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UPDATE
Week ending April 13, 2003
+++ Concorde - The end of an era +++ Ariane 5 launch succeeds +++ First European Node for ISS passes acceptance review +++ NH90 offered to Canada by Lockheed Martin +++ Fiat and Carlyle: MoU for FiatAvio +++ Lufthansa sounds alarm bells +++ News in brief +++
Concorde - The end of an era
Überschall-Verkehrsflugeug wird außer Dienst gestellt
On April 10, British Airways announced the retirement of its Concorde fleet of seven aircraft with effect from the end of October 2003. The airline said that its decision had been made for commercial reasons with passenger revenue falling steadily against a backdrop of rising maintenance costs for the aircraft. Detailed discussions over an extended period with Airbus, the aircraft's manufacturer, confirmed the need for an enhanced maintenance programme in the coming years, the carrier added. British Airways has decided that such an investment cannot be justified in the face of falling revenue caused by a global downturn in demand for all forms of premium travel in the airline industry. The downturn has had a negative impact on Concorde bookings and is set to continue for the foreseeable future, according to the airline. Rod Eddington, British Airways' chief executive, said: "Concorde has served us well and we are extremely proud to have flown this marvellous and unique aircraft for the past 27 years. "This is the end of a fantastic era in world aviation but bringing forward Concorde's retirement is a prudent business decision at a time when we are having to make difficult decisions right across the airline." Retiring Concorde will result in £84m write-off costs for the year ended March 2003.
Air France does not intend to continue operating its Concorde fleet after 31 October 2003, the last day of its summer schedule. The poor economic performance of the transatlantic route operated with Concorde over the last few months and especially since the beginning of the year is behind this decision. This drop in demand comes at a time when the Company has to bear maintenance costs which have substantially increased since Concorde returned to service on 7 November 2001. The decision taken by Air France is therefore based on structural reasons related to a widening gap between costs and revenue. As far as Air France is concerned, and in view of the current economic situation which is having a highly adverse effect on the demand for Concorde, the Company will be suspending its supersonic flights as from May 31, 2003.
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Ariane 5 launch succeeds
Erfolgreicher Ariane-Start
On April 9 Arianespace orbited two communications satellites: Insat 3A for ISRO, the Indian space agency; and Galaxy XII for PanAmSat, the premier provider of global video and data broadcasting services via satellite. With its 11th successful mission, the Ariane 5 "Generic" launcher confirms its technical and operational maturity. Four more Ariane 5 missions are planned in 2003. Insat 3A is the 10th Indian satellite orbited by an Ariane launcher. Arianespace has teamed up with ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) since the launch of the organization's first satellite, Apple, in June 1981. Galaxy XII is the 18th satellite launched by Arianespace for PanAmSat, one of its longest-standing customers. The relations of mutual confidence between Arianespace and the world's leading private satellite operator reach back to the maiden Ariane 4 launch in June 1988.
Flight 160 was carried out by an Ariane 5 Generic launcher from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Liftoff was on Wednesday, April 9, 2003 at 7:52 p.m. local time in Kourou, 22H52 GMT, 6:52 p.m. in Washington, D.C., and on Thursday, April 10 at 12:52 a.m. in Paris. Provisional parameters at injection of the storable propellant upper stage were: Perigee: 859.3 km. for a target of 860 km. (±3 km), Apogee: 36,055 km. for a target of 36,057 km. (±160 km), Inclination: 1.99 degrees for a target of 2.00 degrees (±0.05º)
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First European Node for ISS passes acceptance review
ISS-Bauteil aus Europa abgenommen
Node 2 will be formally delivered to the European Space Agency by ASI, the Italian Space Agency in mid-May 2003. Last week the first activity related to that delivery, the Acceptance Review, was successfully conducted at the Alenia Spazio facility in Turin, with the participation of ESA, ASI and NASA. The nodes are elements interconnecting laboratory and habitation modules of the International Space Station. When completed, the Station will have three nodes. Node 1, called Unity, has already been developed and manufactured by US industry under a NASA contract and was launched in December 1998. It connects the Russian Zarya module with the American Laboratory Destiny. Nodes 2 and 3 are being made in Europe for NASA under a barter agreement using European know-how and technology.
Node 2 will connect the US Laboratory Destiny, the European Columbus Laboratory, the Centrifuge Accommodation Module, and the Japanese Experiment Module Kibo. It also will be the attachment point for the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), the Japanese H II Transfer Vehicle and it will carry a docking adapter for the US Space Shuttle. It will control and distribute resources throughout these Station elements and provide support to the crew and experiments, and will also provide a working base point for the Space Station Remote Manipulator System.
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NH90 offered to Canada by Lockheed Martin
Hubschrauberangebot an Kanada
Lockheed Martin Canada, a unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation announced its intention to pursue the much anticipated C$3.1B Maritime Helicopter Project in partnership with NHIndustries and Thales Systems Canada. The Canadian MH90 Team, led by Lockheed Martin Canada, will offer the MH90, a customized version of the NH90 maritime helicopter, as a replacement for the aging fleet of Sea Kings. In addition to its role as prime contractor, Lockheed Martin Canada will provide the integrated mission system in partnership with Thales Systems Canada.
The NH90 is an innovative maritime helicopter originally designed to meet the common requirements of the Armed Forces of France, Italy, Germany, Portugal and The Netherlands. Recognized for its capacity to excel in harsh climates, it also has been selected by the governments of Finland, Sweden and Norway to meet their unique cold weather requirements. In total, nine European nations have now ordered more than 400 NH90s. It is anticipated that over 700 of these versatile multi-role helicopters will be acquired by these nations alone, with a significant number of other countries expected to follow suit.
The Honourable John McCallum, Minister of National Defence, announced in Parliament on Dec. 5, 2002 the decision to proceed with a single tender for 28 fully equipped maritime helicopters. The successful contractor also will be responsible for any necessary ship modifications to the Halifax Class ships as well as a 20 year in-service support period. The competition will be awarded to the lowest cost bid that can meet the demanding technical requirements and provide the specified level of Canadian industrial participation. For the past two years, the MH90 Team has actively recruited Canadian technology companies such as Membertou First Nation, Northstar Network, and ADGA Group Consultants Inc. to join its MHP team. The Canadian MH90 Team will conduct a series of meetings in both Atlantic and Western Canada over the next three months to recruit other capable companies.
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Fiat and Carlyle: MoU for FiatAvio
Carlyle kauft Fiat Avio
At the end of a first phase of negotiations, Fiat and the Carlyle Group signed a memorandum of understanding for the sale of all the aerospace operations of FiatAvio. Exclusive due diligence activities will begin in the next few days and will last approximately five weeks. Negotiations with Carlyle are based on an enterprise value of 1.6 billion euros. Once the necessary resolutions will have been passed, Finmeccanica will also participate in the negotiations as an industrial partner. FiatAvio has 14 facilities, 9 research centers and over 5,000 employees. In 2002 the company reported revenues of 1,534 million euros and an operating income of 210 million euros
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Lufthansa sounds alarm bells
Notmaßnahmen bei Lufthansa
The persistently weak global economy, the Iraq war and the spreading respiratory disease SARS had a significant impact on the traffic results of the Lufthansa Group in the first quarter of 2003. This resulted in lower load factors for passenger and cargo traffic in all the traffic regions. From January to March of this year the Group airlines carried 10.4 million passengers, 7.6 per cent more than in the first quarter of 2002. Although available capacity was 10.9 per cent higher than in March 2002, sales only increased by 7.2 per cent year-on-year. As a result, the passenger load factor dropped 2.4 percentage points to 70.5 per cent. Lufthansa's cargo business continued to be particularly affected by the economic downturn. In the first quarter of 2003 Lufthansa Cargo transported 2.8 per cent less freight and mail than in the comparable period last year, with the result that the cargo load factor declined by 2.9 percentage points to 65.5 per cent. The Lufthansa Group achieved an overall load factor (passengers and cargo) of 68.3 per cent, which represents a decline of 2.7 percentage points.
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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN
International Launch Services (ILS) and Eutelsat SA have signed a contract for launching the W3A satellite on a Proton rocket. The W3A launch is planned for late 2003 using the powerful Proton M/Breeze M configuration. The satellite is an Astrium Eurostar 3000 model, similar to several already scheduled for launch on Proton vehicles. This will be the seventh Eutelsat launch on an ILS vehicle, and the company's first on an ILS Proton. Eutelsat, one of the world's leading satellite operators, has launched six times successfully on ILS' Lockheed Martin-built Atlas rocket. Three of those missions were the inaugural flights of Atlas variants - Atlas II, Atlas III and Atlas V.
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NASA today announced approximately $135 million dollars will be awarded to three competing contractor teams to continue support of NASA's Orbital Space Plane program under the Space Launch Initiative to provide crew rescue and transfer capabilities to the International Space Station. The awards are a part of a contract modification of a Cycle 1 Space Launch Initiative solicitation originally awarded in May 2001. This modification extends existing contracts through July 2004. The Orbital Space Plane program will provide the capability for crew rescue by 2010 and the capability for crews to transfer to and from the International Space Station by 2012. The three system design contractor teams -- The Boeing Company of Seal Beach, Calif.; Lockheed Martin Corp. of Denver; and a team including Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., and Northrop Grumman of El Segundo, Calif. -- will each receive approximately $45 million to design potential candidates for the system, including the Orbital Space Plane vehicle or vehicles, ground operations and all supporting technologies needed to conduct a mission to and from the Space Station. The contract modification includes work to develop system specifications, including systems analysis, trade studies and concept feasibility in preparation for NASA's Orbital Space Plane Program's Systems Requirements Review. The review, scheduled for October 2003, will evaluate the concept design based on the Level 1 requirements -- guidelines that lay out the foundation and top-level needs of the system. The review will also set Level 2 requirements that will further narrow the scope of the system design, including requirements for crew safety, cost, and interfacing with launch vehicles and the Space Station.
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EADS Military Aircraft Germany and Spain together with Eurofighter GmbH and the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency, NETMA, have revised the flight test programme of Eurofighter and deployed the single-seat prototype DA1 at EADS CASA. The aircraft took off at 17:00 hrs. on Tuesday evening from the EADS Flight Test Centre in Manching, Germany and arrived two hours later at Getafe, Madrid. Here the Eurofighter Chief of Engineering Rafael Tentor and the Spanish test pilot Alfonso de Castro received and thanked the German test pilot Karl-Heinz Mai for flying DA1 to Madrid, while an integrated team of Spanish and German technicians took immediately care of the aircraft. “We are tremendously satisfied and happy to carry on with the flight testing here in Spain. Thanks to this decision the programme will obtain the highest performance out of the complete fleet and will take advantage of the synergies offered by the industry: facilities, know-how and manpower” said Fernando Plaza, Programmes Director at EADS CASA Military Aircraft.
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Boeing and the Japan Defense Agency, along with the trading company ITOCHU, have signed the contract for the first aircraft of the Japan Air Self Defense Force 767 Tanker Transport program. The program includes four aircraft and support. “The 767 Tanker Transport has established itself as the preeminent aircraft to meet Japan's commitment to international cooperation, including humanitarian aid, and to meet the air-refueling needs of Japan and countries around the globe,” said Bob Gower, vice president of 767 Tanker Programs for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. “We are proud to provide this important capability to the Japan Air Self Defense Force, and are committed to satisfying this important customer.” The first aircraft is scheduled for delivery to Japan in the spring of 2007. The final delivery is expected to be in 2010. Japan became the second customer for the 767 Tanker Transport when it competitively selected the aircraft in December 2001. The Italian Air Force will receive the first of its four 767 Tanker Transports in late 2005.
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Germanwings will open a second route to Eastern Europe on 22 May when it starts flying from Cologne to Budapest.
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First among the partners in the Eurofighter programme, Alenia Aeronautica/Finmeccanica has completed a formation test flight of four swing-role “Typhoon” fighters manufactured by the Italian company. During the test flight, that took place on March 24, the ground station of Alenia Aeronautica's Turin-Caselle plant successfully achieved the simultaneous flight telemetry control for the four Eurofighters, within the framework of programme test activities. The Eurofighter “Typhoon” aircraft tested on March 24 were: the two Italian single-seater prototypes aircraft DA3 and DA7, the first twin-seater instrumented production aircraft IPA2 and the first twin-seater series-produced to be delivered to the Italian Air Force, the IT001. In order to allow the four aircraft to fly simultaneously, Alenia Aeronautica's test pilots were supported by their military colleagues from the Testing Division based in Pratica di Mare.
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The second of two flight test Boeing 777-300ER (Extended Range) airplanes made its first flight April 6 from Paine Field in Everett, Wash. At the controls were Capt. Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann, 777 senior test pilot, and Joseph MacDonald, 747 chief pilot and former 777 senior engineering pilot. The airplane took off at 11:26 a.m. and landed two hours and 24 minutes later at Boeing Field in Seattle. This airplane, which is dubbed WD-502, will be used for engine, systems, community noise, and stability and control testing. The first 777-300ER completed its first flight on Feb. 24, and since that time has completed more than 100 hours of flying on 40 flights. During 2003 Boeing plans to complete 1,600 hours of flight and 1,000 hours of ground testing on the two airplanes. The first 777-300ER is scheduled to deliver in April 2004.
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Another successful inter-satellite link achieved with Artemis! After a world premiere laser link with Spot 4 in November 2001 and a relay with Envisat last month, Artemis has transmitted data from the Japanese earth observation satellite Adeos II. ESA and NASDA, the Japanese space agency, had agreed to cooperate on a data relay service between ESA's Artemis geostationary spacecraft and Nasda's Adeos II in low earth orbit, using ESA's ground station in Redu, Belgium. In this framework, ESA and NASDA performed a series of tests from 27 to 29 March to demonstrate the system's performance and the operational links between the Adeos II team in Tsukuba, Japan, and the Artemis Mission Control Facility in Redu, Belgium.
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The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $20.3 million contract for the first production phase of the C-5 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP). The contract is for the procurement of eight AMP production kits, which Lockheed Martin technicians will install in U.S. Air Force C-5s beginning in May 2004. The overall C-5 AMP contract, signed in January 1999, is valued at $600 million, including system design/development and production. AMP upgrades the C-5 fleet to meet Global Air Traffic Management requirements, upgrades the all-weather flight control system and modernizes the cockpit with new flat-panel liquid crystal displays. The initial phase of AMP, which entailed modifying the entire C-5 fleet with the Accelerated-Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, was completed ahead of schedule in October 2002. The first C-5B fully modified with a new AMP kit flew in December 2002, two months ahead of program schedule, and recently completed its 12th successful flight in support of initial AMP software and hardware testing. A C-5A modified to the new AMP configuration also is entering flight-test.
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Boeing officials announced a teaming agreement with Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. to develop laser communications technologies that will improve the efficiency of satellite communications by a factor of ten or more. The team combines the strengths of Boeing, a leader in communications systems for commercial and government markets, and Ball Aerospace, a leader in remote sensing, acquisition, and pointing and tracking. Under the terms of the agreement, Boeing and Ball Aerospace will jointly market laser communications technology as merchant suppliers to the U.S. government and its suppliers.
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Airbus, CIT Group Inc., Crédit Agricole Indosuez (CAI) and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) announce the creation of Avion Capital Limited. This new joint venture company will provide, on a non-exclusive basis, financing, in the form of finance leases or long term loans, at market rates for Airbus customers who have either called on an Airbus backstop financing commitment or who have otherwise sought the assistance of Airbus to source or arrange secured financing at delivery. It is the ultimate goal of Avion to sell down its financings. Airbus Financial Services, CIT Group Structured Finance (UK) Limited, Indosuez Airfinance S.A. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Crédit Agricole Indosuez S.A.) and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau will underwrite the financing to Avion Capital. By virtue of their specific expertise and resources, they will additionally undertake various agency roles such as syndication, paying agency and security trustee functions, administrative back office and remarketing services. Each year the joint venture will consider financing specific deliveries in compliance with agreed investment criteria and on terms defined by reference to an underwriting model which specifies the loan to value ratio, pricing and the amount of junior debt to be retained in equal shares by Avion's participants or their affiliates after syndication of the senior debt in the market.
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Speaking at the first meeting of the 'EU-Ukraine Joint ad hoc Working Group on Peaceful Use of Outer Space' on 27 March 2003, Kuznetsov offered to modify the Ukraine's long-term space programme with the objective of integrating it into the emerging EU space strategy. The development of space co-operation with the Ukraine had already been referred to explicitly in the EU/Ukraine Partnership and Co-operation Agreement of March 2000. Increased co-operation with the EU is a key priority at the highest level of the Ukranian government. On 18 June 2002, President Kouchma spoke to his Parliament of the “European choice” for the Ukraine, proposing a wide-ranging reform programme with accession to the EU in 2011 as its ultimate objective. The EU Council has encouraged Kiev's structural reforms aimed at moving the Ukraine towards a market-based economy as soon as possible. The Danish presidency held an EU-Ukraine summit on 4 July 2002.
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Boeing announced today that it will recognize non-cash charges that will reduce first quarter 2003 pre-tax earnings from operations approximately $1.2 billion and net earnings per share approximately $1.23. Boeing will report its results for the quarter ending March 31st on April 23, 2003. $931 million, or three-quarters of the charges, will be recognized in connection with the company's impairment of goodwill under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) 142. These non-cash charges do not affect company business operations and will be attributable to goodwill recorded in connection with companies acquired since 1996. They will be recorded within the Commercial Airplanes segment and Launch and Orbital Systems segment. The company will also record non-cash charges totaling approximately $251 million to strengthen customer financing reserves and revalue certain customer financing assets. The charges will be recorded within the Boeing Capital Corporation (BCC) and Other segments.
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Robinson Helicopter Company deliveries of R22 and R44 helicopters during the first quarter of 2003 were 58% higher than during the first quarter of 2002. Leading the increase was the R44 with 57 deliveries followed by the R22 with 30, making a total of 87 new helicopters produced by Robinson during the first three months of 2003. To accommodate the increased demand, Robinson added 100 more production workers, raising its total workforce from 600 to 700. Even with the additional workers, R44 Raven II production is sold out nearly five months in advance. The popularity of the new Raven II has surprised everyone. With its higher airspeed and altitude performance, plus additional payload, the Raven II found an eager market and has already become the top selling helicopter in the world by a substantial margin.
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The DGAC, the French Civil Aviation Authority, has just awarded Helisim a Level D qualification certifying the company's Super Puma AS 332 L1 Full Flight Simulator to the European Joint Aviation Regulations (JAR) STD standards. This is the first-ever Level D qualification to JAR standards in Europe, and a world "first" for an Eurocopter helicopter. Level D certification reflects Helisim very high level of quality. For type qualification and other missions, it also means Helisim can almost completely train pilots on the simulator in much less time than training realized entirely in flight. The unique capability of a Full Flight Simulator (FFS) is with a high degree of realism to recreate the situations pilots may experience in internal and external environments, i.e. day, night, dawn, dusk, wind, snow, rain, fog, cities, plains, mountains and sea in 3D. The simulators faithfully reproduce the helicopter's behavior and flying characteristics, and feature a high-resolution, collimated 200°x60°visual system, specially designed for helicopter flights.
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With immediate effect, Eurocopter is recommending Leitner's LTB/400 aircraft maintenance management software package to its customers worldwide. Eurocopter is represented in 38 countries and there are some 4,300 of its helicopters around the world in 27 versions. Eurocopter's formal recommendation of the solution to its customers follows an extensive selection process.
The LTB/400 software supports all the key processes of an aircraft engineering business. It is a comprehensive, modular solution offering scalability and flexibility. It is customisable to suit the specific requirements of aircraft maintenance companies and its broad functionality makes it unique in Europe. The basic LTB/400 package provides standard features such as master data management, order processing/invoicing, purchasing and receipt of goods, stock control and inventory. According to their profile and individual requirements, the customer can expand the basic package by means of optional modules, for example to monitor aircraft operating hours, flight data and staff working hours. There is a module to enable the prices of various component manufacturers to be kept up to date in the system.
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The ISRO Indian space agency chooses Arianespace once again, this time to launch its INSAT 4A and INSAT 4B communications satellites. Kourou, April 9, 2003 - Following today's successful Ariane 5 mission that placed INSAT 3A into orbit, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman Dr. Kasturirangan and Jean-Yves Le Gall, CEO of Arianespace, announced the signing of launch contracts for two more payloads: the INSAT 4A and 4B spacecraft. These are the 12th and 13th ISRO satellites to be booked on the European launcher. Since the launch of the Apple experimental satellite in 1981 on Flight L03, Arianespace has orbited ten Indian satellites. Following today's successful mission with INSAT 3A, Arianespace is slated to launch another ISRO payload - the INSAT 3E satellite - later this year. Designed, built and integrated by ISRO, the INSAT 4A and INSAT 4B satellites will each weigh about 3,200 kg. at liftoff. INSAT 4A and INSAT 4B are dedicated to telecommunications, with 12 Ku band and 12 C-band transponders each. Their coverage zone is the Indian sub-continent.
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The U.S. Army's new Viper Strike precision munition, supplied by Northrop Grumman Corporation and dispensed from its Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), scored seven direct hits in nine attempts against targets in demonstrations conducted March 29 and 30. Targets ranged from compact pickup trucks to multiple rocket and missile launchers to a countermeasured tank. Co-sponsored by the Army's Precision Fires Rocket and Missile Systems and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Project Offices, the drops were performed at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. They were intended to validate the concept of the Viper Strike and to demonstrate operational capability of the integrated Hunter and Viper Strike systems. "Based on a preliminary review of the data, the tests indicate outstanding success," said Emmitt Gibson, vice president for Precision Munitions at Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector. "The demonstration validates the Viper Strike concept and provides the Army with an armed UAV with a lethal precision strike capability." The Viper Strike, which uses a semiactive laser seeker to find its designated target, has been developed as a derivative of the Bat submunition during a quick reaction, nine-week program at Northrop Grumman's Land Combat Systems facility at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Ala.
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Boeing and DynCorp Technical Services LLC, a Computer Sciences Corporation company, have created Aviation Technical Services LLC, a wholly and jointly owned company to offer support services to the U.S. military. The new company, based in Fort Worth, Texas, will compete to win the U.S. Army Fort Rucker aviation maintenance contract and the T-45TS Contractor Logistics Support program for the U.S. Navy.
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Ryanair, Europe's No.1 low fares airline today (Friday, 11th April 2003) announced that it had completed the transaction with KLM, to acquire certain assets (but not the company) of KLM UK Ltd which traded as Buzz. The final terms involve Ryanair paying a sum of EUR20.1m to KLM to acquire 10 aircraft (6 x 737-300's and 4 x BAe146's), up to 130 employees, together with the relevant operating manuals, postholders and some airport facilities that were formerly owned by KLM UK Ltd and which comprise the core operation of Buzz. KLM UK will retain up to 470 of the staff previously dedicated to the Buzz operation, as well as the Headquarters building in Stansted, the assets and liabilities of the legal entity KLM UK Ltd which was trading as Buzz up to 31 March 2003. Ryanair confirmed that the agreed purchase price has been reduced from EUR23.9m to a final agreed figure of EUR20.1m as a result of a number of issues, which arose during the due diligence process. Ryanair has formed a new subsidiary - Buzz Stansted Ltd - and this company will operate the fleet of 10 aircraft, will employ up to 130 people and will hold the UK AOC approval to enable the company to commence flying on 1 May next. It is intended that the company will operate its aircraft on a subservice basis flying directly for Ryanair, primarily operating on a network of 12 routes, which were formerly operated by KLM UK/Buzz.
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Following US Airways' successful emergence from bankruptcy protection (March 31, 2003) and months of coordination between customer and manufacturer, Airbus has worked with the airline to complete a restructuring plan to assist the Arlington, Virginia carrier in best accommodating the current industry environment. The resulting agreement includes replacing a prior order with a new order for 10 Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The airline currently flies a fleet of nine A330-300s this new contract will more than double the size of the airline's Airbus widebody fleet. This new firm order replaces previous contracts for one A330-300, three A319s and 15 A320s. US Airways also has an additional 13 A321s and six A320s on firm order. Deliveries of the now 29 Airbus aircraft on backlog (see specifics below) will begin in 2007 and run through 2009.
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The V-22 Integrated Test Team realized another milestone on April 4 when Osprey No. 7, one of the ITT's CV-22s, successfully reached the multi-mission radar's low altitude target for the airplane mode of flight. After conducting a series of build-up flights to ensure the proper warning, caution, and advisory system functions at altitudes of 500 and 300 feet, test pilots Major Tom Goodnough, USAF, and Marty Shubert took Osprey No. 7 down to a 200-foot "set clearance plain." The Joint Program Office at NAVAIR, including the Bell-Boeing team, and the Integrated Test Team are developing the CV-22 to meet the requirements of the Special Operations Command, which includes the requirement for the aircraft to ingress at low altitude to avoid enemy radar coverage. Through signals generated by the CV-22's multi-mission radar and processed by the mission computer, pilots get terrain avoidance cues that allow the Osprey to safely fly very close to the ground, even at night and in bad weather.
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ANA (All Nippon Airways) has completed an extensive review of its long-term narrow body aircraft requirements, and has determined that the Next-Generation Boeing 737 will best meet its goal to reduce operating costs. ANA selected the Boeing aircraft for reasons of efficiency and economy, and its fit with the ANA domestic route network, among other factors. The decision will lead to the eventual replacement of the present ANA Group narrow body fleet of 52 aircraft -- 25 Airbus A320s, two Boeing 737-400s and 25 737-500s operated by ANA and Air Nippon (ANK) -- with an estimated 45 Boeing 737s, mainly 737-700s but also including other variants. CFM56-7 engines manufactured by CFMI, a joint venture of General Electric and SNECMA of France, will power these aircraft.
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Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force joined forces to successfully place the Milstar II military communications satellite into orbit. Titan IV B, the nation's most powerful launch vehicle, roared off the launch pad at 9:43 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Six and one-half hours later the Milstar II satellite separated from the Centaur upper stage, joining the four other Milstar satellites already on orbit to complete the constellation. More than ever, the Lockheed Martin Titan and Milstar teams understand how important it is to deliver Mission Success for our customer," said G. Thomas Marsh, president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Space & Strategic Missiles. "We are proud of our role in providing the most advanced communications capabilities to the men and women of our military forces who are deployed around the world."
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The 2002 balance sheet of the Austrian Airlines Group confirms it: the turnaround is working. The EBIT improved by a massive EUR 130.3m, rising from minus EUR 88.9m in 2001 to plus EUR 41.4m in 2002. The company managed to increase its EBITDAR by EUR 243.6m to EUR 463.2m, and hugely boosted its profit before tax: where this fell to minus EUR –164.1m in 2001, it was back in positive figures in 2002 at plus EUR 4.2m. While production (measured in available seat kilometers) increased by just 2.7 %, transportation performance (in revenue passenger kilometers) rose by a far more substantial 6.3 %. As a result, the Group achieved a record passenger load factor figure of 70.5 %. Speaking at the press conference called to announce the balance sheet figuresannual results, Chief Executive Officer Vagn Soerensen made the following comment on the Group's enormously encouraging results: “In the wake of the general crisis in international aviation, the Austrian Airlines Group has positioned itself more effectively for the future. We have used the past year in a highly targeted manner to implement a total strategic, structural and cultural reorientation. Some make a drama out of a crisis. We have made a profit.” Mr Soerensen went on to say: “We have been able to build upon our niche policy, with its emphasis on West-East and East-West transfer, and as a result are perfectly positioned to benefit from the expansion of the EU into Eastern Europe.”
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In the first quarter of 2003, SWISS carried a total of 2.7 million passengers on its scheduled flights. SWISS continues to be challenged by the sluggish economic environment, the Iraq war and the recent outbreak of SARS, all of which dampen the demand for air travel. The average seat load factor in the traditionally weak first quarter was 67.9%. On the European network, an overall seat load factor of 49.6% was achieved during the first three months. This figure is slightly below the prior year level of 50.1% and reflects the current unfavourable economical situation and geopolitical uncertainties, which reduce the desire to travel by the clientele. High seat load factors were achieved in Ireland, followed by the former Republic of Yugoslavia, Denmark and Ukraine. The reduced demand in Germany, Albania, Bulgaria and Italy resulted in seat load factors below average. In the meantime, necessary network adjustments have been taken, partially by downgrading of aircraft sizes on routes or by cancelling some frequencies or destinations. These adaptations were announced earlier this year and came into effect with the introduction of the 2003 summer timetable on March 30.
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