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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 0224.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT REGULATION JUSTIN WASTNAGE / MAASTRICHT Dutch urge joint accident inquiries Meeting with Eurocontrol this week could lead to establishment of combined bureau for Benelux nations and Germany The Netherlands is to recommend the creation of a combined air acci dents investigation authority with Belgium, Germany and Luxem bourg at a meeting with Euro- control this week. The four countries currently cede control of parts of their air traffic management (ATM) to the Eurocontrol upper area control centre in Maastricht, which is to provide each country's air accident investigators with detailed voice, air traffic control and radar analysis data from new systems. Pieter van Vollenhoven, chair- Emirates is the latest A340-500/600 customer to suffer a delivery delay with the arrival of its first ultra- long-range -500 postponed by around four months to September. The slip has been partly respon sible for the Dubai-based airline's decision to delay the launch of US services, which had been scheduled to start in June but will now begin in April next year with Dubai-New York Kennedy flights. The relatively recent decision to introduce non stop services to Sydney in October using A340-500s has also con tributed to the US launch delay, says Emirates. Delivery of Emirates' A340-500s had been due to start in April. Airbus says the delay stems from its decision to "introduce improve ments from the flight-test pro gramme". A340-500 deliveries to launch customer Air Canada will start by May - a slip of at least four man of the Dutch transport safety board, is to suggest replacing Ben elux and German national authori ties in a review of future strategies this week with Victor Aguado, direc tor general of Eurocontrol. Van Vollenhoven says the Euro pean Commission is "planning to turn the spotlight on independent investigations this year" and is set to recommend the merging of smaller countries' agencies in a bid to eliminate repetition of routine investigations and to streamline operations. "Germany and the Benelux months - to allow "fine-tune changes to the cabin equipment", says Airbus. It says it does not expect deliveries to Singapore Airlines, due to be the next -500 operator later this year, will be affected. All three operators of the larger A340-600 model - Cathay Pacific, South African Airways (SAA) and Virgin Atlantic - have experienced delivery delays, partly due to Airbus setting an ambitious timetable between certification and handover. SAA's -600s were built against a now cancelled Swissair order and have undergone lengthy post-pro duction specification changes. Its first aircraft was officially handed over on 24 January, about three months later than originally planned. The 339-seaters will ini tially be operated from Johann esburg to Frankfurt and Hong Kong. In a separate development, early A340-500/600s will require modifi- countries should be the first to launch an integrated investigation bureau," he adds. Van Vollenhoven, who previously headed the military air accidents investigation office at the Netherlands air defence com mand at Zeist, is to present his plan for review by members of the European Transport Safety Council. The council is then expected to pre sent its recommendations for an integrated accident reporting agency to the April meeting of the European Action Group for ATM Safety (AGAS), which was set up last September in the aftermath of the cations to their centre main land ing gear unit after cracks were found during fatigue tests at manu facturer Messier-Dowty's test centre in Gloucester, UK. Airbus says the weakness was discovered last year, and a modifi cation to reinforce the unit is being tested. This will be retrofitted as necessary, it adds. Messier-Dowty says only the first 20 A340- S00/600S will be affected. Cathay Pacific, which received its first A340-600 in November, confirms it has been affected by the problem and expects to have its air craft modified in the next three months. • Iberia has selected the A340-600 over the Boeing 777 to replace its six Boeing 747-200s, and will place an order for nine aircraft and take options on three more. Deliveries will take place between 2004 and 2006. July mid-air collision in Germany (Flight International, 8-14 October 2002). AGAS says a major blockage in managing European ATM safety is the lack of consistent incident reporting across Europe. Aguado says European nations need to "concentrate air traffic data in one place and learn from each other's accident experience so as to not repeat mistakes". Other recommendations likely to be presented to the AGAS meet ing include revised rules on the use of the traffic collision avoidance system and runway incursions. LOW-COST CARRIERS Delta offers travel for a Song Delta Air Lines' new low-fare division, Song, aims to tackle rivals with an ambitious in-flight entertainment offering. Delta intends to hit back at JetBlue and to a lesser degree rival AirTran Airways on routes between the north-east of the USA and Florida. Replacing its earlier low-fares experiment, Delta Express, Song will operate a dedicated fleet of 36 199-seat Boeing 757-200s between eight airports as much as 13h a day to reduce costs on services. Delta plans to provide live television as well as internet access, games and MP3 music players on board. These are seen as a riposte to JetBlue's well-received live in-flight satel lite television, the only such service in the USA. Global Aviation Associates consultant George Hamlin says Song "may well succeed in sending a competitive message, warning JetBlue to expect a more spirited response in Delta territory. On the other hand, it could well provoke JetBlue to attempt something like an Atlanta-New York route, the heart of Delta." South African Airways' A340-600s will initially be operated from Johannesburg to Frankfurt and Hong Kong AIRCRAFT PROGRAMMES A340-500 slip slows Emirates plan www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 4-10 FEBRUARY 2003 9
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