FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
2002
2002 - 1133.PDF
BUSINESS & GENERAL AVIATION FORECAST GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC US fractional market set to boom Report predicts huge expansion in shared ownership sector by end of 2006 as operators exploit untapped potential The US fractional-ownership mar ket will grow to over 1,600 aircraft and more than 13,500 share own ers by the end of 2006, forecasts Aviation Research Group/US (ARG/ US). The business aviation consul tancy believes only a small portion of the fractional market has so far been developed. The company says that, at the end of last year, US fractional schemes operated around 640 air craft on behalf of approximately 4,500 owners - all but a handful of them with the major providers: Bombardier Flexjet, Executive Jet's Netjets and the now-merged Flight Options and Raytheon Travel Air. This represents a quarter more air craft than last year, and a third more owners. Despite the demise of United Air lines' subsidiary Avolar, ARG/US ex pects US fractional providers to add around 170 aircraft this year. Del iveries are projected to reach 220- plus aircraft a year by 2006 as new fractional schemes enter the market. ARG/US has revised its predic tions upwards from its last five-year Operator NetJets Bombardier Flexjet Travel Air Flight Options Source: ARG/US Market share 49% 18% 17% 16% Fleet growth 37% 5% 27% 19% Owner growth 32% 17% 30% 44% forecast, released in 2000, based on the stronger than expected perfor mance of fractional providers dur ing the current economic down turn. The company expects a "solid rebound" in the market as the economy improves later in the year. Netjets remains market leader with 49% of the fractionally sold fleet. Flexjet, Travel Air and Flight Options follow in order of market share. Netjets also had the highest annual fleet growth rate, at 37%, followed by Travel Air at 27%. Light jets, such as the Bombar dier Learjet 45, Cessna Citation Ultra and Raytheon Beechjet 400A, lead the fractional market, making up 34% of the fleet, and ARG/US forecasts deliveries of another 325 aircraft over the next five years. Mid-size jets, led by the Citation Excel and Raytheon Hawker 800XP, account for 31% of the fleet with another 295 forecast to be delivered by 2006. The emerging super mid-size sector, currently dominated by the Citation X, is expected to absorb 115 aircraft over the next five years, as the Bombardier Continental and Hawker Horizon enter the frac tional market. The large-jet market, led by the Dassault Falcon 2000, is forecast to account for an addi tional 165 deliveries. ARG/US says the economic downturn has had a negative effect on the long-range, large-cabin seg ment of the fractional market, rep resented by the Boeing Business Jet, Bombardier Global Express and Gulfstream V. Deliveries of only 22 such aircraft over five years are forecast. In addition, ARG/US pro jects deliveries of 40 turboprop air craft to fractional providers over the next five years. SAFETY Pull-force parachute problem investigated in SR20 crash A preliminary accident report from the US National Transportation Saf ety Board into a Cirrus SR20 light aircraft crash in Lexington, Ken tucky, last month points to the operator's failure to implement a service bulletin for deployment pro blems with the aircraft's parachute. The Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) is designed to glide the aircraft to safety, following an engine failure. The report states that the owner-pilot pulled the CAPS activation handle repeatedly, but the cable did not extend and "nothing seemed to happen". Despite maintaining an airspeed of around 130kt (240km/h), the pilot was able to land the aircraft in a field 3nm (5km) from Lexington airport. The CAPS canopy deployed when the aircraft hit a tree and both passengers escaped un harmed. Initial examination of the wreckage showed the system functioning normally, but the pull- forces to activate the CAPS para chute varied significantly during post-accident testing. Earlier this year, Cirrus discov ered an unrelated cable problem with the CAPS which resulted in a US Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness directive being issued on 25 February. While investigat ing that problem Cirrus found an issue with pull-forces required for the CAPS, and the manufacturer released a service bulletin at .the end of February. That fix reduced the pull-force needed to activate the system from 27-55kg (60-1201b) to a max imum of 25kg. This bulletin, considered "mandatory" by Cirrus, was not complied with by the owner-pilot involved in the SR20 crash. Meanwhile, SR20s have been simultaneously delivered to cus tomers in Australia and Canada, following certification in both countries. The Transport Canada type certificate included modifica tions to the user manual and cock pit placards, which have also been included for US deliveries. Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority required modifications to the aircraft's fuel-tank earthing prior to awarding type certification. Alan Klapmeier, president and chief exec utive of Cirrus Design says: "These deliveries are just the beginning of our efforts to product aircraft to national specifications worldwide." JAA certification, which stalled after the company suffered finan cial difficulties last year, has resumed, the company says. Cirrus hopes to secure European certification before the end of the year, despite Europe requiring further testing of spin and stall characteristics. ACJ VIP PURCHASE The Indian air force is in talks with Airbus over the purchase of three Airbus Corporate Jetliners for VIP transport, says Kiran Rao, Airbus vice-president of sales for India and Africa. The Boeing 737s currently used in the role are due for replacement. PROTOTYPE TESTS Beriev has started ground tests on the second prototype Be-200 amphibious aircraft. It says the first prototype, exhibited at last week's FIDAE air show in Chile, could be ready for flight tests in the second quarter of next year. FLYING COLOURS Honeywell's AS900 turbofan has passed a US Federal Aviation Administration bird ingestion test en route to certification, due for this quarter. After ingesting two 0.68kg (1.51b) birds, the engine delivered more than 75%-rated thrust and responded to power changes from flight idle to full required thrust, Honeywell says. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 9-15 APRIL 2002 25
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
