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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 3752.PDF
IN BRIEF LEGACY CENTRE Jet Aviation West Palm Beach has been appointed an autho rised service centre for the Embraer Legacy business jet, a corporate version of the ERJ-135 regional jet. The Florida- based facility is already a Dassault Falcon service centre. PIAGGIO OPTIONS Piaggio is to offer Goodrich's Skywatch HP traffic advisory system, the Stormscope WX- 1000E weather mapping system and LandMark terrain awareness and warning system as standard options on the P180 Avanti twin- turboprop business aircraft. DISPUTE ENDS North Sea helicopter pilots have settled their pay dispute with CHC Scotia. Members of the British Air Line Pilots Association at the operator voted 97% in favour of accepting the new pay terms that bring them in line with commercial airline pilots in return for a legally-binding 38- month freeze on further demands. SKYJET ONLINE Bombardier has extended its Skyjet online booking service for charter passengers to southern California for flights within a 1,750km (945nm) radius of Los Angeles. Skyjet, which was launched in the New York area earlier this year, will offer internet bookings for customers charter ing Bombardier aircraft at airports in Van Nuys and Santa Ana - the USA's fourth and fifth busiest business aviation air fields. Customers will also have access to Flexjet fractional own erships held at these airports. LIGHT DELIVERY Kemble airfield, near Gloucester has taken delivery of the UK's first Flight Design CT-2K hybrid microlight. The two -seater air craft has a range of 1,500km (810 nm) at 3,000m (9,850 ft). Its delivery followed 12 months of extensive flight testing late last year. The fixed-wing aircraft, which has a maximum take -off weight of 9,850ft (3,000m), will be used by the airfield's flying school as part of a redevelop ment plan for the military airfield. BUSINESS & GENERAL AVIATION OPERATIONS JUSTIN WASTNAGE / LONDON UK giants withdraw from corporate jet ventures British Airways and Virgin Atlantic blame economic uncertainty on cancelled plans The two largest UK carriers have pulled out of business jet opera tions, citing economic uncertainty. British Airways has withdrawn from its deal with corporate aircraft charter broker Air Partner, while Virgin Atlantic has put on hold plans to launch a first-class trans atlantic corporate service. The Air Partner service in associ ation with BA, called Business Jets, was suspended late last month due to increased marketing costs, BA says. The UK flag carrier says that whilst customer demand for the service has been strong, an increased focus on core business following the downturn triggered by the terrorist attacks in the USA has forced it to "stop making the service available". The service, launched in April, had been set to run for one year before BA re assessed the market for providing its European passengers with the ability to charter a corporate aircraft to airports not served by the airline. BA says that it is looking at alter native ways to provide its top cus tomers onward private jet trans port. BA had no investment in the scheme other than providing mar keting support. Both companies decline to comment on plans. Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic is blaming the economic downturn and the re-launch of BA Concorde services for the cancellation of its plans for a business aviation sub sidiary. Virgin had drawn up busi ness plans for a new division, pro visionally dubbed Virgin Jetset, following the lack of an ultra- deluxe first class offering between London and New York after BA withdrew its Aerospatiale/BAe Concorde fleet last August. Virgin Group says that the Virgin Jetset plan had hit difficul ties even before the events of 11 September. "The biggest problem was finding a viable airport near to the M25 [London orbital motor way]," says Virgin. The airline had planned to use a fleet of six Bombardier Global Express aircraft, equipped with 18 flat-bed seats, on services between a secondary London airfield and a similar site in upstate New York, such as White Plains, Westchester County. Virgin says that it had encountered prob lems "getting the number of move ments we need with the Global Express out of Farnborough or Northholt". CONTRACT Cargolifter lands maglev deal with CL160 airship Cargolifter has won the contract to provide airborne heavy lifting services for Pennsylvania's 75km (47 miles) Pittsburg magnetic levitation public transport system with its 175t payload CL160 airship. The German manufacturer has become a 12.5% share holder in the project as part of the deal. Cargolifter has recently been recapitalised by €10.1 million ($8.9 million) to a total of €40.5 million, for the develop ment of the smaller 10Ot capacity CL75 AirCrane. Construction of the first CL160 (prototype left) will start early next year at the manufacturer's plant near Berlin and will be completed in less than two years. The prototype CL75 AC is undergoing tests at Cargolifter's Berlin facilities. PRODUCTION Gippsland to triple GA-8 production as sales soar Australian light aircraft manufacturer Gippsland Aeronautics will boost pro duction of its GA-8 Airvan three-fold next year from 12 per year, with a tar get of 50 units annually by 2005. The company says that demand for the GA-8 has convinced the company to enlarge its facilities at Latrobe Valley regional airport outside Melbourne from 420m2 (4,500ft2) to 745m2. Managing director Michael Hall has talked with potential Indian and Chin ese subcontractors. "We'd start them out on relatively basic components we're likely to see the transfer to more advanced components over perhaps a five year phasing-in plan," he says. The eight seat GA-8, priced at around A$600,000 ($310,000), already in service in Australia for tourist operations. 24 27 NOVEMBER - 3 DECEMBER 2001 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL WWW flinhtintornatir
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