Long Range A321’s Maiden Flight
Airbus’ first A321LR (long range), performed
a maiden flight of 2hrs 36mins on January- The aircraft powered by CFM Leap-1A
engines is scheduled to participate in a near
100-hour flight test programme, including
transatlantic missions, for EASA and FAA
Type Certification in the second quarter of
this year. Entry into service is targeted for
Q4, 2018. Separately, at the manufacturer’s
Hamburg facility, the initial A321neo ACF(Airbus Cabin Flex), D-AVZO, was rolled
out on January 5. This version enables a
more flexible cabin configuration for upto
240 passengers. It will now undergo ground
testing ahead of its maiden flight.Scheduled passenger services are now
being operated by Korean Air with its first
two Bombardier CS300s. The maiden
flight was on January 20 from Seoul/Gimpo
International Airport to Ulsan, flown by the
carrier’s first aircraft, HL9082 (c/n 55018).
Sister jet, HL9083 (c/n 55019), operated
the Gimpo to Pohang rotation later in the
d ay.
Introduction of the first commercial
services comes just a month after the two
aircraft were delivered to the Seoul-based
carrier, the Asian launch customer for the C
Series family. The first jet was handed overduring a special ceremony at the aircraft’s
production facility at Mirabel, Quebec,on December 22. The second example
followed eight days later.Korean Air has put its first two
CS300s into service. BombardierKorean Air Begins C Series Operations
The first African operator of the Boeing 737 MAX 8, Mauritania Airlines International, has taken
delivery of 5T-CLJ (c/n 64299). It was ferried from Boeing Field to the carrier’s Nouakchott base
over December 20 and 21. It is the first MAX for an African operator. Joe G WalkerFirst African MAX
http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 11Birmingham
Breaks Records
Birmingham Airport welcomed 12.98 million
travellers last year, up 11.5% over 2016, its
previous best.
The new record, which punctuated 30
months of continuous growth, was achieved
despite the loss of Monarch Airlines from
Birmingham’s schedule.
The carrier was a major presence at the
airport, carrying around 5,000 passengers
a day until its demise in October. Some
existing carriers and new operators picked
up almost all of the capacity. Last year,
Jet2.com and Jet2holidays launched at
Birmingham, which also saw the return of
British Airways and bmi regional.Air Seychelles Axes Long-haul
Long-haul and widebody operations have
been dropped by Air Seychelles as part of
the company’s strategic transformation plan.
The carrier will end its Paris/Charles de
Gaulle service on April 24 and return its two
Airbus A330s to the lessors.
Air Seychelles said it was facing “rapidlyincreasing competition”. The new plan has the
backing of Air Seychelles’ Supervisory Board
and both its shareholders – the Government of
the Republic of Seychelles and Etihad Airways.
Flights to Antananarivo, Madagascar, are
also being dropped because of their “high
dependence” on a feed from the Paris service.British Airways, Air France and Edelweiss
have all announced plans to start flying
to the Seychelles this year, which already
has services from Turkish Airlines, Qatar
Airways, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Kenya
Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Austrian Airlines,
Sri Lankan and Condor.Dreamliner 10 Certified
An amended type certificate (ATC) has
been issued by the Federal Aviation
Administration for the newest member of
the Dreamliner family, the -10.
Issuing of the ATC caps a successful
ten-month flight test programme
which started in March 2017 involving
three aircraft. Between them theyaccumulated around 900 hours with
the company’s flight test team taking
them through various trials to confirm
the type’s handling, systems and overall
performance, ensuring the -10 met
internal requirements and certification
standards for safety of flight.
Other aviation regulatory agenciesare expected to follow the FAA’s lead
and certify the aeroplane before it enters
service.
To date, Boeing has more than 170
orders for the 787-10 from nine customers
and is expecting to make the first delivery
to launch customer, Singapore Airlines,
during the first half of the year.10-12_14_civil_newsDC.indd 11 05/02/2018 14: