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Aviation History
2004
2004-00 - 0013.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT DEVELOPMENT PAUL DUFFY/ MOSCOW JAA completes initial flight tests of R-R-powered Tu-204 Approval to be finalised when first aircraft flies with English-language flightdeck The European Joint Aviation Authorities has completed initial flight testing of the Rolls-Royce RB211-powered Tupolev Tu-204- 120C and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA - formerly JAA) approval is expected towards the end of the year. The completion of the first aircraft to have an English- language flightdeck is required to finalise certification. JAA pilots from the UK's Civil Aviation Authority were involved in a series of Tu-204-120 test flights to attain CIS ARMAK (Aviation Register of the MAK) AP-25 certifi cation. JAA-requested changes are being incorporated in production Tu-204-120s. Two more test flights are required involving the first English- language cockpit version. The air craft will be the first of five freighters being built by Aviastar for Tu-204 lessor Sirocco Aerospace for lease to Chinese carriers - three for Air China Cargo and two for China Eastern Cargo. The first Chinese aircraft is due to fly in April, and the EASA programme should be completed in late 2004. Chinese certification trials will also trained, and visit Aviastar's Ulyanovsk plant to see the five air craft being built for China. Sirocco recently secured $105 million to fund the completion of the five aircraft. $55 million will be provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, with the balance supplied by a con sortium of Egyptian and French banks. Three Chinese aircraft should be completed this year, and the final two in early 2005. be conducted this year. Liu Shao-yong, vice-minister of the Civil Aviation Administration of China and a qualified Boeing 747 pilot, will begin a visit to Russia on 11 January, during which he will sign an air safety bilateral between the two countries. This will enable each side to accept the other's certi fication standards. He will also fly a Tu-204-120 from Moscow to St Petersburg to inspect the centre where Chinese Tu-204 pilots will be ORDERS Prospects for Tupolev twinjet New sales prospects have emerged for the Tupolev Tu-204 twinjet and its longer-range sister, the Tu-214, in Europe and the Middle East. Iran Air is reported to have selected the Tu-204 over Airbus offerings for its fleet renewal. Khahbibulla Ismailzade, chairman of Iran's parliamentary com mission for development, says Iran will be buying Tu-204s following the failure to come to terms with Airbus for the purchase of up to 60 aircraft. Bulgarian carriers Air Sofia and BH Air have signed a letter of intent for four Tu-214s, which unlike the Aviastar-built Tu-204 is produced by the KAPO plant in Kazan, Tatarstan. Bulgarian charter operator Air Via has also expressed interest in replacing its Tupolev Tu-154Ms with Tu-214s. Tupolev says the carrier can take three Tu-214s by 2006, and potentially up to 10. So far, KAPO has only secured Russian customers for the Tu-214. Omsk Airlines is the latest, having recently finalised terms with KAPO for four Tu-214s that it ordered in August. Deliveries will start in early 2005. KAPO aims to build 10 Tu-214s a year once production stabilises. EXPANSION Phuket poised to seal 747-200 deal Thai carrier Phuket Airlines is clos ing on a deal to acquire three ex- Garuda Indonesia Boeing 747-200s for use on international charter ser vices. The aircraft will join two ex- KLM 747-200 Stretched Upper Deck (SUD) aircraft - one passenger version and one Combi - which were delivered in December. Industry sources say Phuket Airlines expects to start taking delivery of the Garuda 747-200s early this year. They will initially be used during the annual Hadj pil grimage to Mecca, and later for ser vices to Europe. The airline is plan ning to launch passenger services to Europe in the coming months, Phuket Airlines recently took delivery of two ex-KLM 747-200 SUDs with London a top priority. Phuket Air is also examining launching services to Copenhagen in Denmark, Milan in Italy and Sydney, Australia. Phuket Airlines started operating late in 2001 and, apart from the recently acquired 747-200s, its fleet comprises four Boeing 737-200s and four NAMC YS-lls. The carrier has said it also plans to acquire two used Boeing 757s soon. REGULATION EASA to be based in Cologne The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is to set up head quarters in Cologne, Germany as part of a shake-up of European Union establishments. Cologne and Finland's capital Helsinki had both reached the shortlist, but agreement was not expected before the end of 2004. The agency now shares a building with its maritime coun terpart in Brussels. Many within the organisation are thought to have wanted the decision to have been delayed, in the hope that Brussels would be established as the agency's de facto permanent base. "We could have some stability if we stayed at the present location," says EASA executive director Patrick Goudou. EASA's forerun ner, the Joint Aviation Authorities, has its seat in Hoofddorp, Netherlands and most of EASA's staff are expected to be drawn from JAA personnel. No date has been set for a move from Brussels to Cologne. Claude Probst, a French national, has been recruited as the agency's rulemaking direc tor. He assumed his new role on 1 January. Probst is a trained engineer and pilot, and joins EASA from the European Commission, where he has assisted in developing EC activ ity in air traffic management, aviation safety and security. Before this he managed Lyons airport and headed the Economic and International Department of French civil avia tion administration DGAC. Norbert Lohl joined EASA on 1 January as certification direc tor. He formerly worked at German regulator LBA as head of its commercial operators department and previously held other roles there. Head of EASA's administra tion from 1 February will be Markku Junkkari, who now works for the European Training Foundation, a European Union agency in Turin, Italy. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 6-12 JANUARY 2004 11
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