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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 2307.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT AGEING AIRCRAFT BAe 146 aims for longer life A technical focus group has been set up to help with extend ing the operational life of the BAe 146 family. Organised by BAE Systems Regional Aircraft and 146 opera tors, the group first met last month in Prestwick, Scotland. Co-chaired by John Stevens, BAE Regional Aircraft's head of customer technical support and Flybe Aviation Services' head of technical services, Stefan Kontorravdis, the group will meet twice a year and discuss best practice, ownership cost reduc tion and technical issues. The four-engined jet has been in service for 21 years and a life- extension programme has recently been implemented to extend the design life from 55,000 cycles to 80,000 cycles. The first modified aircraft is back in service with Air Wisconsin. EXPANSION ALAN GEORGE / LONDON Air Arabia beats forecasts and looks to triple its fleet Middle East's first budget carrier surpasses expectations and sets sights higher After a successful first year of opera tions, Air Arabia - the Middle East's first budget carrier - aims to triple its fleet by the end of the decade to 15 aircraft. Ultimately it does not rule out growth beyond 50 aircraft if it can gain unrestricted access to all markets. Chief executive Adel Ali says that the Sharjah-based carrier has exceeded its financial and opera tional targets in its first year of operations. "Our business plan pro vided for us to operate five routes in the first year. Instead we are serv ing 15." The company had carried 500,000 passengers and seat occu pancy is averaging 75%. "We embarked on a new busi ness concept for the Middle East," says Ali. "It's an area where skies are not open, and passengers and airports were used to conventional air travel." Internet reservations were a nov elty, but now 20% of the airline's reservations are being made online, he adds. Air Arabia will unveil its first annual results in January. These will be "much better than our busi ness plan forecast", says Ali, noting that the business plan had forecast a first-year loss, break-even in the second year and a modest profit in the third year. Air Arabia operates four Airbus A320s, with a fifth aircraft due to arrive in January. Even if the regional regulatory framework remains unchanged or becomes more restrictive, the company expects to acquire 10-15 aircraft in the next five to seven years. If regional skies were totally open, its fleet could expand to 50- 60 aircraft, says Ali. Arab transport ministers met last February and agreed to work for open skies, but progress has been patchy. "Only Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates have totally open skies," says Ali, but he says that he is "optimistic" because the pressures for deregulation are mounting and open skies are a major topic of discussion among regional aviation authorities. An immediate priority, mean while, is to increase frequencies on existing routes and to expand the network. This month saw the inau guration of services to the Yemeni capital of Sana'a, and talks are under way on setting up possible services to India and Jordan. STRATEGY Deutsche Post confirms DHLs move from Brussels to Leipzig DHL parent Deutsche Post World Net has confirmed its intention to 0 relocate its main European hub from Brussels to a new central 1 European centre at Leipzig/Halle in Germany, where it will invest i around €300 million ($387 million). The express package carrier 5 intends to begin operations from Leipzig in 2008, when its Brussels i operation will become a regional hub. Leipzig airport's southern run- l way will be rotated by 20° over the next five years, making it parallel z to the northern runway to enable simultaneous use of both runways 8 and redirecting air traffic from densely populated areas. EQUIPMENT GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC Eurocontrol Link 2000+ programme gathers pace with deliveries Eurocontrol's roll-out of con troller/pilot datalink communica tions (CPDLC) under the Link 2000+ programme is gathering pace, with Boeing certificating Rockwell Collins' datalink equip ment for delivery in new Next Generation 737s. Air Europa has taken delivery of the first two new 737NGs equipped with CPDLC capability under Eurocontrol's Pioneer programme. Under the incentive scheme, the European agency is paying for the installation of datalink equipment on up to 150 aircraft to kick-start the use of CPDLC in its Maastricht upper airspace region. Other Pioneer airlines include Air Berlin, which will receive its first 737NG with CPDLC in January, says Jim Grace, Collins' datalink programme manager. Airbus Transport International will have CPDLC certificated on its five A300-600ST Belugas by year-end, and is among eight operators that have committed to the Pioneer scheme, he says. SAS has retrofitted 10 737NGs with CPDLC since receiving sup plemental type certification in December, and Grace says Lufthansa Technik is working on installing a datalink on FedEx's European fleet of Airbus A310s - none of them funded under the Pioneer scheme. Finnair is the lat est to join the programme, with a commitment to equip at least 20 A320s. Airbus will certificate the upgrade by the end of next year. While Europe is moving ahead with CPDLC, the US Federal Aviation Administration has deferred deployment for budget reasons and shut down its trial in Miami airspace at the beginning of October. Some of the datalink- equipped US aircraft, including American Airlines Boeing 767s, will continue using CPDLC in Europe. 14 16-22 NOVEMBER 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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