Aerospace Diary

by  Neelam Mathews   Dec 30, 2015 A summit meeting between Indian Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Putin confirmed the long-expected Ka-226 helicopter deal. (Photo: Indian Prime Minister’s Office) A visit to Russia by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 23 and 24 sealed an agreement between the two countries on helicopter engineering, including the  big Ka-226 deal  that has been under negotiation for over a year. It was one of 16 bilateral pacts that were signed, including ones covering space exploration and satellites and nuclear and solar energy. But they did not include an agreement for Russia to supply S-400 air defense systems, despite previous speculation in some media. Referring to the supply of approximately 200 Kamov Ka-226T helicopters, Sergei Chemov,  CEO  of the Russian state-owned industrial conglomerate Rostec, said: “This is the first Russian-Indian high-tech project implemented by the Indian governm...

Neelam Mathews  -  December 28, 2015, 10:00 am (AIN-US)  United Airlines is using its new Boeing 787-9s to develop services to Chinese cities such as Chengdu. [Photo: Boeing] The rapid expansion of seat capacity to and from India by Middle East carriers is impeding United Airlines’ plans to build market share in the country. Instead, United, which already has daily nonstop service from New York to both Delhi and Mumbai, is mainly focusing on expanding operations to China’s secondary cities. Acccording to Brian Znotins, United’s network vice president, the carrier now has more nonstop flights to China than any other  U.S.  airline. “Despite the slowdown of China’s economy, as travel from China grows, we will be there in future,” said Znotins. One new route pending Chinese government approval is a nonstop seasonal service to Xian that it hopes to start in May 2016. Demand for flights to the fast-growing city of Chengdu has exceeded Unite...

Neelam Mathews The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.”   Gloria Steinem Among those leading the shift to gender balance in air and space is the Institute for Women of Aviation Worldwide (iWOAW), whose flagship outreach program, Women of Aviation Worldwide Week, “is strictly designed to grab the attention of girls of all ages not familiar with the industry and introduce them to the opportunities available to them, hands-on, while building their knowledge of past and present women’s contributions,” explains Mireille Goyer, founder and president. The program has become truly global in nature. Over the last several years Vancouver-based iWOAW has inspired around 6,000 volunteers in 36 countries to organize outreach activities during the Women Of Aviation Worldwide Week, which is held around 8 March of each year – the...

Jane's Airport Review Neelam Mathews , Chicago 2015-Dec-14 Star Alliance plans to apply lessons learned from day-to-day operations at Heathrow Terminal 2 (T2), with particular attention to capacity-constrained airports. T2 opened in June 2014 as a base for all but one carrier (Air  India ) in the 28-member alliance, with an emphasis on self-service technology for passenger processing. Speaking to  IHS Jane's   in early December 2015 during the Star Alliance annual meeting of chief executives in Chicago, chief executive officer (CEO) Mark Schwab said that success in this area can be mirrored at other airports. Value-added initiatives include dedicated Star Gold Track security lanes for first and business class customers. Gold Track is available at around 70 airports worldwide. More locations will be added in 2016. Star Alliance is also looking at some airports "where we can offer this service for Gold Track members at immigration clearance and m...

By  Neelam Mathews  Dec 14, 2015 Star Alliance CEO Mark Schwab (right) discusses the group's new Connecting Partner Model concept alongside the CEO of the first airline to participate, Mango's Nico Bezuidenhout. (Photo: Neelam Mathews) South African Airways subsidiary Mango Airlines plans to join the Star Alliance network by the third quarter of 2016 under Star’s new “Connecting Partner Model,” concept, potentially paving the way for more budget carriers to enter the 28-airline alliance. Star Alliance made the announcement at its annual Chief Executives Board meeting in Chicago on December 10. With the addition, Star Alliance will get access to 51 percent of the South African market. The new model looks at adding routes operated by “low-cost” and “hybrid” airlines to the network. “With a focus on ‘Friends of the Family,’ the Alliance plans to add connectivity to these types of carriers within the family of Star Alliance,” said Star Alliance  ...

Neelam Mathews and Ben Vogel Dec 3 2015 US -based PrecisionHawk (PH) is building a low altitude tracking and avoidance system (LATAS) as a solution for safe air traffic management (ATM) of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS). PH is developing LATAS in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NASA, and major industry partners Verizon, Harris, and DigitalGlobe. The aim is for LATAS to enable pilots of manned aircraft to pinpoint the location of unmanned aircraft in the airspace before they become a safety hazard. 1644271 Could LATAS assuage FAA concerns over RPAS safety? (PrecisionHawk) LATAS is being assessed in the FAA Pathfinder programme and the NASA-led UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project. PH is working with NASA and other partners to test a wide range of RPAS in real-world scenarios. As NASA continues to develop a workable UTM, LATAS will have the potential to serve as the hardware addition for each drone attached to that overarchin...

By  Neelam Mathews   Dec 7, 2015 ICAO secretary general Fang Liu (left) and Airports Council International director general Angela Gittens both warned that airport capacity is not keeping up with traffic growth rates in the Asia Pacific region. [Photo: Neelam Mathews] The Airports Council International ( ACI ) and the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO ) have joined forces to call for substantial development of airport infrastructure across the Asia Pacific region, and improvements in the way airports are regulated. In a conference held in the Indian capital New Delhi from December 2-4,  ACI  reported that passenger traffic is now growing at around 6.5 percent annually across the region and argued that regulators cannot hope to manage this growth effectively with regulatory constraints on traffic levels. “ Many airports in China and India continue to report significant gains in year-over-year passenger numbers. Shanghai and New Del...

by  Neelam Mathews  -  December 1, 2015, 10:50 AM A court in Mumbai, India, has ordered that an impounded Airbus  ACJ319   owned by former Kingfisher Airlines founder Vijay Mallya must be sold before March 1. The jet was seized three years ago by India’s tax authority after Kingfisher failed to remit $28 million in service taxes collected from passengers. The   ACJ , manufactured in 2006, is on a finance lease from   CJ   Leasing of the Cayman Islands. According to a source close to the company, the auction is likely to take place within the next few weeks. The ACJ , registered as  VT - VJM  (Mallya’s initials), is parked at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and might have suffered some corrosion, as Mumbai is fairly humid since it’s located on the coast. A maintenance technician told  AIN  that airframe patches near the wing root and  APU  area suggest that the airplane might also have b...

 by Neelam Mathews  - December 1, 2015, 10:00 AM Some Asian airlines have had their operations inhibited by restrictions imposed by U.S. and European authorities over concerns about alleged poor safety oversight by their national aviation authorities. [Photo: Neelam Mathews} As Asia Pacific airlines experience strong passenger growth, the region continues to face a host of diverse challenges, not least of which involves effective safety oversight. At the recent Association of Asia Pacific Airlines ( AAPA ) annual 59th Assembly of Presidents in Bali, delegates also called on governments to boost infrastructure investment, simplify passenger facilitation and moderate consumer rights legislation. But perhaps the foremost concern centered on what   AAPA   director general Andrew Herdman characterized as a heavy handed regulatory approach by world aviation bodies toward airlines whose countries’ aviation authorities do not meet international standards. A...