Stop Press

Dornier Dead

An ambitious plan to manufacture the Cladius Dornier CD2 Seastar amphibian in Malaysia has fallen through due to problems with funding and certification. Dornier Seastar (Malaysia) had been set up specifically to manufacture the Seastar under licence at a specially built plant at Penang. A review by Dornier Seastar’s largest shareholder Aerospace Industries Malaysia discovered that it would cost about $US305m to get the Seastar into production, rather than $US122m originally planned, due to greater than anticipated costs in getting the aircraft certificated and the high price being asked for technical drawings and a production licence. Certification would have been difficult as the Seastar is of all composite construction, and no accord exists between the Malaysian and German civil aviation authorities and between Malaysia and the US FAA.

Spain Buys Used Hornets

Spain has agreed to purchase 24 second hand McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A/B Hornet multirole fighters from the US Marine Corps for $US288m. Fifty-one General Electric F404 engines will also be purchased for $US152m. The first six aircraft will be delivered by the end of this year with another six per year scheduled to be handed over until 1998. Spain currently operate 69 EF-18A/B Hornets (out of 72 purchased new) in addition to 54 Mirage F.1s, 34 Northrop F-5s and eight RF-4C Phantoms. The Eurofighter EF2000 is scheduled enter service in 2002.

Eastern Australia To Lord Howe

The NSW Air Transport Council has licensed Qantas subsidiary Eastern Australia Airlines to provide primary air services to Lord Howe Island for another three years from January 1996. Eastern Australia currently operates eight return services each week between Sydney and the island using 32 seat De Havilland Dash 8 turboprops. The airline has been flying to Lord Howe since 1991 and in that time has developed a strong relationship with the community and local tour operators. Between them they have promoted the island as a year-round tourist destination with the result that high load factors have been achieved. The figure for September this year — a usually quiet month – was a very healthy 92%. Meanwhile, Heron Airlines has also won approval to operate a 19 seat LET L420 on the LHI route while the renamed Seaview, now known as KentiaLink, failed in its route bid to operate scheduled services to the island Eastern Australia has also been given approval to fly between Newcastle (Williamtown) and Sydney for a further three years, adding to the 13 years the airline has already been operating on the route. Dash 8s (in 36 seat configuration) and Jetstream 31s are used on the service, which comprises 39 weekly return flights.

GE 777 Delayed

Launch customer for the General Electric GE90 powered version of the Boeing 777 widebody twin, British Airways, received its first aircraft a few weeks late due to engine certification test delays. The first aircraft was scheduled to be handed over in late September but by then some 300 hours of flight testing had still to be completed. These included icing tests, originally planned for completion immediately before delivery, but delayed by the need to install modified engines and a minor problem which affected the gearbox. BA is unconcerned about the delay and the aircraft should now enter service during the course of this issue. Meanwhile, 777s already in service with United Airlines have been exhibiting a ‘tail wagging’ characteristic when operating in light turbulence. Movement of the aircraft’s rear fuselage has caused the rattling of galley trolleys and other items and is blamed for several cases of nausea. The 757, 767 and 747-400 exhibited the same characteristic in their early days of service and a solution was found in adjusting the flight control software. It is hoped the same fix can be applied to the 777.

Ansett is to review its future aircraft fleet requirements in view of the airline’s future growth and changes in circumstances to the domestic market. Key factors in the review include continued considered international expansion, capacity and noise problems at Sydney airport and domestic passenger market growth of 7% per year through to 2000. Any change to the fleet is likely to revolve around the addition of Boeing 767s, both for domestic and international routes (Ansett plans to fly 767-300s on its newly awarded flights to Jakarta), while Sydney airport congestion makes widebody aircraft increasingly more attractive. The airline will probably also give consideration to the future of its Stage 2 727 fleet, given that they now attract a heavy noise tax each time they fly into Sydney airport.

Ansett has also developed a five year plan called ‘Destination 2000’ designed to revive its fortunes on the Australian domestic market. The key to the plan is winning more of the annual $7bn business travel market and regaining market share lost to Qantas in recent times. The airline plans to acquire four additional Boeing 767-200s in the next 12 months to boost its presence on the lucrative east coast market between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The additional capacity will allow Ansett to compete more aggressively with Qantas on this market by providing increased flight frequency and where appropriate bypassing Sydney. It has been reported that Ansett is also ready to obtain a Boeing 767-300 for use on services between Australia and Jakarta. These are expected to start in the first half of next year. Australian Aviation.