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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1150.PDF
MARKETPLACE • Air France has agreed a lease deal with International Lease Finance (ILFC) for one Boeing 747-400 and two Boeing 777-300ERs. The General Electric CF6-powered 747-400 will be delivered in March next year on a 10-year lease, and the two 777s will arrive in September 2004 and March 2005. • Air Lithuania has leased a 13-year-old, ex-Air Iceland ATR 42-300 from GPA ATR, in a deal arranged by the aircraft's manager, Magellan Air. The Kaunas, Lithuania-based airline has used the aircraft to replace its last Yakovlev Yak-40, giving it an all-ATR fleet operat ing to destinations in Denmark, Germany and Sweden. • US joint venture cargo specialist Precision Conversions has been contracted by Ansett Worldwide to convert two Boeing 757-200s from passen ger to freighter configuration. Work will start in 2004. The deal also includes options for Ansett Worldwide to convert further air craft. • Greek carrier Aegean Airlines has received an ex- Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-400 on long term lease from Ansett Worldwide. • Hawaiian Airlines, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has restructured its leases for seven Boeing 767-300ERs with lessor Ansett Worldwide. The aircraft will be retained and assume the new lease terms as part of its plan for reorganisation. Earlier this month Hawaiian renegoti ated leases on four 767-300ERs with ILFC. • Dubai Air Wing has agreed to buy a Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered Boeing 747^00 from United Airlines, which is in bankruptcy protection, for $55 million. AIR TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT DEVELOPMENT VLADIMIR KARNOZOV / MOSCOW Sukhoi secures leasing package to boost Su-80 Thirty-seat twin turboprop's rugged design aimed for use in harsh environments Sukhoi is seeking to boost the for tunes of its Su-80 regional turbo prop through a leasing package involving Russian lessor Finance- Leasing (FLK). Powered by the General Electric CT7-9B, the Su-80 - previously des ignated S-80 - is a 30-seat twin tur boprop configured with a high wing, twin-boom tail, and large loading ramp in the rear fuselage. Its rugged design enables it to oper ate in harsh environments. The FLK leasing package is aimed at Siberian and Russian far east carriers, and should be ready by year-end. It will be based on a sticker price of $6 million for the standard quick-change version. Su-80 production is undertaken by Sukhoi's KnAAPO factory in Komsomolsk-na-Amure in eastern Siberia. Since the prototype flew in September 2001, it has amassed 50h in 36 sorties to assess aerody namics, handling qualities, avion ics and systems. Sukhoi will submit the Su-80 for Russian AP-25 certifi cation early next year, although the target certification date has slipped from 2004 to the first quar ter of 2005. Three Su-80s will be involved in the flight-test programme, after which they will enter service with KnAAPO's own airline. The second prototype, which is in final assem bly, will be instrumented for certifi cation tests, and is due to start flight- testing late this year. This aircraft is built to production standard with a fuselage 1.4m (4ft 6in) longer than the first prototype, and is intended for high-angle-of-attack trials. The third Su-80, which will undertake climatic tests, will be configured as a commercial Su- 80GP with a quick-change passen ger/cargo cabin seating 30 passen gers and increased fuel capacity to give it a range of 1,800km (970nm) with full passenger load. It will be equipped with a Sukhoi/Elektro- avtomatika cockpit featuring five 150 x 200mm (6 x 8in) liquid-crys tal displays. Russia's regional airliner market is forecast at 350-500 aircraft through to 2015, and Sukhoi aims to capture up to 40% of it with the Su-80. Military versions are also proposed, for which a market of 800 units is estimated. Twenty Russian airlines - mostly small Siberian carriers - have expressed interest in 64 Su-80s. The administration of Russia's far east, where KnAAPO is based, has promised budgetary donations to airlines that operate the Su-80 on routes linking major airports with key destinations in the region. MAINTENANCE EMMA KELLY / PERTH Beech 1900 wing repairs are a first Hawker Pacific expects to complete in August what it believes is the first replacement of sections of the main wing-rib assemblies on a Raytheon Beech 1900D. The nine-year-old aircraft (UE- 117), owned by National Airways of South Africa and formerly oper ated by Australia's Impulse Airlines, suffered wing corrosion wing, believed to have been caused by fire extinguishant or chemical residue after an engine fire, says Duncan Watson, manager of Hawker Pacific's Sydney Bankstown maintenance base. Although wings have been removed from Beech 1900s before, Hawker Pacific says the scope of the work it is conducting is unique, including replacing the wing skins and ribs. About 4,000 man-hours have already been spent on the air craft, which will also undergo major maintenance checks. Hawker Pacific hopes the experi ence will result in similar work on other Beech 1900s. A service bul letin last year advised the addition of drainage holes in the wing. EXPANSION Titan strengthens capacity with lease of 757-200 from GECAS Titan Airways has added an ex-Monarch Boeing 757-200 on lease from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), which will be operated along side its fleet of two ATR 42-300 turboprops, a Boeing 737-300 and three BAe 146-200QCs. The London Stansted-based wet-lease and business charter opera tor is flying the twinjet on services from its base in a 207-seat layout. The aircraft may be configured in a more luxurious 100-seat, four- abreast all-business class configuration for VIP charters. 16 20-26 MAY 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.fliqhtinternational.com
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