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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 1892.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT OPERATIONS HERMAN DE WULF/ BRUSSELS Talks over DHL's Brussels expansion hit impasse Federal and regional governments want carrier to replace MD-11s with quieter aircraft Negotiations between the Belgian federal government and DHL over the expansion of the express pack age carrier's European hub at Brussels International airport were in deadlock last week, as DHL's board met to study alternatives. Talks with the government broke down after it demanded a DHL pledge to replace Boeing MD- 11 Freighters, which it operates on long-haul services, with quieter air craft by 2010. The carrier announced plans to expand its European operations last year - either at Brussels or a new hub - and asked the govern ment to increase the airport's night movement cap from 25,000 to 34,000 a year, and sought 60Ha (150 acres) of land for expansion. Alternative airports being exam ined are Leipzig in Germany and Vatry in France. After a lengthy silence, Belgium's federal government began negotiat ing with DHL last month, offering a night cap compromise of 28,000 movements. This set off a political fight between the federal govern ment and the regional govern ments of Flanders and the Brussels capital areas, the latter opposing any increase beyond 25,000 and blocking the government decision. The federal government was aim ing to use a loophole to make up the 3,000-movement deficit to 28,000, but in the meantime it emerged that DHL is planning to increase the number of transat lantic flights to its hub that are operated by MD-lls, which have been declared too noisy for night operations by the regional Flemish and federal governments. The authorities have demanded that the carrier promise to replace the MD- lls with "quieter aircraft" by 2010. Although the MD-11 complies with the previously enforced QC12 limit, the government has decided to lower noise levels to QC8 by 2010 - a standard that no current long-haul freighter can meet. It would require DHL to acquire a freighter version of a new-genera tion long-haul widebody such as the Boeing 777. This appears unlikely, with DHL saying its expansion plans have been drawn up around the MD-11. The DHL board met on 1 October to discuss its hub expan sion strategy, but was not expected to make a final decision that day. INCIDENT Brand-new A330 damaged after towbar breaks A brand-new Qantas Airbus A330-300 sustained damage to its left engine cowling and nosewheel during a ground incident at Melbourne airport. The aircraft, VH-QPF, which had only just been delivered from Airbus and was about to fly its first revenue service, suffered the damage while it was being towed from the hangar to the terminal, says the airline. The towbar broke and the aircraft ran into the tug, resulting in damage to the engine intake cowl and nose- wheel. The damage was repaired overnight, with the left engine cowling and nosewheel tyre replaced, says Qantas, and the aircraft entered international service soon afterwards. ENGINES JUSTIN WASTNAGE / VIENNA GE nears Bombardier CRJ deal GE Aircraft Engines is close to sign ing a deal with Bombardier to devel op a common engine programme for the CRJ700 and CRJ900. The engine manufacturer says it will supply new-build CRJ 700s with derated CF34-8C5s in place of the current CF34-8Cs. It is also expected to develop an upgrade pack for existing customers. Ronald Hutter, GE general man ager for small single-aisle market ing, says: "We have reached an agreement in principle with Bombardier and we are still work ing out the commercial details, but we hope to have an agreement this month." Hutter says GE identified compo nent durability, rather than reliabil ity, as an issue on the -8C1, and decided on an entire engine pack rather than to upgrade individual components. Low-pressure com pressor and high-pressure stages were both identified as areas of con cern, says Hutter. In addition, oper ators of both CRJ types, notably Air Canada, demanded more engine overhaul commonality. A common engine should result in a 10-15% reduction in mainte nance costs, with the -8C5 requir ing less frequent overhaul, he says. The engine will be derated from 14,3001b thrust (64kN) to 13,5001b. NAVIGATION SYSTEMS Canada and Mexico to join WAAS network Reference stations for the USA's wide-area augmentation system (WAAS) are to be installed in Canada and Mexico next year under an agreement by the three countries' civil aviation authori ties under the North American Aviation Trilateral (NAAT). Adding WAAS reference sta tions at four sites in Canada and five in Mexico will allow the space-based GPS augmenta tion system to be used for cross-border navigation, and will improve availability of the WAAS signal in Alaska, says the US Federal Aviation Administration. Extended WAAS coverage will improve performance for GPS-based approaches in Canada by late 2005, says air traffic services provider NavCanada. The FAA, Transport Canada and the Mexican DGAC have also agreed to implement reduced vertical separation min ima (RVSM) standards between 29,000ft (8,800m) and 41,000ft to increase capacity throughout North American airspace on 20 January next year- the deadline for introduction of US domestic RVSM. Talks on extending RVSM to Caribbean and South American airspace continue. The NAAT members have also agreed to develop a har monised implementation plan for required navigation perfor mance/area navigation (RNP/R-NAV) in North America. Whereas WAAS improves the accuracy and availability of GPS and is favoured by general avia tion, RNP/R-NAV is backed by the airlines and allows pilots of aircraft with multi-sensor naviga tion systems to select more direct routes. • Eurocontrol and the FAA have signed a memorandum of co-operation on air traffic man agement initiatives. Planned research covers wake vortices, safety management, separation concepts and communications. www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 5-11 OCTOBER 2004 9
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