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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 0840.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENT JUSTIN WASTNAGE / FRANKFURT & PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC Boeing in bid to tempt cargo carriers with 777 freighter Manufacturer presents derivative to airlines but is yet to firmly commit to project Boeing is again making presenta tions to airlines about a possible freighter development of the 777 twin jet, with Lufthansa Cargo (LCAG) acknowledging interest. EVA Airways of Taiwan is believed to be eyeing a freighter, but its focus is on the yet-to-fly ultra- long-haul 777-200LR variant. The US manufacturer has looked several times since the aircraft's entry into service in 1995 at produc ing pure cargo as well as "Combi" versions of the 777, but has held back, saying it would wait until the passenger aircraft had achieved 15 years of service. There has been a reluctance to commit to a freighter while sales of the passenger aircraft remain strong, and because of con cern over any knock-on impact on the 747-400 line, which today is largely sustained by freighter sales. EVA confirms it attended a recent Boeing seminar at which a 777F pre sentation was made, but says it is "a brand new idea and it's only being studied at the moment. We're not making any commitments." Indus try sources say EVA is "enthusiastic" about a freighter version of the 777- 200LR. It already has three passen ger versions on order. LCAG has called on Boeing to market a new-build freighter vari ant of the 777 by 2008 to provide an alternative to the proposed Airbus A380F. The German carrier says a 777 would be a preferred option to replace its fleet of Boeing MD-11 Freighters and it would like the 777 widebody to be a contender when it issues its requirements in around 2008. Airbus has offered LCAG the freighter version of its A380, but the carrier has few routes that justify the aircraft's 150t load capacity. Jean- Peter Jansen, LCAG chairman, says the carrier would prefer to have the option of a 105t-class freighter to replace the MD-11. "Boeing needs to do something to rival the A380. This is either a stretch version of the 747-400F or a 777F," he adds. "The 777F has raised a lot of interest in the industry, mainly because of its excellent performance data," says Jansen. Boeing says: "We are doing some customer exploration on this, but we still do not have a definitive timescale on this study. The recogni tion of the popularity of the MD-11 as a freighter gives us a reason to keep looking at this." ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY NICH OLAS IONIDES AND GUY NORRIS AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT Rome detection system trials start Eurocontrol is running a pre-opera- tional trial of the medium-term con flict detection (MTCD) system for air traffic controllers at the Rome area control centre. An advance on the short-term conflict alert system that gives up to 2min warning of conflict, the MTCD enables con trollers to look up to 15min ahead. The Rome trials, conducted with Italian air traffic services provider ENAV in the Milan East and Milan West sectors above flight level 295 (29,500ft/9,000m), are aimed at evaluating controller roles and working methods and identifying system improvements, says Euro- control. This is an advance of the first set of MTCD trials at Malmo, Sweden, says project manager Chris Brain. In Malmo the trial controllers shadowed the operational con trollers, but in Rome the trial staff are operating for some of the time with the operational controllers on the adjacent workstation backing them up. The MTCD tool receives pro cessed flight plan and track data from the Rome centre, including the latest clearances entered by the ENAV controllers into their elec tronic flight progress strip system. MAINTENANCE IAI launches US overhaul expansion Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) is expanding its civil aircraft mainte nance business in the USA and will soon open a major facility at the Griffiss business park in Rome, New York, which was for merly a US Air Force base. The facility will be opened at year-end. The company's Com modore Aviation facility at Miami International Airport will close when the new centre opens. lAI's US business will be renamed Empire Air Center and will enable the company to dou ble its overhaul sales in the country. David Arzi, general man ager of lAI's Bedek division, says sales at Commodore Aviation in 2002 totalled $35 million. "The new facility will enable us to dou ble that number," says Arzi. Empire Air Center has signed a 20-year lease contract with the local authorities. It includes 31,000m2 (335,000ft2) of hangar and office space, plus 8Ha (20 acres) of ramp area. The IAI sub sidiary has options to lease an extra 20,900m2 of hangar space. Arzi says the facility will initially employ around 200. Services will include heavy maintenance and interior refurbishment. 'We intend to become a major maintenance, repair and over haul facility on the East Coast and offer our services to airlines and air forces," says Arzi. Commodore maintains Mexican air force Lockheed Martin C- 130s and Spanish air force Boeing 707s. DELIVERY Vietnam gets first 777 Vietnam Airlines took delivery of its first Boeing 777-200ER last week at Paine Field, Washington. The twinjet is the first of two General Electric GE90-94B-pow- ered variants the airline is leasing from International Lease Finance. The second is due to be delivered by June. www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 22-28 APRIL 2003 13
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