AIR TRANSPORT
16 | Flight International | 17-23 February 2015 flightglobal.com
B
oeing has expanded its oper-
ations in North Charleston,
South Carolina, and brought
more work in-house that was pre-
viously performed by a supplier.
The North Charleston complex
will also assemble the fan inlet
for the 737 Max and design the
fan cowl for the same aircraft as
well as the nacelle of the 777X,
Boeing announced on 11 Febru-
ary while opening a new propul-
sion systems facility on the site.
Boeing had previously dis-
closed that only the design of the
fan inlet for the 737 Max would
be performed in North Charles-
ton. Now, that part will also be
assembled at the site, along with
the additional design work.
UTC Aerospace Systems has
been Boeing’s supplier for the737NG and 777 nacelles but, after
having suppliers assemble na-
celles for the past 10-15 years,
Boeing says the company is now
“strategically” moving to bring
that work back in-house.
This follows Boeing’s decision
to take back centre fuselage assem-
bly for the 787. That work was
previously performed in Charles-
ton by Global Aeronautica, a jointventure formed by Alenia and
Vought (now Triumph AeroStruc-
tures). Boeing later expanded the
site to assemble the 787-8 and
787-9. It will also be the exclusive
final assembly site for the 787-10.
Boeing’s new 20,800m^2
(225,000ft^2 ) facility in North
Charleston will begin assembling
nacelle inlets when 737 Max pro-
duction begins later this year. ■Read the latest analysis of air transport
news by our team of expert reporters at
flightglobal.com/airtransportSTRATEGY DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON
Supplier backs rapid revival of Il-
President of landing gear manufacturer Hydromash says not resuming production of regional transport would be mistake
R
ussian landing-gear special-
ist Hydromash is urging a
quick revival of Ilyushin Il-
production to meet the country’s
regional transport demand.
President Vladimir Luzyanin
says he is “convinced” that delay-
ing the resumption of production
would be a “strategic mistake”.
He says that seeking develop-
ment of a new aircraft type
would require eight to 10 years,
whereas the Il-114 could be seri-
ally produced in two or three.
Luzyanin believes the turbo-
prop can “inexpensively” address
the problem of regional air trans-
port, and adds that Hydromash
has already developed an under-
carriage modification for serving
areas in the north of Russia.
“We must put an end to the
discussions,” he says.
Hydromash, located in Nizhny
Novgorod, had previously pro-
posed that the aircraft be pro-
duced at the local Sokol aviation
plant, which specialises in work
on MiG fighters. Russia’s govern-
ment, however, favours the Avia-
kor plant in Samara.
Formerly produced in Tash-
kent, Uzbekistan, the Il-114 re-
ceived Russian certification in
April 1997, followed by the Il-
114-100 – powered by Pratt &
Whitney Canada PW127 engines- in December 1999.
Uzbekistan Airways is the
only notable operator of the type,
of which only 13 were built.
The last Il-114 to roll off the
line was handed over in 2012. ■
UTair is set to slash its mainline fleet
by disposing of 12 Airbus A321-200s.
The Russian carrier has already
withdrawn the 2014-15-vintage nar-
rowbodies from revenue service.
“These aircraft will be returned to
the market,” says UTair general di-
rector Andrei Martirosov. “We’re in
talks with a prospective customer
who is interested in taking them.”
UTair still has eight A321s on or-
der, with deliveries having been due
for completion by November. The
carrier will have to revise the deliveryschedule under the agreement
signed in 2012, Martirosov says.
A consultancy brought in after the
Russian airline group failed in
November to redeem two tranches of
domestic bonds advised UTair to
drastically cut its passenger fleet
size. A tentative restructuring plan
envisaged returning, disposing of or
cancelling orders for 46 aircraft.
Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets data-
base shows that UTair had 85
Western-built aircraft in service and
orders for 57 at the end of 2014. ■RESTRUCTURING TOM ZAITSEV MOSCOW
Downsizing UTair to return A321-200sAirTeamImages
The last Il-114 arrived in 2012AirTeamImages
The carrier has already withdrawn the narrowbodies from serviceBoeing brings more design and assembly in-house
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