JET FUEL COULD RISE FROM ITS CURRENT LEVEL OF 30% of airline operating costs to 40% under one economic scenario studied as part of a European airport capacity analysis just released by Eurocontrol. The 40% figure is based on the most pessimistic case for fuel prices and is part of a low-growth scenario that would also take into account increases in regional tensions and security costs as well as shifts in tourism to short-haul routes.
Contrary to most predictions, Japan's Finance Ministry has approved preliminary funding for the second runway at Kansai International Airport in the fiscal 2005 budget. The Osaka-Kobe island airport has seen dwindling passenger counts, so construction of its second runway wasn't expected. The ministry allocated 30 billion yen ($288 million) in next year's budget, or about half its estimated total cost. One reason for the change of heart is that local governments have agreed to share in the expense, although by how much isn't yet clear.
A final contract for the Cosmo-SkyMed radar surveillance satellite network will ensure full system operability by 2008--provided additional funding becomes available.
Scientists studying climate change will soon be able to draw on a new orbital observatory specialized in aerosol and liquid/ice cloud formation. Orbited together with Helios 2A on Dec. 18, Parasol is the third unit in the A-Train, an international constellation of six spacecraft intended to improve understanding of weather and climate change mechanisms, as well as scientists' ability to predict and modify their long-term impact.
Mike Hayle has become CEO-designate to head U.K.-based QinetiQ's bid for the engineering and logistics packages within the British Defense Ministry's Defense Training Review.
An Indian air force base was badly damaged and 150 of its military personnel and their families lost in the tsunami that struck Car Nicobar Island in the Andaman Sea.
Singapore's third budget carrier, Jetstar Asia, a regional extension of Qantas' Jetstar brand in Australia, started operations last month with daily services to Hong Kong, which are soon to be followed by flights to Taipei and Pattaya. Services to Shanghai, Manila, and Surabaya and Jakarta, Indonesia, are to be launched this month. Singapore Airlines, which operates to all Jetstar Asia destinations, has already slashed fares on the Taipei sector to 80% in a special promotion.
The tsunamis that devastated coastal regions in Asia (see p. 35) probably will curtail defense exports for U.S. and European manufacturers, industry representatives believe. Thailand, for instance, is expected to have to divert government expenditures from military procurement, says a Washington-based U.S. industry official. India, on the other hand, is considered likely to be able to support disaster relief and keep defense spending largely on track. Industry officials are reminded of defense cutbacks in Central Europe after floods ravaged the region in 2002.
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) will begin final assembly of the second T-50 advanced trainer at its Sacheon plant this month. By June it expects the fifth of the supersonic trainers, which are powered by General Electric F404-GE-102 engines, to be in production. KAI is under contract to make its first delivery next December to South Korea's air force, but the plant's general manager, N.S. Park, says the aircraft could roll out by October. The air force is acquiring 50 T-50s as advanced trainers and has specified a need for more than 40 as A-50 lead-in fighter trainers.
Independence Air, faced with the spectre of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, is reviewing its survival options as a low-cost carrier--and one of them may be returning to its roots as a regional feeder to United Airlines.
The SES-Americom AMC-16 spacecraft will complete its checkout in geosynchronous orbit in mid-January, following a dawn liftoff Dec. 17 from Cape Canaveral on a Lockheed Martin/ International Launch Services Atlas V. The nearly 9,000-lb. satcom is being maneuvered into position at 85 deg. W. Long., where it can provide services to North and Central America, including spot beam services to Mexico. The AMC-16 spacecraft carries 12 K a-band spot beams in addition to 24 K u-band transponders.
Irkut Corp. will build additional components for Airbus under what is thought to be the biggest Russian aerospace award ever received from a foreign aircraft manufacturer.
The U.S. Air Force is giving the green light to upgrading the first of its more than 200 F-16 anti-radar targeting pods, even before development testing of the equipment begins.
Bell Helicopter Textron will begin production in March of the U.S. Marine Corps' H-1 Upgrade Program, and company officials are confident the AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft will be ready for the rigorous operational evaluation phase late this summer. Plans for the H-1 initiative call for taking 180 AH-1W and 100 UH-1N helicopters and remanufacturing them into zero-time airframes designated as AH-1Z and UH-1Y, respectively.
William Schuster has become chief operating officer of Orbimage Inc., Dulles, Va. He was president of the Integrated Systems Div. of BAE Systems, Reston, Va.
USAF is upping its ante in the struggle to attract recruits and convince current members that they made the right choice. It has awarded a $57-million contract to the Austin, Tex.-based firm of Gurasich to develop a marketing and advertising campaign. The work is to be completed next January, apparently in time for professional football's Super Bowl.
The U.S. Marine Corps is about to embark on a study to determine whether and how the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter might serve as a replacement for aging EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft. The Marine Corps plans to fly its EA-6B until at least 2015, long after the Navy has started transitioning to the EA-18 Growler. However, Marine Corps officials realize that they, too, have to start crafting a Prowler replacement plan.
IT WILL BE 10-15 YEARS BEFORE "MORE ELECTRIC" AIRCRAFT systems start to make major inroads in commercial aircraft design, according to Honeywell Aerospace. These adaptations will begin to show up on the aircraft that follow those now in development (Airbus A380 and A350 and Boeing 7E7). The objectives are to move away from the pneumatic systems that circulate high-temperature bleed air through titanium ducts and from hydraulic system tubes that circulate flammable fluid under high pressure.
Mike Robbins has been named director of business development for Composite Technology Inc., Grand Prairie, Tex. He was marketing manager for Latin America, Asia, Turkey and India for Bell Helicopter Textron. Sven Lofstrom has been appointed director of technical programs, Renee Wilson general manager of the Grand Prairie facility and George Caufman compliance director.
Space industry officials say Algeria is looking to acquire a 2.5-3-meter-resolution reconnaissance satellite capability. Algerian intelligence officers were in attendance at France's Helios 2A launch last month. The country already has an initial orbital capability, Alsat-1--a 36-meter-resolution microsatellite launched in 2003 as part of a five-nation disaster-monitoring constellation.
EchoStar Communications Corp. has picked Space Systems/Loral to build EchoStar XI, a direct broadcast satellite that will serve as a backup for the company's direct broadcasting fleet serving the U.S. Based on SS/L's 1300-model satellite bus, the new satellite is due for delivery early in 2007. It would be the fifth EchoStar spacecraft built by SS/L, subject to approval by the bankruptcy court overseeing parent Loral Space & Communications' reorganization.
Adventurer Steve Fossett plans to take off from Salina, Kan.--perhaps as soon as early February--to be the first man to fly solo around the world, unrefueled.
The FAA certified the Agusta/Bell AB 139 medium-lift helicopter late last month, including approval for day/night IFR flight operations using the Primus Epic avionics system featuring four cockpit displays. Also granting IFR certification were ENAC in Italy and EASA in Europe. The AB139 is certified under JAR/FAR Part 29 and authorized to conduct Category A operations at maximum takeoff weight without sacrificing payload.
