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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 2506.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT LEGAL ROW MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / LONDON Airbus steps up pressure over Hamburg runway Plans for German A380 delivery centre under threat as extension dispute escalates Airbus has raised the stakes in its campaign to clear the way for a runway extension at its Hamburg Finkenwerder plant by threatening to abandon plans to deliver A380s from Germany. The Hamburg Finkenwerder plant was due to begin delivering A380-800S destined for European and Middle East customers in the second half of 2006, but requires a 589m (1,930ft) extension to handle higher-weight versions, starting with the A380-800 Freighter in 2008. After a Hamburg court threw out a legal effort for the compul sory purchase of private land for the extension earlier this year, Airbus had hoped that owners would agree to sell at higher values. However, three property owners have refused to sell as "a matter of principle" and the City of Hamburg - which owns the Finkenwerder site - is starting a completely new legal process to gain a compulsory purchase order. "In the previous action we could not use any projections in the argu ments - such as our 20-year demand forecast for 350 freighters or the planned family of heavier A380 models," says Airbus. Instead, the need for the extension was based purely on the need to deliver the two A380 freighters on order for Emirates (the only other freighter customer is FedEx Express, but its A380s will be delivered from Toulouse), which was not a strong enough economic argument for the compulsory purchase to succeed. Airbus now says that it will post pone the €100 million ($130 mil lion) investment in the Hamburg delivery centre and associated infrastructure pending the court decision, and will handle all A380 deliveries from the Toulouse centre until mid-2007 - pending a final decision on the extension by mid- 2006. In reality, a decision is hoped for by the end of next year. If the extension is not cleared, then the Hamburg delivery centre plan will be dropped and Toulouse expanded to handle all customers. "We either build a centre in Hamburg for the whole A380 range or we don't do it at all," says Airbus. Meanwhile, the manufacturer says there will be a hiatus in assem bly of A380s in Toulouse to enable modifications and improvements to be implemented on components at the partner and supplier plants. Assembly of the fourth A380 is under way, but work on the fifth will not start until late January. APPROVAL Independence A319s finally get off the ground Troubled US low-fares start-up Independence Air has finally received US Federal Aviation Administration approval to fly Airbus A319s after a delay of almost a month pending certifica tion. Most of next year's A319 deliveries have been deferred (Flight International, 23-29 November), but two will fly between Washington Dulles and Florida and a third will join the fleet by year-end. STUDY CAA extends pilot/ATCO health survey Around 13,000 UK pilots and air traffic control officers (ATCO) have responded to a Civil Aviation Authority-sponsored long-term study intended to determine if these professions face different health risks than the population at large. The CAA says it is particularly interested to find out whether they face higher risks from cancers and heart dis ease, writes David Learmount. The study, being carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has surveyed all those who held active licences at any time between 1989 and 1999, and received 13,000 responses. The purpose, says the CAA, once results have been obtained, is to be able to provide health advice to pilots and controllers, and to "guide the medical screening requirements of licence holders in their periodic medical exami nations". The CAA says the study is not related to the European Union standard retire ment age limit of 65, with most pilots/ATCOs being required to retire earlier. Now the CAA is seeking the permission of all those who returned the questionnaire - and those who did not - to pass their names and addresses to the National Heath Services Central Registers so the deaths of, or incidence of cancer in, the licence holders can be notified in unidentifiable form to the London school, to enable it to extend the analysis (Flight International, 23-29 November). DISPUTE PINO MODOLA / GENOA Alenia workers strike against Grottaglie move Aerospace workers' unions opposed to Alenia Aeronautica's choice of Grottaglie in south-east Italy to assemble Boeing 7E7 fuselage sec tions took industrial action in November. The unions claim exist ing Alenia sites near Naples are best suited for the work and called one- day strikes on 11 November at Alenia's Pomigliano d'Arco, Casoria, and Nola plants, near Naples, and on 18 November at Turin. The unions fear the Grottaglie factory will lead to job cuts in the Naples and Turin areas, although Alenia claims its plans create 300 jobs in design and production engi neering at Naples plants. The com pany says the 7E7 work will not affect Turin, and 100 new jobs will be generated by work on the Eurofighter Typhoon and C-27J. The unions allege the Grottaglie venture is the product of political interests. The company says a long runway is needed for the modified Boeing 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF), which will trans port 7E7 fuselage sections to the USA, but Grottaglie's Marcello Arlotta airport has a shorter run way than Naples Capodichino. www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 30 NOVEMBER - 6 DECEMBER 2004 13
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