-
FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL
COSMIC CRISISBudget cuts contribute to recent series of blows
for Russias ambitious space programme 22
SWEDEN THE DEAL Saab looks to boost the capability of Gripen C/D
with upgrade to fighters fire-control radar 19
A NICER RYANAIR REGRETS, IVE HAD A FEW, ADMITS OLEARY
FRANKLYINTERVIEW P24
5-11 MAY 2015
US REGIONALS
SIZING UP THE OPPORTUNITYAre airlines ready for next-generation
jets?
9 7 7 0 0 1 5 3 7 1 2 7 3
1 93.50
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The LEAP engine has 19 fuel nozzles. While they may look
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MORE TO BELIEVE IN PERFORMANCE | EXECUTION | TECHNOLOGY
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5-11 May 2015 | Flight International | 3flightglobal.com
FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL
5-11 MAY 2015VOLUME 187 NUMBER 5487
FLIGHTINTERNATIONAL
COSMIC CRISISBudget cuts contribute to recent series of blows
for Russias ambitious space programme 22
SWEDEN THE DEAL Saab looks to boost the capability of Gripen C/D
with upgrade to fighters fire-control radar 19
A NICER RYANAIR REGRETS, IVE HAD A FEW, ADMITS OLEARY
FRANKLYINTERVIEW P24
5-11 MAY 2015
US REGIONALS
SIZING UP THE OPPORTUNITYAre airlines ready for next-generation
jets?
9 7 7 0 0 1 5 3 7 1 2 7 3
1 93.50
AirT
eam
Imag
es
COVER IMAGEMathieu Pouliot shot this SkyWest/American Eagle
Bombardier CRJ200 (with Boeing 737-800 behind) at Montreals Trudeau
airport for AirTeamImages P30
BEHIND THE HEADLINES David Learmount (left) joined chief pilot
Capt Ray Conway and head of training Capt Andy OShea at the Ryanair
Stansted training centre. He also talked strategy with chief
executive Michael OLeary at the low-cost carriers Dublin
headquarters (P24)
NEXT WEEK BUSINESS AVIATION We flight test the Citation Latitude
and look at the programmes in development Cra
ig H
oyle
, Hin
dust
an A
eron
autic
s
Sweden targets increase in fully operational Gripen squadrons
P11. Cheetal trio delivered to Afghanistan P19
NAS
A
Russian spacecraft failures compounded by cuts P22
COVER STORY30 Growing pains The current cap on the size of
regional aircraft in pilot contracts is already beginning to
pose problems for the introduction of next-generation MRJ and E2
jets at the US majors
FEATURES26 PROGRAMME Rising in the east Mitsubishi and
Comac are making progress with new jets, but their impact on the
market depends on overcoming some tough challenges, not least
convincing airlines to shun the established players
REGULARS7 Comment34 Letters36 Classied 39 Jobs 43 Working
Week
NEWS THIS WEEK 8 Rafale hits target as Qatar commits.
Malaysia set to sell off widebodies9 US military fleet sets
course for fleet reduction.
Airbus reports steady start for 2015 orderbook10 Market needs
put 90-seater plan at bottom of
ATR list. European pilot group warns against growing pay-to-fly
trend
11 Generator bug prompts 787 directive. Sweden to step up
fighter readiness
AIR TRANSPORT 12 Spirit automates to meet ramp-up on
programmes.
Southwest fits its 737s with Honeywell avionics13 Cargolux
grounds lithium-ion batteries.
Avianca explains why Boeing failed to win it14 EASA warns of
increase Baltic airprox incidents.
Revenue rises, but Sukhoi civil arm still in red17 Turkish A320
engine damaged in landing attempt.
Wizz Air teams up to train 40 cadets a year
DEFENCE 18 P&W deflects fresh criticism of F135.
IAI set to ramp up tanker conversions. Australia gets Super
Hornet support boost
19 Saab touts Gripen C/D radar upgrade. Cheetal helicopters
delivered to Afghanistan
20 RAF to harness Lightnings ISR power. Peru receives first
locally-assembled KT-1 trainer
NEWS FOCUS 21 Strength of Hercules lies in training22 Budgets
bring Russia down to earth24 OLeary admits mistakes as Ryanair
softens image
BUSINESS AVIATION 23 NetJets Europe prepares to receive
first
Challenger 350. Gama to strengthen Aberdeen base. GKN wins wing
skin work for Gulfstreams
Jere
my
Dw
yer-L
indg
ren
Download The Engine Directory.ightglobal.com/ComEngDirectory
ownload the new Commercial Engines Directoryw with enhanced data
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flightglobal.com4 | Flight International | 5-11 May 2015
CONTENTS
THE WEEK IN NUMBERS
ightglobal.com/ight-international
Flightglobals premium news and data service delivers breaking
air transport stories with profiles, schedules, and fleet,
financial and traffic information ightglobal.com/dashboard
2%The 2014 turnover rise for firms in the Bilbao-focused HEGAN
aerospace cluster, to 1.76bn; 65% was exported
63mThe first-quarter operating loss at Air France-KLMs cargo
unit made last years 34m deficit look relatively healthy
100The number of sales lost by Boeing; Avianca will stick with
A320s because Boeing didnt fight hard enough
Flightglobal dashboard
Flightglobal dashboard
HEGAN
Com
mon
wea
lth o
f Aus
tralia
IMAGE OF THE WEEK The Royal Australian Air Forces 36 Sqn
prepares to deploy a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III transport from
Amberley AFB to assist the Nepalese government after the earthquake
on 25 April. Two C-17s carried some 15t of aid, and were expected
to begin evacuation ights between Bangkok and KathmanduView more
great aviation shots online and in our weekly tablet edition:
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
This week, we ask: Ryanairs brand image makeover? Cheap and
cheerful
Cheap and tolerable Cheap and nastyVote at ightglobal.com
Last week, we asked: Will Airbus launch an A380neo by 2020?You
said:
57%36%
7%Yes, with engine choice
No
Yes, exclusively Trent-poweredTOTAL
VOTES:
3,194
FLIGHT TRAINING Search the Civil Simulator
Censuswww.ightglobal.com/civilsim
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COMMENT
5-11 May 2015 | Flight International | 7flightglobal.com
See News Focus P24
Is Michael OLeary a sinner come to repentance? For years,
Ryanair seemed to delight in being vile to customers. Cheap fares,
an extensive network, modern (if frill-free) aircraft and punctual
service kept punters rolling in. But few would have professed any
kind of warm feelings to Europes biggest short-haul airline.
Passengers were barred or ned for carry-on baggage that was too
big, or forgetting to print a boarding pass. The media gleefully
reported tales of disabled travel-lers charged for wheelchairs or
harrassed holidaymak-ers in tears after being unable to y home.
Ryanair has been softening its hard edge and nudg-ing towards
the market that its rival EasyJet has tapped: thrifty professional
yers happy to pay for exibility
and access to large airports. These passengers do not want to be
treated like naughty children.
But the colourful chief executives Mr Nice Guy conversion should
be viewed with scepticism. OLeary is, above all, a top businessman
who turned Ryanair from Irish minnow to European behemoth. He knows
Ryanairs new image is right for a new marketplace.
And OLeary says he has done aviation a favour. By being
uncompromising with customer service, the airline has made
passengers more resilient. Fewer turn up late at airports these
days, or overpack or fail to complete check-in procedures. One of
Ryanairs key contributions to aviation has been to sharpen us
up.
Saint or sinner?
Another 2,000 aircraft are projected to exit the US militarys
inventory over the next decade. For the eets of many countries,
this would be an existential cri-sis. But this is the American eet,
so it is only a 15% cut.
If the world looked any safer now than a decade ago, a planned
cull would be welcomed. And as aircraft grow in capability and
longevity, it should be possible to eld a smaller force packing a
similar punch.
But these eet reductions outlined in the US militarys annual
30-year aviation plan ow out of broader considerations that have
more to do with rising operating costs and tightening budgets.
Thirty-year forecasts are not to be taken at face value, but
visibility over the next 10 years is reasonably clear. And it looks
like a dreary decade for aircraft power.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 is expected to begin its long- delayed
ramp up to full-rate production, although not fast enough to
replace the number of ghters reach-
ing retirement age. The rst of a new generation of long-range
strategic bombers will arrive under LRS-B. And the number of
tankers and airlifters will actually grow as the Boeing KC-46A
enters the eet.
Those three programmes will replenish the US militarys
capability versus the most advanced threats over the next 10 years,
following a decade of intense focus on low-threat conicts.
Survivability, appropriately, is the key to surviving the cull.
The Fairchild Republic A-10 may yet duck the US Air Forces second
attempt to usher it into retire-
ment, but it faces a long-term struggle against the services
priorities. The army, meanwhile, has already begun pensioning off
its Bell Helicopter OH-58D Kiowa Warriors with virtually no
resistance.
Almost missing from the 10-year inventory plan is the
introduction of a clean-sheet aircraft. The only new designs to
arrive will be the navys carrier-based un-manned air vehicle, an
advanced ghter trainer to re-place the aged Northrop T-38 Talon,
and the LRS-B.
It will be at least another decade before the next wave of
innovation sweeps in, with the potential arriv-al of
sixth-generation ghters, high-speed rotorcraft and perhaps even
blended-wing body transports in the 2030s or shortly
thereafter.
As each new system enters the eet, it seems inevita-ble that
each advanced design will be more capable, cost more to buy and
operate and be procured in lower quantities. The nifty trick of the
consumer electronics revolution more performance at less cost will
con-tinue to elude the aerospace industry. See This Week P9
Rex
Feat
ures
Someones going to need a bigger boneyard
Almost missing from the planis the introduction of a
newclean-sheet aircraft design
Budgetary requirements and rising operating costs are forcing
the US military to cut the size of its aircraft fleet. The next
generation of platforms must be capable of doing more for less
Thinking small
To find more coverage about the US militarys spending challenge,
go online at ightglobal.com/defence
-
THIS WEEK
flightglobal.com8 | Flight International | 5-11 May 2015
To get more defence sector coverage, subscribe to our
fortnightly newsletter:ightglobal.com/defencenewsletter
BA HAPPY WITH A380 BUT DOES NOT WANT MORESUPERJUMBO IAG does not
see room for additional Airbus A380s in the British Airways fleet,
despite being impressed with the types performance. BA has taken
delivery of nine A380s from its firm order for 12. Parent company
IAGs chief executive, Willie Walsh, says the aircraft has performed
exceptionally well and exceeded expecta-tions in the BA network.
But Walsh believes the benefit of the aircraft is unique to [BAs]
network, given the Heathrow hub, and that there are a limited
number of cities to which it can apply the model.
JAPANESE AMPHIBIAN IN TRAINING MISHAPACCIDENT All 19 crew
members aboard a Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force ShinMaywa US-2
amphibious aircraft were rescued when the search and rescue asset
crashed on 28 April. Bearing the tail number 9905, the aircraft was
left floating nose down in the sea following the mishap, which
occurred off the coast of the nations Kochi province during a
training exercise.
LIEBHERR WINS 777X FOLDING WING-TIP DEALCONTRACT Germanys
Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg is to supply crucial components for
the Boeing 777Xs folding wing-tip mecha-nism. The 3.5m (11.4ft)
folding tips will reduce the types wing span to less than 65m, to
stay within the size category of the current 777.
Liebherr-Aerospace states that it will provide the fold subsystem
as well as latch-pin and secondary-lock actuators. The subsystem
will employ a motor and rotating actuator to move the wing-tip.
AUTOMATIC TAKE-OFFS TO LIFT ISRAELI UAV FORCEOPERATIONS Israels
air force is in the process of incorporating an automatic take-off
and landing capability into its Israel Aerospace Industries Heron 1
and Elbit Systems Hermes 900 unmanned air vehicles. The service
which already has such a capability available for its larger Heron
TPs says the advance will give its White Eagle squadron increased
operational capacity in poor weather conditions.
EMBRAER BOOSTS COMMERCIAL AVIATION REVENUERESULTS A sharp rise
in deliveries helped lift Embraers commercial aviation segment
revenues in the first quarter compared with the same period a year
ago, but declining defence and executive jet sales resulted in a
$58.9 million net loss, the company announced on 30 April. First
quarter sales rose by 19% year-on-year to $662 million, as it
delivered 20 Embraer 175s, compared to 14 E-Jets in the same period
last year.
TU-160 PRODUCTION GIVEN STRATEGIC REVIVALBOMBERS Russias defence
ministry says it is to restart production of the Tupolev Tu-160
strategic bomber, describing the supersonic type as the best
aircraft in its class. Moscow is already upgrading its 13 Tu-160s
to an M-model standard, and has 14 more on order.
AER LINGUS ATR CREW FACED LOSS OF VISIBILITYINCIDENT
Investigators have disclosed that an ATR 72 turboprop crew faced a
severe loss of visibility during a night landing after a coating of
salt covered the windscreen. The aircraft, operating for Aer Lingus
Regional, had already executed a go-around at Cork for unre-lated
reasons. Following the go-around it had rejoined the approach to
runway 25, via a coastal route at a height of 3,000ft. The Irish
Air Accident Investigation Unit says the crew carried out a second
go-around after a thick residue of sea salt obscured
visibility.
BRIEFING
Qatar has ended its long- running search for new strike
aircraft, with a decision to acquire 24 Dassault Rafales.
Announced by the manufac-turer on 30 April, the deal is
ex-pected to be nalised with a con-tract signing in Doha on 4 May,
in the presence of the French presi-dent, Franois Hollande.
The Rafale acquisition will de-liver replacements for the Qatar
Emiri Air Forces current Dassault Mirage 2000-5EDAs. Flightglob-als
MiliCAS database records the service as operating nine of the type
plus four DDA-model train-ers, along with six Dassault-sourced
Alpha Jets. It also previ-ously used the Mirage F1 ghter.
Qatars selection is the latest in a run of recent successes for
the Snecma M88-powered Rafale, which already this year has se-
cured a 36-unit order from Egypt and a declaration of intent
from India to acquire the same number of aircraft for its air
force.
If all three commitments are -nalised, they would bring the
French type within three units of matching the current export order
total of 99 aircraft achieved by the Euroghter consortium, whose
Typhoon had also previ-ously been on offer to Doha.
This success demonstrates the Rafales operational qualities and
conrms the condence that countries which are already users of the
Mirage 2000 have in our company, says Dassault chief executive Eric
Trappier.
The new ghter capability will be introduced before Qatar hosts
the football World Cup in 2022. Additional reporting by Craig
Hoyle
Malaysia Airlines appears to be preparing to sell off a number
of its widebody aircraft, as the carrier restructures its net-work
and eet.
The airline has already started marketing some Boeing 7
77-200ERs and Airbus A330-200 freighters to potential purchasers,
according to industry sources.
Separate reports that it is also planning to sell or lease out
its six A380s have not been conrmed.
An airline ofcial says it in-tends to approach the market to
dispose of some assets, but de-clines to comment further.
In addition to its A380s, Flight-globals Ascend Fleets database
records Malaysia Airlines as hav-ing an active widebody eet of 13
777-200ERs following the loss of MH370 and MH17 last year and 13
A330-300s, plus a freighter inventory of four A330s and two
747-400s.
Malaysia set to sell off widebodiesFLEET ELLIS TAYLOR
SINGAPORE
CAPABILITY DOMINC PERRY LONDON
Rafale hits target as Qatar commitsDassault announces Gulf
states selection of its fighter for 24-unit deal, continuing the
types recent export advances
Das
saul
t
Doha will acquire the type through a 4 May contract
-
THIS WEEK
5-11 May 2015 | Flight International | 9flightglobal.com
Generator bug prompts 787 directiveTHIS WEEK P11
A Congressional committee voted on 28 April to add money for the
Pentagon to buy 18 more ghters and four more un-manned air systems
in the next scal year. But the release of the US militarys
long-term aviation plan the day before shows that eet retirements
will be acceler-ating over the next decade.
Marking the rst step in a months-long authorisation and
appropriations process, the mark-up by the House Armed Services
Committee (HASC) authorised a proposal to give the Pentagon $604
billion in the scal year that begins on 1 October slightly less
than the $612 billion request-ed by the Obama administration.
Aviation programmes fared well in the HASC version of the bill,
which must still be ap-proved by the House of Repre-sentatives.
Committee members authorised the navy to spend $1.15 billion more
than request-ed, to buy 12 more Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic
attack aircraft which the manufacturer needs to extend production
through scal year 2017.
Operating prot at Airbuss commercial aircraft division increased
by 8% to 569 million ($637 million) in the rst quarter as revenue
reached 8.6 billion a performance it attributes to favourable
foreign exchange mit-igating lower delivery volume.
The company delivered 134 commercial jets and took 101 net
orders in the three months end-ing 31 March, compared with 141 and
103 respectively in the same period of 2014.
The rst-quarter order haul in-cluded 34 A330-family aircraft,
while one A350 and four A380s were among the aircraft handed over.
The A380 programme re-mains on track to reach break-even this year,
Airbus says, while the A350s production ramp-up is ongoing, with
the second aircraft delivered to Qatar Airways as planned.
Develop-ment of the A320neo remains on schedule.
Group revenue narrowed by 4% to 12.1 billion, mainly re-ecting
the phasing of deliveries at Commercial Aircraft, which are
expected to be back-loaded in 2015, the company says. Operat-ing
prot at the group level nar-rowed by 7.5%, to 651 million.
We are on track to achieve our full-year targets, says group
chief executive Tom Enders.
Airbus foresees full-year deliv-eries being slightly higher than
2014s total of 629, and says the commercial aircraft order book is
again expected to grow.
RESULTS
Airbus reports steady start for 2015 orderbook
PROGRAMME
PC-24 taxis towards rst ight in May
Step
han
Wid
mer
BUDGET STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC
US military sets course for 2,000-unit eet reductionRetirements
to accelerate in coming decade, after brief funding respite from
Congress
The planned purchase of six additional F-35Bs will cost $1
billion
A long-term aviationplan shows that themilitary aircraft eetis
expected to declineby nearly 2,000 units
Pilatus has begun taxi runs of its PC-24, and says the light
business jet remains on target to make its first flight during May.
The seven-seat twin was pictured on the taxiway at the airframers
Stans, Switzerland head-quarters on 29 April. Launched in 2012, the
PC-24 is the first business jet programme for Pilatus builder of
the PC-series of propeller-driven civilian aircraft and military
trainers. Certification and service entry are scheduled for 2017,
with the company touting the types short-runway performance and its
ability to land on rough strips.
They also approved $1 billion for six more F-35Bs, which would
raise the overall number of the Lockheed Martin type for the US
services to 63 in the FY2016 budget.
The air forces latest attempt to retire the Fairchild Republic
A-10 close-air-support aircraft continues to face resistance from
Congress, with the committee adding $240 million to continue
funding for a wing replacement programme for the type.
The HASC members also revealed a potential new delay for the
services plan to award a contract for a long-range strike bomber
around mid-year. Citing delays to the schedule for the award, the
committee removed $400 million in funding.
While the committee recom-mends an overall addition to the
aviation accounts next year, the long-term trend is tilted in the
opposite direction.
A long-term aviation plan submitted to Congress by the Pentagon
shows that the military aircraft eet is expected to de-cline by
nearly 2,000 units over the next 10 years from 14,900 today to
about 12,900 in FY2025.
This will include the sched-uled retirement of about 600
army-operated Bell Helicopter OH-58Ds by the end of this year.
Numbers will fall in every category except airlift and tank-ers,
which are projected to grow by about 140 aircraft, to reach about
4,620. See Defence P18
Lock
heed
Mar
tin
-
THIS WEEK
flightglobal.com10 | Flight International | 5-11 May 2015
Sign up to our dashboard for full access to the latest aviation
news and data: ightglobal.com/dashboard
The prospects of a 90-seat aircraft from ATR appear to be
reced-ing, as the Airbus/Alenia Aermac-chi joint venture focuses
efforts on a 78- to 80-seat higher-density ver-sion of the ATR 72
turboprop.
Quoted in the manufacturers in-house publication, chief
execu-tive Patrick de Castelbajac says operators are looking for
more ef-cient aircraft that can carry ad-ditional passengers and
generate extra revenue. This is why we are considering bringing the
number of seats in the aircraft up to 78, he says, adding that a
90-seat aircraft is not necessarily what the mar-ket wants right
now.
ATR has long been studying the possibility of a 90-seat aircraft
but, despite enthusiasm from Finmeccanica-owned Alenia, the project
has met resistance from Airbus Group.
Meanwhile, ATR says a major overhaul of its Toulouse nal
as-sembly plant last year to create two parallel production
lines
could take capacity to 120 aircraft a year. Steadily increasing
de-mand has led ATR to raise its out-put every year since a
single-g-ure nadir in 2004, and this year the airframer will
produce 90 air-craft, around 10% of which will be the smaller ATR
42 variant.
Although ATR believes pro-duction will plateau at 100 air-craft
in 2016, it wants the ability to add another 20% in terms of
capacity should the turboprops popularity continue to grow.
We changed our approach about ve years ago and told sup-pliers
they needed to invest, says Raphael Dubus, head of manufacturing.
All our tier ones now get a three-year visibility, in-cluding a
six-month rm order, which was three months before.
It is also insisting that contrac-tors deliver components on the
due date. Three years ago, our on-time deliveries were 60%. It is
now 90%, and we are targeting 95% for the end of the year, Dubus
says. Q
Airbuss vision of an electric ight future is starting to shape
up, with plans to build a nal assembly line for its E-Fan light
aircraft range in Pau, south-eastern France.
The ambitious project will see an all-electric two-seater
entering service around the end of 2017 or in early 2018, with ight
schools the likely customers.
A four-seat E-Fan 4.0 will fol-low, featuring a kerosene engine
range extender to keep its battery topped up.
Both aircraft are based on the twin-engined E-Fan prototype,
which Airbus ew publicly for the rst time at Bordeaux Merig-nac
airport in April 2014. Chief technology ofcer Jean Botti sees the
project as key early experi-ence in design and industrialisa-tion
of an E-Thrust hybrid elec-tric regional aircraft that, he insists,
will eventually be offered by Airbus although probably in a 2050s
timescale.
Airbus says Pau was chosen for the assembly location due to its
proximity to design partner Daher. E-Fan is managed, de-signed and
will ultimately be sold by Airbus subsidiary Voltair. Q
Despite years of protest from the pilot community, pay-to-y
(P2F) schemes are becoming more common, according to the Euro-pean
Cockpit Association (ECA). The term refers to a practice where
inexperienced but licensed pilots pay to act as crew on commercial
or business aviation ights, in order to become more employable.
Airlines are constantly rein-venting models to get cheaper
la-bour, like hiring self-employed or fake-self-employed pilots,
pilots on temporary work agency contracts, or on zero-hours
contracts, says ECA president Dirk Polloczek. P2F takes such
unacceptable practices to a wholly different level: the employment
of young pi-lots is no longer an investment by the airline in its
staff but a simple revenue generator. It is a blunt abuse and
exploitation of young, low-hours pilots who are desperate to nd a
job.
The issue is also becoming more common in the USA, where
Congress has previously ruled that pilots must have 1,500h of
airborne experience before ying for US commercial carriers.
Miami, Florida-based EagleJet International, for example, is
of-fering low-hour pilots the oppor-tunity to gain 1,000h ying
Air-bus A320s for an Asian airline or others. The company is now
offering European pilots this op-portunity for 87,500
($97,400).
The ECA is worried that the idea is gaining ground with
op-erators in Europe. Secretary gen-eral Philip von Schppenthau
cautions: P2F provides a per-verse incentive for a pilot to y at
any cost. Few will admit it, but when you have paid up to 50,000 to
y this plane, you will think twice before deciding not to y today
because you feel sick or fatigued. Q
PROPULSION DAN THISDELL LONDON
Airbus powers ahead with E-Fan
Last years overhaul in Toulouse could lift annual capacity to
120
ATR
The all-electric light aircraft should enter
service by 2018
Airb
us
CONTRACTS DAVID LEARMOUNT LONDON
Europe pilot group warns against pay-to-fly offers
DEVELOPMENT DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON MURDO MORRISON
TOULOUSE
Market needs put 90-seater plan at bottom of ATR list Resistance
from Airbus Group contributes to retreat from larger model as
production capacity continues to increase
-
THIS WEEK
flightglobal.com 5-11 May 2015 | Flight International | 11
Spirit automates to meet ramp-up on programmesAIR TRANSPORT
P12
All Boeing 787 operators will be required to periodically
deac-tivate the electrical system to avoid a problem with a
newly-dis-covered software bug that could cause the aircraft to
lose alternat-ing current power, the US Federal Aviation
Administration says in a new airworthiness directive.
The agency adopted the nal rule after Boeing reported the
re-sults of a laboratory test showing that a total loss of power is
possi-ble if the generator control units run continuously for eight
months, the FAA says in a 30 April notice. Its binding
airworthi-ness directive was published less than two weeks after
Boeing pri-vately alerted operators about the problem, the company
conrms.
So far, no 787 operator has ex-perienced the software problem
that causes four onboard genera-tors to stop working at the same
time, Boeing says. The company
The Swedish government has outlined its defence priorities until
2020, with new measures to include increasing the number of fully
operational Saab Gripen squadrons and potentially order-ing a
further 10 E-model examples.
Published on 24 April, the framework document sets a target to
have all six current Gripen
EDITORIAL CHANGES
After 14 years leading Flight International, Murdo Morrison is
moving to a new role within Flightglobal. As head of strategic
content, he will manage our Flight Daily News publications,
strategic content programme and thought leadership initiative,
which seeks to deliver en-hanced analysis and content to the
aerospace market.
Craig Hoyle who has been with Flightglobal since 2003 becomes
editor of Flight International, with Dominic Perry appointed as
deputy editor and Dan Thisdell as features editor.
Meanwhile, the global editorial team has been strengthened with
the ap-pointment of James Drew, who joins Flightglobals US bureau
in Washington DC as Americas aerospace reporter.
OPERATIONS CRAIG HOYLE GOTLAND
Sweden to step up fighter readiness
SOFTWARE STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC
Generator bug prompts 787 directiveFAA mandates periodical
deactivation of electrical system after Boeing test results
highlight potential total loss of power
squadrons attain full operational status. Two are now focused
main-ly on delivering pilot training ser-vices with the F7 wing at
Satenas.
Speaking at the F17 wings for-ward operating base on Gotland on
28 April, Swedish air force chief of staff Marcus Bjrkgren said the
service has begun assess-ing the implications of the deci-
sion for its eet of almost 100 Gripen C/Ds. We will have to
focus a little extra to get those [training] squadrons to a real
op-erational level, he says.
The initiative is being pursued following an escalation in quick
reaction alert activities in Swed-ish airspace, due to the increase
in Russian air force ights over the Baltic Sea since 2013.
The defence bill for 2016 to 2020 would increase spending by
SKr10.2 billion ($1.2 billion).
The government says it could also potentially boost the air
forces Gripen E order by a further 10 aircraft, to 70, although its
ve-year plan does not include fund-ing for this. Deliveries under
its existing order will commence during 2019, with the type
expect-ed to achieve initial operating ca-pability in 2023 and
become fully operational three years later. QSee Defence P19All six
Gripen C/D squadrons would attain full operational status
Crai
g H
oyle
/Flig
htgl
obal
is working on a software update to x the problem, which should
be ready in the fourth quarter.
In addition to powering on-board avionics, the 787s electrical
generators also are used to pres-surise the aircraft cabin and
de-ice the leading edge of the wing.
Two 250kVA generators are in-stalled on each of the 787s
turbo-
fan engines. Another two back-up generators each rated at 225kVA
are connected to the auxiliary power unit. If all six generators
fail at the same time, a lithium-ion main battery keeps power
running to the ightdeck systems for about 6s, until a ram air
turbine (RAT) can deploy and begin generating enough power to help
the pilots
navigate while attempting to re-start the engines or glide to an
un-powered landing.
Boeings laboratory testing dis-covered that an internal software
counter in a generator control unit (GCU) overows after run-ning
continuously for 248 days, the FAA says. This causes all four GCUs
on the engine-mounted generators to enter failsafe mode at the same
time.
Last June, the FAA approved an exemption to allow the 787-9 to
enter service on schedule, despite a substandard reliability record
on the GCU for the RAT. The agency approved the exemption because
it was deemed extremely improba-ble that all six power generators
on board could fail at the same time.
A redesigned RAT was cut into the 787-9 production line on
schedule in February and Boeing says it is continuing to retrot
previously delivered aircraft. Q
Boeing had already warned operators about the potential
problem
Boei
ng
-
AIR TRANSPORT
flightglobal.com12 | Flight International | 5-11 May 2015
Find out what our advisory service Ascend can offer your
business: ightglobal.com/ascend
Spirit AeroSystems has an-nounced a plan to invest more than
$100 million in automation projects to support production rate
increases across four Airbus and Boeing aircraft programmes.
We continue to drive the en-terprise to nd the most efcient and
productive approaches for the rate increases on the 737, A320, 787
and A350, says Spirit Aero-Systems chief executive Larry Lawson. In
addition to invest-ments to support the rate, we are investing in
automation projects of over $100 million. These auto-mation
projects will return our in-vestment in three to four years and
continue to differentiate our manufacturing capability.
The monthly rate for the 737 is expected to rise from 42 today
to 52 in 2018, while Airbus is in-creasing the A320 rate from 42
to
50 in 2017. The 787 rate is rising from 10 per month to 12 in
2016 and the A350 is ramping up to 10 per month by 2017.
Spirit AeroSystems supplies major fuselage structures for the
737, 787 and A350 and wing struc-tures for all these and the
A320.
The rate of production is in-creasing even as Airbus and Boe-ing
introduce eight new versions of those four aircraft combined over
the next ve years, raising pressure on major suppliers such as
Spirit AeroSystems to keep up with demand.
Youre going to see us spend a lot of energy focused on inter-nal
investments, Lawson told analysts on a rst quarter earn-ings call
on 29 April. We really have some opportunities to in-vest in
ourselves to connive to improve operations.
Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines will equip most of its eet
with updated avionics pro-vided by Honeywell, including a collision
avoidance system that can be coupled with an automat-ic dependent
surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) In receiver.
Honeywell says Southwests Boeing 737NGs and its incoming 737 Max
will get the SmartTrafc collision avoidance system.
Although the system has the ability to interface with ADS-B In
data, Honeywell tells Flight International that the deal does not
include installation of those receivers.
The carriers eet includes 436 737-700s and 93 737-800s, and it
has orders for 170 737 Max 8s and 30 737 Max 7s, says Flightglobals
Ascend Fleets database.
Southwest also has 118 older 737-300s and 12 737-500s, As-cend
shows, although the carrier does not say whether those types will
receive the upgrades.
The aircraft will also have in-stalled Honeywells Integrated
Multi-Mode Receiver, which can process data from a range of
navi-gation systems, as well as its As-pire satellite
communications system, which provides voice and data communication
via sat-ellite networks, the US-based company says.
Other equipment covered in the deal includes Honeywells In-tuVue
RDR-4000 3-D weather radar, which can help predict tur-bulence at
distances up to 60nm, and its Quantum Line communi-cations and
navigation radios, Honeywell adds.
Miami-based start-up carrier Eastern Air Lines has re-ceived nal
approval from the US Department of Transportation to launch charter
operations.
The certicate was nalised after the DOT received no objec-tions
to a tentative 20 April ruling.
The airline intends initially to offer charter ights from Miami
to the Caribbean and Latin Amer-ica until it receives a certicate
for scheduled operations.
The carrier currently has one Boeing 737-800 leased from FLY
Leasing and orders for 10 more of the type, Flightglobals As-cend
Fleets database shows.
It also has a rm order for 20 Mitsubishi Aircraft MRJ90s as well
as a letter of intent for 10 737 Max 8s.
Eastern uses the same name and brand of the previous Miami-based
US trunk carrier that shut down in 1991.
Airbuss pilot training joint ven-ture with Singapore Airlines is
set to start operations at a new facility in the rst quarter of
2016.
Building work has com-menced on the Airbus Asia Train-ing Centre
(AATC) at Singapores Seletar Aerospace Park.
It will be Airbuss fourth ight training centre in its global
net-work, joining facilities in Toulouse, Miami and Beijing. When
fully op-erational, the Singapore centre will have eight full-ight
simulators four A350 XWBs, one A380, one A330 and two A320s.
Airbus digs in for Singapore centreTRAINING
MANUFACTURING STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC
Spirit automates to meet ramp-up on programmesAerostructures
provider to spend $100 million in technology as output increases
sharply on A320, A350, 737 and 787
Production of Airbuss A350 will increase to 10 per month by
2017
Airb
us
UPGRADES JON HEMMERDINGER WASHINGTON DC
Southwest fits its 737s with Honeywell avionics
APPROVAL
New Eastern cleared for take-off
The carriers first aircraft is a Boeing 737-800 from FLY
Leasing
East
ern
Air L
ines
-
AIR TRANSPORT
5-11 May 2015 | Flight International | 13flightglobal.com
EASA warns of increase in airprox incidents over BalticAIR
TRANSPORT P14
Freight operator Cargolux is preparing to suspend trans-port of
lithium-ion battery con-signments in light of recent re-as-sessment
of the potential hazards they pose.
Cargolux has reviewed data from ICAO, the US FAA and Boe-ing
centred on the effectiveness of onboard extinguishing systems
against lithium battery res.
Last August the FAA present-ed the results of a full-scale re
test, using a Boeing 727 freighter, to an air safety forum.
The test showed that contain-ment of a lithium-ion re on the
main deck was marginal while a blaze involving lithium metal cells
was not contained.
Cargolux had already banned the carriage of lithium metal cells.
But it says that analysis of re-ex-
All Nippon Airways (ANA) was due to deploy its Boeing 787-9
aircraft on international ser-vices on 5 May, beginning with the
Tokyo Haneda-Munich route.
The carriers internationally congured 787-9s will have 215 seats
in three classes: 48 busi-ness, 21 premium economy and 146 economy.
The aircraft will carry 46 more seats than ANAs
Latin American airline group Aviancas decision to stay with the
Airbus A320 family for its narrowbody needs ultimately boiled down
to cost efciencies in a campaign that the airline be-lieves Boeing
did not ght hard enough for, says Avianca co-founder Roberto
Kriete.
We are already an Airbus op-erator. For Boeing to compensate
Avianca for the expense of switching to a mixed eet, it would have
required a much stronger effort from Boeing than they were willing
to make, Kri-ete tells Flightglobal.
The Star Alliance carrier an-nounced in February its
intention
787-8s now used internationally, it says.
ANA also has 787-9s deployed on domestic services, which are
equipped with 18 business and 377 economy class seats, for 395
seats in total.
Flightglobals Ascend Fleets da-tabase shows that ANA operates 32
787-8s and three -9s. It has or-ders for 48 more 787s.
tinguishing system capabilities and the temperature that
lithium-ion batteries can reach have spurred the airline to impose
a temporary suspension on trans-port of such batteries from 1
May.
To lift the ban as soon as pos-sible, Cargolux will assess
differ-
ent options to identify if technol-ogy exists or if new
technology can be developed in order to make the transportation of
bulk shipments of lithium batteries safe, says the carrier.
Cargolux operates a eet of 23 747-8 and 747-400 freighters.
to order 100 A320neos its sec-ond such order for the re-engined
Airbus narrowbody. Aviancas de-cision follows a campaign that saw
Boeing express condence that it could unseat Airbus at the Latin
American airline for its fu-ture narrowbody eet needs.
Upon Aviancas decision to stay with the A320, Boeing said it was
disappointed, even as the carrier remains an important cus-tomer
for the airframer.
The incumbent [Airbus] has home court advantage, Kriete
ac-knowledges, saying that Boeing needed to be more aggressive.
Avianca has no plans for addi-tional aircraft orders following
the commitment for 100 A320ne-os. The carrier is focused on
re-newing its eet, an effort which involves incorporating more
Boe-ing 787s and operating them on routes now operated with the
A330.
Lithium batteries are suspect-ed to have been involved in two
fatal cargo 747 res in the past ve years.
Lithium-ion batteries con-tained in other equipment will be
exempt from the suspension, says the carrier.
SAFETY DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON
Cargolux grounds lithium-ion batteriesAnalysis of
fire-extinguishing system capabilities and potential temperatures
leads freight operator to ban transport of cells
WIDEBODIES FIRDAUS HASHIM SINGAPORE
ANA introduces 787-9 to world beyond Japan
ORDERS GHIM-LAY YEO WASHINGTON DC
Avianca explains why Boeing failed to win it
The widebody type has already been deployed on domestic
routes
AirT
eam
Imag
es
Boei
ng
Lithium batteries may have caused fatal fires on cargo 747s, of
which Cargolux operates 23 models
The incumbent [Airbus] has home court advantageROBERTO KRIETE
Co-founder, Avianca
-
AIR TRANSPORT
flightglobal.com14 | Flight International | 5-11 May 2015
For the latest expert news and views from the air transport
sector, visit ightglobal.com/airtransport
Sukhois civil aircraft division, which builds the Superjet 100,
increased revenues last year by 45% to just over Rb29 billion ($566
million).
It is claiming a gross prot of nearly Rb2.8 billion for the
period. But it admits that, despite broad improvements to its
performance, it made a net loss of Rb4.6 billion.
The airframer increased deliv-eries to 29 aircraft, up from the
gure of 25 it gave for 2013, gen-erating a hike in sales
revenues.
Sukhoi says that it showed a prot from sales, Rb1.4 billion, for
the rst time since the start of serial production.
Post-sales customer support revenues amounted to Rb157 mil-lion,
says Sukhoi. Expenditure by the company rose by 21% to Rb26.3
billion primarily as a re-sult of greater aircraft production.
Sukhoi points out that the rate of revenue increase is
outstripping the growth in costs, following op-timisation of
production expense and a reduction in the number of deliveries to
early customers.
European safety authorities are highlighting a high risk to
civil aviation from increasing in-stances of encounters with
non-co-operative military aircraft, particularly over the Baltic
Sea.
Non-co-operative ights are those which le no ightplan, operate
without an active tran-sponder, and do not communi-cate or
co-ordinate with civil air trafc control.
Newly-published analysis from EASA requested by the European
Commission last No-vember shows the number of safety occurrences
involving civil aircraft and non-co-operative military ights
signicantly in-creased last year.
The Baltic states were the most affected by such occurrences in
2014, the analysis states, al-though similar events were re-ported
by several EU countries.
Risk assessment has concluded that the threat to civil aviation
is high, it adds, and that mitigation measures need to be taken to
re-duce this to an acceptable level.
EASAs technical analysis does not identify specic military
or-ganisations but it does refer to NATO documentation
highlight-ing interceptions of Russian ght-er and bomber formations
and detailing large-scale air activity by Russian forces.
The structure of Baltic Sea air-space is relatively complex, the
analysis says, with four different functional blocks and major
traf-c ows.
Narrow airspace sections make the presence of non-co-operative
military ights hazardous to civil aircraft, it adds, because traf-c
information cannot be provid-ed in a timely manner if civil
con-trollers are unaware of them.
Since this airspace congura-tion is not new, the number of
air-space infringements and occur-rences should be comparable over
the years, or at least propor-tionate to trafc increase, says EASA
in the analysis.
However, the gures stem-ming from the data provided to [EASA]
show a denitive increase
in the number of occurrences and also in the number of
infringe-ments over the past three years.
Information supplied to EASA indicates four airprox events
in-volving civil and military aircraft in 2012. But this increased
to 13 last year, plus three airspace in-fringements. Thirteen of
these 16 occurrences last year involved unco-operative military
trafc.
EASA says that the aircraft in-volved were probably
surveil-lance or reconnaissance types. It is concerned that
instances in which transponders have been inactive renders normal
anti-collision processes ineffective, adding that the closest
proximity between a civil and military air-craft was 0.5nm
horizontally and 300ft vertically.
REQUIREMENT
Cityjet on hunt for Avro replacement AirTea
mIm
ages
Cityjet is seeking to acquire new aircraft to replace its fleet
of BAE Systems Avro RJ85s.
The Irish airline says it is jointly evaluating new acquisitions
with UK lessor Falko Regional Aircraft and expects deliveries to
begin in the fourth quarter of this year and continue over 30
months.
After 21 years of successful operations with the BAe 146 and its
successor the Avro RJ85, we believe the time is now to firm up on
the aircraft type that represents the best option for us to form
the backbone of our fleet renewal programme, says Pat Byrne,
Cityjets founder and executive chairman.
RESULTS DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON
Revenue rises, but Sukhoi civil arm still in red
SAFETY DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON
EASA warns of increase in airprox incidents over
BalticUnco-operative military flights hazardous to civil aircraft
in restricted skies, report says
EASA refers to reported interceptions of Russian aircraft
Crow
n Co
pyrig
ht
[The rate of revenue increase] is outstripping the growth in
costsSUKHOI
-
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FLIGHT SAFETY SYMPOSIUM 2015
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AIR TRANSPORT
5-11 May 2015 | Flight International | 17flightglobal.com
P&W deflects fresh criticism of F135DEFENCE P18
Investigators are trying to ascer-tain the extent of damage
sus-tained by a Turkish Airlines Air-bus A320, apparently during an
initial landing attempt before the aircraft executed a go-around at
Istanbul Ataturk.
While the aircraft subsequent-ly landed safely albeit with a
runway excursion and apparent gear collapse there is evidence that
it had been ying with sub-stantial damage to its starboard wing and
International Aero En-gines V2500 powerplant.
The airline says all 97 passen-gers on ight TK1878 evacuated
safely after the aircraft, arriving
from Milan on 25 April, came to rest. Necessary investigation
has been started to clarify the causes of the incident, says the
carrier.
Publicly-available automatic dependent surveillance data
in-dicates that the aircraft initially made an approach to runway
05. Meteorological data at the time indicates a slight crosswind
but good weather conditions.
But the crew aborted the land-ing and turned south over the Sea
of Marmara before attempting a second approach to the longer runway
35L some 20min later.
Images of the aircraft in ight show ames appearing to ema-
nate from the starboard engine. Subsequent photographs also
in-dicate substantial structural dam-age to the inboard trailing
edge, a missing starboard exhaust noz-zle, a displaced winglet, and
the starboard main landing-gear out of its normal position.
Video images of the touchdown indicate that this main gear
assem-bly was unable to prevent the right-hand engine from
contacting the runway. The aircraft regis-tered TC-JPE and bearing
the col-our scheme of Star Alliance, of which Turkish Airlines is a
mem-ber left the runway as it slowed, and ground-looped.
Central European budget carrier Wizz Air is the latest operator
to introduce a cadet pilot programme as the industry struggles to
nd sufcient quali-ed ightdeck crew to meet am-bitious growth
plans.
The Budapest-headquartered airline has signed ve-year
co-operation agreements with UK pilot school CTC Aviation and with
Central European Flight Academy, a partnership be-tween Hungarian
pilot training specialist Trener, KLM subsidi-ary Martinair Flight
Academy, and Flight Simulation (FSC) in the Netherlands.
Courses will start in September this year, and the car-rier has
set an initial target of re-cruiting 40 cadets a year. The
programme will comprise train-ing for an integrated air transport
pilot licence (ATPL) with a type rating on the airlines Airbus
A320-family eet.
Participants who complete the training with the required
pro-ciency will have a guaranteed job, says Wizz.
The airline is launching the scheme to support signicant growth
of its business, it says.
CTC Aviation has also recent-ly partnered with low cost
carri-ers including Flybe and Ryanair to train cadet pilots.
The airline says all the passengers on board evacuated safely
after the incident at Istanbul Ataturk
AirT
eam
Imag
es
RECRUITMENT MICHAEL GUBISCH LONDON
Wizz Air teams up to train 40 cadets a year
INVESTIGATION DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON
Turkish A320s right engine damaged in landing
attemptIstanbul-bound crew executed go-around with flames seen
coming from one of its V2500s
www.cmcelectronics.ca/pilotview
Information Management
Solutionsr&MFDUSPOJD'MJHIU#BHTr"JSDSBGU*OGPSNBUJPO4FSWFSTr5BCMFU$POOFDUJWJUZ%FWJDFT
Aircraft Information Servers
PilotViewElectronic Flight Bag
Connectivity in the Cockpit
-
DEFENCE
flightglobal.com18 | Flight International | 5-11 May 2015
Access reports on all the latest military aviation news from
across the globe atightglobal.com/defence
Pratt & Whitneys F135 engine for the Lockheed Martin F-35 is
the target of two new US gov-ernment reports criticising the
propulsion systems very poor reliability and 61 nonconformi-ties
with P&Ws own and the De-partment of Defenses quality
management procedures.
The ndings by the US Gov-ernment Accountability Ofce (GAO) and
the DoD Inspector General (IG) have appeared less than two months
before the US Marine Corps prepares to declare initial operational
capability with its rst frontline squadron of short take-off and
vertical landing (STOVL) F-35Bs.
P&W argues that the GAO is mischaracterising the F135s
reli-ability data, and that the IG re-ports ndings about its
manage-ment system do not reect the quality of the end-product.
Israel Aerospace Industries Bedek group will operate a
ded-icated conversion line for Boeing 767s to be adapted to the
compa-nys multi-mission tanker trans-port (MMTT) conguration.
Yosi Melamed, Bedek Aviation Group executive vice-president and
general manager, says the line will receive used 767-300ERs and
make the necessary modications to the airframe and systems to
en-able the new role. This work will include incorporating a new
glass cockpit and the installation of re-placement GE Aviation
CF6-80C2 engines, plus the installation of auxiliary fuel tanks,
under-wing hose-and drogue refuelling pods and a boom, if the
latter is re-quired by the customer.
The conguration will allow in addition to the main mission of
aerial refuelling to transport 200 soldiers and 60t of cargo,
Melamed says. The aircraft will be able to perform all-cargo or
all-
The US Defense Security Coop-eration Agency (DSCA) has ap-proved
a $1.5 billion sustainment package for Australias current 24 Boeing
F/A-18F Super Hornets and future eet of 12 EA-18G Growler
electronic warfare aircraft.
Boeing will be prime contractor for the work, which also is to
cover software and hardware upgrades, engineering change proposals,
spare parts and other equipment and services, the DSCA says.
The proposed sale of follow-on sustainment support and ser-vices
will enable the Royal Aus-tralian Air Force to ensure the
reliability and performance of its F/A-18 eet, the agency says. The
follow-on support will allow Australia to maintain aircraft
availability/operational rates, and enhance interoperability with
the US and other nations. Q
The engine is reliable, and well continue trying to make it more
reliable, says Bennett Croswell, president of P&Ws military
engines business.
In a 14 April report, however, the GAO says that a key
reliabili-ty metric for the F135 the mean ight hours between
component failures is tracking well behind a planned growth
curve.
At this point in development,
that curve suggests the conven-tional take-off and landing
ver-sion of the engine should operate for more than 100 ight hours
between failures, the GAO says, but eet data shows the eet
av-erages a failure roughly every 25h. The STOVL version of the
engine should be averaging about 90h between failures, but is
actually achieving closer to 45, the GAO says.
Croswell acknowledges the ac-curacy of the GAOs numbers, but
says that its report does not re-ect the overall picture of the
F135s reliability record.
Although mean ight hours between component failures are below
expectations, two other key reliability metrics mean ight hours
between removals and full mission capability rate are running above
expected lev-els, he notes.
P&Ws ground-based testing of the production conguration F135
also shows that version should meet current reliability tar-gets
once it enters ight opera-tions later this year, Croswell says.
Although the IG was sharply critical of P&Ws quality
manage-ment system, he says the compa-ny stands by a commercially
de-rived programme that it has adapted for the programme. Q
The F-35As engine faces a component failure roughly every
25h
US
Air F
orce
POWERPLANTS STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC
P&W deects fresh criticism of F135US government reports
citing reliability and quality management system problems are
rebuffed by engine manufacturer
UPGRADES
Australia gets Super Hornetsupport boost
passenger transport duties, or be own in a Combi conguration,
according to the company.
IAI is currently offering the 767 MMTT in a competition in South
Korea, which wants to acquire four tankers for its air force. A
se-lection in South Korea is expected in the coming months,
accord-ing to Israeli defence ministry sources, who claim that the
price of the 767 MMTT will be 15-20%
lower than any other alternative. Seoul also is considering the
Air-bus A330 multi-role tanker trans-port and Boeing KC-46.
Bedek has previously delivered one 767-200ER converted as a
tanker/transport for the Colombi-an air force. After long delays,
the Brazilian government also has al-located the required budget
for the purchase of three 767-300s to be converted for the role by
IAI. Q
IAI set to ramp up tanker conversionsMODIFICATIONS ARIE EGOZI
TEL AVIV
Bedek has delivered a converted 767-200ER to Colombias air
force
Braz
ilian
air
forc
e
-
DEFENCE
5-11 May 2015 | Flight International | 19flightglobal.com
RAF to harness Lightnings ISR powerDEFENCE P20
Saab has held recent early dis-cussions with the Swedish air
force and export operators of the Gripen C/D about a dramatic
upgrade in capability for the types PS-05/A re-control radar.
Disclosed by company ofcials on 27 April, the Mk4 modica-tion
involves the replacement of two line-replaceable units in the back
section of the mechanically-scanned radar. This provides a new
exciter/receiver module with digital waveform generation and a new
radar processing unit, along with updated software.
As a result of these changes, the PS-05/A Mk4 gains a claimed
in-crease in detection range of at least 100%, and this is expected
to rise to 150% for a high-altitude air-to-air engagement scenario
by 2017, Saab says. Such a boost will ena-ble the Gripen to
capitalise on the full ring envelope for the Ray-theon AIM-120
AMRAAM and MBDA Meteor air-to-air missiles.
The enhancement also offers an increased capability to detect
heli-copters and targets with a low radar cross section, and
improved air-to-ground performance.
Saab says the self-funded de-velopment has already been
ight-tested, during campaigns conducted in December 2014 and last
month. The adaptation which retains the PS-05/As exist-ing
front-end hardware makes
Afghanistans air force has received a trio of Hindustan
Aeronautics (HAL) Cheetal light helicopters, with the Turbomeca
TM333-2M2-powered aircraft delivered in mid-April.
These helicopters were handed over with associated spares and
equipment. HAL has also trained four Afghan pilots in Bengaluru,
says company chairman and managing director T Suvarna Raju.
Capable of being operated at altitudes of up to 23,000ft and
with a ight endurance of 3.5h, the helicopter has a range of 345nm
(640km).
Kabul also recently took deliv-ery of its rst batch of six armed
MD Helicopters MD530Fs.
The US company expects to hand over the remaining examples from
a 12-unit deal signed last October by the end of August 2015.
Brazil has further advanced its ac-quisition programme for the
Saab Gripen NG by signing a roughly $245 million contract for the
types weap-ons. Announced on 24 April, the deal is between the
company and the Brazilian defence ministrys aer-onautics
command.
Saab declines to detail the indi-vidual weapon systems included
in the package, but says all export au-thorisations should be
received dur-ing the second half of this year.
The acquisition contract in-cludes weapon deliveries by Saab and
suppliers which have been se-lected by the customer, it adds.
Brazil last October confirmed its programme to acquire 36 Gripen
NGs, and a final agreement covering the financial aspects of the
procure-
ment should be concluded soon, according to Saab.
We expect that the agreement with the Brazilian government comes
into effect during the second quarter, and the total order value
will amount to SKr39.3 billion [$4.6 bil-lion], chief executive
Hkan Buskhe said in a first quarter earnings state-ment also
released on 24 April.
The Brazilian air force will receive 28 single-seat aircraft and
eight two-seat examples from 2019 under the acquisition, but could
eventually in-crease its fleet to more than 100 Gripens. Saab in
mid-April finalised a programme management and lo-cal production
arrangement with Embraer for the type. See our 19 May issue for a
full Gripen programme update
ORDER
Brazil in $245m deal for NG weapons
Trio of Cheetal helicopters delivered to AfghanistanACCEPTANCE
ATUL CHANDRA BENGALURU
MODIFICATION CRAIG HOYLE LINKPING
Saab touts Gripen C/D radar upgradeCompany reveals
flight-testing campaigns already performed for extended-range Mk4
version of fighters PS-05/A sensor
Saab
Changes will boost air-to-air detection
range for AMRAAM by at least 100%
Hin
dust
an A
eron
autic
s
Hindustan Aeronautics has trained four pilots to fly the
rotorcraft
use of commercial off-the-shelf equipment, as well as systems
de-veloped in support of some of its other radar programmes.
The modications needed have been kept to the absolute minimum,
and you can switch between Mk3 and 4 hardware congurations easily
within the aircraft, says Jan Qvillberg, head of the companys ghter
radar and datalinks product area.
Speaking at its Linkping site, Qvillberg says the company could
deliver an operational sys-tem within two years of a con-tract
being placed. The Mk4 de-sign is also suitable for use with other
aircraft types.
We will offer this to new ex-port customers, and have briefed
existing C/D customers, says Jerker Ahlqvist, Saabs head of Gripen.
In addition to Sweden, the models are own by the air forces of the
Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa and Thailand.
The C/D-version ghter cannot currently be equipped with an
ac-tive electronically scanned array (AESA) radar without major
struc-tural modications to provide in-creased power and cooling
capac-ity. However, the in-development Gripen E, on order for the
Swed-ish air force and also Brazil, will be supplied from 2019 with
the Selex ES-produced ES-05 Raven AESA sensor.
-
DEFENCE
flightglobal.com20 | Flight International | 5-11 May 2015
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fortnightly newsletter:ightglobal.com/defencenewsletter
The UK Royal Air Force could in the future use its ghter
aircraft as surveillance assets, moving away from current stovepipe
operations and al-lowing more data to be collected and exploited
during conicts.
Under its current operational command structure, the RAFs combat
aircraft and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)
assets are split into two separate areas.
We need to nd a way of jolt-ing the system to bring us back to a
single operation, an RAF ofc-er told SMis ISR conference in London
in mid-April.
The fast jets now have as much capability to collect ISR data as
the big traditional [ISR] planes, but they dont have the capability
to process and disseminate it.
The UKs introduction of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
will test this theory, as the types active electronically scanned
array radar will provide
phenomenal capability, the ofcer says, adding: We need to be
able to exploit this and use all of that data being collected from
the Lightning.
Future operating environ-ments also are likely to be more
difcult than the RAF recently experienced in Afghanistan. Islamic
State militants active in nations including Iraq and Syria have
greater nancial support, enabling the organisation to purchase
technology such as night-vision goggles and handheld identication
friend-or-foe scanners.
They are the military acting in a non-military guise this
enemy
has a brain, the RAF ofcer notes.The threat of state-backed
cyber attacks could disrupt datalinks, while GPS jamming could
jeopardise missions.
Its not just a case of what we are technologically capable of
now, its more a case of what the enemy can do and how they can
inuence where we position our assets, he notes.
The volume of data acquired by ISR assets over the battleeld is
also of concern to the UK. Due to the large amount of information
collected in Afghanistan, most of it could not be analysed, and
only a small percentage was turned into actionable intelligence
that could support operations.
We probably need to be a bit more savvy about what data we move
around the battlespace and what we keep on the host plat-form, the
ofcer says, while multiple data streams also must be fused to
enable decision mak-ing. We need to be able to act on information
even quicker.
The Lockheed Martin type can collect a huge amount of data
We need to be able to exploit and use all of the data
beingcollected from the LightningROYAL AIR FORCE
Crow
n Co
pyrig
ht
Peruvian company Seman has delivered its rst locally- assembled
example of the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KT-1 trainer to the
Latin American nations air force.
Marked during a 21 April cere-mony attended by both countries
presidents at Las Palmas air base, the advance follows the delivery
by KAI last November of the rst two KT-1Ps from a 20-unit deal
worth around $200 million.
Sixteen of Perus KT-1Ps will be delivered from an assembly line
at the site, with work to be supervised by KAI. The company also
has trained service pilots and technicians under the deal.
The South Korean-designed trainer will enable Perus air force to
progressively retire its eets of Alenia Aermacchi MB-339s and
Embraer EMB-312s. The service expects the new type to become fully
operational during 2016. A total of 16 trainers will be put
together at Las Palmas air base
Rex
Feat
ures
Peru receives first locally-assembled KT-1 trainerDELIVERY CRAIG
HOYLE LONDON
SURVEILLANCE BETH STEVENSON LONDON
RAF to harness Lightnings ISR powerService official emphasises
need to employ full capability of F-35s electronically-scanned
array radar during future conflicts
Download the 2015 Wor ld A i r Forces Repor twww.f l ightg loba
l .com/waf
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
-
NEWS FOCUS
5-11 May 2015 | Flight International | 21flightglobal.com
Budgets bring Russia down to earthNEWS FOCUS P22
We cant get the majority of army equipment in the Hercules
anymore, Wright says.
The synthetic and computer-based training set-up that the C-130J
follows is being mirrored for the new type. Were trying to mirror
A400M with this, because its worked so well, Wright says.
There are challenges ahead building up A400M and chang-ing the
way we do C-130J training as we shrink the eet.
C-130J operations will scale down in the coming years as A400M
use ramps up, so the air transport capability of the RAF will
remain the same throughout, he says.
What will happen to the two C-130J simulators as this happens
remains to be seen, but Wright hopes to keep both so that
forma-tion training can still be carried out. The nancial impact of
keep-ing the two simulators is negligi-ble, he says, because they
could also be used for foreign training
The Royal Air Forces Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules transports
have contin-ued to be heavily utilised follow-ing years in
Afghanistan, and have been used in a range of hu-manitarian roles
most recently in delivering supplies in support of the crisis
following the earth-quake in Nepal on 25 April.
A Hercules deployed to India via RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus on the
evening of 28 April from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, and the
transport will provide logistics support for Kathmandu once it
arrives.
The commitment follows a range of other humanitarian disas-ter
relief operations that the UK aircraft have recently carried out,
including the delivery of supplies to people on Mount Sinjar
dis-placed as a result of Islamic State attacks in Iraq, and in
support of a UN relief effort in South Sudan.
We thought we would be less busy when we left Afghanistan, but
we are actually busier, Sqn Ldr S P Wright, executive ofcer for the
air mobility operational conversion units 24 Sqn, says.
Throughout [Operation] Herrick we were operating from one base
and we knew what the task was. We are now spread wider and we are
sending guys to other locations.
BALANCEThe key to balancing this exibil-ity is training, Wright
says. This is provided through the squadron via a contract with
aircraft prime Lockheed and CAE. The latter provides synthetic and
computer-aided instruction to pilots and rear cabin and maintenance
crews of the Hercules.
Some 90% of initial conversion to ight is done on the two
dynamic mission C-130J simulators that CAE provides at Brize
Norton, along with all cur-rency training.
There are currently ve tiers of training for the C-130J, but
this is being streamlined so that the
FLEET BETH STEVENSON RAF BRIZE NORTON
Strength of Hercules lies in trainingUK Royal Air Force is less
than a decade away from retiring its C-130J transports, but demand
for airlifter remains high
The type has continued to see heavy use on relief missions since
ceasing operations in Afghanistan
Crow
n Co
pyrig
ht
We need to go backto where ying in andout of Nepal is asroutine
as ying intoconict zonesWG CDR DARRYN RAWLINSCommanding ofcer, 24
Sqn, RAF
baseline level that pilots will graduate at will be at a
tactical ying level in line with the types of operation the crews
have to carry out as standard.
The RAFs 24-strong eet of C-130Js is due to retire from service
in 2022, but general consensus is that the Hercules will transition
past this out of service date in some way. However, the squadron is
not counting on it.
The C-130J has been touted for a special operations role
post-2022, as the Airbus A400M that is replacing the UKs Hercu-les
will not be ready for such missions at that point. However, an
upgrade would have to be made to the C-130J eet if this were to
happen at a price the RAF will not necessarily be able to
afford.
Wright admits that the A400M Atlas is increasingly where our
focus is going, but says the C-130J is proving to be an effec-tive
asset in a variety of tasks.
We know where we are with it, he says. In years to come air
mobility will be a very capable eet of aircraft.
However, the British Armys move towards larger vehicles that
need to be transported by the RAFs logistics aircraft has driven
the need for a wide-bodied air-craft like the A400M.
something that has been carried out before, but restricted by
ca-pacity issues.
I think it is arrogant to think we get it right every time we
can learn a lot from others, Wg Cdr Darryn Rawlins, commanding
of-cer of 24 Sqn adds, regarding the importance of sharing training
with foreign C-130J crews.
The air mobility blend is pret-ty good in my opinion, he says.
As a force we need to go back to where ying in and out of Nepal or
the Asia-Pacic is as routine as ying into conict zones.
CONTRACTThe current contract that CAE has with Lockheed for the
training ex-pires on 31 December this year, and CAE says it is
currently negotiating another ve-year deal.
The simulators have been upgraded to bring them to CAEs
Medallion 6000 image generator and visual system standard in the
past 12 months, and CAE also de-livered a suite of databases built
to a common standard, which al-lows for rapid updates and
dis-tributed mission training.
The training system is deliver-ing a 98% availability at the
moment. Eight members of CAE staff are dedicated to the training at
Brize Norton, which has now been provided for the C-130J for 15
years.
-
NEWS FOCUS
flightglobal.com22 | Flight International | 5-11 May 2015
Bring all the latest news on spaceflight programmes into your
orbit by visiting ightglobal.com/spaceight
Russias space programme has had a bad recent run, with an
unmanned International Space Station (ISS) resupply ship left
spinning out of control, the fail-ure of an experimental military
launcher and the apparent can-cellation of a super-heavy-lift
rocket programme owing to swingeing budget cuts.
Federal space agency Roscos-mos looks set to lose 35% of its
budget over the next 10 years, with spending cut over the dec-ade
to about Rb2 trillion ($37.7 billion), according to a Reuters
report carried by The Moscow Times. Lost in those cuts will be a
super-heavy-lift rocket pro-gramme and Russian plans to orbit its
own space station from 2023 may also be in doubt.
Russias government is facing a nancial squeeze and looming
recession, with low crude prices hitting oil revenues and Western
sanctions laid down over the cri-sis in Ukraine starting to
bite.
A Progress mission to resupply the ISS went irretrievably wrong
soon after launch on 28 April, when navigational antenna failed to
deploy leaving Russian ground controllers unable to com-mand the
ship. Meanwhile, the US Air Force Joint Space Opera-tions Center at
Vandenberg AFB reported that its radar had ob-served 44 pieces of
debris in the vicinity of the resupply vehicle and its upper stage
rocket body.
A launch failure on 22 April saw a 9.6t experimental solid-fuel
rocket carrying metrical equipment clear the pad at Plesetsk
spaceport, inside the Arctic Circle. It then strayed off trajectory
and crashed to the ground with no injuries, accord-ing to state
news agency Tass.
But while occasional failures are to be expected, the budget
cuts pose a real crisis for Russias space programme. Roscosmos
could not be reached to elaborate, but the launcher in question
would ap-pear to be the heaviest version of a modular system called
Angara,
SPACEFLIGHT DAN THISDELL LONDON
Budgets bring Russia down to earthLikely spending slash at
Roscosmos deepens gloom after failures of experimental military
launcher and ISS resupply ship
Previous Progress missions to the ISS have had greater
success
NAS
A
which is intended to replace the failure-prone Proton. In
December 2014, the Angara A5 capable of lifting 25t to low-Earth
orbit made a successful maiden ight from Plesetsk. The smallest
vari-ant in the family, Angara 1.2PP, ew ve months earlier. A 35t
variant was also planned.
AMBITIONSVery heavy launch capability has become a key element
in Russias space policy. The nation has been building a new launch
com-plex in the east of the country, at Vostochny, with the
intention of hosting operations that currently y from Baikonur in
Kazakhstan the launch site for Sputnik, Yuri Gagarin and,
currently, all astronauts travelling to the ISS. As the most
southerly site in the old USSR and surrounded by sparsely-inhabited
terrain, Bai-konur was an obvious choice for rocket launches, which
are ideal-ly carried out as near as possible to the equator to gain
energy from the Earths rotation.
Vostochny is not so well situ-ated, but offers the security
ad-vantages of being inside Russia.
The 25t Angara 5 may be suf-cient to push satellites to the
high-est geostationary orbits. However, plans to y Angara from
Vostoch-ny later this year with manned
Soyuz ights expected from 2018 look to be in doubt.
Construc-tion has been dogged by stoppag-es, with some workers
reportedly on hunger strike, unpaid for months by a contractor in
nan-cial difculty. Tass also cites re-ports that claim Rb50 million
has been embezzled from the project.
The budget situation also casts uncertainty over Russias
long-term participation in the ISS. The USA has declared its
intention to extend its nancial support for the station to 2024,
and partners Europe, Russia, Canada and Japan are considering
following suit; the current agreement runs out in 2020.
But NASA is understood to be making contingency plans for
Rus-sias outright withdrawal from the ISS which at an extreme could
mean that it detaches its modules and uses them to start its own
sta-tion. It has talked of launching new modules later this decade,
and possibly holding them in orbit
as building blocks for a Russian station of the 2020s, rather
than at-taching them to the ISS.
Confusing the issue, Russia an-nounced in March that it has
agreed to work with the USA on a new station after the current one
reaches the end of its life as far off as 2028, from a pure
engineering perspective but the USA made no corresponding
declaration.
MARSIn any case, US interest in a space station beyond 2024 must
be called into doubt. NASA is bas-ing its budget planning for a
mid-2030s manned mission to Mars on the assumption that money freed
by a winding-down of the ISS in the early to mid-2020s would assist
preparatory work.
NASA is relentlessly publicis-ing its development of a
deep-space-capable manned launch system, as well as an asteroid
capture mission planned for the 2020s and research into space
medicine and astronaut physiol-ogy, as steps on a journey to Mars.
But quite apart from the daunting technological challeng-es of
keeping a crew alive and supplied on a minimum 18-month round trip,
money is a major obstacle. The agency is less publicly insisting
that any Mars mission depends on the partici-pation of many
international partners, a challenge under-scored by the difculties
of reach-ing agreement even to fund the ISS through 2024. Russian
space austerity would only exacerbate that challenge.
NASAs annual budget has stood at a little more than $17 bil-lion
for years now, from which it funds a wide range of space mis-sions
as well as aeronautics re-search. The agency is making no estimates
of the cost of a Mars programme, assumed to launch in 2035, but for
comparison the ISS is estimated to have con-sumed some $150 billion
from all partners in the 30 years since conceptual work began.
Q
The budget situation casts uncertainty over Russias long-term
participation in the ISS
-
BUSINESS AVIATION
5-11 May 2015 | Flight International | 23flightglobal.com
OLeary admits mistakesNEWS FOCUS P24
Iain
Mac
kenz
ie
NetJets Europes first Challenger 350 will debut at EBACE in
May
Gam
a Av
iatio
n
Gamas fleet based in Scotland includes Beechcraft King Airs
DEAL KATE SARSFIELD LONDON
GKN wins wing skin work for Gulfstreams
Gama to strengthen Aberdeen baseEXPANSION KATE SARSFIELD
LONDON
DELIVERY KATE SARSFIELD LONDON
NetJets Europe prepares to receive rst Challenger
350Super-midsize jet kicks off an extensive fleet overhaul for
fractional ownership provider
Business aviation services pro-vider Gama Aviation is plan-ning
to build an operations and maintenance facility at Aberdeen
International airport, as part of a strategic investment in its
thriv-ing Scotland-based business.
The Farnborough-headquar-tered company has been active in
Scotland for more than two dec-ades, from where it has been
sup-porting its business jet customers and the countrys health
service, out of two bases in Glasgow and one in Aberdeen.
According to Marwan Khalek, founder and chief executive of
33-year-old Gama, the new 1,700m2 (18,300ft2) facility rep-resents
a logical yet important step in further strengthening our presence
in Scotland to serve
NetJets Europe is poised to take delivery of its rst Bombar-dier
Challenger 350.
The super-midsize business jet registration CS-CHA was pictured
in Glasgow on 25 April during its ferry ight from Bombardiers
Mon-treal completion facility to the frac-tional ownership companys
head-quarters in Lisbon, Portugal.
The aircraft will make its pub-lic debut with NetJets at the
Euro-pean Business Aviation Conven-tion and Exhibition in
Geneva,
Switzerland from 19-21 May.Another four of the twin-engined
type are bound for NetJets Europe this year. The companys 2015
air-craft delivery schedule also in-cludes six Embraer Phenom 300s
and two Bombardier Global 6000s.
NetJets parent company placed an order for up to 75 Chal-lenger
350s in 2012, as part of a $7.3 billion contract for up to 275
Challenger-series aircraft.
The Berkshire Hathaway-owned rm also has multi-billion
dollar orders for Phenom 300s its entry-level product and the
Global 5000/6000, which sit at the top of its product offering.
The new aircraft are part of a top-to-tail overhaul of NetJets
500-plus aircraft eet, and should all be incorporated into the
oper-ators global inventory over the next 10 years. NetJets older
types are being phased out.
Meanwhile, NetJets US opera-tion took delivery of its 10th
Challenger 350 on 26 April, bringing its total eet of Signature
Series business jets to 68 in-cluding 40 Phenom 300s and 18 Global
5000/6000s.
NetJets is also launch customer for the Challenger 650 a
re-vamped Challenger 605 featuring an avionics, propulsion and
inte-rior upgrade and is gearing up to take the rst of the
large-cabin business jets in the fourth quarter of this year.
Aberdeen and the east coast.If permission for the facility
is
granted, the base is expected to open in 2016.
Gamas Scotland-based eet
consists of two Beechcraft King Air B200s, one King Air 350C and
two Airbus Helicopters EC135s, which are subcontracted to Bond
Aviation.
Gulfstream has selected GKN Aerospace to supply the upper and
lower wing skins for the airframers new large-cabin, long-range
business jet duo, the G500 and G600.
The award marks another major step in the UK-headquar-tered
companys strategy to in-crease its presence in the busi-ness jet
market.
GKN already supplies skins for the G550s wings, and says it aims
to foster and grow its rela-tionship with Gulfstream for the long
term.
The G500 and G600 upper wing skins are constructed in a single
piece, eliminating fasten-ers and joints and lowering weight and
reducing mainte-nance demands, says GKN.
The lower wing skins are composed of several panels and
incorporate a number of com-plex design features, the compa-ny
adds.
All the skins will be manufac-tured at GKNs advanced ma-chined
structures facility in Wel-lington, Kansas.
The G500 and G600 were un-veiled last October and are
posi-tioned at the top end of Gulf-streams eight-strong product
line, between the G450, G550 and ultra-long-range G650.
The 5,000nm (9,260km)-range G500 will be the rst to market, with
the aircrafts certication and service entry planned for 2017 and
2018 respectively.
Gulfstream says the rst test aircraft, T1, has completed ground
vibration testing and structural mode interaction test-ing in
preparation for its rst ight this year. The other G500 ight test
aircraft, T2, T3 and T4, are in various stages of produc-tion, it
adds.
The G600 ight test pro-gramme will commence about 12 to 18
months after the G500, with entry-into-service for the
6,200nm-range aircraft sched-uled for 2019.
-
NEWS FOCUS
flightglobal.com24 | Flight International | 5-11 May 2015
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sign up at ightglobal.com/dashboard
Ryanair expects to carry 100 million passengers in its cur-rent
nancial year, and the 30-year-old Irish budget carrier appears to
be infused with a new-found respect for its passengers.
Weve moved from being cheap and nasty to cheap and cheerful,
says chief executive Michael OLeary. If that state-ment sounds glib
to the sceptical traveller, OLeary points out he has backed up his
new strategy with a passenger charter.
This manifesto alongside the new Ryanair website is certainly a
break with the past. If Id known it would work so well, Id
have done it years ago, admits OLeary. He argues that crews and
passengers are happier and notes a 5% boost to the load factor.
Bursting with business plans as always, OLeary is looking for
the airline to expand its present eet of 309 Boeing 737-800NGs to
550 aircraft carrying 160 million pas-sengers by 2024. It still has
170 new -800s on order, and 100 of the new 737 Max on rm order for
delivery from 2019 with the same number again on option.
When an airline already has 73 bases in Europe, where is there
left to go? There is plenty of op-portunity, insists OLeary,
having
just opened its newest and most remote base in Ponta Delgada in
the Portuguese Azores islands. At present, Ponta Delgada is a
one-aircraft base serving Lisbon, Porto and London Stansted.
But the major part of the new plan is to set up Ryanair
opera-tions at Europes major bases, undercutting EasyJet and the
lega-cy carriers in their home territory. This he sees as a natural
extension of the new passenger-friendly Ry-anair, now bidding
unashamedly for the cost-conscious business market that EasyJet
attracts. In fact, it is essential to attract the more
business-oriented passengers that use the hubs because that is
where expansion and improved yield will come from, says OLeary.
UPSELLINGRyanairs average fare is 46 ($51), he notes, but
passengers pay an average of 40 on top of that for the carriers new
Busi-ness Plus service.
The only out-of-bounds air-ports for Ryanair in Europe, he says,
are London Heathow, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt Main,
because they are too ex-pensive and inefcient. Ryanair is now or
will soon be at Brus-sels Zaventem, Cologne, Copen-hagen and
Lisbon, and OLeary says the carrier will be at all the others
within ve years.
OLeary recalls that Ryanairs bid for Aer Lingus disallowed by
the European competition au-thorities was a part of the plan to
serve the national hubs, which Aer Lingus already does. Ryanair
would have acquired a ready-made, mid-market low-cost car-rier at
the main European bases. But if it couldnt have Aer Lin-gus, it had
to take on the job itself.
OLeary can even see low-cost carriers feeding the legacy
long-haul carriers at their hubs, be-cause he says the cost of
global distribution systems such as Am-
adeus, Galileo and Sabre has come down so much they could be
viable for low-cost operations. He adds, however, that Ryanair does
less than 1% of its business through the GDSs at present.
So if OLeary really has adopted a new philosophy, and it
certainly looks as if he has, it could be summed up as: Never say
never. The word never used to be one of his favourites. Now he
voices the never say never mantra fre-quently, as if to remind
himself of the fact that the old Ryanair like the old OLeary is
history.
This raises a point that involves senior Ryanair executives,
such as group director of operations Mi-chael Hickey and chief
pilot Ray Conway. One of the factors that makes the Ryanair
operation work like clockwork every day is its single-type,
single-variant eet. All training, all type ratings, and all spare
parts are common.
Yet the mould will be broken with the advent of the 737 Max,
however hard Boeing has worked to ensure commonality for those
purposes. Conway says he hopes conversion to the Max, for
INTERVIEW DAVID LEARMOUNT DUBLIN
OLeary admits mistakes as Ryanair softens imageControversial
chief executive says low-cost airlines new approach is break with
past
OLeary believes there are still plenty of opportunities for
growth
Rex
Feat
ures
Weve moved from being cheap and nasty to cheap and
cheerfulMICHAEL OLEARY Chie