Flight International – 6 August 2019

AIR TRANSPORT

12 | Flight International | 6-12 August 2019 flightglobal.com

FLEET

Aer Lingus goes long with A321LR

Irish carrier Aer Lingus has received its first Airbus A321LR, one

of eight of the long-range narrowbody type being delivered to

the IAG-owned operator. The aircraft (EI-LRA) is powered by

CFM International Leap-1A engines. Aer Lingus agreed two

years ago to take seven of the variant from US lessor Air Lease,

before committing to an eighth from the company later in the

same year. The twinjet is fitted with a two-class cabin featuring

16 business- and 168 economy-class seats. Airbus says the op-

erator will use the aircraft to serve the US east coast. The carrier

has already identified Minneapolis, Montreal and Hartford as

A321LR routes. Aer Lingus has since expanded its commitment

to the re-engined A321neo family with an order for a further six

aircraft – all of them the A321XLR, the longest-range variant.

Airbus

Twenty 717s are operated for flag carrier’s QantasLink regional unit

AirTeamImages

C

anadian investigators have

disclosed that a WestJet

Encore De Havilland Canada

Dash 8-400 was found to have

suffered substantial structural

damage after a landing at Ed-

monton in July.

The turboprop (C-FKWE) had

been arriving from Fort McMur-

ray in Alberta with 70 passengers

and four crew members.

It experienced an “abnormal

contact” with runway 12 as it

landed, says the Transportation

Safety Board of Canada.

As the aircraft vacated the run-

way via taxiway A2, the crew be-

came aware that the nose-gear

tyres had burst.

Meteorological data for Ed-

monton airport at the time given

for the incident shows variable

winds, gusting up to 23kt

(43km/h), with thunderstorms

and rain.

“[Owing] to thunderstorm ac-

tivity, company maintenance

[personnel] were unable to attend

to the aircraft to change both nose

tyres for approximately 40min,”

says the safety board.

After the passengers disem-

barked at the gate, it states, a clos-

er inspection of the turboprop

showed the fuselage skin was

wrinkled and the aircraft had

damage to its forward pressure

bulkhead.

Its nose-gear assembly and left-

hand nose-gear door were also

damaged. None of the aircraft’s

occupants was injured.

Cirium’s Fleets Analyzer lists

the aircraft as a five-year old air-

frame, delivered to WestJet

Encore in 2014. ■

INCIDENT DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Hard landing damages

WestJet Encore Q

Q

antasLink and resource

charter operator Cobham

Aviation Services Australia look

likely to be sold, after their UK

parent company agreed to a £

billion ($5 billion) takeover by

US private equity firm Advent In-

ternational.

Publicly listed Cobham’s board

recommended the all-cash offer

on 25 July to shareholders ahead

of an extraordinary general meet-

ing due in mid-September.

In announcing the deal, the

aerospace systems and services

company says it “has com-

menced a strategic review of the

Australian [aviation] opera-

tions... to decide how best to op-

timise value in the interests of

Cobham and its stakeholders.”

The Australian operation’s air-

line services unit operates 20

Boeing 717s for the Australian

RESTRUCTURE ELLIS TAYLOR PERTH

Cobham eyes sale of Australian assets

Takeover of UK systems and services business by private equity firm could see divestment of Adelaide-based subsidiary

flag carrier under the QantasLink

banner, as well as four BAe 146

freighters for its cargo unit.

The 717 contract was extend-

ed in 2016 for 10 years, although

Qantas has taken back manage-

ment of the aircraft’s base main-

tenance, which effectively

leaves Cobham as the crew

provider.

Under its regional services di-

vision, Cobham Aviation Servic-

es Australia also operates nine

BAe 146s and Avro RJs and one

Embraer 190 on resource charter

contracts. It is also due to take

delivery of its first De Havilland

Canada Dash 8-400 in the com-

ing weeks.

Chevron Australia, Oz Miner-

als and Minara Resources are its

major clients in that market, op-

erating from bases in Perth and

Adelaide.

In addition, Cobham’s Surveil-

lance Australia business operates

11 Dash 8s on behalf of the Aus-

tralian Border Force, and four

Bombardier Challenger 604s for

the Australian Maritime Safety

Authority on search and rescue

missions.

While the company has not

commented on the review, it ap-

pears likely that the civil-focused

business may be spun off, while

the government operations could

be retained. ■

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