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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 3597.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT COMPETITION El Al accused of 'commercial terrorism' El Al's efforts to block the entry of Israeli charter carri ers onto new routes has ignited an unprecedented turf war among the country's airlines. A few days after Israel's largest charter carrier Arkia declared its plan to serve Thai holiday resort Phuket, El Al moved in with a series of flights forcing Arkia to cancel its service. According to El Al, its charter subsidiary Sun D'or is planning a series of flights to Phuket. "This is the worst type of commercial terrorism. An air line owned by the government acts wildly against all codes of conduct even between competitors," says Israel Borovitch, Arkia's president. Arkia planned to operate a weekly Boeing 757-300 flight to Phuket, with a stopover in the Seychelles. The airline already reconfigured the aircraft and signed agreements with tourist operators on the island. Borovitch says that the sit uation where the government is the owner of El Al and also the aviation regulator, creates "unacceptable situations... while El Al can afford to lose more money, we can not. So we cancelled the flights." NAVIGATION India adds surveillance systems The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has installed an automatic dependent surveillance system at the air traffic control centres of Chennai and Kolkatta in an effort to improve air safety in oceanic airspace. The satellite-based navigation system was designed and devel oped for the AAI by Indian Government-owned Electronics Corporation of India. FLEET DEVELOPMENT EMMA KELLY / MUNICH Augsburg regional jet buy could be back on track The German regional is looking to seize opportunities left by Lufthansa's downsizing Augsburg Airways has again dusted off plans to purchase regional jets and will make a decision in the first quarter of next year on a possible order for around 12 aircraft. At the same time the airline is considering adding more Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 turboprops to its fleet to replace smaller Q300s and allow it to take up any opportunities from Lufthansa's downsizing. Augsburg, which operates ser vices as part of Team Lufthansa, has evaluated 30-50-seat regional jet types a number of times. The German regional carrier is now considering "several [regional jet] projects", says managing director Olaf Dlugi. Any regional jet order would be for a minimum of 12 air craft, he says, with the jets to be used for new longer route develop ment. Although he declines to comment on the aircraft size or types being considered, Dlugi recently attended the roll-out of the 70-seat Embraer 170, which he describes as a "super aircraft". Augsburg will shortly receive its fourth Q400, while a fifth is due for delivery in early 2002. The airline is considering exercising a further two Q400 options which were due to have expired, but have been extended by Bombardier. Exercis ing the options will depend on how Lufthansa decides to restruc ture itself after its fleet and service cuts following the 11 September terrorist attacks and traffic down turn, says Dlugi. If it takes the addi tional two Q400s, Augsburg will take more options on the type, with Dlugi eventually aiming* to replace its 11 Q300s with Q400s. Augsburg is not yet talking to Lufthansa about taking over any more routes, but Dlugi is hopeful that Team Lufthansa carriers will gain routes once the major has reorganised. Augsburg operates ser vices on behalf of Lufthansa from Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Ham burg, Cologne/Bonn and Munich. The regional has been a Team Lufthansa carrier for five years and is renegotiating its agreement with the major, says Dlugi. He hopes this will result in route gains from next year's summer schedule. Augsburg's fleet deliberations come as German carriers seek help from the German Government for the increased security and insur ance costs following the terrorist attacks. Dlugi estimates additional costs of up to DM14 million ($6 million) for Augsburg alone next OPERATIONS year. German air traffic control (ATC) service provider DFS has already told operators that its ATC charges will increase by 18% from 1 January, as it tries to compensate for the lost traffic by increasing its income, while the Bavarian gov ernment is adding 20 pfennigs to every ticket from the beginning of the year to fund increased security personnel and equipment. "We are convinced only the government can help," says Dlugi. Q400 dash expected Other airlines are set to join Augsburg in operating into London City Airport Bombardier is expecting a number of Dash 8 Q400 operators to launch ser vices to London City Airport (LCY) once they have gained experience of the turboprop, following recent steep approach approval for the aircraft at the docklands airport. Augsburg Airways became the first Q400 operator at LCY late last month with the launch of 12 times weekly services to Munich. The 72-seat capacity of Augsburg's Q400 is reduced to 65 seats for the service. Last month the Q400 received Transport Canada and European Joint Aviation Authorities approval to operate to LCY's 1,199m (3,930ft) runway, which has a 5.5° approach angle. The approval required a cockpit switch to tell the enhanced ground proximity warning system that it is safe to descend on a 5.5° glideslope at a flap setting of 35°, a microswitch for the flap selector to confirm that the required flap setting has been selected and two supple ments to the aircraft flight manual. "There's a lot of interest in what we are doing at London City and it's a bit of a race," says Bob Fear, Bombardier's manager Q400 product planning. From LCY the Q400 can operate with 100% capacity on routes within 740km (400nm), with 65 seats to 1,110km and 60 seats to 1,480km. British European has already expressed interest in LCY operations with its Q400s, which it will start to receive at the end of this month, although it wants to gain some months' experience of the type first. Wideroe is believed to be considering LCY-Oslo services, but it only recently received its first Q400. More immediate possibilities are SAS Commuter and Austria's Tyrolean Airways, which have been operating the type for some time and don't cur rently serve LCY, says Fear. According to SAS Commuter, however, it has no plans to serve London with its Q400s. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 13-19 NOVEMBER 2001 27
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