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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 0670.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT AIRPORTS ++ Moscow Sheremetyevo Air port operator Aeroflot has select ed Bovis Lend Lease International to project manage construction of a new $300 million Sheremetyevo- 3 terminal. This will have an annual capacity of 8-10 million passengers, and is due to be com pleted in 2003. Its construction is a prerequisite for Aeroflot to enter SkyTeam alliance with Air France and Delta Air Lines. Aeroflot is to provide 15% of the fmancingforthe new building, which will be con nected to the Sheremetyevo-2 ter minal by an enclosed walkway. ++ Qatar Airways has taken over the management of its base airport, Doha, in Qatar. The renovation and expansion of the existing terminal is due to be completed by June, while construction of a completely new terminal north of the runway will begin later this year. The new building, which is due to be com pleted by 2005, will triple annual capacity to six million passengers. It will feature air-bridges designed to accommodate Airbus A380 and Boeing 747X Stretch aircraft, and will cater for loading/unloading on two passenger decks. ++ Warsaw Okecie Airport is undertaking a three year, $350 million expansion which will triple annual passenger capacity to 12.5 million. Work includes expanding the existing terminal and the construction of a new terminal, able to handle 6.5 million passengers a year. Six inter national consortia are bidding for the work: Bau Holding Strabag of Austria, Bouygues of France, Bilfinger & Berger and Hochtief of Germany, Ferrovial of Spain, and Skanska of Sweden. The Polish air port authority PP Porty Lotnicze says that bidders will be shortlist ed to two or three for the second selection stage. ++• Lima Airport Partners, a venture comprising the USA's Bechtel Enterprises International, construction compa ny Cosapi and Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide has taken control of Lima, Peru's recently pri vatised Jorge Chavez Internat ional Airport. The consortium has a 30-year concession to "mod ernise and expand" capacity. Russian-engined version planned for II-96T freighter PAUL DUFFY/MOSCOW THE DEVELOPMENT of a Russian-engined version of the Ilyushin I1-96T freighter is being discussed by leasing compa ny Ilyushin Finance and the design bureau. First customer for the aircraft is likely to be Atlant Soyuz, Russia's fourth largest cargo carri er, which has signed an outline agreement to lease 10 from Ilyushin Finance, which has dubbed the variant the I1-96-400T. The four engined, 92t payload freighter would use the airframe of the Pratt & Whitney PW2 337- powered I1-96T, and be equipped with Aviadvigatel PS-90A engines. Russian avionics would replace the Il-96T's US-sourced Rockwell items. The aircraft, which would offer a similar payload to the BoeingMD-1 IF, has a list price of around $38 million. Atlant Soyuz wants to introduce the new model into service by 2 003. Moscow-based Atlant Soyuz signed a framework agreement with Ilyushin Finance earlier this month, for 10 Il-96-400Ts on 12-year operating leases, along with four Tupolev Tu-204 freighters. Russian industry observers believe the move signals the "beginning of recovery" of the domestic aviation industry. Ilyushin Finance aims to fund the development and certification of the new model if it goes ahead. The leasing company's director Alexander Rubtsov says it will take a year to finalise the specification of the new variant, to arrange financ ing and to complete contracts with the production plants in Voronezh and Ulyanovsk. "The PS-90As lower power will result in some loss of range or payload," he says. "But the I1-96T is already certificated, so it should require a relatively simple certifica tion programme, involving the change of engines and avionics." He adds that Western certification for the type is also planned. Seven-year old Atlant Soyuz operates passenger and cargo services with a fleet of over 20 aircraft. The majority of its business - 85% - is cargo opera tions, and it is experiencing particularly strong demand in the transport of Chinese consumer products into Russia. Ilyushin Finance's first leasing project was signed in late 1999 and involved the lease of six Il-96-300s to Aeroflot and up to 10 Tu-204/214s for Transaero. The leasing plan has been effec tively stalled over the issue of Russian Government guarantees, which are vital to enable the banks and financial institutions to release funding. No government guarantees for aviation leasing have been provid ed this year, but this issue should be resolved as part of the concept for Russia's civil aviation develop ment which is due to be presented to the government next month. This will include a decree on the future of aviation leasing programmes for its domestically manufactured aircraft. Q El Alto boost its US business market presence NAA's market is changing from flying tourist groups to business people EL AL IS planning to use its US-based affiliate, North American Airlines (NAA), to boost its US business market activities. El Al holds a 24.9% stake in NAA, which operates US feeder flights for the Israeli carrier and charter services The remainder of die airline is held by the founder, DanMackinon. The airline, which operates two Boeing 737-800s and three 757- 200s, operates feeder flights from New York to Miami, Orlando and Los Angeles. Until now, NAA's main market was flying tourist groups travelling between the two countries, within die USA. El Al president David Hermesh says new services are being consid ered from New York to Boston and San Francisco. "With die introduction of the Boeing 777 on El Al's North American network, we plan to shift our focus to business traffic. NAA flights to new destinations in the USA is part of the plan", he says. The plan is to use the airline to offer die shortest connection time for Israeli business travellers going on to different industry and busi ness centres within the USA. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 27 February - 5 March 2001
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