FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1998
1998 - 1868.PDF
HEADLINES ATR to set up asset management unit ATR PLANS TO set up an asset management business as pa it of a restructuringplan that will sec the Franco-Italian turboprop consortium become a single corpo rate entity early next year. The move comes as ATR and British Aerospace go their separate ways following the formal dissolu tion of the Aero International (Regional) partnership on 1 July. According to new chief execu tive Antoine Bouvier, the unit will manage a fleet of about 200 ATR 42s and 72s to which the manufac turer has financial recourse. The aim is to place used aircraft in markets such as Latin America and the former Eastern Bloc in the hope of securing new sales later. Bouvier says that the company, owned by Aerospatiale and Alenia, is also under pressure to go ahead with a newly revised Airjet regional jet project by the end of this year and is seeking new partners. (1ASA is among companies in talks. • P&W warns partners on future of V2500 engine programme PAUL LEWIS/SINGAPORE PRATT & WHITNEY has warned its International Aero Engine (IAE) partners that it will pursue development of the PW6000 and geared PW8000 turbofan family unless agreement can be reached on the future direc tion of the collaborative V2500 programme. "Pratt can't survive without par ticipating in the largest engine market in the world," says P&W president Karl Krapek. "We made the decision to launch because we had to get back into the narrow- body business. We had been unable to agree with die IAE partners on how to enhance or provide deriva tives or change the V2500. Our actions have caused some serious new thinking." The US engine manufacturer and its principal IAE partner. Rolls-Royce, along with Japanese Aero Engines, MTL' and Fiat, are engaged in discussions to deter mine the future of the consortium and the V2500 engine family. The need for a decision is being driven by growing competition from the CFM International CFM56 turbofan and the threat P&W perceives from the General Electric/Snecma partnership pro ducing a "higher operating pres sure ratio engine". At the same time, P&W faces a shrinking mar ket share and loss of an important revenue stream as its ageingjTHDs are phased out of service. Krapek outlines several scenar ios. "We could put the gearbox around an upgraded IAF engine that has some PW6000 core com ponents, or we could go it alone with the PW6000 and^ PW8000. IAF then goes its own way with a new company and a new core that competes with the 6000/8000. We keep the old company and we run it out through the spare parts line." P&W argues that the V2500's future lies in the use of a gearbox, rather than a higher pressure com pressor, but it needs to convince its partners to support such a develop ment. Rolls-Royce is believed to have presented its own series of improvement proposals based on the BR700. "Something has to happen," warns Krapek, adding that it is not a prerequisite for a unanimous decision to be reached by all five partners, some of which have already agreed to join the PW8000 programme. • EC allows American/BA alliance in exchange for Heathrow slots CARRIERS ON both sides of the Atlantic are stressing that there is still all to play for despite the European Commission's long- awaited ruling on the British Airways and Lufthansa transat lantic alliances. Major US airlines are already gearing up to lobby the US Department of Transportation to increase access to London Heathrow, while Lufthansa and United are threatening a legal chal lenge to die conditions imposed on their alliance. After two years of wrangling, competition commissioner Karel van Miert finally issued draft pro posals demanding that BA give up 267 weekly slots at its London hubs as the price for its pending alliance with American Airlines. That is expected to divide between 220- 230 at Heathrow and the rest at Gatwick. Fhe airlines would also have to cut frequencies on key hub routes to Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami and Chicago for six months to allow competitors to become established. Similar conditions are imposed on the Lufthansa/SAS alliance with United, with the loss of 108 weekly slots. This includes 98 slots at Frankfurt and a further 15 at Copenhagen, says Lufthansa. The three partners will also have to halve frequencies for six mondis on the Washington and Chicago routes if competitors take on the routes, as well as allow rivals onto their frequent flier programmes. Full details of the draft rulings will not be published for another week and airlines will then have 30 davs to comment. Public hearings and comment by national govern ments could then take several more months before the draft is approved. The BA/American go- ahead will also hinge on the sign ing of a UK/US open skies agreement with attached anti-trust immunity for the alliance. BA has given a cautious wel come to die EC draft but suggests it will lobby against some of the terms as they go through UK and US approval. Lufthansa made a furious attack on Brussels, threatening action •^ii:.^i"»^i':i-iiiii=s'iii';.T\i^,,i':'!;iii^iiiiW Share of slots British Airways 39% British Midland 13 Lufthansa 5% Aer Lingus 3 Air France % SAS 3 American Airlines 2'/: Alitalia 2% United Airlines 2 Virgin Atlantic 1% Total Heathrow 100 Equivalent daily flights 238 80 32 21 21 19 13 12 11 8 605 Equivalent weekly slots 3.300 1,100 450 300 290 270 180 170 160 120 8,500 Note Shares based on latest available data with equivalent daily flight information calculated from slot total 1997. Estimates do not take into account seasonal vanations. through the European courts if new conditions are imposed on its four-year-old alliance. United has also lodged a complaint with the DoT, arguing that re-regulation of the hub routes from Frankfurt conflicts with the open skies deal. American is due to follow suit. The DoT is also set to come under intense pressure from the major US carriers hoping to set up services out of Heathrow. Contin ental, Delta and US Airways have already put in applications for 10 daily return flights out of the air port, while Trans World Airlines wants a further five. That would translate into 490 slots a week. In the UK, British Midland is also planning to revive transat lantic services, with an application for 10 daily flights, and Virgin Atlantic has long been pushing for extra transatlantic services. Delta has argued that the slot concessions would have to be clos er to 800 a week to allow five carri ers to mount viable competition, and hopes that US authorities will "take more assertive steps" than Brussels. Q 6 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 15 - 21 July 1998
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
