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UPDATE 
Week ending February 25, 2001
+++ Airbus plant expansion at Hamburg goes ahead +++ CRJ900 flies +++ SOSTAR GmbH formed +++ Shuttle lands at Edwards AFB +++ Lufthansa and Thai intensify cooperation +++ News in brief +++


Airbus plant expansion at Hamburg goes ahead
Gericht erlaubt Airbus-Erweiterung

"The ruling of the appellate administrative court (OVG) has secured vital planning permission for this century's milestone industrial project." Hans-Joachim Gante, chairman of the EADS Airbus GmbH executive management board, stressed this point after the OVG announced its decision. Gante commented: " We will of course have to carefully examine the court ruling. However, on the whole, we welcome the decision of the OVG as it gives us the go-ahead for extension of the site." The German Airbus boss once again pointed to the exceptional importance of the A380 programme for industry:" EADS will not be the only beneficiary of production of the A380. Construction of this megaliner will provide Hamburg, its outlying region and the German aerospace industry with enormous opportunities for economic growth, coupled with new technological challenges. The new aircraft programme extends over a period of at least 30 years and also presents suppliers and service companies with favourablelong-term prospects." According to Gante, construction of the A380 will create new jobs and secure existing jobs in the long-term. He confirmed that "We now have a solid foundation upon which to pursue our plans to expand staff numbers, and we are certain that we will be able to create around 2,000 jobs in Hamburg." Furthermore, Gante believes, that production of the A380 will give new impetus to R&D in terms of technological developments. The German Airbus boss emphasised: " I am firmly convinced that the A380 will represent an additional boost to the innovative capabilities of the aerospace industry within Germany."
EADS Airbus has planned to invest a sum in the region of one billion German marks in the construction of A380 halls, buildings as well as in the necessary infrastructure. Due to the tight international schedule, it is essential that work now commence to fill in part of the "Mühlenberger Loch" site. Environmental encroachments will be counteracted through planned compensatory areas that are nearly twice as large as the landfill. Gante commented: "It is crucial for us as an aircraft manufacturer that we are able to begin construction of the first A380 hall by 1 November this year." This is essential if the first A380 is to be delivered on schedule. With regard to production of the A380, the following milestones are planned: Assembly is to begin in 2003, the maiden flight of the first prototype in 2004 and the first aircraft is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2006.

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CRJ900 flies
Erstflug des Bombardier CRJ900

The newest Bombardier Aerospace commercial airliner, the CRJ900, made its first flight on 21 February from Montreal's Mirabel International Airport in what crew members described as a "flawless initial flight" for the 86-seat prototype. The CRJ900 is the latest addition to Bombardier's family of CRJ regional jets, joining the 50-passenger CRJ100/200 and 70-seat CRJ700 models. The aircraft is a minimum stretch derivative of the 70-seat, CRJ700 and allows Bombardier to retain full pilot commonality across the world-leading family of regional jets.
"A strong, integrated product development team and disciplined processes are the cornerstones of our product leadership. They have enabled Bombardier to fly our 86-90 seat aircraft, less than seven months after the program was formally launched at the Farnborough Air Show on July 24 last year," said Mr. Michael Graff, president and chief operating officer, Bombardier Aerospace. "This is even more significant coming on the heels of the entry into commercial service of the 70-seat CRJ700 by Brit Air of France three days ago," added Mr. Graff. "The Bombardier Engineering System (BES) has allowed us to dramatically shorten the development process for this program," said John Holding, executive vice-president, engineering and product development, Bombardier Aerospace. "In fact, the timing of today's CRJ 900's first flight has exceeded even our own most optimistic internal schedule."
The two-hour, fifty-four minute flight departed at 10:46 EST and returned to Mirabel, 50 kilometers north of Montreal, at 13:40. EST. Crewing the historic first flight were pilot-in-command Chuck Ellis, co-pilot Craig Tylski and flight test engineer Jeff Hyde. The first test flight was designed to investigate basic manoeuvrability and allow for initial systems checking. The flight reached an altitude of 35,000 feet.

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SOSTAR GmbH formed
Europäer gründen SOSTAR

NATO urgently needs its own advanced all-weather stand-off reconnaissance system for crisis and conflict management. Therefore, already in 1993, the NATO Council decided to initiate an operational reconnaissance system, the "Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS)" programme. In order to meet this demand, the NATO partners Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain requested industry to implement the new radar system SOSTAR (Stand-Off Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar) in a joint venture. The future European company SOSTAR GmbH will have its headquarters at Dornier GmbH, a corporate unit of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). The following companies are involved: EADS (28 per cent), THALES (28 per cent), FIAR (28 per cent), Fokker Space (5 per cent) and Indra (11 per cent). This was reported by Dornier GmbH on Thursday in Friedrichshafen. Dr. Stefan Zoller, CEO of Dornier GmbH and Head of the Business Unit Defence Electronics: "Europe has considerable gaps in the field of long-range reconnaissance. In a common move by the participating European governments and the most competent industrial partners, Europe's technical capabilities in the field of reconnaissance radars will now be pooled in SOSTAR GmbH. A co-operation with the USA and the U.S. industry is possible and also desirable in a second step."
SOSTAR is an operational and tactical air-borne ground reconnaissance system for battlefield surveillance and target acquisition for NATO. The main activities and technological challenge of the company are the development and the operational demonstration of a multi-functional state-of-the-art reconnaissance radar. Johann Heitzmann, Member of the Executive Board of Dornier GmbH and Head of the Airborne Systems Division: "The SOSTAR-X project will place Europe's radar technology on a higher technical level, close existing gaps and safeguard competitiveness and jobs in future reconnaissance systems. The total project volume amounts to approx. EUR 85 million for demonstrator definition, development and construction. We expect an order volume share of approx. EUR 24 million spread over the years 2001 to 2005."

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Shuttle lands at Edwards AFB
Space Shuttle muss nach Kalifornien ausweichen

The Space Shuttle Atlantis glided to a belated textbook touchdown at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, wrapping up a 5.3-million-mile mission STS-98 to the International Space Station to deliver and install the $1.4 billion science laboratory Destiny. With Commander Ken Cockrell at the controls, Atlantis descended through high clouds over the Mojave Desert test center to touch down at 12:33 p.m. Pacific time on Edwards main runway. The landing was the 47th at Edwards and brought the 102nd flight in the Space Shuttle program history to a close. Atlantis was diverted to California after broken clouds and precipitation formed over the primary landing site at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preventing Atlantis from returning to the Florida spaceport in the two opportunities which were available today. Instead, Entry Flight Director Leroy Cain ordered Atlantis to land 3,000 miles to the west at Edwards, where despite strong winds and cloudy skies, the weather was deemed acceptable for landing. The high clouds and a lower broken layer posed no problem for spacecraft commander Kenneth Cockrell as he took over manual control of Atlantis a few minutes prior to landing. Total mission elapsed time since Atlantis launch on February 7 was 12 days, 21 hours and 21 minutes.

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Lufthansa and Thai intensify cooperation
Kooperation zwischen LH und Thai wird ausgebaut

After five years of successful cooperation, Lufthansa and Thai Airways International are expanding their partnership. Representatives of the two Star Alliance airlines signed a memorandum of understanding in Bangkok yesterday on a joint venture encompassing connections between Munich and Bangkok. Starting July 1, Lufthansa and Thai Airways will share costs and earnings on the route, which is currently served with five flights weekly operated by aircraft in the Thai Airways fleet. In a further step on October 1, the joint venture is to be extended to flights between Frankfurt and Bangkok. Thai Airways offers ten flights weekly with its own aircraft on the route and Lufthansa seven. Since October 1995, Lufthansa and Thai Airways have been codesharing on connections between Germany and Thailand as well as within both countries. The two carriers' customers benefit from their coordinated flight schedules and the pooling of their frequent flyer programmes. The new joint venture also places the partnership on a broader business basis, since it entails steps by the two airlines to harmonise their accounting, data capture and planning systems.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

The supervisory board of Austrian Airlines has approved plans to take over Rheintalflug, a small regional airline now owned by the Seewald GmbH at Bregenz. Rheintalflug operates from Altenrhein and Friedrichshafen, to points like Vienna, but also on behalf of Team Lufthansa. It has a modern fleet with ERJ 145 and Dash 8-300. In 2000, Rheintalflug had a turnover of 31,2 milion Euro, transporting 250000 passengers. 170 people work for the company.
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Eurowings has reported 3,2 million passengers for 2000. Especially feeder services to big hubs like Amsterdam were quite successful. Charter services were deemes satisfactory as well.
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Northrop Grumman has announced that it provided European Union (EU) regulatory authorities with the necessary filings related to its pending acquisition of Litton Industries Inc. (NYSE: LIT). The normal time period required to complete this EU regulatory review would expire on March 23, 2001. On Dec. 21, 2000, Northrop Grumman and Litton jointly announced that they had signed a definitive agreement under which Northrop Grumman will acquire Litton in a transaction valued at approximately $5.1 billion.
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Fairchild Dornier demonstrated the operational and environmental characteristics of the 328JET during the recent Australian International Airshow 2001 with a flight to Melbourne's regional Moorabbin Airport. The flight was conducted to validate the 328JET's capability to operate from the airport's 1,335-meter runway and to gauge the jet's environmental impact on the community. With a full load of 32 passengers, the 328JET successfully landed and took off with ease from the airport's north-south runway with little notice from he community, according to airport officials. "There are a number of airports in Australia like Melbourne's Moorabbin and Sydney's Bankstown that are perfect for airline service with regional jets," said Don Weiner, regional vice president for Fairchild Dornier.
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On the eve of the 20th anniversary of its maiden voyage, America's first space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, returns to service this week fresh from a year and a half of maintenance and upgrades that have made it better than ever. "Columbia is a safer shuttle today than the day it first launched," said Astronaut John Young, who commanded the first-ever space shuttle mission aboard Columbia in April 1981. "Columbia has gotten better as it has gotten older. It's gone from test flights to doing things we once never dreamed we could do. Although space flight will always carry risks, we must keep pace with advances in technology and improve the shuttle when we can, ensuring it is as safe as it can be." More than 100 modifications and improvements have been made to Columbia, highlighted by the installation of a new "glass cockpit" that replaced mechanical instruments with 11 full-color, flat-panel displays. The new cockpit is lighter, uses less electricity and sets the stage for the next generation of improvements, a "smart cockpit" under development that will make the cockpit even more user-friendly. Columbia is the second of NASA's four space shuttles to be fitted with the new "glass cockpit."
+++
The Boeing 717 is now certified for sale to operators in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Ukraine, according to Tom Croslin, chief project engineer of the 717 program, at the Long Beach Division of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Croslin represented the program at a special ceremony at which he received certification documents from Anatoly Kruglov, chairman of the CIS Aviation Register, and from Yuri Kordyanin, deputy director of the Aviation Register of Ukraine (UKRAVIATRANS). Certification of the 717 in the CIS and Ukraine opens the door to additional sales spportunities for the 717 in the former republics of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine. Issuance of the certificate culminates more than two months of intense activity supported by Boeing, the CIS Aviation Register, UKRAVIATRANS, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which cooperated in the process.
+++
Kuwait Finance House (KFH) and Airbus signed a purchase agreement for four A320-200s on 21st February. Mohammed Al-Omar, Assistant General Manager, Investment Sector, signed on behalf of KFH, and Noël Forgeard, Chief Executive Officer, signed for Airbus. The order follows a memorandum of understanding signed in July 2000, and is valued at about $200 million. KFH will take delivery of two aircraft in 2003 and two in 2004. Mohammed Al-Omar stated that "this purchase is the latest step in the realisation of KFH's strategic focus to design new, high quality, sophisticated investment opportunities compatible with Islamic Sharia, for itself and for its investing clients."
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"I note that the opening of the new 'Eleftherios Venizelos' airport for Athens at Spata, has been delayed from the 1st March to the 28th March," said IATA Director General Pierre J. Jeanniot. "The fact that the new airport project has been given four further weeks for completion and testing is to be welcomed." Jeanniot was responding to an announcement by the government of Greece on Friday 19 February. "Prime Minister Costas Simitis has given reassuring confirmation that the new Athens airport will be able to operate with complete safety from 28th March," continued Jeanniot. "Safety is the prime objective of everyone working within our industry and it should never be compromised." "However, we also need assurance that the new airport can efficiently handle the proposed level of activities. When the new Spata airport opens, the airlines must also be able to offer their customers full service and convenience - with all airport systems completely tested and ready to use."
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The government of Israel has signed a letter of offer and acceptance with the United States Department of Defense for the purchase of nine AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters. Once government-to-government negotiations are completed through a foreign military sales agreement, the U.S. Army will contract with Boeing for the Israeli aircraft and equipment. Total value of the program - including aircraft, ordnance, spares, training and support - is expected to approach $500 million. Boeing is nearing completion of the first multi year contract to deliver 232 remanufactured AH-64D Apache Longbows to the U.S. Army through 2001. In September 2000, Boeing and the U.S. Army signed a second five-year, multi year contract to remanufacture an additional 269 AH-64As into the Apache Longbow configuration through 2006. Defense forces from several international customers also are considering upgrading to the Apache Longbow.
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Bombardier Aerospace has sold the first two CRJ regional jet aircraft into West Africa. The aircraft, a 50-seat CRJ200 and 68-passenger CRJ700, are scheduled for delivery to Cameroon Airlines in the fourth quarter of 2001 and the first quarter of 2002 respectively. Douala-based Cameroon Airlines intends to use their CRJ fleet additions in regional service in Africa connecting the country to destinations in surrounding countries including Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast and Chad. The CRJ purchase is part of a major modernization plan for the airline according to Managing Director Yves-Michel Fotso. "The CRJ200 and CRJ700 acquisitions will allow Cameroon Airlines to apply the regional jet concept that has been so spectacularly successful in North America and Europe to operations in West and Central Africa," he said.
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The partner airlines of the Austrian Airlines Group (Austrian Airlines, Lauda Air and Tyrolean Airways) recorded a double-digit growth rate for January 2001. At 544,000, the number of passengers carried showed an 11.7 % increase on the corresponding month the previous year. The load factor of the aircraft also improved significantly at the beginning of the year. While there was an increase of 5.5 % in available seats, the number of revenue passenger kilometres on scheduled services rose by 11.7 %. At 64.0 %, the passenger load factor is 3.5 percentage points up on the corresponding figure for the previous year. The comparison of available and revenue tonne kilometres on scheduled services is equally positive. While January 2001 saw a total increase in available tonne kilometres of 7.4 %, there was a 13.3 % rise in revenue tonne kilometres. As a result, the overall load factor was 61.3 %, representing an improvement of 3.2 percentage points.
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Sabena's Board of Directors met on February 19, under the Chairmanship of M. V. Croes, to evaluate the results of the negotiations regarding the social measures of the Blue Sky restructuring plan. The Sabena Board will propose to the Extraordinary General Shareholders' Assembly, taking place on February 23, that Sabena's two main shareholders subscribe to the emission of participation certificates for a total amount of EUR 250 million. This proposal is based on an agreement, that had been reached with the trade unions and employee representatives, on several measures able to generate the improvement of EUR 52 million. Over the medium term the two main shareholders will re-evaluate the conditions of their partnership. In the meantime the SAirGroup and the Belgian government will meet their financial obligations based on the framework of the shareholders' agreement signed on January 25, 2001. This will allow the airline to continue operating, fulfil its financial responsibilities and serve its customers.
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Innovative small and medium-size European aerospace enterprises are supported in promoting their technological skills through the LOSTESC Programme. The objective is to attract new business opportunities globally as well as in Europe. The European Space Agency, together with the European Commission and six business consultancy companies, are co-funding LOSTESC, the Leveraging on Space Technologies to enhance SME Competitiveness Programme. This programme is designed to assist innovative European Small and Medium-Size Enterprises (SMEs) working in the space industry to bring their skills and ideas to the attention of larger industrial groups, and to adapt technology developed primarily for the space industry to other uses. Many SMEs have the built-in capacity to perform research and technology development. This can often lead to outstanding innovations in specialist areas, which could be of use to industries both inside and outside the space sector. The programme has three main targets: to identify 23 promising technologies in the aerospace sector with potential applications in other industrial fields; to prepare proposals for the funding of these technologies by the European Commission to assist in promoting these technologies so that they can attract new business globally as well as in Europe The 23 most promising projects will be selected by the end of March and submitted for funding in April and September 2001, and in January and March 2002. Funding will be provided over a one to two year period for 100% of the costs undergone by the aerospace SMEs (acting as research and development providers) to adapt the technology for other uses.
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Lockheed Martin Systems Integration - Owego and the U.S. Air Force A-10 Program Office at Hill Air Force Base, Ogden, Utah, have entered into the largest single upgrade effort ever undertaken for the A/OA-10 aircraft. The A/OA-10 Prime contract modification has an estimated value of $226 million, $74 million for the Engineering, Manufacturing and Development (EMD) phase through 2004 with follow-on production at $152 million. This innovative government and industry teamwork approach cost-effectivelycombines multiple A-10 upgrade requirements into one program that fits within current available funding and saves the U.S. Air Force approximately $150 million over the cost of executing the requirements as standalone projects. The Precision Engagement modification also provides the A-10 fleet with enhanced close-air support and precision strike capability earlier than originally planned.
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Rolls-Royce and Snecma Moteurs have set up a new joint venture company to conduct programmes related to military combat aero engines which are supported by the UK and French governments, starting with joint technology acquisition programmes. Rolls-Royce Snecma Limited will take over responsibility for developing the joint Advanced Military Engine Technology (AMET) programme into its next phase and for collaborative propulsion studies on the Future Offensive Air System (FOAS). The new company, a 50:50 joint venture, will be based in London and managed by Guillaume Giscard d'Estaing on secondment from Snecma. It will act as prime contractor and single point of contact to the two governments and will be in charge of whole engine integration studies. All other activities will be sub-contracted, initially to the parent companies but with the possibility of extending this to other companies as programmesevolve.
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Saab AB, announced the sale of its wholly owned engine sales and leasing subsidiary Celsius Amtec Corp. to Industria de Turbo Propulsores. S.A a companyheadquartered in Zamudio, Spain. Celsius Amtec Corp. headquartered in Florida for over 18 years, is a leading supplier of jet engines, jet engine parts and related services to the commercial airline industry. Primary services include sales, engine management and leasing of JT8D, JT8D-200 and CFM56 engines and JT8D, JT9D and CFM 56 aircraft engine part sales. Customers include most major airlines, aircraft lessors and jet engine repair facilities worldwide.
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Russian space specialists and cosmonauts celebrated the 15th anniversary of the orbiting station Mir but the feeling of joy and excitement will be mixed with bitterness over the loss of the orbiter to be sunk in the Pacific in the middle of March.
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The last MD-11 jetliner for Lufthansa Cargo has been delivered by Boeing, ending an era for three-engine passenger jets, or tri-jets, whose models included the likes of the Boeing 727 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 in their heyday.
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Air Foyle and HeavyLift have agreed in principle to form a Joint Venture to promote, market and sell on a world-wide basis commercial charters of all aircraft operated by Antonov Airlines. Antonov Airlines is based in Kiev, Ukraine and operates a fleet of 8 AN-124-100s, together with a number of AN-22 and AN-12 aircraft. From June of this year one AN-225 with a payload of 200 / 250 tonne is planned to be available. The Joint Venture will be called Antonov Airlines (UK). The Board of the Joint Venture will initially comprise Mr. Christopher Foyle and Mr. Bruce Bird from Air Foyle and Mr. Michael Hayles and Mr. Graham Pearce of HeavyLift. Mr. Christopher Foyle will be Chairman and Managing Director and Mr Graham Pearce will be Commercial Director. The Joint Venture will merge all the outsize cargo activities of both Air Foyle and HeavyLift under the new identity. Its principal purpose will be to develop the commercial airline business of Antonov Airlines, which is the trading name of Antonov Design Bureau. Until the Joint Venture is operational, Air Foyle and HeavyLift will be working together to offer, on behalf of Antonov Airlines, the availability of all its aircraft.
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Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen sind weiter abrufbar:

*February 18, 2001 *February 4, 2001

*January 28, 2001 *January 21, 2001 *January 14, 2001 *January 7, 2001

*December 24, 2000 *December 17, 2000 *December 10, 2000 *December 3, 2000

*November 26, 2000 *November 19, 2000 *November 12, 2000 *November 5, 2000

*October 29, 2000 *October 15, 2000 *October 8, 2000 *October 1, 2000

*September 24, 2000 *September 17, 2000 *September 10, 2000 *September 3, 2000

*January to August 2000 *January to December 1999 *January to December 1998 *January to December 1997 *September to December 1996

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