Gulf Air says it wants to double India flights

Bahrain's state-owned Gulf Air wants to double its flights to India to more than 100 a week but the air-services agreement between the two countries is a constraint, it said on Thursday.
On Wednesday India permitted Gulf Air to increase the number of its weekly flights to 65 from 56, under a revised agreement between the two countries. But a Bahraini official involved in the negotiations said his country wanted more flights approved.
"The airline is not satisfied with the given capacity," Abdulrahman Al Gaoud, undersecretary for civil aviation affairs told reporters.
"We were actually looking for doubling the capacity that we have today," Gulf Air Chief Executive Bjorn Naf said.
"There is a strong demand ... India and China need resources which are in Africa. So there is a strong link, strong bridge going to Africa via the Middle East," Naf said.
Air traffic between the Middle East and India is rising on account of a large Indian expatriate population and as affluent Indians fly on business and on leisure. Industry research body the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation has forecast double-digit growth for air traffic between the two regions till 2010.
India's contribution to the airline's revenue and workforce, currently about 6 percent, will rise significantly as Gulf Air adds flights and routes, Naf said.
The airline, which has 29 planes, is looking to replace some of its ageing aircraft and has ordered 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and is in talks with Airbus for eight A320 narrowbody aircraft.
"We are in talks with Boeing and Airbus for narrow body aircraft also," Naf said.
Naf said he was not much worried about Boeing pushing back the first test flight and deliveries of the Dreamliner by about three months as the current financial crisis in the United States might lead some carriers to delay their growth plans.
"Maybe we can get some aircraft from other carriers to operate then," he said.
Gulf Air last year slashed its network and cut its workforce by about 25 percent, or about 1,500 jobs, after announcing losses of more than $1 million a day.
The airline at that time pledged to operate with minimum state support and said its government owner could sell shares to the public as early as this year.
Naf, however, said it was not the right time for a stake sale. He said the company was looking for opportunities, but the present was not the time to change its ownership structure.

Defunct Spy Satellite Falling From Orbit

A large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and could hit the Earth in late February or early March, government officials said Saturday.

1979: Skylab, a 78-ton space station, fell from orbit, scattering debris over the Indian Ocean and remote western Australia. The crash of the American spacecraft caused no damage.

2000: NASA was able to guide the 17-ton Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory back to Earth by using its rockets to steer it to a remote area of the Pacific Ocean.

2002: The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer, here before its launch, fell out of orbit and apparently broke up over the Persian Gulf, thousands of miles from where scientists first expected it to strike. The science satellite weighed 7,000 pounds.

France government / French firm's unsolicited offer of fighter jets to our Indian Air Force

The infamy of Indian red tape has gone global. Foreseeing a delay in the multi-billion dollar MRCA (multi-role combat aircraft) tender for the purchase of 126 fighters, one of the contenders for the contract has made an "unsolicited offer" of supplying 40 fighters to the Indian Air Force as a short-term measure to augment its dwindling combat fleet.
Dassault Aviation chief executive officer Charles Edelstenne, a member of the business delegation accompanying French President Nicholas Sarkozy, said: "We have some experience with Indian delays. Which is why Dassault has made the unsolicited offer.
We have dealt with India for over half a century." Dassault first made the offer last year.
Edelstenne reiterated that the aircraft were still very much on offer, should India be interested. India has purchased 60 Mirage 2000s from Dassault since 1982.
The French aviation major intends to pursue its cooperation with the IAF with the Rafale, which it describes as a new generation omnirole aircraft. Dassault has offered to upgrade three squadrons of Mirage 2000s.
Edelstenne said a decision from the Indian side was awaited. With a stake in India's burgeoning defence market, several big players around the world are keeping a track of India's growing military ties with the US.
So is Dassault, especially in the wake of the government clearing the decks for the purchase of six C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft for the Special Forces operations at an estimated cost of about Rs 4,000 crore. Edelstenne said, "We have supplied the IAF for over 50 years.
They are happy with our products. As for India's ties with the US, we have to wait and see if that can change India's independent policy.
" American biggies Boeing IDS with its F-18 Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin's F-16 are also in the running for the IAF's $10 billion IAF tender, aside from MiG Corporation (MiG-35), Gripen International (Saab) and Eurofighter Typhoon (a consortium of British, German, Spanish and Italian companies). The Ministry of Defence had floated a global tender for 126 fighter aircraft worth some $10 billion (Rs 42,000 crore) last August.

The beer king vijay malaya's Kingfisher Airlines in 5 billion euro deal with EADS Airbus deal talks

Kingfisher Airlines is in talks to buy around 40 Airbus planes in a deal worth about 5 billion euros ($7.33 billion), a French diplomatic source said on Friday.
"There are discussions between Kingfisher and Airbus for a potential of 5 billion euros," a source told Reuters on the sidelines of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's state visit to India.
The source said the deal would involve around 40 Airbus planes but the source did not know which types of planes.
"This could be concluded quite quickly."
Airbus had no immediate comment.
The source said it was the same deal as the preliminary $7.2 billion contract Kingfisher announced at the Le Bourget airshow last June in France.
At the time, Kingfisher had said the contract was for 50 planes, including 15 A350-800 XWB jets worth $3 billion as well as five four-engine A340-500 planes, 10 A330-200 wide-body models and 20 single-aisle A320-family jets.
Vijay Mallya, the flamboyant liquor tycoon who heads the UB group and started Kingfisher Airlines in 2005 to broaden its beer brand, said the airline was building up capacity to operate non-stop routes between India and the U.S. East Coast.
It already has five A380 superjumbos on order as well as a backlog of 86 A320 short-to-medium range single-aisle jets and 10 of the A330/340 family, making it one of the largest single stakeholders in the Airbus order backlog by number of planes.

You want to travel in space? now here's the choice..... Virgin Galactic Unveils Spaceship Model...

NEW YORK (Jan. 23) - A select group of rich tourists may be blasting into space within a few years in a craft that looks like a cross between a corporate jet and something out of science fiction.
Billionaire BetsOn Space Tourism:
British billionaire Richard Branson and the aerospace designer Burt Rutan unveiled a model Wednesday of SpaceShipTwo, the vehicle they hope will be able to take passengers about 62 miles above Earth for the fun of it, with test flights possibly beginning this year."Breathtakingly beautiful," was Branson's assessment of the ship, now under construction at a hangar in the Mojave Desert.Speaking to reporters at the American Museum of Natural History, the pair also showed off a model of the big, four-engine jet that will help launch the craft into space.The twin-fuselage airplane, called the White Knight Two, will carry SpaceShipTwo high into the sky beneath a single 140-foot wing.The spacecraft, with short wings, a pair of rotating tails and plenty of 18-inch portholes, would then separate from the plane and rocket into space — where as many as six passengers and two crew members could unbuckle themselves for a little while and experience weightlessness and an unparalleled view before gliding back to Earth.Passengers would get about 4 1/2 minutes of zero-gravity time, floating about a cabin roughly the size of a private jet with the floor removed, before buckling themselves back in for the descent. The seats in the craft will lay passengers nearly flat to put less stress on their bodies and give them more room to float while they are in space.Will Whitehorn, president of Branson's space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, said construction on the White Knight Two is already more than 70 percent complete.SpaceShipTwo is about 60 percent complete, and the company and Rutan's aerospace outfit, Scaled Composites LLC, hopes to begin test flights this summer.About 200 prospective passengers from 30 countries have made reservations, shelling out $200,000 apiece. Many were in attendance for Wednesday's presentation, including Ken Baxter, 58, of Las Vegas."You can't even imagine my excitement," said Baxter after seeing the models. A real estate marketing executive, he said he recently completed preflight training that included being subjected to extreme g-forces in a whirling centrifuge and hopes to be in space in a year."Yeah, I'm scared," he said. "But this is about realizing a childhood dream. Space travel is something I've been thinking about since I read Jules Verne as a kid."The primary job for the designers will be confirming that the experimental vehicles are safe. Questions about their safety were highlighted last July, when a tank of nitrous oxide exploded during a routine test of SpaceShipTwo's propellant system.Three people died in the accident. California occupational safety inspectors fined Scaled Composites $25,870 and said the company hadn't sufficiently trained its workers. Investigators and company engineers are still trying to figure out what went wrong."We don't know yet exactly what caused it," Rutan said. He added that there was "no question" the accident is delaying the engine's development but did not comment on the delay would disrupt plans for test flights.Rutan acknowledged the project has risks but said the spacecraft will be at least as safe as early commercial airlines in the 1920s. By modern standards, that era was not a particularly safe one, but Rutan said SpaceShipTwo would be "hundreds of times safer" than government-funded space flight.Branson said he has reserved seats on one of the early flights for his elderly mother and father.Scaled engineers attending Wednesday's news conference said they would keep many of the technical details of their launching system secret, but they offered a few facts about the craft.White Knight Two will have about the same wingspan as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress, but, in contrast to the World War II bomber, both it and SpaceShipTwo are being built entirely from ultra-light materials. Virgin Galactic showed a video of workers lifting big sections of the spacecraft as if they were made of light plastic.The spacecraft doesn't look like its predecessor, SpaceShipOne, which earned Rutan's team a $10 million prize in 2004 by becoming the first privately built, manned rocket ship to fly into space twice in two weeks.SpaceShipOne was big enough to carry only one person and looked like something Flash Gordon would have flown.

EADS and Airbus select preferred bidders for site divestments

19 December 2007
Latécoère selected for Méaulte and St. Nazaire Ville
MT Aerospace (OHB Technology) selected for Nordenham, Varel and Augsburg
GKN selected for Filton
EADS and Airbus have selected Latécoère in France, GKN in the UK, and MT Aerospace in Germany as preferred bidders for the sites of Méaulte and Saint Nazaire Ville in France, the Filton wing component and sub-assembly manufacturing facility in the UK, and Nordenham, Varel and Augsburg in Germany. The EADS Board of Directors has authorized the management of EADS and Airbus to enter into negotiations with the preferred bidders on remaining issues and the required final due diligence, with the target to achieve a final agreement as soon as possible. Substantial progress on the share purchase agreement is expected in the first quarter of 2008. The EADS Board sees this decision as a clear commitment of the management to the Power8 targets.
The partner selection for Filton will allow for an outright sale of the manufacturing part of the site to GKN. For the French and German sites, the agreement with Latécoère and MT Aerospace will take the form of joint ventures, in which Airbus will retain a substantial minority shareholding. Airbus has the option to withdraw completely after three years. The merit of the joint venture structure is to empower Airbus to closely monitor the transition during the period of A350 XWB development and convergence of definition, while reducing substantially EADS’ cash outlays. Under the joint venture agreements, Airbus does not intend to interfere in the majority shareholder’s management of each plant.

The Airbus plants targeted for divestment employ a total of 7,400 employees, and represents € 1.4 billion of Airbus’ cost base in 2007. EADS Defence & Security's plant in Augsburg employs 2,000 employees and represents around € 450 million of its cost base in 2007. About 70 percent of the Augsburg plant's revenues come from Airbus.

"The ongoing divestment of sites and the building of a network of partners for Airbus allows EADS to focus its resources on core activities. It is a way to optimise Airbus' industrial set-up in the frame of the extended enterprise. At the same time, it helps EADS to reduce financing needs in a period strained by conjunction of costly programmes and weak dollar uncertainty," said EADS CEO, Louis Gallois.

“This decision is an important milestone for Airbus' new strategy and Power 8 programme. We will work to progress and conclude the negotiations as swiftly as possible. At the same time, we can now begin to establish long-term partnerships with three first tier suppliers for the A350 XWB, who will share workload, investment, risk and future benefits with us. The bidders will now be invited to the A350 XWB development plateau," said Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders. “This process will generate strong tier one partners for Airbus, and will allow the sites to further develop and acquire the required technologies to remain competitive in the future.”
The transactions are expected to be closed in summer 2008, when the sites are effectively transferred to the new owners. Meanwhile, these sites will continue to produce their parts for the existing Airbus products (A320 Family, A330/A340 Family, and A380) for which Airbus has an order book of some 3,000 aircraft. The finalisation of transactions is subject to agreements on terms and conditions (such as governance issues, exit mechanisms, etc.), and the demonstration of satisfactory financing structures and backing by the buyers.
The Power 8 programme is a comprehensive improvement programme designed to reinforce Airbus' competitiveness in the face of the weakening dollar. It will enable Airbus to become more efficient and productive through a complete turn-around of the company. This involves becoming more integrated, with simpler processes, implementing lean manufacturing, shortening development times and reducing the number of suppliers.

A350 XWB work packages will now be allocated to the future tier one partners in Filton, Meaulte and St Nazaire, as well as Nordenham, Varel and Augsburg. The pace and schedule of final negotiations with the preferred bidders at this stage is consistent with the ongoing A350 XWB development timeline. The site divestment process for Laupheim continues in parallel.

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2006, EADS generated revenues of € 39.4 billion and employed a workforce of about 116,000. The Group includes the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the world's largest helicopter supplier Eurocopter, and EADS Astrium, the European leader in space programmes from Ariane to Galileo. Its Defence & Security Division is a provider of comprehensive systems solutions and makes EADS the major partner in the Eurofighter consortium as well as a stakeholder in the missile systems provider MBDA. EADS also develops the A400M through its Military Transport Aircraft Division.

Safe Harbour Statement:

Certain statements contained in this press release are not historical facts but rather are statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management’s beliefs. These statements reflect the EADS’ views and assumptions as of the date of the statements and involve known and unknown risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.

When used in this press release, words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “may”, “intend”, “plan to” and “project” are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
This forward looking information is based upon a number of assumptions including without limitation: assumption regarding demand, current and future markets for EADS’ products and services, internal performance, customer financing, customer, supplier and subcontractor performance or contracts negotiations, favourable outcomes of certain pending sales campaigns.

Forward looking statements are subject to uncertainty and actual future results and trends may differ materially depending on variety of factors including without limitation: general economic and labour conditions, including in particular economic conditions in Europe, North America and Asia, legal, financial and governmental risk related to international transactions, the cyclical nature of some of EADS’ businesses, volatility of the market for certain products and services, product performance risks, collective bargaining labour disputes, factors that result in significant and prolonged disruption to air travel world wide, the outcome of political and legal processes, including uncertainty regarding government funding of certain programs, consolidation among competitors in the aerospace industry, the cost of developing, and the commercial success of new products, exchange rate and interest rate spread fluctuations between the Euro and the U.S. dollar and other currencies, legal proceeding and other economic, political and technological risk and uncertainties.

Additional information regarding these factors is contained in the Company’s “registration document” dated 25 April 2007.

Airbus announces plans for A330 Freighter final assembly line in Mobile

Alabama 14 January 2008
Airbus today announced a commitment to establish an A330 Freighter aircraft final assembly line (FAL) in Mobile, Alabama, if Northrop Grumman (supported by Airbus's parent company, EADS) receives the order to build aerial refuelling tankers from the United States Air Force. If established, the FAL would mark an important step forward for U.S. aerospace production, as it would be one of the first new commercial aircraft assembly facilities built in the U.S. in more than four decades, as well as the first Airbus manufacturing facility in the U.S. "Our pledge to build A330 Freighters in Mobile is a significant expansion of our current commitment to Alabama and the U.S., and is part of our larger plan to internationalize Airbus," said Tom Enders, president and CEO of Airbus. "It would broaden the base of current and potential business in Mobile and firmly establish the Gulf Coast region as a center of aerospace excellence." The A330F FAL would be part of a large-scale industrial site, employing more than 1,000 people, already planned should the Northrop Grumman KC-30 advanced tanker cargo aircraft team receive an order to modernize the U.S. Air Force's aerial refueling tanker fleet. An A330F production line would add hundreds more jobs. Airbus already has an Engineering Center in Mobile, which is slated to employ 150 people by 2009. Mr. Enders added, "Final assembly of A330 Freighters in Mobile is conditional on a KC-30 tanker for one reason: simple economics. The Dollar-Euro exchange rate makes it advantageous for us to expand our operations in the United States. While it would be difficult to overcome the cost of building a final assembly line in the U.S. strictly for commercial aircraft, it would make good economic sense to invest the incremental cost of expanding the facility that would already exist for assembling tanker aircraft." The new FAL would be Airbus' seventh U.S. facility and would be a significant part of Airbus' worldwide aircraft production network. Aircraft sections would be delivered to Mobile from their respective production facilities elsewhere in the world, assembled into the final freighter aircraft and delivered to customers from Mobile. Construction on the FAL could begin this year, depending on the tanker decision timing. Airbus is a leading aircraft manufacturer whose customer focus, commercial know-how, technological leadership and manufacturing efficiency have propelled it to the forefront of the industry. Airbus has sold more than 8,100 aircraft since it first entered service in 1974. The company's modern and comprehensive product line is comprised of five highly successful families of aircraft ranging from 100 to 525 seats. Headquartered in Toulouse, France, Airbus is an EADS company.

Eurocopter EC 135 Lightweight, Twin-Engine, Multipurpose Helicopter, Europe

Eurocopter's EC 135 is a very powerful lightweight twin-engine multipurpose helicopter and is operational worldwide. Over 600 have been delivered since the helicopter entered service in 1996 with German Air rescue company Deutsche Rettungsflugwacht and the helicopter is flown by over 100 customers in 27 countries. A military version, the EC 635, has also been developed and has entered service with the Royal Jordanian Air Force.

The German Army Air Corps has been operating 14 EC 135 helicopters for training since 2000. Other customers include: Czech Police Aviation Department (eight), Ministry of Interior of Romania (five police and EMS), Air Methods (ten), CJ Systems Aviation Group (ten), Irish Air Corps (two), OAMTC Air Ambulance (25), PHI Air Medical Division (20), Era Helicopters.
Recent orders include five for the French Customs Service (ordered in December 2005), two for the Lithuanian Border Guard (delivered in December 2006), two for the Swiss Army for VIP transport (ordered in April 2006) and four for INAER (ordered in September 2006).
In November 2003, Eurocopter signed an agreement with Eurocopter Romania (a joint venture with IAR) for local assembly of the EC 135 in Brasov.
In March 2006, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior selected the EC135 to upgrade the fleets of the Spanish police and security forces. 48 helicopters are required. The helicopters will be locally assembled at Eurocopter Espana's Albacete site.
In January 2007, the French Gendarmerie placed an order for 37 EC135 helicopters to be delivered from late 2008.
In October 2007 the Austrian police ordered eight and, in November 2007, the Netherlands Police ordered six EC135.
The helicopter is available as the EC 135T2, powered by the Turbomeca ARRIUS 2B2 engine or the EC 135P2, powered by the Pratt & Whitney PW206B2. The EC 135 can be configured for passenger and VIP transport with up to eight seats, law enforcement, emergency medical service, search and rescue and other roles.

EC135 T2I/P2I UPGRADE
In February 2006, Eurocopter announced a major upgrade for the EC135. The new helicopter, designated EC135 T2i/P2i, has an increased take-off weight of 2,910kg and a reduced empty weight of 1,445kg, allowing a payload increase of 80kg.

This increased useful load translates to either one additional passenger, more fuel for 100km extra range or 30 minutes more endurance. Other improvements include an additional 180kg in hover weight and 2,000ft in hover altitude.
The new helicopter received EASA certification in February 2006 and deliveries begin in September 2006. The upgrade is also available as a retrofit.

EUROCOPTER DESIGN
The helicopter incorporates Eurocopter's low-noise patented Fenestron tail rotor. The array of ten blades in the Fenestron are arranged asymmetrically and are spaced at different intervals which substantially reduces the helicopter noise.
The four-bladed, bearingless, main rotor system is made of fibre-reinforced composite. The built-in anti-resonance isolation system also contributes to low vibration and noise level. The external noise level is 6dB lower than the regulatory specification and allows the operation of the helicopter in highly populated areas and in close approach to hospitals.

EC-135 LAW ENFORCEMENT HELICOPTER
Police and federal versions of the EC 135 are operational with the Basque Police Force of Spain, the Federal Border Police of Germany, State (Lander) Police of Bavaria and Saxony in Germany, Travis County Police in USA and police forces in Sweden, Ireland, Kuwait, Chile, Kuwait and the UK. The helicopters are used for patrol, airborne surveillance, VIP and dignitary transport and firefighting.
McAlpine Helicopters based in Oxford, UK, outfits the helicopters with police operations equipment and systems to meet the police force mission requirements. A typical equipment fit includes an under-fuselage surveillance pod with night and day channels, forward-looking infrared, a multi-sensor turret, SX-16 searchlights, a loudspeaker address system, secure communications with a microwave voice and data downlink, load hook, a rescue hoist and rapid-change medical evacuation suite. Rappelling systems and wire strike protection are also offered as options.

Television and video systems can be installed in the cabin. Cabin doors and viewing windows suitable for surveillance operations can be fitted.

SAR AND EMS VARIANTS
Search and rescue versions and emergency medical service helicopters are operated by Deutsche Rettungsflugwacht (German Air Rescue Service), German Emergency Medical Service, Centre for Emergency Medicine of Pittsburgh, USA, ADAC Luftrettung, CJ Systems and others.
The Emergency Medical Service helicopter can be flown by one or two pilots. The helicopter can carry one or two stretcher patients and up to three doctors and medical attendants. Different medical installations are tailored to the operating organisation's need.
Loading and unloading is carried out quickly and easily through the extra large sliding doors and the rear clamshell doors. In winching operations, the patient is readily and safely transferred into the hovering helicopter. A combination of an externally mounted load mirror and a backed-up double hook system is installed to ensure safe and secure rescue missions for the patient, flight and medical crew.

PASSENGER AND VIP HELICOPTER
The standard version carries the pilot and six or seven passengers. The VIP / executive version is fitted for four or five VIP passengers. The cabin is fitted with large sliding doors for easy boarding and exit.
Baggage and cargo can be loaded through the rear clamshell doors.

EC 135 COCKPIT
The helicopter is equipped with a Thales SMD45 dual screen vehicle and engine management system, Honeywell Gold Crown and Thales Avionique Nouvelle avionics, an air data computer, a SFIM automatic flight control system, a global positioning system and a Honeywell combined flight data and cockpit voice recorder. A colour weather radar can be fitted.

EC 135 helicopters of the German Federal Border Guard are being fitted with the EADS Dornier Hellas helicopter warning system. Hellas is based on a laser radar and received certification in Germany in October 2003. The first Hellas-equipped helicopter was delivered in March 2007. Czech Police helicopters have been fitted with EADS / Dornier DKG4 moving map system.

ENGINE CHOICE
Eurocopter offers a choice of two engine types for the EC 135, both types equipped with Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC). The FADEC system provides enhanced performance, engine protection and power plant monitoring. The engines available are the Turbomeca Arrius 2B2 rated at 426kW continuous power and the Pratt and Whitney Canada PW206B2 rated at 419kW continuous power.
The standard fuel tanks have a capacity of 673l which gives a range of 620km. An additional long-range fuel tank can be fitted as an option which extends the range to 880km.

Boeing 737 New Generation Twin-Engine Airliner, USA

The Boeing 737 twin engine airliner is the bestselling jetliner of all time. The 5,000th 737 was delivered in February 2006 and the aircraft has carried the equivalent of the world's population, about seven billion passengers.
Over 3,000 aircraft of the first generation of 737s, which first flew in 1967, were built until the production run was completed in the year 2000.
"The Boeing 737 is the bestselling jetliner of all time."
The aircraft has allowed airlines to provide domestic routes and short-range international flights for more than 30 years. The design of the next-generation family of 737s began in 1991 and the newest 737s provide transcontinental and medium-range international flights.
Over 3,300 of the new generation aircraft have been ordered and the 2,000th was delivered in July 2006.
737-600
The smallest aircraft of the 737 new generation family, the 110- to 132-seat Boeing 737-600, was launched in 1995 and entered service with launch customer Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) in 1998. 69 aircraft have been ordered and 69 delivered.
The 737-600 is in service with airlines including Air Algerie, GECAS, Lauda Air and Tunis Air.
737-700
The 737-700 is the midsize version carrying 126 to 149 passengers. It entered service with launch customer Southwest Airlines in 1998. Over 1,372 aircraft have been ordered and 900 delivered and the aircraft is in service worldwide.
The 737-700 is the basis for the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ). There is also a convertible version, the 737-700C which is offered in an all passenger or all cargo layout and has been ordered by the US Naval Reserve (designated C-40A Clipper).
Boeing launched an extended range version, the 737-700ER in January 2006, with an order from All Nippon Airways (ANA) for two aircraft. The 737-700ER has the fuselage of the 737-700 with the wings and landing gear of the 737-800, extending the range by 3,972km (2145nm). With nine auxiliary fuel tanks and optional blended winglets the aircraft’s maximum range is 10,200km (5,510nm). The first 737-700ER was delivered to ANA in Febraury 2007.
737-800
2,522 of the stretch version, the 737-800, seating 162 to 189 passengers have been ordered and 1,301 delivered. It entered service with launch customer Hapag-Lloyd in 1998.
"To date, the Boeing 737 has carried the equivalent of the world's population – about seven billion passengers."
Major customers include American Airlines (105 aircraft), Delta Airlines (132), Ryan Air (281 plus 145 options), Qantas (20), Virgin Blue (ten plus 40 options), Air Europa (18), Hainan Airlines (25), Shandong Airlines (12), GOL (60 plus 41 options), Alaskan Airlines (35 plus 15 options), Air China (25) and Air Berlin (60). The 737-800 is the basis for the Boeing Business Jet 2 (BBJ2).
A version of the 737-800, the 737-800ERX was chosen as the airframe for the US Navy's new Multi-Mission Maritime (MMA) aircraft, designated P-8A, in June 2004.
737-900
The largest variant, the 737-900 carrying 177 to 189 passengers, was launched in 1997 and the first flight was on 3 August 2000. The 737-900 entered service in May 2001. Alaska Airlines was the launch customer with an order for ten and an additional ten optional purchase. 52 737-900 have been ordered with all 52 delivered.
In July 2005, Boeing launched the 737-900ER which has a range of 5,900km (3,200nm) and capacity for up to 215 passengers. Lion Air of Indonesia is the launch customer with an order for 100 aircraft. SpiceJet of India has ordered five, Sky Airlines of Turkey three, Continental 27. Total orders are for 169 aircraft. The aircraft made its first flight in September 2006 and the first was delivered to Lion Air in April 2007. By December 2007, six aircraft had been delivered.
DESIGN
The fuselage is of fail-safe aluminium design. The wings are of fail-safe design with aluminium alloy-structure with a corrosion-resistant skin. The nosecone, wing and fuselage fairings, fin tips, the fairings of the flap actuators and other non-stressed components are constructed from glass and carbon fibre reinforced plastics (GFRP and CFRP). The rear of the engine nacelles are constructed of graphite, Kevlar and glass fibre composites.
In February 2000 an advanced carbon graphite winglet developed by Boeing became available as an option on the 737-800. The 8ft, blended winglet provides additional performance benefits in terms of extended range, up to 6,000lb more payload and a saving on fuel. The first 737-800 aircraft with winglets flew in May 2001 in service with the German Carrier Hapag-Lloyd Flug.
"Over 3,300 of the new generation aircraft have been ordered."
FLIGHT DECK
The flight deck accommodates the pilot and co-pilot. A head up display can be fitted as an option. The flight deck is equipped with a Common Display System (CDS) from Honeywell Air Transport Systems incorporating six flat panel liquid crystal displays.
The CDS software can be programmed to allow the presentation of data in a format replicating that of previous 737 electronic flight systems or that of the Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 777 primary flight and navigation displays.
The aircraft can be fitted with an optional global positioning system, satellite communications and a dual flight management system.
CABIN
The cabins are typically arranged in a two-class configuration with first-class passengers four abreast and tourist-class passengers six abreast. The cabins are air conditioned with a three-wheel air cycle environmental control system. Airstairs are optional for the forward cabin, allowing the aircraft to operate at airports with limited facilities.
There are two underfloor baggage holds. The rear hold can be fitted with a telescopic baggage conveyor.
ENGINES
The aircraft is powered by two CFM International CFM56-7 turbofan engines in wing-mounted engine pods. CFM is a joint venture of General Electric Co. of the US and Snecma of France.
The aircraft carries 26,025l of fuel.
"In July 2005, Boeing launched the 737-900ER which will carry up to 215 passengers."
The aircraft's auxiliary power unit is the Honeywell 131-9B which provides 90kVA and air start capability.
The noise on the ground was reduced by up to 12dB by the installation of a new diffuser duct and silencer on the cooling vent on the auxiliary power unit. New quiet operating fans have been installed on the environmental control system and on the electronics cooling systems.
LANDING GEAR
The aircraft is equipped with tricycle-type hydraulically operated retractable landing gear. The gear is fitted with oleo-pneumatic shock absorbers designed by Boeing. The main wheels retract inwards with the wheels forming the well seal; the wells have no doors. The main wheels are fitted with Honeywell or Goodrich wheel brakes. The twin nose wheel retracts forward.

Airbus A318 Single-Aisle Medium-Range Airliner, Europe

Airbus A318 Single-Aisle Medium-Range Airliner, Europe
The Airbus A318 single-aisle medium range-airliner is a short bodied version of the A319.
"The Airbus A318 single aisle medium-range airliner is a short-bodied version of the A319."
The development program was launched in the spring of 1999 and the aircraft took its maiden flight, with Pratt and Whitney PW6000 engines, in January 2002. The first flight with CFM International CFM56-5 engines took place in August 2002.
The A318 with CFM engines received European Join Aviation Authorities (JAA) certification in May 2003. Deliveries began in July 2003 to launch customer Frontier Airlines.
Certification of the aircraft with PW6000A engines was received in December 2005 and the first A318 powered by these engines will enter service with LAN Airlines of Chile in June 2007.
A318 ORDERS AND DELIVERIES
100 A318s have been ordered and 42 delivered. Orders include: Air France (18), America West (15), CIT Aerospace (four), Comlux Aviation (three), Frontier Airlines (nine), GECAS (12), Iberia (ten), International Lease Finance Corporation (ten), LAN (20), Mexicana (ten) and TAROM (four).
Airbus Industrie is a consortium formed by EADS and BAE Systems. EADS, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, was formed by a merger of Aerospatiale-Matra of France, Daimler-Chrysler Aerospace of Germany and CASA of Spain (former members of Airbus). In October 2006, BAE Systems completed the sale of its shareholding to EADS, which is now the sole owner of Airbus.
In November 2007, the A318 fitted with the Thales D-HUDS digital head-up display system was certificated by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The HUD increases the pilot's situational awareness and allows take-off visibility minima to be lowered from 125m to 75m. The HUD approval will be extended to the other members of the A320 family of aircraft.
The A318, which has a very wide cabin for its class of airliner, has over 95% commonality with other members of the A320 fly-by-wire family of aircraft. The cabin width of 3.70m allows a high-density single-class seating for 129 passengers. A typical mixed class seating arrangement has eight first-class and 99 economy seats.
FLIGHT DECK
The aircraft, in common with the A320, has fly-by-wire controls designed and manufactured by Thales/SFENA. Instead of a control column, the pilot and co-pilot each have a sidestick controller. The digital fly-by-wire system is controlled by five dedicated computers and operates all the primary and secondary flight controls by a combination of electronic signalling and hydraulic jacks.
"The 23,860l-capacity fuel tanks give the A318 a range of 2,800km with the maximum number of passengers."
Very high safety standards have been built into the flight control systems, with system redundancy and flight envelope protection, which will not allow manoeuvres to exceed the aircraft's structural and aerodynamic limitations. It is, for example not possible for the aircraft to fly beyond the maximum operating speed for longer than a few seconds.
The aircraft's flight speed is maintained safely above the stall speed and the throttles are automatically opened to achieve a successful positive climb.
ENGINES
The aircraft is offered with two Pratt & Whitney PW6000 engines or two CFM International CFM 56-5B developing 98kN. The fuel tanks have a capacity of 23,860l giving the aircraft a range of 2,800km with the maximum number of passengers.
LAN Airlines became the launch customer for the PW6000 engine on the A318, in August 2005 and the first production engine was delivered in August 2006.
AVIONICS
The aircraft uses ARINC 700 digital avionics with a digital automatic flight control and flight management system. The advanced digital automatic flight control is integrated with the SFENA autopilot and the Honeywell flight management system.
Honeywell also supplied the aircraft's air data and inertial reference system.
FUSELAGE
The fuselage has been laser welded rather than riveted in order to reduce cost and weight. Large completed sections of the aircraft are built by EADS France (formerly Aerospatiale Matra), the Belgian Belairbus, BAE SYSTEMS, EADS Spain (formerly CASA), and EADS Germany (formerly Daimler Chrysler Aerospace Airbus). The completed aircraft sections are transported to Hamburg for assembly.
The main cabin has two passenger doors on the port side and service doors on the starboard side. The cargo hold has a capacity of 21.21m³. The small baggage doors do not allow pallets or cargo containers to be carried.
"The fuselage is laser welded rather than riveted in order to reduce cost and weight."
The aircraft's air conditioning system is supplied by Liebherr and ABG-Semca. Two Sundstrand constant frequency generators power the primary electrical systems. Another Sundstrand generator powered by the aircraft's auxiliary power unit, can be used during ground operations and in flight if required. The auxiliary power unit is either the Honeywell 131-9A or the Sundstrand APS32000.
LANDING GEAR
The aircraft is equipped with hydraulically retractable tricycle landing gear. The main landing gear units supplied by Dowty retract inwards into the wing and body fairings. The Messier Bugatti nose gear which is stearable, retracts forward. The wheels are fitted with carbon brakes.