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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 0773.PDF
HEADLINES AIR TRANSPORT MICHAEL PHELAN & MARK PILLING / LONDON TUl poised to finalise deal to renew member fleets European tour group's choice of aircraft likely to be one of year's largest orders European tour operator group TUl is finalising what could turn out to be one of the year's largest orders as it looks to rationalise and update the varied fleets of its seven constituent airlines. The TUl group comprises seven European leisure airlines with a total fleet of 96 aircraft - 75 nar- rowbodies and 21 widebodies - the majority of which are Boeings. The biggest members of the group are Hapag Lloyd of Germany and the UK's Britannia Airways, with the other partners being low-fare arm Hapag-Lloyd Express, Britannia Airways Sweden, France's Corsair, Neos of Italy and Poland's White Eagle Aviation. The group is thought to have a requirement for up to 60 large nar- rowbodies and a significant num ber of widebodies, according to a senior industry source. The com pletion of the deal, which sources say could be finalised during 2003, will mark the culmination of a long-running fleet simplification evaluation by TUl (Flight International, 4-10 June 2002). According to industry sources, a German/UK team led by TUl Airline Management (TUl AM) chairman and Britannia managing director Kevin Hatton is defining the group's needs. The narrowbody requirement is focused on the Airbus A321 and Boeing 737-900X and it is understood that Brit annia's fleet - which includes sev eral older 757s - has the greatest replacement need. The Airbus A330 and Boeing 767-400ER are being evaluated for the widebody requirement, which would cover the eventual replace ment of Britannia's 767s, Corsair's Boeing 747 Classics and Hapag- Lloyd's Airbus A310s. Britannia Airways confirms that TUl AM "is in negotiations with regards to looking at replacement aircraft for its short-haul and long- haul fleets across the airlines in our group", but declines to comment on individual aircraft types under evaluation. Meanwhile, rival leisure firm Thomas Cook Group, which has just relaunched under the unified brand, is undertaking a similar fleet-wide evaluation, but is at an earlier stage of its planning. The group comprises Belgian, German (formerly Condor) and UK (for merly JMC Airlines) divisions and Turkey's Sun Express Airlines, oper ating a total of 86 aircraft. "We've made internal studies to understand our fleet requirements, and have been talking to Airbus and Boeing," says Thomas Cook Group executive vice-president airline operations Dr Rudolf Tewes. "We are in no hurry," he says, adding that the "core" of the group's initial requirements would be to replace the fleet of 25 Boeing 757-200s. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MAX KINGSLEY-JONES GENERAL AVIATION GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC Insurance forces Saratoga change The new fixed gear will reduce insurance premiums New Piper Aircraft has introduced fixed-gear versions of its Saratoga high-performance piston single, in response to a hike in insurance pre miums. The normally aspirated Piper 6X first flew on 24 February and was unveiled at last week's Sun 'n' Fun show in Lakeland, Florida. Deliveries of the six-seat Piper 6X and turbocharged 6XT will begin in August. Powered by a 225kW (300hp) Lycoming IO-540, the 6X sells for $336,000 and has a 153kt (285km/h) maximum speed and 1,540km (830nm) range. The $356,000, TIO-540-powered 6XT is capable of 165kt and 1,570km. Piper says the 6X has a 655kg (1,4401b) useful load and 375kg payload with full fuel. New Piper says its European deal ers are interested in the turbo- charged 6XT, which achieves 225kW at a lower, 2,500RPM pro peller speed, and complies with Europe's stringent noise regulations. Also at Sun 'n' Fun, Mooney Airplane introduced improved DX models of its Ovation 2 and turbo- charged Bravo piston singles. Ref inements include Garmin-supplied weather datalink and Mode S trans ponder and three-year warranty. Lancair debuted a fixed-gear version of its Legacy high-performance kit- plane, with a glassfibre airframe and 150kW Lycoming IO-360 to reduce cost, now starting at $33,000. BUSINESS SARS chokes Asian carriers Airlines throughout Asia have been forced to slash capacity as passengers defer travel to regions affected by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, which threatens to overshadow the war in Iraq. The region's carriers had been expected to enjoy some degree of insulation from the fall-off in demand for international travel due to the war and global eco nomic downturn thanks to cont inuing growth in intra-Asian traf fic. However, the SARS epidemic gripping parts of China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam has devastated demand on many of the continent's busiest routes, prompting some analysts to liken the situation to an airline industry "perfect storm". Despite last week's unprece dented World Health Organ ization (WHO) warning to trav ellers to postpone trips to Hong Kong and parts of China, Cathay Pacific Airways had by 4 April removed only 4% of its system- wide capacity. Its Hong Kong- based rival Dragonair, which pre dominantly serves mainland China and secondary destina tions in Asia, has been harder hit and said on 2 April it was elimi nating 25% of its capacity in response to the SARS crisis. Singapore Airlines has cut weekly flights by 125, represent ing a capacity reduction of 13.6% effective until at least the end of May, and Australian flag carrier Qantas is scaling back interna tional flights by 20%. The WHO has called on air ports to screen passengers departing from Beijing, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Toronto and China's Guangdong and Shanxi provinces. "The ramifications of this are going to go right the way through the year," says Association of Asia Pacific Airlines director-gen eral Richard Stirland. European carriers are also warning they are suffering from the repercussions of SARS, although the war in Iraq is having a proportionally greater impact on them. 6 8-14 APRIL 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.fliqhtinternational.com
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