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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 0012.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT USA explores civil airlifter future PAUL LEWIS/WASHINGTON DC BOEING AND the USAF are projecting a market demand for at least 10 civil variants of the C-17 military airlifter over the next decade, as part of a newly complet ed Commercial Application of Military Airlift Aircraft (CAMAA) study aimed at soliciting support from the commercial cargo market for sustaining current production rates beyond 2004. The USAF and Boeing have jointly issued a request for infor mation to gauge die response of the freighter industry to the proposed new public/private acquisition strategy. Interested carriers have been asked to meet with the gov ernment to hammer out a viable business case with the intention of signing launch customers for the proposed BC-17X by mid-year. In return for purchasing die civil heavylifter, civil operators would be provided with a guaranteed level of US Department of Defense (DoD) business. This would cover up to 50% of utilisation in the first year, dropping to 13.7 % by 2 015 as demand for heavy outsize and short airstrip lift grows. Financial mod elling by the study based on a $140 million per aircraft price tag sug gests an internal rate of return of 15 % for an operator over 12 years. The DoD is offering an "up - front and/or annual revenue guar- MARKETPLACE ++ Chinese domestic carrier Shandong Airlines is leasing three Bombardier CRJ200s from Tyrolean Airways, to add to the five aircraft it has ordered. ++ LanChile Airlines has ordered two General Electric CF6-80C2- powered 767-300 Freighters from Boeing and leased a third from GE Capital Aviation Services. ++ LTU International Airways has completed a lease deal with CIT Aerospace for one new Pratt & Whitney PW4168A-powered A330- 200 for delivery in May 2001 and one new CFM International CFM56-5B4-powered A320 to arrive in February. ++ Transavia has converted options on two Boeing 737-800s for delivery in 2003. ++ Air Senegal International has ordered a Bombardier Dash 8 Q300 for deliv ery this month. The airline, majori ty owned by Royal Air Maroc, will launch services in February, replacingAirSenegal, on domestic routes and to Cap Verde, Gambia, Mali and Mauritania. antee" for each aircraft to ensure availability as part of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, and possibly, providing financiers with a "resid ual value buyback guarantee". The CAMAA forecast is based on the heavy outsize market grow ing from $2 00m in 1999 to $ 1.5 bil lion by 2015 and the current Antonov An-124 fleet remaining static. Potential users of the BC-17X in addition to the DoD could include other government agencies, the United Nations, dis aster relief agencies, as well as oil exploration, drilling, mining and the construction industry. The BC-17X would also sustain C-17 production rates which will drop from the current 15 per year to just eight by 2 004 without more orders. The USAF hopes that a combination of BC-17Xs and a fol low-on multi-year buy of up 50 more C-17s will sustain produc tion and avoid a hike in unit costs. • -"•• U.S. AIR FORCE B 8P2 - * WaKK0UlWMM9QH|H • <JD .. I5HSI &4 IfiS! J .** Boeing's C-17 could soon become available on the commercial cargo market Russia becomes first major ADS-B customer RUSSIA IS the first country to place a major commercial order for automatic dependent sur veillance-broadcast (ADS-B) ground and airborne equipment, paving the way for implementation of the new-generation air traffic management (ATM) technology in the region. The VHF data link Mode 4 (VDL Mode 4)-based ATM system provide safety, capac ity and cost benefits. The equipment, manufactured by GP&C Denmark, was due to be delivered at the end of 2000, with installation across the Tyumen region of Russia starting in January. Equipment will be installed at five airports, while two local airlines will outfit their fleets, after which trials will start, leading to system certification by the Russian authority MAK this year. Implementation starts in 2002. The technology is also being evaluated for expansion in coun tries neighbouring the Tyumen region, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which would particularly benefit airlines flying on the new Polar routes. Azerbaijan and Georgia have already decided to go ahead with operational demonstrations in their capitals Baku and Tbilisi from March. The Baku demonstration will involve helicopters flying to oil rigs in the Caspian Sea, while Georgian Airlines will equip its TupolevTu-54s and Tu-134s. In Tyumen, VDL Mode 4 will be used for communication, naviga tion and surveillance. Com munications will include digital automatic terminal information service and controller-pilot data link communications; navigation applications will comprise differ ential global navigation satellite system augmentation for all flight phases. Surveillance will comprise ground and air applications. • Large door ATR 42 freighter is launched SWISS EXPRESS cargo and charter airline Farnair Europe has launched the large door freighter version of the ATR 42, with a contract for one aircraft and a passenger version. The Alenia/EADS joint venture has appointed Finmeccanica sub sidiary and Alenia sister company, Aeronavali, as the ATR42/72 con versions provider. ATR chief exec utive Antoine Bouvier says he sees a "booming market" for over 150 conversions in the next 10 years. Farnair's passenger aircraft was delivered in December and will be leased by the Swiss Federal Department of Defence for pas senger transport between Hasel and Skopje. The second will be delivered in cargo configuration butinitially withoutthe large cargo door, which is due for certification atyear-end, and is to be retrofitted. Farnair Europe chief executive Guy Gerard says the fleet of four Fokker F2 7s with freighter-config ured ATR 42s and 72s will be renewed "over time". • 10 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 2 - 8 January 2001
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