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Aviation History
2000
2000 - 0638.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Midland determined on long haul MAX KINGSLEY-JONES/LONDON BRITISH Midland (BM) is adamant that it will begin long- haul sen-ices next year, but is tight lipped about its contingency plans should it not receive clearance for transatlantic flights. The airline had expected to be in a position to detail its plans for transatlantic flights from London Heathrow and Manchester for summer season 2001. The failure, however, of the USA and the UK in late January to reach agreement on a new air services bilateral has halted BM's ambition. After full open skies talks failed, a "mini deal" was tabled which would have opened up access to Heathrow- transatlantic sendees for BM and allowed additional US airlines entry to die London airport. NEWS IN BRIEF • HARD LANDING Egyptair has suffered its sec ond serious Boeing 767- 300ER accident in six months. A 767 (SU-GAO) landing at Harare, Zim babwe, touched down hard in windy conditions. The port wing touched the ground, causing the engine to sepa rate. The aircraft left the run way and came to rest with serious damage to its under carriage, but is not expected to be a write-off. On 27 February, a Transbrasil Boeing 737-400 (PT-TEO) landing at Porto Allegre, Brazil, ran off runway 29 at night in heavy rain. • HAWAIIAN TWINJETS Hawaiian Airlines has con firmed its planned order for 13 Boeing 717s and taken rights to purchase another seven of the twinjets. Deliveries will begin in February 2001 and conclude by the end of the year. The 123-seaters will replace 15 McDonnell Douglas DC-9s. Orders for 717s total 143. "The USA sent a delegation to London with die aim of agreeing a deal...there is no reason why the governments should not return to this proposal or something simi lar," says airline chairman Sir Michael Bishop. No date has been set for a new- round of negotiations, but BM is hopeful that it will be cleared to start services from summer 2001. The airline has moved ahead with its long-haul fleet acquisition, con cluding deals for at least four 211- seat Airbus A330-200s for delivery from April next year. BM says its "prime objective" is to launch Manchester services "in tandem with" Heathrow services. It says it would be "unreasonable" for the airline to fly transatlantic senaces from die nordiern UK city only, as no odier carrier does. Bishop dismisses suggestions that he faces the prospect of having no use for the A3 30s when they arrive next year if US/UK negotia tions fail. He says: "The rest of the UK [outside Heathrow/Gatwick] has open skies with the USA," which suggests that regional transatlantic flights could still be a fall-back option. Bishop insists that BM will "launch long-haul services next year", but will not discuss his con tingency plans, or whether the A3 30s will be used on senices from Heathrow to non-US destinations. • British Midland is to launch short-haul routes from Heathrow in May, to Madrid, Milan and Rome. Slots will be made available for the services by the termination of unprofitable flights to Prague and Warsaw, while Heathrow- Frankfurt services will stop as BM overlaps with Star partner and shareholder Lufthansa. J On-time software keeps FAA datalink on track KEY SOFTWARE for the US Federal Aviation Admini stration's controller-pilot datalink communications (CPDLC) pro gramme has been delivered to prime contractor Computer Sciences (CSC). The on-time deliver)' of router software for the aeronautical telecommunications network (ATN) keeps the CPDLC pro gramme on track as the FAA strug gles with budget and schedule problems in other areas of its air space modernisation effort. Airlines are pressing the FAA to keep a high priority on deploying CPDLC", which promises near- term relief from flight delays caused by congestion of the voice frequencies used for controller- pilot communications. "Frequency congestion is a major contributor to delays. It lim its the number of aircraft a con troller can handle," says Carl McCollough, FAA director of communication, navigation and sun'eillance systems. American Airlines will be first to use CPDLC when it initially becomes operational in mid-2002 at Miami. Bob Baker, the airline's vice-chairman, says: "Frequency congestion is enough of a problem that it could change the outlook for air transport growth. "CPDLC is a critical priority for the airlines," he adds, urging the FAA to ensure the system is an investment priority. The plan is for CPDLC Build 1, with limited mes sages, to be operational atMiami in June 2002. The next stage, Build 1A, with expanded messages, is to be deployed nationwide between January 2004 and January 2006. CPDLC will be the first use of the ATN "aeronautical internet". ATN router and application soft ware has just been delivered to prime contractor CSC by industry consortium Aeronautical Com munication International. The software was developed under contract to airline-owned ATN Systems. • Taiwan-Philippines dispute re-erupts THE MR dispute between Taiwan and the Philippines has flared again. The Philippines has forced China Airlines (CAL) to withdraw from the Kaohsiung- Manila route, and Taiwan has retal iated by reducing Philippine Airlines Manila-Taipei flights from seven a week to four. Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and CAL have accused the Philippines of failing to honour an agreement reached on 28 January. CAL was forced to drop daily Kaohsiung- Manila flights just five days after relaunching the route. According to the Taiwan CAA, the January agreement reinstates the original 1996 air services agree ment, which allowed airlines from Taiwan and die Philippines to each offer 9,600 seats a week between the two countries. "The 28January agreement fully recognises the 1996 agreement in its original con dition," says Joseph Tien of the CAA's international division. The Philippines wants talks to resume, but the CAA will not dis cuss the issue until after elections on 18 March, says CAL. 3 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 7 - 13 March 2000
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