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Aviation History
2000
2000 - 0320.PDF
AJli fliAttZPUIir ROUTES ++ Channel Islands-based Aurigny will launch twice-daily services between Guernsey and Manchester in the UK next month, using a Saab 340. ++ Air France and Italian start-up Gandarf Airlines have signed a codeshare agreement on the Bergamo-Paris route, which Gandalf will operate with its Fairchild 328JETs. The agreement could be expanded to other routes. ++ Further to the report in Flight International, 25-31 January, Precisionair is based in Tanzania, rather than Kenya, as reported. The airline also operates services between Kilimanjaro, Tanzania and Mombasa, underthe same arrange ment with Air Tanzania. ++ British Airways franchise partner British Mediterranean Airways will launch athree-times weekly service from Heathrow to Baku, Azerbaijan, from 1 April. ++ Air Littoral will start twice-daily services from Calvi and Figari to Marseilles and Nice from 26 March, following deregula tion of Corsica-France mainland routes. ++ Crossair will introduce its new 49-seat Embraer RJ-145s on services from Basle-Mulhouse to Birmingham and Manchester in the UK from late March/early May, respectively, replacing Saab 2000 turboprops. ++ KLM uk low-cost car rier Buzz has transferred its London Stansted-Milan flights from Mal pensa to Linate airport. ++ Guang zhou-based China Southern Airlines will launch its first interna tional cargo service at the end of March between Shenzen and Chicago, using a Boeing 747-200 freighter. Technical stops will be made in Anchorage, Alaska, and Sapporo, Japan. ++ British World Airlines will launch charter flights for tour operators in May from London Gatwick to Cyprus, Greece, Spain and Turkey, using its recently delivered Boeing 737-300. ++ American Trans Air will intro duce new non-stop services from its Chicago Midway hub to Seattle and Boston from the beginning of May. ++ BA franchisee British Regional Airlines has launched daily services between South ampton and Frankfurt, using Embraer RJ-145s. Airbus and CFMI are studying the development of an enhanced A 340-200/300 model powered by a new CFM56 CFMI and Airbus discuss new powerplant to revitalise A340 GUY NORRIS/CINCINNATI AIRBUS INDUSTRIE and CFM International (CFMI) are in talks on proposed develop ment of an upgraded A340- 200/300 with an engine variant combining the CFM56-5C with the core of the CFM56-5B/R At the same time, die General Elec- tric/Snecma venture is adopting automotive assembly techniques to improve production efficiency. No firm agreement has yet been reached on a possible A340 devel opment, says CFMI, which wants to include the upgrade with other aerodynamic and system improve ments to provide a more significant performance boost. CFMI says the plan, if sanctioned, could breathe new life into the baseline A340 family. It is concerned about the shifting focus to the Rolls-Royce Trent 500-powered A340-500/600 variants in development. "There is a need to improve the exhaust gas turbine margin on that engine," says CFMI president Gerard Laviec. He adds that the upgrade would primarily exploit the three-dimensional (3-D) aero dynamic design developed for the high pressure (HP) compressor of the -5B/P. The engine was devel oped in the mid-1990s as die -5BX and provided the basis for the improved -5B/P powering the Airbus A320 family, as well as the CFM56-7B on the Boeing Next Generation 737. CFMI's plan calls for the im proved 3-D HP compressor, HP turbine and possibly modified low pressure (LP) turbine of die -5B/P to be mated to the 1,82m (72in) fan and LP system of the -5C. Laviec says the move would increase the operating margin, improve payload in hot-and-high take-off conditions, give longer life on wing and cut maintenance costs. The plan is aimed at new A340s, but retrofits are an option. The A340-200/300 family is powered by the 31,500-34,0001b-thrust (140-15 lkN) CFM56-5C family. While it looks at options to upgrade the basic A340, the com pany is investigating methods to dramatically improve its own effi ciency, experimenting with a mov ing final assembly line.The aim is to slash cycle times by 50% and achieve record levels of sustained productivity, with about 1,050 engines due for delivery this year. The manufacturing process is based on an automobile final assembly concept adopted on Boeing's 717-200 production line at Long Beach, California. The system is initially being tried on the CFM56-7 for die 737NG, which, with 555 deliveries due this year, represents more than half the company's output for 2000. For the experiment, only die engine's fan assembly is moved down the line, as opposed to the traditional build-up method at a fixed assembly station. If success ful, the whole engine, including die HP core and LP turbine module, will move to the process. The con cept borrows from techniques developed by Toyota, and will be extended to include the -5 and -7. "Our volume is so high, we diought we would try it out on one engine to start with," says CFMI production manager Ken Foley, who adds that overall cycle time reductions being achieved are "doing wonderful things to our cost flow". The production line in Evendale, Ohio, now produces four CFM56 cores a day. It is also shipping two complete engines to Boeing every day for the 737 line. The current 737 production rate requires the supply of up to 53 CFM56 engines a month. Based partially on the new processes, CFMI plans by June to cut overall assembly cycle time to seven working days. Cycle time, which covers the period from the start of component build-up to shipment of a completed power- plant, stood at between 18 and 19 working days in the mid-1990s and was whittled down to around 11-12 days last year, says Foley. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 15 - 21 February 2000
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