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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 2573.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT ENVIRONMENT EC urged to find balance Air transport regulators for many European regional governments have urged the European Commission to consider the eco nomic impact of airport growth when steering environmental pol icy over the next 10 years. Anne Devitt, president of the Airport Regions Conference (ARC), told its annual conference in Brussels last month that the EC needs to apply agreed princi ples on promoting economic growth in the regions in addition to listening to the anti-aviation green lobby. "If you look at EC strategy, the Lisbon Protocol stresses competitiveness; the Cohesion Policy encourages sharing the wealth with poorer regions; while the Gothenburg Strategy lays down sustainable development goals. The chal lenge is finding a balance between the three," she says. Don Jose Javier Morales Febles, Canary Islands minister for external affairs, says: "As an ultra-peripheral region of Europe we understand that airports are not just entry and exit points, but engines of development." French airport pressure group Ville et Aeroport says the French government in particular needs to understand the need for a bal ance between economic and environmental concerns, as even the smallest increase in fuel price would threaten regional airports. The ARC worries that forth coming policy changes, such as airport slot allocation, may suffer if, for example, all the Cohesion Policy principles are not followed and smaller regional airports will lose conveniently timed air ser vices if market-led pricing is adopted, Devitt says. PRODUCTION PAUL DUFFY / MOSCOW Major llyushin-Finance order pumps up Russian industry Lessor commits to 36h spare Leading Russian leasing company Ilyushin-Finance (IFC) has given Russian industry a major shot in the arm with what it says is the largest order for Russian aircraft factories since the demise of the Soviet Union. The deals for Antonov, Ilyushin and Tupolev air craft cover an initial 24 units. IFC, set up by Russia's National Reserve Bank (NRB) in 1999, has ordered and paid advances for an initial five Ilyushin I1-96-30US, seven Tupolev Tu-204s and 12 Antonov An-148 regional jets. NRB, which along with the Russian government, is the princi pal IFC shareholder, is also a major minority shareholder in Aeroflot, and will shortly become the chief shareholder in VASO, the Voronezh factory where the 11-96 and Russian examples of the new An-148 parts guarantee as it sets up regional jet are being manufactured. Negotiations are under way with the Aviastar and KAPO (Kazan) plants for the Tu-204/Tu-214s, with RSK MiG also a possible "but unlikely" source, says IFC. It de scribes the orders as initial, intended to allow the factories to source the materials and components needed to undertake the work. The lessor has committed to pro viding customers with a 36h guar anteed delivery of spares to their main bases, or a maximum of six days to any location worldwide. "This is a new concept for Russia's industry, which we have had to push them to implement," says IFC chief executive Alexander Roubstov. "So far, we have invested over $3 million in 11-96 spares, a figure that will grow to at least $10 million by late 2005." initial deal for 24 aircraft The leasing company has already placed a number of Il-96s and Tu-204s with Russian airlines. Recent, or soon to be completed, deals include: • six more Il-96s for Aeroflot, and two with English language cockpits for Cubana in the third quarter of next year; • four short-fuselage, longer-range Tu-234s, the Tu-204 derivative, for Vladivostok Avia (the first is due for delivery shortly); • 10 Tu-204s for Transaero - proba bly the Rolls-Royce RB211-535- powered -120; • 12 An-148s for Russian launch customer Kras Air and 10 for Pulkovo. The first An-148 deliveries are targeted for mid-2006. IFC has received funding from Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, and is in talks with other Russian banks. LAUNCH Low-cost Jetstar Asia is cleared for take-off Singapore's newest low-cost airline, Jetstar Asia, launches services this month with Airbus A320s to seven Asian cities - Hong Kong, Jakarta, Manila, Pattaya, Surabaya, Shanghai and Taipei. The airline will fly to three of the destinations in December and the others from January. The services will have an all- economy class layout, assigned seating and a 20kg (441b) baggage allowance, but no free meals. Qantas holds a 49.9% stake, while Singaporean business men Tony Chew and Fong Fui Wong own 21.1% and 10%. Singapore government investment company Temasek Holdings owns the remaining 19%. SECURITY EMMA KELLY / PERTH Australia to look at stun guns for air marshals The Australian government says it will consider arming air marshals on domestic and international flights with Taser stun guns after a six-month trial of the equipment by police forces on the ground. A ready response unit of the Federal Police Force has begun the Taser trial and the government con firms it will evaluate the results after six months and consider expanding Taser use to airline air marshals, who are deployed on selected domestic and international flights to and from Australia. Tasers, sup plied by US company Taser Inter national, were recently approved for use on Korean Air flights to and from the USA by the US Trans portation Security Administration. The non-lethal Tasers can tem porarily incapacitate dangerous, combative or high-risk subjects, says the manufacturer. 18 7-13 DECEMBER 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.fliqhtinternational.com
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