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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 0768.PDF
HEADLINES TECHNOLOGY GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES USA plans to open airspace to UAVs NASA-led team to study four-phase implementation A NASA-led team has begun a pro gramme designed to enable remotely or autonomously oper ated unmanned air vehicles to fly routinely within the US national airspace system, with the initial goal of opening up airspace above 40,000ft (12,200m) to high-alti tude, long-endurance (HALE) air craft by the end of fiscal year 2006. The start of the Access 5 effort has been put off for around a year by legal and bureaucratic delays, but aims to eventually open up airspace on a routine basis to "remotely operated aircraft" (ROA) operating from designated airports, including for emergency landings. Officially named the HALE ROA project, the Access 5 team encompasses NASA, the US Department of Defense and Federal Aviation Administration, as well as UNITE, the UAV National Industry Team that comprises Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, AeroVironment, Gen eral Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Aurora Flight Sciences. Initially funded to fiscal year 2008 to the tune of $103 million, the first-year budget of around $8.4 million is being used primarily for planning and validating require ments for UAVs flying above 40,000ft and to support NASA observations of the General Atomics-built Altair, which is being used by the US Coast Guard for a fisheries patrol and surveillance exercise in Alaska over the mid-year period. The programme is expected to eventually use a wide variety of UAVs from the Perseus B and AeroVironment-built Pathfinder- Plus to the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk and piloted surrogate HALE UAV demonstrators such as the Scaled Composites-built Proteus. The initial 40,000ft altitude and above target marks the first of four planned stages. The second stage, provisionally targeted for FY08, is aimed at routine operations of HALE UAVs above 18,000ft with restrictions. The third phase is expected to clear UAVs for routine access to ROA-designated airports with emergency landings in restricted areas, while the fourth will clear most operating restrictions, allowing operators to emulate the ordinary "file and fly" rules of con ventional, piloted aircraft. Finalisation of all four phases requires $360 million. Neither this, nor the current $103 million fund ing, include additional financial support from the UNITE team, which for the first phase will be almost $30 million, says NASA. AIR TRANSPORT MARIA WAGLAND/LONDON Air France A380s pushed back Air France is delaying taking delivery of its first Airbus A380 by five months to April 2007, but insists that the decision was made some time ago. The SkyTeam member originally planned to take the first of its 10 ordered aircraft at the end of 2006. It confirms that it has now delayed this first deliv ery by five months, saying one reason for the decision is that its Paris Charles de Gaulle base will not be ready for the aircraft by 2006. Charles de Gaulle operator Aeroports de Paris (ADP) is spending €100 million ($118 million) preparing for the A380. Air France says: "We placed the order in June 2001 at [the Paris air show] Le Bourget. We announced that the first scheduled delivery would be in November 2006. We took the decision with Airbus 18 months ago to delay delivery by five months." Earlier this month Virgin Atlantic Airways said it was delaying delivery of its six-A380 order by 18 months with deliveries starting at the end of 2007 instead of mid-2006. It blamed concerns over the readiness of Los Angeles International airport, as well as delays from cabin-equipment suppliers. Briefing Spanish start-up INVESTMENT,Shareholders of proposed Spanish start-up Vueling Airlines have clarified the breakdown of their investment in the new airline, which plans to launch services on 1 July. European private equity group Apax Partners is the largest shareholder with a 39% stake, while a subsidiary of Spanish communications firm Grupo Planeta, Inversiones Heroisfeiro, has 30%. Vueling's management team has 23%, and the ^refnaining 7% is owned by a group of private investors, who include David Barger, president of US low-fare carrier JetBlue Airways. The airline plans to launch flights on 1 July from Barcelona and Valencia to Brussels, Paris, Ibiza and Palma de Mallorca using two 180-seat Airbus A320s. First flight for Wedgetail DEFENCE The first of Australia's six Boeing 737 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft made a 2h debut flight from the US company's Seattle plant on 20 May. The modified aircraft will undergo flight tests until mid-December. The Royal Australian Air Force will receive its first two aircraft in 2006, with the remaining four to be accepted by 2008. Song is sweet to nice passengers MARKETING Song, Delta Air Lines' low-cost arm, plans to build customer loyalty by giving free tickets to particularly well-behaved passengers. Chief executive John Selvaggio says that cabin crew will each be given four tickets to give away during June. The tickets will go to passengers who are unusually helpful to fellow-travellers or especially well-tempered during delays. Russian air travel booms TRAFFIC Russian passenger traffic has risen dramatically, climbing 23.3% higher in the first quarter of 2004 than a year earlier. Fast-growing carriers included Transaero, up 185%, and KrasAir, up 58.5%. Enkor, Sibir Airlines, Ural Airlines and Vladivostok Air also showed high growth. The only major carriers to report falling traffic were Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise, down 10%, and cargo carrier Volga-Dnepr, down almost 20%. Australian regionals call for state aid FINANCE Australia's regional airlines have asked the government for a A$30 million ($20.7 million) rescue package. The Australian regional aviation industry is in crisis and without immediate assistance some carriers will disappear, says the Regional Aviation Association of Australia (RAAA). The association is calling for the A$30 million over three years in the form of a A$15 million seat or route rebate to regional operators with aircraft of 19 seats or fewer and a A$15 million reduction in taxes and charges. Air Canada brings unions on side BANKRUPTCY Air Canada has reached agreement on labour conces sions with the last of its employee union groups, the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), representing 5,000 customer sales and service staff and crew schedulers, in a major boost for the airline in its efforts to emerge from bank ruptcy protection. The carrier says that the tentative agreement "meets the target set for CAW's share of C$200 million [$146 million] in cost savings" required by investors Deutsche Bank and GE Capital Aviation Services. Alitalia sells non-core assets DIVESTMENT Alitalia's board has approved a letter of intent signed with state engineering company Fintecna under which the firm has agreed to buy the airline's non-core businesses. Details of the agreement have not been released and Fintecna has not stated whether it would acquire the airline's maintenance and ground services business. Alitalia says that Fintecna will negotiate a contract with the carrier to acquire - along with other private investors or public bodies - a "majority shareholding" in the new Alitalia com pany which will emerge from the restructuring process set out in the airline's 2004-8 business plan. www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 25-31 MAY 2004 5
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