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Aviation History
2000
2000 - 0016.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT ROUTES ++ Virgin Atlantic has signed a codeshare agreement with Air India that will see the UK airline operating three frequencies a week between London Heathrow and New Delhi from next summer, using Boeing 747s. Virgin will take up Air India's unused frequency rights, and intends to double flights to six a week in spring 2001 also through the use of Air India fre quencies. ++ Air Jamaica will begin daily direct services to Trinidad and Tobago from Kingston, Jamaica, in June, using an Airbus A320. ++ Colgan Air has become the latest US Airways Express operator with the intro duction of non-stop services between Augusta, Bar Harbor and Rockland, Maine, and Boston Logan. ++ Gandalf Airlines has introduced twice daily services to London City from Milan, using a Fairchild 328 turboprop. ++ Delta Air Lines will begin daily non-stop services from New York Kennedy to Zurich beginning in August. ++ Brisbane-based cargo start-up carrier Transpac has received its Australian international airline licence and expects to begin flying in mid-February to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Cale donia (Flight International, 28 July- 3 August, 1999). The licence also allows operations to Nauru, which Transpac expects to add to its net work later. Belly cargo capacity will first be used on Qantas Boeing 767s, but Transpac is seeking an Airbus A300B4 freighter in the longer term to operate in its own right when it aims to fly from Auckland to Tonga, Wallis Island and Apia in Western Samoa. ++ Continental Express will begin non-stop services from its Hous ton hub to San Luis Potosi, Mexico, on 2 March, using Embraer RJ-145S. ++ Flight InternationaF s sister on-line service Air Transport Intelligence, reports that Greek regional Aegean Airlines is start ing new routes to loannina and Mytelene after the delivery of a fourth BAE Systems Avro RJ100. ++ In June, Qantas will increase New York- Australia frequencies from three to five services a week. Atlanta becomes all-widebody and sets its sights on 767s MAX KINGSLEY-JONES/LONDON AIR ATLANTA Icelandic is phasing out its narrowbodies and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar fleet and focusing on an all-widebody fleet of Boeing 747s and 767s. The Reykjavik, Iceland-based wet-lease specialist recently signed agreements to take five more 747s on lease, bringing its 747 fleet to 11 aircraft. Three TriStars have been removed from Atlanta's fleet in 1999, and one of the five remaining trijets will be returned to its owner nextyear. The airline's three 737s— two 737-200 freighters and one - 300 - have also been disposed of. Atlanta's long-term plan is to replace its four remaining TriStars with secondhand Boeing 767s, and it says it is "in discussions regard ing various deals for deliveries beginning in late 2000". The twin- jets would probably be acquired on operating lease. "We do not plan to acquire any further TriStars unless there is a Atlanta is boosting its 747 fleet, and eyeing the 767 to replace TriStars specific demand from customers," says the carrier. The phasing out of its remaining trijets will be dictated by market demand, and when they are due for their expensive rear spar maintenance modification, which costs upwards of $1 million. The airline's recent 747 acquisi tions include three -200s - two ex- Cathay Pacific, Rolls-Royce RB211-524-powered examples and one ex-Japan Airlines Pratt & WhitneyJT9D-powered version - and two ex-Varig General Electric CF6-powered 747-3 00s from International Lease Finance. "We have looked at the 747-400 and could acquire some if the price is right," says Atlanta. The airline recently lost busi ness because of Caledonian Air ways' merger with Flying Colours, which had been leasing four TriStars. Atlanta says it is in talks about replacement UK business for 2000. "Most of the capacity for 2000 is sold or in the final stages of negotiation," it adds. • Euro capacity plans sought for 8.33kHz success EMMA KELLY/LONDON EUROCONTROL IS urging member states affected by the implementation of 8.33kHz chan nel-spacing to provide details of their capacity plans for next sum mer to ensure the success of the programme and alleviate conges tion in European airspace. The mandatory carriage of 8.33kHz-compatible airborne radio equipment came into effect above flight level 245 in seven states - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland - on 7 October. The creation of much-needed extra airspace capacity in Europe next summer is directly dependent on the successful implementation of 8.33kHz channel-spacing in VHF voice communications from the previous 25kHz, freeing up additional radio frequencies. The initial implementation of the programme was successful, with a compliance level in excess of 95%, according to Eurocontrol, but the longer-term success is dependent upon states improving their sectorisation and airspace capacity on time. Eurocontrol director-general Yves Lambert wrote to the states earlier in December requesting information on their capacity plans for summer 2000, with responses expected in early 2000. "We want to stress that it's up to die 8.33kHz states to get on with their part of the programme now," says the air navigation organisation. The 8.33 kHz channel-spacing programme was implemented widi little disruption, says Eurocontrol. The organisation had warned of the potential for increased delays in the lower airspace as non-equipped aircraft are forced to fly below FL245. "Even on the first [Thursday] of operations the delay situation in total minutes was less than on the previous Thursday and this trend continued for the week. It was a very smooth transition," says Eurocontrol. The organisa tion concedes, however, that its success or otherwise will not be known until next summer. Meanwhile, Eurocontrol has started to canvass states on their future radio frequency require ments to determine how long the 8.3 3 kHz channel-spacing will pro vide benefits and what will be required in the future. Horizontal expansion of the programme above FL245 is an obvious move, which has attracted interest from states including the UK and Spain. • 14 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 22 December 1999 - 3 January 2000
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