THIS WEEK
8 | Flight International | 10-16 November 2015 flightglobal.com
For the latest news and developments
from the Dubai air show, visit
flightglobal.com/dubaiREGIONAL GROWTH SPURS ANZ TURBOPROP DEAL
ORDER Air New Zealand has signed a firm agreement for 15 ATR
72-600s, in a deal worth $375 million at list prices. The airline says
that 11 of the turboprops will be used to replace its ATR 72-
fleet, while the remainder will allow further growth on regional routes.
Deliveries of the 69-seat aircraft will begin from late 2016. ANZ still
has seven -600s on order from a 14-unit deal signed in 2012.DYNAMIC 767 FIRE PINNED ON LOOSE COUPLING
INCIDENT US investigators have disclosed that a coupling assembly
had become disconnected from a fuel line leading to the left-hand
Pratt & Whitney JT9D engine of a Dynamic International Airways
Boeing 767-200ER (N251MY) that caught fire on 29 October at Fort
Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport. Some 22 of the aircraft’s
101 occupants were injured in the emergency evacuation of the
twinjet prior to take-off. The National Transportation Safety Board
has found no evidence of an uncontained engine failure.BEIRUT READY FOR ARMED SUPER TUCANOS
AWARD The US government has put Sierra Nevada on contract to
deliver six A-29 Super Tucanos to the Lebanese air force by 2019.
The nearly $173 million production contract will provide Beirut with a
much-needed close air support capability, and will supplement its air
force’s three armed Cessna AC-208 Caravans.AIRBUS CELEBRATES $17 BILLION CHINESE ORDER
COMMITMENT State-owned China Aviation Supplies Holding
Company has ordered a total of 130 Airbus jets in a deal worth $
billion. The agreement covers 100 A320-family aircraft, and firms a
June 2015 commitment for 30 A330s. Airbus says the deals, which
do not specify engine selections, validate its decision to establish an
A330 completions and delivery centre in Tianjin.FIRST METAL CUT AT NEW GEARBOX JOINT VENTURE
PROPULSION Rolls-Royce and Leibherr Aerospace’s new gearbox
joint venture for the proposed UltraFan engine – to be branded as
Aerospace Transmission Technologies – has begun cutting metal.
The venture began operating at Liebherr’s Friedrichshafen facility in
October, with an initial 30 personnel.PAKISTAN TO RECEIVE TURKISH TWEETS
TRANSFER Turkey is to donate 34 stored Cessna T-37 Tweet jet
trainers and related spare parts to Pakistan, under an agreement
signed on 28 October. The Pakistan air force already operates 18
T-37s, as recorded by Flightglobal’s Fleets Analyzer database.NEW ASSEMBLY LINE NO THREAT TO DONAUWÖRTH
ROTORCRAFT Airbus Helicopters has played down the potential
impact on its existing Donauwörth production facility of a new
Chinese assembly line for the H135 twin-engined rotorcraft. The air-
framer on 30 October signed a letter of intent with Qingdao-based
Sino-German Ecopark detailing the move and a 100-unit order.NASA CALL FOR ASTRONAUT CANDIDATES
RECRUITMENT NASA will next month begin taking applications for a
new class of astronauts to be selected in 2017. Candidates must
be US citizens with a university degree and relevant professional
experience or 1,000h-plus in jet aircraft. To date, NASA has selected
more than 300 astronauts and today has 47 on its active roster.BRIEFING
A
irbus is still aiming for 15
A350-900 deliveries this
year, although the company had
yet to get halfway to this target by
early October.
Six A350 deliveries had been
achieved in 2015 at the point
when Finnair, the third customer
behind Qatar Airways and
Vietnam Airlines, received its ini-
tial aircraft in October.
While more than half of the
planned deliveries would have to
be achieved in the fourth quarter,
chief financial officer Harald
Wilhelm says the 2015 deliveries
are “back-loaded”, in line with
customer commitments.
Wilhelm gave the update dur-
ing a third-quarter Airbus Group
briefing on 30 October.
Airbus programmes chief
Didier Evrard, speaking during an
earlier briefing, said the company
was “focused on deliveries”. But
he is confident that it will reach an
output target of 15 A350-900s for- Evrard says the airframer is
prioritising the ramp-up of pro-
duction, and intends to “more
than double” the A350 output
next year, as it bids to reach a
monthly rate of 10 in 2018.
“This is something that is very
important for us, and we are
working very hard to reach these
targets,” he says.
Wilhelm would not give a spe-
cific forecast for 2016 deliveries
of A350s, saying that the airfram-
er would be in a better position to
make a prediction early next year
once the 2015 delivery level had
been confirmed.
Cabin interiors will be a key
focus for the airframer next year,
says Wilhelm, noting that a “fa-
vourite” supplier to Airbus had
publicly disclosed problems meet-
ing demand to some customers.
Although Wilhelm did not
identify the company, seat manu-
facturer Zodiac has admitted
“serious production difficulties”
in recent weeks that have result-
ed in late deliveries – notably to
American Airlines, which has
sought alternatives for its Boeing
777 and 787 cabins.
“We need to be focused in
particular on the interior, and
make sure that stuff comes to the
[final assembly line] in time, at
the quality foreseen,” he says.
“[This is] one of the challenges
we have to master for 2016.”
Airbus had secured orders for
783 A350s by the end of
September, including 598 for the
-900 variant. ■Finnair received its initial Trent XWB-powered twinjet in OctoberAirbusPROGRAMME DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDONAirbus confident
it can meet A
delivery forecast
Airframer insists it will hand over 15 examples of widebody
this year – although only seven have been delivered so far