Aerospace Diary

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE  »  OCTOBER 28, 2013 by    GREGORY POLEK  and  NEELAM MATHEWS From left to right, Arvind Mehra, executive director and global CEO of Mahindra Aerospace; Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group; Hemant Luthra, president of Mahindra Systech; and Pedro Fuente, COO of the Aernnova Group, celebrate the inauguration of Mahindra Aerospace’s new aerostructures facility in Bangalore last Monday. October 28, 2013, 10:55 AM India’s Mahindra Aerospace inaugurated a 270,000-sq-ft aerostructures manufacturing plant last week at the Narsapura Industrial Estate near Bangalore. The plant opening accompanied an announcement by Mahindra that it signed a technology partnership agreement with Spanish Tier 1 supplier Aernnova Group, the first for Aernnova with an Indian aerostructures manufacturer. The facility can make large, complex sheet-metal parts using  CNC  routing, stretch-forming,...

Neelam Mathews Oct 29, 2013 The Government has appointed Air Marshal Arup Raha, PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC,  presently Vice Chief of Air Staff, as the next Chief of the Air Staff following the retirement of Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC on December 31, 2013. Air Marshal Raha was commissioned into the IAF on December 14, 1974 in the Fighter Stream of the Flying Branch.  During a career spanning over nearly 39 years, he has held various command, staff and instructional appointments.  He has served as Air Attache at the Embassy of India, Ukraine.  Besides various technical courses, Air Marshal Raha has done National Defence College, Staff College, Strategic Nuclear Orientation Course and Junior Commanders’ Course.  He has commanded Central Air Command and Western Air Command.  He is one of the Honorary ADCs to the Supreme Commander.

Neelam Mathews Oct 24, 2013 Walking out of the departure gate in Hyderabad in the Meet and Greet area, I was surprised to find so many people sitting on either side of the exit. Till I realised these were not real people but mannequins. Was told by a passerby these were to commemorate the Hyderabad Fashion Week. Kudos! Finally, airports are getting a humane face. Not a great pix, but gives you an idea

Posted by Neelam Mathews Oct 21, 2013 We have been requested by the World IPR Bank that provides core services in the area of Transfer Of Technology and Intellectual Property, to inform our readers on their upcoming training program. Pl check www.wiprbank.com for more. Date: Tuesday October 29, 2013  Time: 9.30 to 5.30 pm  Venue: Royal Orchid Hotel, Old  Airport Road Bangalore  Training Overview  includes: • Basic awareness program on IPRs in Technology Domains  • Understanding the interrelation of TOT portfolios and IPRs • Understanding IPR processes required for TOT and IPR creation, acquisition and  reverse innovation  • Global Best Practices on Transfer of Technology and IPRs: Internal and External  processes. Preparing decision makers in managing negotiations with their JV  partners to optimally manage technology transfers, time and costs  • Overview and lessons learnt from Transfer Of Technology regimes of ...

AIN DEFENSE PERSPECTIVE  »  OCTOBER 18, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS The Indian government appears poised to cancel its scandal-tainted contract for 12 AgustaWestland AW101 executive helicopters. (Photo: AgustaWestland) October 18, 2013, 11:15 AM India’s attorney general, Goolamhussein Essaji Vahanvati, ruled last week that AgustaWestland breached contractual obligations and an associated “integrity pact” in winning a $787 million  contract to supply 12  AW 101  VIP  helicopters to the Indian Air Force ( IAF )  in 2010, raising the possibility the government will cancel the deal. AgustaWestland and parent company Finmeccanica have continued to deny any wrongdoing and on October 4 the Italian manufacturer formally requested arbitration over the stalled contract. In a written statement AgustaWestland said, “We have no further information compared to what [has been] published by the press. We have not received ...

Neelam Mathews Oct 15, 2013 One can almost see the despair on the faces of the people working at the US Embassy who haven't received their salaries for September given that October is a festivals'-loaded month for Indians. "There is no money," moans an official. We hear US Government officials at the Embassy have been instructed not to come to work and work on a skeleton shift. Pretty depressing for the rest of the world. If this could happen to the world's largest economy, where does the rest of the world stand?

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Oct 15, 2013 The Airbus Military Services Logistics Hub has started operations in Seville, Spain, in line with the Full In-Service Support (FISS) model developed by the company. This hub delivers spare parts for all Airbus Military products worldwide as well as ground equipment for the operation of the fleet. The new facility substantially strengthens the spare parts delivery procedure by improving reliability and cutting dispatch times. With the new Services Logistic Hub, 95% of customer’s requests for spare parts will be fulfilled within five days. For Aircraft-On-Ground (AOG) Service the dispatch time is reduced to a maximum of four hours. Delivery reliability has increased since the start of operations. The new set up will also mean a reduction in recurring operational costs of around €500,000 a year compared with traditional processes. Philippe Galland, Head of Services, says: “Putting in place this Services Logistics Hub will reduce our deliv...

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE  »  OCTOBER 14, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Garuda Indonesia expects to become SkyTeam’s 20th member in March. (Photo: Airbus) October 14, 2013, 1:20 PM SkyTeam reports solid progress in Garuda Indonesia’s preparations to join the alliance in March next year, when it expects the Jakarta-based airline to become the only Indonesian carrier affiliated with a major international grouping. Garuda’s enrollment would make it the 20th SkyTeam member and the tenth from Asia. “The integration is going on well and Garuda has worked hard to meet the membership criteria required to join the alliance, which includes its new  IT platform—Amadeus,” SkyTeam managing director Michael Wisbrun told  AIN . “Garuda’s membership will give SkyTeam a unique advantage…[offering] access to Southeast Asia’s largest economy.” While SkyTeam continues to extend its global reach, Brazil and India remain two “wh...

AIN DEFENSE PERSPECTIVE  »  OCTOBER 11, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS India will receive its first 10 C-17s by next year. Six more are expected to be ordered. (Photo: Indian Air Force) October 11, 2013, 12:25 PM The Indian Air Force ( IAF ) has expressed concern that major aviation-related defense procurements will be delayed following the sudden death of Arun Kumar Bal, Ministry of Defense chief negotiator for air acquisitions. “It will take around three months for his replacement. This is a setback for anything the  IAF  is acquiring,” Air Chief Marshal  NAK  Browne told  AIN . One such acquisition is the approximately $20 billion contract for 126 Rafale fighters the service ordered from Dassault Aviation to fill its need for a  medium multi-role combat aircraft ( MMRCA ) . A contract signing had been expected by the end of this year, but this “will also be delayed,” said Browne. Furthermore, the j...

Neelam Mathews Oct 9, 2013 What Air India couldn’t do- Etihad can. The carrier today announced its intention to purchase from Air India five Boeing 777-200 LRs, the longest range passenger aircraft in operation to support its accelerated network growth plan. The two carriers signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) in Mumbai earlier this week paving the way for the deal. Subject to approvals, the aircraft will be delivered to Etihad Airways from the beginning of 2014 and each will be re-fitted in a three class cabin configuration consistent with similar aircraft in the Etihad Airways fleet.  It is expected the first aircraft will enter service in April 2014. The five Air India 777-200LR aircraft, which Etihad Airways is purchasing, are on average, six years old, helping the airline to maintain its overall position of having one of the most modern fleets in the industry. The 777-200 LRs will be used on the airline’s new route between Abu Dhabi and Los Angeles, announced yesterd...

06 October 2013 - 16:28 by  Neelam Mathews  in New Delhi Having lost its battle for a dialogue with the Indian authorities, AgustaWestland is invoking the arbitration clause in its AW101 contract with the MoD. The move comes as AgustaWestland executives face trial in Italian courts over alleged misdoings on the Indian VVIP helicopter contract, which was frozen from 1 February. Read More in RotorHub

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE  »  OCTOBER 7, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS The Bangladeshi government has tasked Biman Bangladesh Airlines CEO Kevin Steele with returning the carrier to profitability and preparing it for an initial public offering in 2014 or 2015. October 7, 2013, 3:05 PM Biman Bangladesh Airlines, which has operated at a loss since 2008, expects to break even in the current 2013/14 financial year and to return to profitability the following year after cutting its losses from $75 million in 2010/11 to $25 million in 2011/12. At a press briefing in New Delhi last week, the Asian carrier’s  CEO , Kevin Steele, announced plans to rationalize and double the size of its fleet from eight to 16 aircraft to allow it to expand its route network with new services such as Dhaka-New York starting next April. The Bangladeshi flag carrier has issued a request for proposal to wet-lease a pair of Boeing 777s to add to the...

Posted by Neelam Mathews Oct 4, 2013 The AW 101 saga just doesn't go away. The issue is complicated, creating challenges for the IAF and AW.  Air Chief NAK Browne replying to a query by AerospaceDiary today said how spares for the 3 AW 101 VVIP helicopters would last just for a few months. And then what? Nobody knows. Even as trials in Italy continue on the AW deal , Agusta Westland is getting fidgety. While we can't blame them given that more helicopters are ready for delivery and the contract has a provision for bilateral discussions, India is playing the 'wait and see'  game. MoD might have its reasoning,though I can never understand why they do not as a form of sheer courtesy, ever reply to emails or telephone calls. Here's what an Agusta Westland release today, reads- "Following the suspension of the contract to supply AW101 VVIP helicopters to India – a sanction not provided for the under contract – a request was made to India...