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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 1427.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT EXPANSION Air Nostrum eyes larger aircraft Air Nostrum is in talks with fran chise partner Iberia on the potential need for larger aircraft. The talks follow the signing of a contract by the Spanish regional with Bombardier for 20 firm and 20 option 50-seat CRJ200s that gives the airline flexibility to switch deliveries to the 70-seat CRJ700, 86-seat CRJ900 or even the 74/78-seat Dash 8 Q400 turboprop. The Valencia-based regional will take delivery of the last of 31 CRJ200s from an earlier order in January next year. It also oper ates 19 Q300 50-seat turboprops. The additional 20 firmly ordered CRJs will be deliv ered between 2005 and 2007. Speaking at the order announce ment in London, Bombardier Regional Aircraft president Steve Ridolfi said Air Nostrum can con vert its 50-seat CRJ orders and options to another aircraft type with 15-18 months notice. General manager Miguel Falcon says Air Nostrum expects to continue growing at its current rate of six aircraft a year. "There is still room to grow in the Spanish market," he says. Six new regional airports will open in Spain between 2005 and 2008. In addition, the carrier plans to use additional slots that will become available between 2005 and 2007 at Barcelona and Madrid airports, where it is already the second largest slot- holder after Iberia. PRODUCTION MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / LONDON Regional manufacturers suffer flat start to 2004 Regional jet orders fall and deliveries level off, although turboprop sales rise The regional manufacturers have experienced a flat start to 2004, with deliveries during the first six months on a par with the same period last year. Overall, net orders are down, although turboprop builders have seen their share improve. Bombardier was again the most prolific regional jet producer, deliv ering 94 aircraft. In the same period last year it delivered 115 aircraft. AvCraft Dornier 328Jet Bombardier CRJ 100/200 CRJ440 CRJ700-701 CRJ700-705 CRJ900 Total Embraer ERJ-135 ERJ-140 ERJ-145 170 Deliveries 3 43 17 22 0 12 94 0 0 39 23 190 195 Total Jet total 0 62 159 Net orders 9 43 0 26 -25 20 64 0 0 29 28 0 0 57 130 Backlog* 7 129 17 75 0 23 244 17 20 134 125 110 15 421 672 Embraer's shipments were boos ted by introduction of the 170 model - deliveries of which began in the first quarter - and its half-year total increased by almost one-third to 62 aircraft compared with the 2003 period. Two of the 39 ERJ-145s delivered in the second quarter of this year were assembled by Harbin Embraer in China. Total regional jet deliveries (159) were similar to the first-half 2003 tally of 162 aircraft. Regional jet net orders (adjusted for cancellations) were down by one-fifth (or 38 units) com pared with first-half 2003, to 130 aircraft, and the backlog has declined since end-2003 by 10% to around 670 aircraft. Although Embraer holds the larger share of the backlog, Bombardier secured slightly more new orders than its rival in the first half of the year. Meanwhile, AvCraft took nine new orders for the Dornier 328Jet and delivered three airliner models. It was a better half for the turbo prop manufacturers, which saw the net order intake almost triple from eight in the first half of 2003 to 21 aircraft - although last year's net intake was affected by cancellations. ATR and Bombardier were neck- and-neck in the first half, taking 11 and 10 net orders, respectively. Output has increased slightly, with 17 aircraft delivered, compared with 15 in the first half of 2003. Source: Flight /nternaf/ona//Manufacturers "At 30 June 2004. Data excludes orders for AvCraft Envoy, Bombardier Challenger 800 and Embraer Legacy business jet variants, and military/air ambulance versions Deliveries ATR ATR 42 ATR 72 Total Bombardier Dash 8 Q100/200 Dash 8 Q300 Dash 8 Q400 Total 3 4 7 1 5 4 10 Net Orders 1 10 11 1 -2 11 10 Turboprop total 17 21 Jet/turboprop total 176 151 Source: Flight /n(ema(iona//manufacturers "At 30 June 2004 Backlog* 6 13 19 1 3 30 34 53 725 OPEN SKIES NICHOLAS IONIDES / SINGAPORE USA agrees Indonesian pact and China accord US transportation secretary Norman Mineta rounded off a visit to Asia last week by signing an Open Skies air services agreement with Indonesia and a new accord with China. The agreement with China was signed in Beijing on 24 July by Mineta and Civil Aviation Administration of China minister Yang Yuanyuan. It more than dou bles the number of airlines that are allowed to fly between the two countries and allows for a near five fold increase in flight frequencies. The agreement with Indonesia was signed two days later on the resort island of Bali ahead of the opening of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum transportation ministers' meeting. It removes all restrictions on flights between and beyond their territories. Chinese and US negotiators ini tialled their agreement in Washington DC in June and the US side has already given Northwest Airlines and United Airlines some of the new rights. The new rights will be phased in over a six-year period, eventually allowing 195 additional weekly flights for airlines from each coun try, including 111 by all-cargo carri ers and 84 by passenger carriers. It also allows the number of airlines designated from each side to increase from four to nine. Mineta says the agreement with Indonesia replaces an accord dat ing from the 1960s "that provided only limited commercial opportu nities" to airlines from each side. a 3-9 AUGUST 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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