Improvements for ATRs
The new Standard 3 avionics for the ATR
-600 turboprop has been certi ed by the
European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
The avionics suite has been co-developed
by the Franco/Italian manufacturer and
Thales. The latest version will, the partners
say, improve pilot situational awareness
through a synthetic vision system (SVS),
the rst time such a capability has been
tted to a commercial airliner, as well as
providing pilots with a more user-friendly
interface.
The most notable addition is the
required navigation performance with
authorisation required (RNP-AR) 0.3/0.option, that will support safe operations
in air corridors with 0.3nm (0.6km) width,
enabling safer operations in mountainous
areas or congested traffic environments.
The development of this latest version of
RNP-AR has been jointly nanced by Air
New Zealand, which had asked ATR to
investigate improvements in the systems
functionality.
ATR says, the Standard 3 avionics
software will be installed in all new-build
ATRs from the end of this year, and can
be retro tted to nearly 400 ATR -
aircraft that are currently being operated
worldwide, via a simple software upgrade.New 787-9s
for Air Europa
Air Europa will operate four new
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners from 2019.
The company currently ies eight,
smaller 787-8s, but plans to increase
its Dreamliner eet to 24 by 2022, and
recently agreed long-term leases on four
new Boeing 787-9s. The Rolls-Royce
Trent 1000-powered jets, to be acquired
from BOC Aviation, are the rst -
variants for both the Spanish airline and
the lessor.
“We’re pleased to begin a partnership
with Air Europa, a new European
customer, and to support its eet growth
and expansion plans,” said Robert Martin,
MD and CEO of BOC Aviation. “We’re
delighted to add the Rolls-Royce-powered
Boeing 787-9 aircraft to our portfolio.
“This order is the company’s rst for
a Trent 1000 engine, demonstrating our
con dence in these fuel-efficient engines
that deliver impressive performance.”Canadian manufacturer Bombardier recently
delivered the rst dual-class Q400 ordered
by Philippine Airlines (PAL). Turboprop RP-
C5901 (c/n 4561) is the rst of the airline’s
order for 12, and made its maiden ight
from Toronto/Downsview Airport on July 14,
before handover to the Philippine carrier ve
days later. It is con gured with 86 seats, ten
in Premium Economy with 33in (84cm) seatpitch and 76 in Economy with a 29in (74cm)
pitch.
The carrier originally placed an order for
ve Q400s plus seven options on December
8, 2016 to supplement the ve Q400s
(former SAS and Widerøe aircraft) and
four Q300s being operated by subsidiary
Air Philippines (formerly PAL Express). At
the recent Paris Air Show it converted theoutstanding seven options into rm orders,
making a total of 12. Philippine Airlines
says the remaining four from the initial order
will be delivered at a rate of one a month
through to November, while the converted
options will start to arrive next July, with ve
expected before the end of the year. The
nal two are due to be handed over during
the second half of 2019. Andrew H ClinePAL has ordered 12 Q400s. Andrew H ClinePAL’s First Dual-Class Q400s
Iranian carrier Qeshm Air has launched a new service between Tehran and Brussels. The maiden
ight touched down in the Belgian capital on June 27 and marked the airline’s rst scheduled
service to Europe. The weekly rotation is operated using an Airbus A319. Jack GorczynskiQeshm Air
Brussels Service
CIVIL NEWS
16 Aviation News incorporating Jets September 2017Primera Air
Announces
Long-haul Routes
Danish leisure carrier Primera Air has unveiled
plans to launch transatlantic services. The
airline intends opening direct links to New York
(Newark/Liberty) and Boston/Logan from three
new European bases – Birmingham, London/
Stansted and Paris/Charles de Gaulle – from
April, using its incoming Airbus A321neos.14-17_civil_newsDC.mfDC.indd 16 04/08/2017 12: