AIR TRANSPORT
12 | Flight International | 14-20 February 2017 flightglobal.comFor up-to-the-minute air transport news,
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flightglobal.com/dashboardFIM activity is part of a wider FAA assessment of air traffic controlJamie Cooper/REX/ShutterstockTECHNOLOGY JON HEMMERDINGER BOSTONNASA space tests aim
to bring airliners closer
F
light testing is being carried
out by NASA of airborne tech-
nology designed to reduce the re-
quired space between aircraft
during descent and landing.
The technology is called flight
deck interval management (FIM)
and is among systems that are in-
cluded in the US Federal Avia-
tion Administration’s NextGen
air traffic modernisation.
The FAA is also testing
ground-based interval manage-
ment systems that will help con-
trollers manage spacing.
NASA has started flight testing
FIM near Seattle using a United
Airlines Boeing 737, a 757 pro-
vided by Honeywell and a third,business aircraft, also provided
by Honeywell.
The FIM system generates
“cockpit displays that show pi-
lots surrounding air traffic and
provide speed guidance to main-
tain precise intervals from nearby
aircraft”, NASA says.
That information allows pilots
to maintain a designated distance
behind other aircraft, allowing
aircraft to descend and land at
shorter intervals, thereby increas-
ing airspace flow, according to
the agency.
NASA hopes to complete flight
testing of FIM by mid-February
and deliver the system to the
FAA later this year. ■EXPANSION MICHAEL GUBISCH MUNICHLufthansa powers
A350 growth plan
from Munich hub
Chief executive says first 10 of its widebodies will operate
from Bavarian airport, with seven to be in use by year-end German carrier took receipt of new Airbus twinjet last DecemberAirbusG
erman carrier Lufthansa’s
A350 fleet is growing fast,
with six more of the Airbus wide-
bodies to be delivered this year.
Lufthansa – Europe’s second
operator of the type after Finnair- took delivery of its first A350 in
ASSEMBLY
Tianjin and Mobile plants poised for A320neo productionAirbus is aiming to begin final
assembly of A320neos at its
Chinese plant in Tianjin around
mid-year and production at its
US Mobile line at year-end.
The two assembly lines com-
plement its Toulouse and
Hamburg single-aisle facilities, at
which A320neo manufacture is
already under way.Airbus gave the schedule esti-
mates for Tianjin and Mobile –
without identifying specific
months – having delivered a total
of 70 A320neos by the end of
January this year.
Forty had Pratt & Whitney
PW1100G engines, and 30 were
fitted with CFM International
Leap-1As.Single-aisle production re-
mained relatively low in January,
with 21 aircraft delivered, only
two of which were Neo models.
Airbus has yet to deliver the
first A321neo, stating only that it
will be handed over “well before
summer”. The PW1100G-
powered version has already
been certificated. ■December 2016 and planned to
put it into service on the Munich-
Delhi route on 10 February.
At an unveiling ceremony for
the long-haul twinjet in Munich
on 3 February, Lufthansa Group
chief executive Carsten Spohr saidthe airline was scheduled to intro-
duce seven A350-900s this year.
This is part of a group-wide in-
vestment of about $2 billion in
new aircraft this year, also span-
ning 14 Bombardier CSeries jets
and two Boeing 777-300ERs forSwiss, plus a total of 14 A320ceos
and A320neos.
Lufthansa’s second A350 is to
be delivered later this month and
enter service on the Munich-Bos-
ton route on 14 March. A third is
slated for delivery in late March.
The airline’s in-house mainte-
nance division is completing the
interior installation for its A
fleet as Airbus is delivering the
aircraft without premium econo-
my seats or a self-service area for
business-class passengers.
Lufthansa has orders for 25
A350s and has decided to station
the first 10 aircraft in Munich.
Spohr describes that decision
as testimony to Lufthansa’s “first-
class co-operation” with the air-
port, which he describes as “Eu-
rope’s best by a wide margin”. ■FIN_140217_012.indd 12 09/02/2017 12: