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Fokker’s main problem is its debt, estimated at approximately $A10bn. The strength of European currencies against the US dollar has also hindered Fokker’s efforts to keep its prices competitive and keep a profitable margin. Regardless, Fokker’s order book for its jets in particular is quite healthy. Should Fokker collapse several of its major suppliers will be hard hit as well, including Shorts which builds Fokker Jetline wings, Rolls-Royce which supplies engines and DASA which builds fuselage sections.

Ansett-NZ Deal Vetoed

Air New Zealand’s proposed $425m purchase of TNT’s 50% interest in Ansett has been vetoed by the NZ Commerce Commission in a draft ruling. The Commission has ruled that the merger could lead to increased fares and a reduction in service levels on the NZ domestic market due to the deal creating a monopoly on those routes. Ansett NZ currently competes with Air NZ for domestic market share.

The Commission says it is not convinced by Air NZ’s argument that the alliance would allow it to compete more strongly on the international market with subsequent benefits to NZ’s tourist industry and the economy in general. The Commission also rejected a key part of Air NZ’s strategy, which was to artificially separate Ansett NZ from influence or control. The Commission says it could not even consider the proposed structure under NZ law and questions if it would be permitted under NZ and Australian company laws.

The matter is further complicated by the news that Singapore Airlines is a potential investor in Ansett. SIA’s managing director, Dr Cheong Choong Kong, recently told journalists that if the TNT Air NZ deal fell through “we would be interested in talking” to Ansett or TNT. SIA’s previous attempt to buy into the Australian airline market was in 1993 when it lost out to British Airways in the 25% trade sale of Qantas shares.

Ansett Fleet Changes

A capital injection by owners News Corp and TNT has allowed Ansett to expand and rationalise its fleet so as to be more competitive on international and domestic routes. Orders were announced in early February for two Airbus A320s, two Boeing 767-200s for domestic services (a third is planned), one 767-300 for international services and one Boeing 737, all leased and for delivery this year. Ansett already has four additional A320s on order from Airbus. The new aircraft will allow Ansett to retire its remaining Boeing 727s and Fokker F28s by late 1997, leaving it with a proposed modern fleet of three Boeing 747s, 12 767s, 22 737s, 19 A320s and 11 BAe 146s. The changes represent only a small overall increase in capacity for the airline.

Super Constellation Arrives In Australia

The enthusiastic support of a dedicated band of professionals came to fruition at 11.45am on February 3 with the long awaited arrival of the Lockheed Super Constellation VH-EAG Southern Preservation in Sydney, writes Eric Allen. Taxiing past an array of modern airliners on a busy Saturday morning, the Connie turned many heads. Prior to the landing at Sydney, VH-EAG made a flypast over the city.

For the members of the Historical Aviation Restoration Society it was the culmination of many thousands of hours of work and considerable effort and expenditure to bring the Connie to flying condition, which began in 1991. Proof of the expertise behind the whole project was the faultless performance of the aircraft on the trans-Pacific flight which was routed from Oakland to Sydney via Honolulu, Pago Pago and Nadi.

A special Certificate of Airworthiness is held by VH-EAG with exemptions for non-functioning de-icing boots and pressurisation. The latter exemption requires all flights to not exceed 10,000ft altitude. Coupled with a leisurely 220 knot (408km/h) cruising speed to preserve the engines, the flight time was approximately 34 hours. It was planned to fly VH-EAG to HMAS Albatross at Nowra in mid-February where it will be stationed for the time being.

Qantas Airline Of Year

Influential US aviation magazine Air Transport World has named Qantas its 1995 ‘Airline of the Year’. The prestigious award is intended to honour excellence in the industry and is won by demonstrating outstanding performances in a number of disciplines. The magazine says that Qantas qualified for the award by providing outstanding service to the public, developing innovative new markets and services, introducing new technology to the industry and performing in a consistently profitable way. Previous winners include Ansett, Lufthansa, British Airways, American, Singapore, JAL and Cathay Pacific. Other ATW awardees are TAM, the Regional Airline of the Year, Gulf Air for passenger service, Martinair for market development and AlliedSignal for technology achievement (for its predictive windshear system).

Pan Am Flies Again

The title ‘Pan Am’ will once again be seen on airliners this year thanks to plans by a former employee of the original company. Martin Shugrue was an executive with the company at the time it folded and in 1993 he and his partner Chuck Cobb (a former US Undersecretary of Commerce and ambassador to Iceland) plan to start operations of the new Pan Am in mid-1996. Mr Cobb acquired the rights to the Pan Am name in 1993 for $US1.5m. The new airline will be a much smaller operator than before with an initial fleet of three leased Airbus A300s for services between New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Miami. Analysts say the new Pan Am’s major asset while it is establishing itself will be its very high level of brand recognition.

Raytheon’s Big Year

Raytheon Aircraft, parent company of the Beechcraft and Hawker product lines, had a successful year in 1995, delivering an industry-leading total of 409 aircraft worth a company record $US2bn. The deliveries total comprised 96 corporate jets (another company record) including T-1 Jayhawks for the USAF, 110 King Air twin turboprops for both civil and military customers, 65 Model 1900 commuter turboprops and 138 piston-engined light aircraft. Other Raytheon highlights for the year include the selection of the Beech/Pilatus PC-9 Mk. II as winner of the USAF/USN JPATS competition, the launch of the new Premier I light corporate jet and introduction of the enhanced performance Hawker 800XP midsize corporate jet.

Rvac Satellite Operation

The Royal Victorian Aero Club has opened a satellite flying school operation in Melbourne’s Yarra Valley with the takeover of the Coldstream Flying School after the retirement of its owner. The ‘Royal Vic’ says the Coldstream operation is an extension to its existing Moorabbin facility and will mean better utilisation of its fleet. Activities at Coldstream Airport will be built up to a seven days per week operation offering a full range of flying training services. The RVAC previously operated satellite training establishments at country centres such as Nhill and Swan Hill in the 1950s before these evolved into independent local clubs.

Cis Safety Doubts Return

A continuing high accident and serious incident rates in Russia and other nations within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are pointing to a disintegration of the countries’ commercial aviation system. The crash of a Russian Antonov An-32 into a crowded marketplace after takeoff from Zaire’s Kinshasa-Ndolo airport in early January has sparked the latest concerns. The accident killed about 250 people on the ground but the six on board the An-32 freighter survived.

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The aircraft was wet leased by Zairean carrier Scibe Airlift from Russia’s Moscow Airlines, an operator banned from flying in its own country since its air operator’s certificate was withdrawn by the Russian Department of Air Transport. It is believed the aircraft’s certificate of airworthiness had expired and that it was being used for illegally supplying UNITA rebels in Angola. It is suspected the An-32 was also overloaded.

Although Russian authorities are claiming an improvement in safety over the very poor 1989-92 period, there were still 17 fatal accidents involving CIS registered aircraft in 1995 which killed 248 crew members and passengers. Overall, there were 70 accidents and serious incidents during the year compared with 71 in 1995. According to the managing director of Tupolev’s Technical-Scientific Department, Valentin Klimov, “The vast air transport system inherited from the former Soviet Union is simply disintegrating, creating the prerequisite for the total collapse of Russia’s commercial transport manufacturing industry within the next five years.”

The major problems which have to be faced include regular overloading of aircraft and/or exceeding their centre of gravity limits; carrying non-registered loads; and departing with marginal fuel reserves aboard so as to maximise payload and therefore profit. The use of poor quality cheap fuel is also causing concern.

China Airport Contract

Brisbane-based Asia Pacific Design Group – a consortium of 12 companies including the Federal Airports Corporation — has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the provincial government of Jilin in northern China to design, build and operate a new international airport. The group will now carry out a feasibility study on the airport and a toll road linking the cities of Changchun and Jilin, about 900km north-east of Beijing. The total cost of the joint venture project is about $A800m. The Chinese government is to contribute one-third of the cost with the design group having to find the remainder.

Plans for the airport include international and domestic terminals, a three-storey airport building, cargo centre, maintenance facilities and a 3200m main runway and associated taxiways. The planned development is part of China’s general expansion of its airport network as it tries to cope with rapidly growing traffic in combination with inadequate facilities. Passenger traffic is growing at about 20% annually at the moment.

In order to slow things down until the infrastructure can catch up, China has placed a limit of 27 on new airliner orders this year and the number of operators has been frozen at 32 with smaller, loss-making airlines being encouraged to merge. A tightening up of operating procedures resulted in a relatively safe 1995 after several years of high accident rates. One of the major reasons for the high rate was the inability of the Chinese civil aviation infrastructure to cope with the rapid growth, resulting in safety, maintenance, administration and air traffic control deficiencies.

Us Ga Deliveries Up

The US general aviation industry had a better 1995, delivering more aircraft than any year since 1991 and recording its highest billings since 1981. According to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, the industry delivered 1077 aircraft worth $US2.8bn. The 1994 figures were 928 aircraft and $US2.3bn. The breakdown of deliveries by category is: piston-engined 576 (up 15%), business jets 246 (up 10%) and turboprops 255 (up 23%), the latter category featuring strong sales of 19 passenger commuters and the Cessna Caravan. Export deliveries accounted for 310 aircraft worth $US815.6m.