FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
2002
2002 - 0686.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT FLEET RENEWAL HILKA BIRNS / CAPE TOWN SAA replaces Boeing with Airbus South African flag carrier in 41 aircraft order worth $3.5 billion to replace entire regional, domestic and long-haul fleet South African Airways (SAA) has chosen Airbus over Boeing for its massive fleet renewal order, with a deal worth $3.5 billion for 41 aircraft. The airline will acquire 26 A319/A320s and 15 A340- 300/600s, with deliveries from later this year to 2012 to replace its entire regional, domestic and long- haul fleets. The key element of the deal is the acquisition of nine Rolls-Royce Trent 500-powered A340-600s and three CFM International CFM56- powered A340-300 Enhanced mod els which will replace the airline's ageing fleet of 14 Boeing 747 Classics and two Boeing 767s on its long-haul services. SAA will take the first three A340-600s in the last quarter of this year and a further four next year. Six of these airframes, which had previously been allocated to Swissair and became available fol lowing the airline's financial col lapse, are being purchased and one leased. Two more -600s will be taken on lease in 2005-6 from an undisclosed source. Airbus has powered ahead at SAA with the deal for 41 A320s and A340s The airline is also leasing six A340-300 Enhanced versions - three each in the first quarter of 2004 and the first quarter of 2005 - making SAA the first customer to declare a commitment for the new model. This variant, which will begin flight-testing next year, features upgraded CFM56- 5C/P engines for improved perfor mance. In the interim, SAA will lease six A340-200s from Lufthansa as soon as possible until 2004, when they will be replaced by the new A340-30OS. SAA says the new long-haul fleet will be used to start non-stop services to Copenhagen, Japan, Manchester, New York, Milan Malpensa, Munich and Sydney. SAA's 747-400s will be replaced on Atlanta and New York services by the A340-600 by 2008. The short-haul component of the deal comprises 11 A319s which will be taken on lease in 2005 and 15 A320s, to be acquired between 2010 and 2012, either on lease or through a purchase. The A319s will replace SAA's 22 Boeing 737-200s as their leases expire, while the A320s will replace the airline's relatively new fleet of 16 737-800s from 2010. The latter were acquired in 2000 by former chief executive Coleman Andrews at a cost of R4.5 billion ($398 million), but were plagued by implementation prob lems that cost the airline R152 million last year. SAA chief finan cial officer Richard Forson says SAA will honour an outstanding order for five 737-800s. Airbus and Boeing went head to head for the SAA deal, and the air line's president Andre Viljoen says Airbus was chosen because it offered the most cost effective solu tion in terms of operations, main tenance and fuel efficiency. "The new fleet will give us flexibility to deploy it on most of our network and routes...it also gives SAA 10% more seat capacity," he says. South Africa's statutory indus trial participation policy requires that Airbus will have to re-invest 30% of the contract value in South Africa over a period of seven years. Forson says Boeing will be held to its offset commitments relating to the 737-800 deal. FREIGHTERS HAECO has Hawaiian in sights as it seeks bids for 717 cargo conversion Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering (HAECO) is believed to be seeking bids for potential conversion work to turn Boeing 717-200s into "Quick Change" (QC) cargo config uration. HAECO's move is believed to be aimed at an upcoming require ment from Hawaiian Airlines, which is about to merge with fel low Hawaii carrier Aloha Air. Hawaiian will ultimately need a replacement for the six elderly Aloha-operated 737-200QCs flying inter-island night freight routes. TurnWorks, the company lead ing the planned merger, declines to comment on the HAECO plan. But Aloha says that TurnWorks head Greg Brenneman is "looking at what he's going to do with night cargo flights". The 737-200QCs will be main tained in the interim - but Brenneman's plan is ultimately to simplify the fleet around three or four main types. Together with the 767-300ER, the fourth of which enters service with Hawaiian later this month, this rationalisation would include Hawaiian's 13 717s and Aloha-operated 73 7-700s. Boeing denies any knowledge of the QC plan, while HAECO parent Swire Group says: "As a mainte nance, repair and overhaul organi sation, HAECO is looking for installation work. At the moment, they do not have the capability for this kind of development." Equipped with a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-style main-deck cargo door, the proposed QC is expected to offer a payload of between 14,500kg (32,0001b) and 17,250kg. The possible QC study marks a significant potential development for the 717, which appears to be the focus of increased market inter est, particularly in the USA and Asia. Midwest Express is now plan ning to accelerate deliveries of 717s, and is expected to formally firm up its long-anticipated order for 20 firm and 30 options. Line pilots are expected to start training at Long Beach, California, in Oct ober, and first deliveries are set for February next year. Air Canada's regional arm has leased four more Bombar dier CRJ200s from GE Capital Aviation Services, for delivery in the third quarter, in addition to six aircraft leased in January for delivery in the second quarter. All 10 CRJs, which will replace the same number of Fokker F28s, were formerly flown by Midway Airlines. Air Canada's existing CRJs are flown by the mainline carrier. • Royal Jordanian has signed a lease- purchase agreement with Airbus for two second-hand A340-200s for delivery in mid- September. • Sibaviatrans, based in Krasnoyarsk, has ordered 10 llyushin ll-114-100s turboprops - the version equipped with TV-7 engines. The airline will take delivery of the aircraft in 2003-2005. 10 12-18 MARCH 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
