U P D A T E
Home | UPDATE | Latest Issue | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles
Week ending November 23, 1997
+++ Lufthansa/Bombardier service centre opened at Schönefeld +++ British Airways announces launch of new low-fare airline +++ Eurockot studies Iridium launches +++ Bidders line up for Berlin airport construction +++ Shuttle "Columbia" in orbit for science mission +++ Delta Air Lines to re-organize services to Germany +++ Dasa and SEP propose new Ariane 5 upper stage +++ Eurocopter outlines research priorities +++ No criminal action in TWA flight 800 +++ News in Brief +++
Lufthansa/Bombardier service centre opened at Schönefeld
LBAS schafft 22 Arbeitsplätze mit Business-Jet-Wartung
On November 20, the new Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Service Center has opened its doors at the south side of Berlin-Schönefeld airport. It is the first facility of its kind outside the United States and the only one in Europe. LBAS is a joint venture of Lufthansa Technik and Bombardier Business Aircraft which through this new company seeks to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities for its European customers' aircraft. Some 160 jets of the popular Learjet and widebody Challenger business jet aircraft are currently in use and can now be serviced at this new center.The joint venture with Bombardier strengthens the Lufthansa Technik facility at Berlin-Schoenefeld, which since 1991 has been operating as a maintenance and overhaul center for Boeing and Airbus jets. Another plus offered by this facility is the around-the-clock flight operations at the airport, which afford customers maximum flexibility. Creating the Lufthansa Bombardier Service Center has required an investment of 10 million DM. Another 2,8 million DM were provided by the local Government. LBAS currently has 22 employees.
Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
British Airways announces launch of new low-fare airline
Neue Billigfluggesellschaft von British Airways
On November 17th, British Airways announced the launch of a new low-fare, no frills airline which is going to serve some European destinations including cities in Germany. It will have a structure separate from BA and its own name, still undecided. The new airline will be based at London Stansted Airport. Services are expected to start in early 1998 with a fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft. Barbara Cassani, appointed chief executive of the new subsidiary, said passengers on board would not be fed but could buy drinks and duty free items. Fares would be at least 30 percent below standard apex fares on regular BA flights. Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Eurockot studies Iridium launches
Iridium launch contract for Eurockot?
Eurockot Launch Services GmbH at Bremen has won a contract from Motorola to study the possibility of launching Iridium satellites on the Rockot. The company hopes that this will be the prelude for a deal to launch up to 20 Iridiums as replacements for the first wave of satellites now in the process of being put into low earth orbit. 39 of the communications satellites are already in space and the complete constellation will be ready by September 1998. Eurockot is marketing the Rockot which is built by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center in Moscow. It is based on the SS-19 rocket and has a mass of 107 tonnes. Six launches a year are hoped for from 1999.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Bidders line up for Berlin airport construction
Investoren melden sich für Flughafenbau in Schönefeld
Investment bank BZW Barclays de Zoete Wedd has received bids from seven consortia for a 74,9 per cent stake in the Berlin airport holding BBF and the fully privately financed construction of the Berlin-Brandenburg International airport at the Schönefeld site. This is to cost around 8 billion DM until the planned opening in 2007. Interested parties include:- BAA (British Airport Authority), which is setting up a consortium
- Hochtief construction group, together with Flughafen Frankfurt/M. AG, ABB and Siemens
- Airport Copenhagen with Commerzbank and Bechtel of the US
- Vienna airport with Dresdner Bank, Dorsch Consult and IVG
- Schipol Airport (Amsterdam) with Bilfinger + Berger
- AGI from the US
Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Shuttle "Columbia" in orbit for science mission
Letzter Shuttle-Flug des Jahres
Voltage problems of Soho delayed its deployment from the U.S. space shuttle Columbia's on November 20 for a two-day free-flight. Soho shut itself down just hours before Columbia blasted off Wednesday. Ground controllers had the two-year-old observatory back in operation Thursday evening. Meanwhile, astronauts aboard the Columbia spent their second day in space conducting experiments. Ukrainian astronaut Leonid Kadenyuk tended flowering mustard plants and pollinated them.Columbia had blasted off from Cape Canaveral on November 19, with a seven-member crew aboard. Among the crew are a Ukrainian and a Japanese astronaut. The 16-day mission schedules a spacewalk. The spacewalk will be taken by an American and the Japanese astronauts, a compensation of last year's spacewalk which the U.S. space agency NASA planned but cancelled because of malfunctions. Extravehicular activities will be the testing of a derrick crane and other hardware to be used in the International Space Station project.
Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Delta Air Lines to re-organize services to Germany
Neuordnung der Deutschland-Dienste von Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines of the US announced plans to re-organise its services to and from Germany. At a press conference Delta told reporters its intention to introduce a new daily flight from Stuttgart to New York JFK airport. In summer the airline had launched the route Stuttgart-Atlanta. Delta also said it is going to introduce a new daily service from Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel airport to Atlanta - and being the only carrier offering nonstop flight from Hamburg to the US. The new Delta services becoming effective in spring 1998 will be operated by Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. In addition, sources said Delta is to suspend flights from New York to Berlin-Tegel airport. The route was taken over from Pan Am in the early 90s. With the Delta removal from Tegel, German capital Berlin has no direct or nonstop flight connection to the US. American and TWA had pulled out earlier as well as Lufthansa.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Dasa and SEP propose new Ariane 5 upper stage
Leistungsstärkere Oberstufe für Ariane 5 vorgeschlagen
Daimler-Benz Aerospace and SEP of France have offered a new, more powerful upper stage for the Ariane 5 launcher, to be available from 2003. It will be based on the current design and should push payload capability further as well as expanding the flexibility of the booster. Technical studies will concentrate on the turbopump and on an increased tankage volume. The industry initiative was co-ordinated with Arianespace and ESA. Contractual arrangements between Dasa and SEP were signed on November 19 at Paris by Jacques Rossignol, Executive Vice President Operations and Josef Kind, director of the space-infrastructure business unit of Dasa.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Eurocopter outlines research priorities
Forschungsschwerpunkte bei Eurocopter Deutschland
During a seminar at Ottobrunn, where the current status of helicopter research in the framework of the German government-supported aerospace technology programme was discussed, Eurocopter has outlined its main goals for the next generation of products:- Costs must be reduced all-round, from cutting development time and production efforts to lowering maintenance outlays for the customers
- Usage must be pushed by extending all-weather flying capabilities of the rotorcraft, while still improving safety. Also, public acceptance must be ensured with lower noise levels
- Passenger comfort needs to be improved, meaning lower vibration and noise in the cabin as well as better seating and thermal comfort
- On the military side, better survival is essential, so detectability must be lowered, self defence improved and crashworthiness optimised.
FBI finds no criminal act on TWA 800 explosion
Jumbo-Explosion war kein Anschlag, sagt das FBI
On November 18, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that the explosion of TWA Flight 800 in July 1996 was not caused by any criminal act. "Following 16 months of unprecedented investigation...we must now report that no evidence has been found which would indicate that a criminal act was the cause," FBI's Assistant Director James Kallstrom told a press conference. The investigation cost 14 million U.S. dollars and was believed to be one of the largest criminal investigations in the U.S. history. The FBI's conclusion leaves the investigation in the hands of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board., which has scheduled public hearings next month. The Board has indicated that no probable cause will de declared until late 1998.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN
Swissair will take four long-range MD-11 airliners from German charter airline LTU. The aircraft, which are less than five years old, will be delivered in November 1998 and enter service in the spring of 1999 after refurbishment.+++
Boeing expects nearly three-fourths of the value of its future jetliner orders to come from customers outside North America, Boeing Commercial Airplane Group President Ron Woodard said recently. Woodard told the Seattle World Affairs Council that Boeing projects a worldwide market for 16,160 jetliners worth $1.1 trillion over the next 20 years. Seventy-two percent of new airplane investment over that time frame will come from international customers, he said. "Our future depends on building strong relationships in the many countries around the world where we do business," Woodard said.
+++
German defence minister Volker Rühe has ordered the salvage of all wreckage parts of the Luftwaffe Tupolev Tu-154 which crashed into the Atlantic off Namibia after colliding with a USAF Starlifter. While the search on the surface was terminated recently, a wreckage field has been located on the ocean floor. This will be lifted with the Deep Drone 7200 robot in an operation coordinated with US agencys which should last until December 20. A final accident report is now expected by mid-January.
+++
Lufthansa has published ist latest environmental impact report, claiming a reduction in fuel use per 100 passenger kilometre sof 3,9 per cent for the first nine months of the year to 5,15 litres. This means that the target of a 0,1 litre improvement for the year will be met or exceeded. Since 1991, the improvement is 20 per cent. Best in class is obviously charter carrier Condor with ist tightly packed planes, meaning a consumption of 3,57 litres per 100 pax kilometres. This is well below even good automobile performances. Lufthansa currently has 314 aircraft with an average age of 6,6 years.
+++
After notching up a prestigious 47 million US-Dollar contract from the UK's Royal Air Force, GAMCO has secured European JAR approval to service the Airbus A300/A320/A340 family of airliners. Allan Dollie, GAMCO General Manager, said that the company has also a contract with the Istanbul-based charter company Onur Air to provide maintenance for five years for A320/A321aircraft.
+++
Atlantic coast Airlines (ACA) of Dulles, Virginia, has ordered an additional 6 firm and 6 conditional Canadair Regional Jet aircraft from Bombardier Regional Aircraft. Value of the six firm aircraft is approximately $125 million U.S. Deliveries will begin in October 1998. The transaction represents the conversion of 12 existing options taken by ACA when it placed firm orders for 12 Canadair Regional Jet aircraft on January 28, 1997.
+++
Cincinnati, Ohio-based COMAIR will have a Canadair Regional Jet fleet of 80 aircraft as the result of an agreement with Bombardier Regional Aircraft. COMAIR converted conditional orders for 12 CRJ Series 100LR aircraft into firm orders. Value of the transaction is approximately 250 million US-Dollars. Deliveries are scheduled between October 1998 and May 1999.
+++
Bombardier Aerospace received the biggest single order for business aircraft in its history, with a firm order for five Global Express and five Challenger 604 business jet aircraft from TAG Aeronautics, an emerging leader in corporate aviation. The order is valued at approximately 250 million US-Dollars and builds on the success of the previous orders in the Middle East. It raises firm orders for the ultra-long range Bombardier Global Express to over 70 aircraft.
+++
Egyptair, Egypt's ordered two Airbus A340-600s and retained options on two more. Confirmation of the order was made by Airbus at the international air show in Dubai. The deal is estimated to be worth between $250 million and $300 million.
+++
The Airport Partners GmbH of Hochtief and Aer Rianta has signed a contract for a 50 per cent stake of the Düsseldorf Airport with the North-Rhine Westphalia state. The signature in Basel took place on November 18. Price is 370 million DM, of which 253 million must be paid at once with the rest following depending on operating restrictions.
+++
Sabena has decided to take 34 aircraft from Airbus to renew its single-aisle fleet. The deal was hotly contested by Boeing and centered on sweeteners for Sabena Technics, which has a large Boeing 737 maintenance shop. Swissair, which owns 49,5 per cent of the Belgian carrier, has now promised Airbus work also. The order, which will be part buy and part lease, will include 26 Airbus A319s, five A320s and three A321s.
+++
Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen ist nach wie vor abrufbar:
November 16, 1997
November 9, 1997
November 2, 1997
October 26, 1997
October 19, 1997
October 12, 1997
October 5, 1997
January to September 1997
September to December 1996
Home | UPDATE | Latest Issue | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles
Copyright 1997 by Motor-Presse Stuttgart. All rights reserved.
Last updated November 21, 1997
FLUG REVUE, Ubierstr. 83, 53173 Bonn, Germany