63 million, for delivery in the first half of 1999, boosting its total CRJ orders to 13. ++ US lessor AeroCentury has agreed to pro vide the financial resources to assist Embraer in the lease and sale of EMB-120 Brasilias which the manufacturer will take back as it delivers new ERJ-145S. ++ Australian remarketing agent Transasian Air has acquired an Airbus A300B4 from Malaysia Airlines, and placed it with Fmova: it will be converted to cargo configuration by Daimler- Benz Aerospace Airbus. Dee Howard sell-off looms ANDREA SPINELLI/GENOA ALENIA IS considering the sale of part of its US mainten ance business, Dee Howard, while the Italian groups Venice-based Aeronavali unit has received a huge order from a leasing company for converting McDonnell Douglas DC-1 Os into freighters. Maintenance represents around 65 % of Dee Howard's annual S100 million sales. The remainder of the company's revenue comes from modification and thrust reverser businesses. Although it is not clear what parts of the unit may be sold, sources within the companies con firm that Alenia is looking at the sale of "some of the division's assets". The maintenance company, based in San Antonio, California, has been involved in a number of conversion programmes in recent years, including the re-engineing of some 50 Boeing 727-lOOs with Rolls-Rovce lay 650s, for which it Ale niu is pondering the sale of part of Dee Howard holds the supplemental type cer tificate. The company also designs and manufactures thrust reversers both for new build and aftermarket applications. Meanwhile, Aeronavali has won a L300 billion (Si65 million) order from leasing company Ten Forty to convert 20 ex-Japan Air Lines McDonnell Douglas DC-l0-40s to freighters. The first aircraft is already at Acronavali's Venice plant undergoing work, and will be delivered for lease to US freight carrier Challenge Air Cargo later this year. Aeronavali is also under taking some FedEx DC-10/MD- 10 conversions. Ten Forty, a special-purpose company headed by Irish leasing specialist Omega Air, will take re delivery of two aircraft after con version in 1998, with the remaining 18 aircraft being modi fied at a rate of two or three per year diroughto2006. • IAI closes on partners for FedEx Airtruck project ISRAEL AIRCRAFT Industries (IAI) is in talks with potential partners in Europe and .Asia over its Airtruck project for a small turbo prop cargo aircraft, and is expected to decide within the next few weeks whether it is able to present formal proposals to customer FedEx. FedEx has a requirement for a new twin-engined turboprop to replace its fleet of 36 Fokker F27 freighters and has been in talks with IAI, Saab Aircraft and Avres about its development (Flight Inter national, 19-25 November 1997). The cargo carrier has issued a baseline specification that the air craft should be able to carry five standard-size cargo containers over 1,800km (l,()0()nm) at 300kt (450km/h). The aircraft must have a unit price of less than $ 10 million, and FedEx could buy 100 aircraft and possibly further options. L\I has prepared an outline design of the Airtruck tor FedEx, and is now in negotiations with manufacturers in the Far East and central Europe about involvement to help reduce the development costs and meet FedEx's price requirements. The companies, which include South Korea's Commercial Aircraft Develop ment Consortium, are being offered production of major air frame sections. If the Airtruck is selected by FedEx, then IAI plans to fly the prototype in 2001. Q TWA offers stay of execution for MD-80 production line T RANS WORLD Airlines is negotiating with Boeing for up to 24 newMD-83s, which could keep the endangered Long Beach production line open until 2000. The line was scheduled to shut down in mid-1999 with the deliv ery of the last MD-83 to TWA. All eight of the current backlog are on order forTWA, says Boeing, which plans to deliver six over the remain der of 1998 and the last two in early 1999. The new orders, if con firmed, would see production con tinue throughout 1999 with deliv ery of most of the aircraft in 1999 and some in early 2000. TWAoperates67MD-80s.The new negotiations came to light when the airline reported the talks in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It also warned that TWA stands to post "significant" losses for the first quarter of the year. "We don't have a fully signed and sealed agreement- it's certainly not a done deal," says Boeing, but adds that they would be new aircraft. The SEC filing also confirms that the airline's nine-year order for up to 20 Rolls-Royce Trent- powered Airbus A330s still stands, with deliveries scheduled in 2001 and 2002. TWA would face an $ 18 million bill if it cancelled the air craft, but has not yet secured financing for them should deliver ies go ahead. J FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 22 - 28 April 1998
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