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Aviation History
1999
1999 - 0590.PDF
t\jn ffiAttDPunr NEWS IN BRIEF • ENGINE TIE-UP SIA Engineering has signed a deal with Rolls-Royce and Hong Kong Aero Engine Services (HAESL) to set up a repair and overhaul centre for the Trent in Singapore. The company, known as Singapore Aero Engine Ser vices, is due to begin opera tions in 2002 at a site near Changi Airport. The com pany will be divided among Singapore Airlines subsidiary SIA Engineering (50%), R-R (30%) and HAESL, a Rolls- Royce/Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering (HAECO) joint venture (20%). • HEATHROW T5 INQUIRY A public inquiry into plans to construct London Heath row's Terminal 5 (T5) has finished after four years of taking evidence. The inquiry inspector is not expected to file a report for two years, with another six to 12 months before the UK Government gives its verdict. If it goes ahead, the first phase should be operational by 2006. BAA says that T5 would increase passenger capacity by 20 mil lion and air transport move ments by 8%. Bombardier aims for mid-2000 launch of BRJ-X regional jet GUY NORRIS/LOS ANGELES BOMBARDIER Aerospace expects to make a management decision to continue with die BRJ- X regional jet project on schedule at die end of 1999, but has slipped die full launch decision to the sec ond quarter of 2000. The company had planned on a launch verdict around October and to certificate the first member of the family, the BRJ-X-90, by the end of 2002. Under the revised schedule, the first flight of die 90- seater is now set for the second quarter of 2002, while certification has slipped about nine months to the third quarter of 2003. Bombardier still intends to stick to its ambitious 36-month devel opment cycle despite the delay, which results from a longer- dian-expected concept definition process. The company is anxious to have the configuration frozen by the planned launch date. "The concept definition plan is well under way," says Bombardier engineering and product develop ment executive vice-president John Holding, speaking at the Speednews suppliers conference in Los Angeles this month. The expected launch decision would cover the 90- and 110-seater versions, he said. Holding says market and tech nical studies will continue through to August, although the BRJ-X has already changed from the original concept. "We thought it would emerge as a hub feeder, but now it is coming out as a point-to-point air craft," he says. Bombardier also intends to choose the engine for the family by August. Contenders include the CFM International CFM56-9, Pratt & Whitney PW6000 and BMWRolls-RoyceBR715. The plan calls for two versions of each baseline aircraft. The baseline BRJ-X-90, seating 95 passengers, will have a range of 3,330km (l,800nm). A follow-on version, the -90ER, will seat the same num ber but will have an auxiliary belly fuel tank and a range of 4,720km. The 115 -seat BRJ-X-110 will have a standard range of about 3,33 0km, while its extended-range derivative will fly the same number of passen gers up to 4,720km. Detailed operating figures have been revealed for the first time (see BRJ-X-90 MTOW 48,761kg MLW 44,860kg MZFW 41,277kg OEW 29,484kg Max Fuel 55,870litres Max payload 11,793kg Range 3,330km * Cruise M 0.80 Field Length 1,585m Landing 1,433m BRJ-X-110 53,297kg 49,034kg 5,473kg 30,958kg 55,870litres 14,515kg 3,330km* M0.80 1,676m 1,524m Engine thrust 18,000-22,000lb * ER versions with 4,720km range planned table), and the size of the two vari ants has been adjusted as Bombardier gets close to final definition. The-90 is now 31.21m (102ft) long overall, compared to 3 3.2m in previous iterations. It is also slight ly taller, with an increased fin height of 11.16m compared to 10.5m before. The -110, mean while, has shrunk to 34.75m long, compared to 36.7m for the earlier configuration. Wingspan, which is common to both versions along with height, engines, systems and flightdeck, has been extended more than 1.3m to 29.96m. Fuselage diameter is established at 3.6m, wing area at 101.3m2andtailareaat27.9m2. • Tour operator mergers spark charter consolidation MAX KINGSLEY-JONES/LONDON THE EUROPEAN Commis sion's decision to approve the tour operator merger of Thomas Cook and the Carlson Leisure Group is likely to result in further consolidation of the UK charter market in the next 18 months. Another major charter airline link-up could follow the merger of Air 2000's parent First Choice and Switzerland's Kuoni. Flying Colours, the airline arm of the UK's Thomas Cook, looks set to follow the recent integration ofcharter airline Airworld by swal lowing up Carlson's Caledonian Airways. Thomas Cook says it "wants to integrate the two airlines as soon as possible" and has named Flying Colours boss Terry Souk, who took over when chairman Errol Cossey departed last month, to head up the two carriers' com bined operations. Together, the two airlines will become one of the largest charter operators in Europe, with a com bined fleet of 32 aircraft and annual traffic of 2.5 million passengers. Between them, they operate 11 Airbus A320s, two A321s, one Boeing737-200,sixBoeing757s, 10 Lockheed L-1011 TriStars and two McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30s. The two brands will remain sep arate this year, but Soult's first task is to select a single management team, based in Manchester, to run the combined business, with a view to full integration for the summer 2000 season. No final decision has been taken on the identity to be adopted by the combined operation, but the Flying Colours brand is thought the most likely candidate. However, Thomas Cook is known to be finalising a company-wide rebranding, which could influence any decision on the airline division. Meanwhile, the merger agree ment between First Choice and Kuoni sets up the prospect of Air 2000 becoming the UK's third pan-European charter airline grouping, after Airtours and Britannia. The link brings Kuoni's small in-house airline, Edelweiss Air, into Air 2000's orbit. First Choice expects the merger to enable it to "improve aircraft utili sation, load factors and expand the airline fleet across Europe". Kuoni set up Zurich-based Edelweiss in 1995 and holds a 3 3 % stake. The airline is in the process of replacing its Boeing MD-80 fleet with three Airbus A320s. Air 2000, meanwhile, is finalising the integration of UK charter airline Leisure International Airways, a merger that resulted from First Choice's acquisition of LIA's par ent, Unijet, last year. • 10 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 24 - 30 March 1999
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