aviation - the past, present and future of flight

Widerøe E190-E2 Due in April

The first production E190-E2 will be

delivered by Embraer to launch customer

Widerøe in April. Scandinavia’s largest

regional airline will start revenue services

with the new aircraft shortly afterwards.

John Slattery, President and CEO

of Embraer Commercial Aviation, said

Widerøe had signed a contract for up to

15 E2 jets consisting of three firm orders

for the E190-E2 and purchase rights for 12

further E2s, with the deal valued at $873m

if all purchase rights are exercised.

Widerøe is configuring its E190-E2s in a

single-class layout with 114 seats.

West Atlantic Moves to EMA 

The UK division of European cargo operator

West Atlantic has relocated from Coventry

Airport to East Midlands Airport. It has leased

hangar space close to its key customers DHL

and the Royal Mail. The move, the company

said, was driven by a need to find increased

space to accommodate its recently expanded

fleet of Boeing 737s, and the fact that many

of its customers are based at East Midlands

Airport.

Nigel Hiorns, Managing Director for

West Atlantic UK, said the company had

outgrown its Coventry facility which could

no longer meet the demands and needs of

its business.

Chinese carrier Sichuan Airlines has

signed long-term leases for four A350-

900s, three from AerCap and a single

example from Air Lease Corporation. The

three AerCap aircraft were originally built

for SriLankan Airlines, but the carrier

cancelled the contract and they are now

destined for China.

One of Sichuan Airlines A350s, carrrying

test registration F-WZFK (c/n 060), has been

given a livery featuring a panda design.

AirteamImages.com/T Laurent

Sichuan Special A350-

WACO Aircraft, of Battle Creek, Michigan,

publicly launched its prototype YMF-5F

amphibious biplane at the AOPA Fly-In at

Tampa, Florida on October 28. The aircraft,

registered N56ED (c/n F5C-8-082), which

first flew on October 2, is undergoing final

tests in Florida where there are many

freshwater lakes for water landings.

The aircraft, which is close to achieving

FAA certification, is a development of

WACO’s successful YMF-5D three-seat

biplane with extensive modifications for

the Aerocet 3400 amphibious floats. It is

powered by a 300hp Jacobs R-755A2M

radial engine, modified for water operation

and, despite the additional weight of the

floats, can take off in less than 1,000ft

(305m) from a runway. Water take-offs are

achieved in around 15 seconds. The YMF-

5F will have a base price of $595,600 and

comes equipped with a Garmin avionics

panel. Rod Simpson

The WACO YMF-5F has made its public debut. Rod Simpson

WACO Amphibian’s Debut

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 11

First IndiGo

ATR 72-

Indian airline IndiGo took delivery of its

first ATR 72-600 on November 17. It is the

first of 50 of these turboprops it ordered

in 2017. IndiGo said the the ATRs would

allow it to expand its network to smaller

Indian airports. The introduction of the

new ATR fleet goes in line with the Indian

government’s Regional Connectivity

Scheme, which aims to boost economic

development, employment and tourism by

connecting small and remote cities. Under

this scheme 100 new airports are expected

to be created in the next three years.

IN BRIEF

A new Marrakesh-London/Gatwick service

was inaugurated by low-cost carrier AIR

ARABIA MAROC on November 1. The twice-

weekly rotation operates on a Wednesday

and Saturday.

Cyprus-based COBALT AIR now has a six-

times weekly connection from its Larnaca

base to London/Gatwick. The service adds to

the airline’s existing Stansted service.

CARGOLOGIC AIR, which is based at

London/Stansted, has expanded its network

with a new service to Tel Aviv, Israel. The

weekly connection – launched on November

10 – is operated by a Boeing 747-400F and

routes through Frankfurt on both legs.

Greece’s AIR MEDITERRANEAN has opened

a direct link from Athens to London/Stansted,

its first service to the UK. The four-times

weekly flight, operated by a Boeing 737, is

timed to allow onward connections to the

airline’s Middle East and Africa network, via

the Greek capital.

Low-cost airline FASTJET MOZAMBIQUE

launched on November 3 and links Maputo

with Beira (twice daily), Nampula (daily)

and Tete (four-times weekly) using an

Embraer 145 charted from Solenta Aviation

Mozambique.

Another US carrier is halting services to

CUBA. Alaska Airlines said a lack of demand

and changes to American travel policy made

it harder for citizens to visit the Caribbean

island. The airline will end its daily Los

Angeles-Havana service on January 22 and

redeploy the Boeing 737-800 on routes with

higher demand. Frontier Airlines, Spirit

Airlines and Silver Airways have already

pulled out of Cuba with Sun Country Airlines

axing its services before they had started.

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