Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews - IHS Jane's Airport Review 11 December 2017     A programme of test flights has been completed at the new Platov International Airport in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia, paving the way for all airline services to switch from the existing airport, which will shut down on 1 March 2018. Azimuth – the newest carrier in Russia – has confirmed that it will be based at Platov International, having signed an agreement with airport operator Airports of Regions. UK-based Twelve Architects designed the new airport, which is expected to handle traffic for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. “The terminal building is organised on an orthogonal and repetitive 16 x 16 m grid and has been designed to easily accommodate future expansion,” Twelve Architects announced in a statement. To read the full article,  Client Login (116 of 156 words)

Jane's Airport Review Neelam Mathews 14-Sep-2017 Russian airport management holding company Airports of Regions (AR) has won a USD120 million tender to modernise Yelizovo Airport in the Kamchatka Peninsula. The project will be implemented as part of a public-private partnership (PPP). It includes construction of a 30,000 m2 terminal with annual capacity for 1 million passengers, and a 120-room hotel. The upgraded airport is scheduled to open in ....More in JAR 

by  Vladimir Karnozov Additional reporting by Neelam Mathews  - April 25, 2017, 9:39 AM   This scale model of the Indo-Russian Brahmos II hypersonic missile design, could also represent the all-Russian Zircon missile. (Photo: Vladimir Karnozov). Inset: the latest test-firing of a Brahmos from an Indian warship. (Photo: Indian Navy) Amid growing concern in the West about the vulnerability of large warships to very fast sea-skimming missiles, Russian news agencies have reported a successful firing test of the long-range hypersonic Zircon weapon. Coincidentally, India has recently been test-firing new versions of the medium-range supersonic Brahmos missile, which is a joint venture between India and Russia and is based on the P-800 Onix, one of several supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles in service with the Russian Navy. With Russian help, India is developing a hypersonic Brahmos   II   version, which could be based on the Zircon. The Ru...

Neelam Mathews and Chris Pocock Sept 23 2016 French Defence Minister Yves Le Drian (left) signed the inter-governmental agreement on the Rafale with Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. More than four years after the Dassault Rafale  was chosen  for its Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) requirement, India has signed an inter-governmental agreement with France worth €7.87 billion for 36 aircraft. The deal was inked in Delhi today by the defense ministers of both countries. It specifies details of the contract, including timelines. However, the support, logistics and 50 percent offsets package will be signed in a few months, a senior MoD official told  AIN . While the agreement has an option clause for 18 more Rafales, it is unclear whether more of the French jets will eventually be manufactured or assembled in the country, under the terms of the “Make In India” policy. The  original  MMRCA  requirement ...

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...

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  ...

by  Neelam Mathews  -  September 8, 2015, 11:33 AM This Ka-226T was displayed at the recent MAKS airshow in Moscow. India will acquire 200 in the country’s first major private helicopter venture (photo: Vladimir Karnozov) The inter-government deal between Russia and its client India for procurement of 40 locally-assembled flyaway and 160 locally-manufactured Kamov Ka-226T helicopters is gaining steam. India's Reliance Defence Ltd took possession last month of 86 acres to set up its helicopter assembly and components manufacturing facility at the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub at Nagpur Airport in Maharashtra state. The Indian government’s decision not to give this large order to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd ( HAL ) is to ensure “all the eggs are not in one basket,” said an Indian defense ministry official. The contract is expected to be signed at the annual Russia-India summit meeting in December. Outline agreement  was reached at the last sum...

Neelam Mathews Aug 1 2015                                                                 Pix-Neelam Mathews “Don’t hurry to reply, but hurry to listen.” Aviation industry executive Anna Varshavskaya seems to subscribe to this Russian proverb. At just 31 years of age, she has ascended to the position of deputy CEO at Novaport, a regional airport investment company that runs eight Russian airports, and is eyeing further growth. Influenced in her formative years by her father, a military pilot who flew Mi-8 helicopters, Varshavskaya felt that the closest she could come to obtaining his type of career would be to enter the field of aviation. After graduating from university in Moscow, she accepted a job as a dispatcher at Sheremetyevo International Airport whe...

Neelam Mathews June 15, 2015 Prme Minister Modi and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, left, have taken the relationship between his nation and India "out of the closet." India’s thrust in the past year to get a greater slice of the international defense equipment pie has resulted in a host of agreements being signed in the first five months of 2015, under the new Narendra Modi government. The country is aggressively tapping the world for hi-tech equipment. Underscoring India’s aerospace technology plans, Minister of State for Defense Rao Inderjit Singh said the focus is to “open opportunities for innovative minds to exploit the globally evolving spirit of teaming up and pooling resources.” Modi has not been shy of talking openly about relations with Israel, which is a top-three exporter of arms, following India’s establishing of diplomatic relations with the country in the early 1990s (which it kept under wraps due to sensitivities). He will become the fi...

by   Neelam Mathews  -  December 18, 2014, 12:24 PM Russian president Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi(Photo: Indian Prime Minister’s Office) India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quick to reaffirm friendly ties during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Delhi on December 11 by signing defense agreements that include possible licensed production of the Kamov Ka-226T helicopter. But Russia’s policy tilt toward Pakistan, with the lifting of an embargo on the supply of military hardware and the start of talks with Islamabad for the sale of Mi-35 helicopters, seems to have rung alarm bells in Delhi. The Ka-226T is a competitor for the Reconnaissance Surveillance Helicopter (RSH) requirement that has been postponed twice in the past decade. The new Indo-Russian defense agreement could result in scrapping of theRFP for 197 RSHs for the Indian Army and Air Force. The Airbus Helicopters AS550 C3 Fennec and the Bell 407 ...

ROTORHUB 04th October 2014 - 20:16 by  Neelam Mathews  in New Delhi  The saga of India’s  cancelled VVIP AW101 helicopter  procurement rumbles on, with Indian Air Force (IAF) now looking at upgrading around nine Mi-17 V5s for VVIP use.  Some of the helicopters will be ready for VVIP operations in six months, said Chief of Air Staff ACM Arup Raha, while addressing the media on the 82nd anniversary of the IAF. India cancelled the AW101 deal with AgustaWestland in January following allegations of wrongdoing and has since recovered the 45% advance it paid. The three AW101s already delivered were until a few months ago flying sparingly due to lack of rotables but are now fully grounded............................................ While the IAF will upgrade the Mi-17V5s at its .............................Read more on Shephardmedia

Neelam Mathews Feb 14, 2013 Even as elections draw closer and the Minister of Civil Aviation talks of aggressive plans for regional connectivity, UAC Russia President Mikhail Pogosyan told Aerospace Diary that as India's domestic traffic showed signs of growth, "we will market (Sukhoi SuperJet100) (that has) attracted interest. We are speaking to GoAir and Air India." "We treat this market as special," Pogosyan said. The  regional jet in the 75- to 95-seat category.

Neelam Mathews Dec 25, 2012 Even as India signs for 42 more Sukhoi 30-MKIs which will take the total in the IAF  inventory to 270  along with 100 Migs and    plans to add Fifth Gen fighters,  is raising eyebrows on whether the MMRCA will really take off in its present form. Maybe the French will sell us the 50 Rafales their air force cancelled? Who knows? And one wonders, who cares, except the military. Slowly but steadily, it seems pretty clear we are turning back to Russia for our arms procurement. At least it looks like that even as contracts like the MRTT and LUH lie in cold storage.  We are told the kitty is empty to pay for the first installment of the MMRCA. We are also told HAL needs to be clear what it can and cannot do. We are informed Dassault wants to deal with a private partner that in turn seems to have little inclination nor the resources to tap tier 2 and 3 business which may or may not be available as yet in the country. So where do...

Neelam Mathews Oct 10, 2012 The twelfth meeting of the India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation was held in New Delhi today led by the Defense Minister AK Antony and AE Serdyukov, Defense Minister of the Russian Federation.  It may recalled the minister who was scheduled to visit India on Oct 4, deferred it by 6 days as the dates are reported by the media to have coincided with the visit of the Pakistan   Army chief General   to Moscow. This seems strange as official visits of dignitaries are generally planned in advance. "We have handed over the revised overhaul and transfer schedule to the Indian side and we believe that transfer of the ship will take place in the 4th quarter of the 2013," Serdyukov told reporters at the joint press conference after the meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation (IR-IGMTC). "The ship encountered big malfunction with the main power plan...