Flight International Nov 4-10, 2014

EURONAVAL 2014
WE SEARCH OUT
THE LATEST IN AIR
SURVEILLANCE
DEFENCE P24
SUPERJET COUP
VLM to be Europes first

customer of Russian-built
airliner as it plots return
to scheduled services 19
A350 BATTERIES
Airbus reveals details of

widebodys lithium-ion
units, but chemistry still
under wraps 25
FLIGHT
INTERNATIONAL
4-10 NOVEMBER 2014
ZHUHAI PREVIEW
CHINA IN
THEIR HANDS
Big two have all to play for in growing market
3.40
4 5
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FLIGHT
INTERNATIONAL
VOLUME 186 NUMBER 5463
4-10 NOVEMBER 2014
NEWS
A350 BATTERIES
Airbus reveals details of

widebodys lithium-ion
units, but chemistry still
under wraps 25
THIS WEEK
10 Explosion puts NASA on red alert
11 P&W powers A321neo to go further.
Launch of Qatars Saudi subsidiary slips to 2015
12 Insitu reveals ScanEagle 2.
Airbus, Tata bid for India transport replacement.
Terrorist threat spreading says intelligence chief
15 Israel contract takes F-35 fleet to 44.
Hainan targets international network expansion
FLIGHT
INTERNATIONAL
4-10 NOVEMBER 2014
ZHUHAI PREVIEW
CHINA IN
THEIR HANDS
3.40
4 5
770015 371266
AirTeamImages
Big two have all to play for in growing market
COVER IMAGE
Hainan Airlines will use its
new Boeing 787s to open
new routes to North
America as part of an ambitious expansion drive.
China special report P32
BEHIND THE HEADLINES

Airline Business editor
Max Kingsley-Jones (left)
chaired Flightglobals Aviation
Partnership Summit in
Madrid where Akbar Al Baker,
chief executive of Qatar
Airways group, outlined his
plans for Saudi domestic
airline Al Maha (P11).
18
19
20
21
AIR TRANSPORT
Transatlantic summit set to debate Norwegian
impasse.
Aeroflot claims victory as carrier is relaunched
Breakthrough for Superjet.
R-R and Safran link up for drive train production
Virgin Atlantic set to boost 787 fleet
OLeary signs on for five more years.
Exit concern over A320 Recaro seat.
SF sizes up with P2F 777-300ER
DEFENCE
22 UK feels Affinity with new fixed-wing trainers fleet.
HATS off as Boeing-Thales team bags deal.
Auto ejection grounds Indias Su-30s
23 Gripen deal airborne as Saab and Brazilian
partners seal contract.
Enter the Challenger as Cobham wins in Australia.
Elbit points way with UAV laser
24 Searchmaster locates first customer.
Camcopter on duty over Ukrainian conflict zone
BUSINESS AVIATION
26 Chinese plan aviation cities to give sector room
to grow.
GE and Sierra team up for Citation engine retrofit.
Trio of investors launch fund for large-jet leasing
NEWS FOCUS
25 A350 battery details emerge
27 Watching them watching you
Dassault Aviation
SUPERJET COUP
VLM to be Europes first

customer of Russian-built
airliner as it plots return
to scheduled services 19
French navy to deploy Searchmaster radar P24
COVER STORY
32 Cracking China Airbus and Boeing are expecting

significant demand growth in the country over 20
years, but local challenges and potential
competition will keep them on their toes
FEATURES
28 CHINA COUNTRY SPECIAL Comacs big test is

still to come The Chinese airframer is pulling out
all the stops to hit its end-2015 first flight target for
the C919, but questions linger over its certification
in the West and wider market acceptance
36 Hidden power Zhuhai offers a peak into Chinas
guarded military air capabilities, with observers
watching out for a J-20 or J-31 appearance that
may provide clues to its fighter expertise
40 Chinas major airlines Our infographic shows
where carriers are based, and their fleet details
43 Chinas aerospace industry Map shows what
aircraft types and equipment are built and where
9
44
45
48
52
55
REGULARS
Comment
Straight & Level
Letters
Classied
Jobs
Working Week
Rex Features/AirTeamImages
EURONAVAL 2014
WE SEARCH OUT
THE LATEST IN AIR
SURVEILLANCE
DEFENCE P24
NEXT WEEK ITALY

For our annual country focus,
we visit aerostructures firm
Dema, GE subsidiary Avio
and AgustaWestland (above)
Ryanairs chief OLeary commits until 2019 P21. Norwegian permit to be discussed by EU-US committee P18
flightglobal.com
4-10 November 2014 | Flight International | 5
CONTENTS
IMAGE OF
THE WEEK
The Royal New Zealand

Air Force ofcially took
ownership of the rst four
of its new Beechcraft T-6C
Texan II trainers in a 31
October handover ceremony
at Base Ohakea. Seven more
of the Wichita, Kansas-built
aircraft will be delivered by
mid-2015, replacing the
services CT-4E Airtrainers
New Zealand Defence Force
View more great aviation shots

online and in our weekly tablet
edition:
ightglobal.com/
ight-international
THE WEEK IN NUMBERS
18.1%
QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Last week, we asked: Is Embraers KC-390 a genuine rival
for the C-130? You said:
New York Stock Exchange
The Orbital Sciences share price slump when trading

opened on 29 October, after its ISS launch failure
400m
50%
23%
Will be
sold, but
not in
volume
TOTAL
VOTES:
1,238
Flightglobal dashboard
The debt impact of the two-week French pilots strike at Air

France-KLM in September, over terms at a low-cost unit
13
Flightglobal dashboard
The number of routes Ryanair will run from Copenhagen

when the airline starts operations there in March 2015
No, jet
engines
will restrict
tactical
utility
27%
Yes, it will
eat into
Hercules
orders
This week, we ask: Following its acquisition by Belgian airline VLM,
is Superjet 100 set for?
Flurry of orders Modest uplift in demand
Continued indifference from Western carriers
Vote at ightglobal.com/poll
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and schedules, as well as fleet, financial and traffic information at ightglobal.com/dashboard
Download the new Commercial Engines Report
Download The Engine Directory.
now updated for 2014 with enhanced data and in-depth market analysis
ightglobal.com/ComEngDirectory
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6 | Flight International | 4-10 November 2014
flightglobal.com
THINK
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COMMENT
UAVs need light touch
To safely integrate unmanned air systems with ordinary aircraft in controlled airspace is a
daunting challenge, except in one very congested country where the rules are sensibly flexible
ith rapid advances in unmanned air vehicle capability have naturally come demands from public
and private operators to realise the benets of this new
technology by ying in national airspace.
The challenges of safely mixing ordinary manned
with unmanned aircraft in controlled airspace are welldocumented, but the US Federal Aviation Administration is gradually making progress towards its Congressmandated goal of UAV airspace integration, allowing
some ights in Alaska and establishing six test sites.
But Congress wants US airspace open to unmanned
ight by 2015 a target that seems far-fetched in light of
the difculty the FAA and Department of Transportation
had in merely establishing a legal framework to authorise the test sites, which are small areas of airspace.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority, on the other hand,
oversees what is by denition already open airspace,
with the authority in control of awarding certicates
for UAV ight that would impact the general public or
other aircraft. UAVs under 20kg (40lb) are largely
The UK is taking a systematic,

logical stance that is evolving
with demand and technology
exempt from regulations, and operators need only inform the CAA of a ight if they are making commercial
gains or planning to y in a congested public area. Exemptions on aircraft up to 150kg can be authorised
under the current laws, as long as certain criteria are
met in terms of speed and public risk.
The UK is taking a balanced and logical approach to
the integration challenge; the CAA acknowledges that
Rex Features
Looks even better from below
model aircraft were own long before the proliferation

of UAV technology, and general law covers the use of
low-altitude systems. Some prosecutions have been
made against small system users when the CAA felt
ights were made dangerously close to infrastructure
or the public.
The UK is also tting its regulations into a wider
European framework without attempting to achieve a
one-size-ts-all regime as the UK is unique in Europe
in the density of its lower level airspace, where UAVs
typically y.
Ultimately, the UK isnt policing everything and it
does not expect UAVs to be fully integrated straight
away. Rather, the UK is taking a systematic, logical
stance that is evolving with demand, circumstances
and technology.
The CAAs approach should be a model for its international peers. If a nation with such a busy airspace
can embrace this technology, countries with relatively
open skies should follow suit.
News Focus P27
No slowing down in China

A
Read our archive of Flight

International comments on
editor Murdo Morrisons blog at
ightglobal.com/comment
flightglobal.com
usterity-gripped European countries would love

Chinas problems. As Beijing turns down the inationary heat, Asias biggest economy will grow about
7% this year much less than the double-digit rates of
recent years, but eye-watering by Western standards.
Yet, as the Zhuhai air show approaches, slowing industrial output and consumer demand have prompted
concerns that the big two manufacturers may be overstating predictions of the number of aircraft they hope
to sell there and that could have a telling impact on
their 20-year production plans.
Chinese customers represent just 3% of the almost
11,400-strong Airbus and Boeing backlog the UK,
Malaysia and Ireland each have more aircraft on order.
However, Toulouse and Seattle believe the country is a

massive potential market, which will burgeon as airlines and infrastructure catch up with demand for air
travel from its 1.4 billion citizens.
We agree. Competition remains king in the skies of
this Communist country, and the arrival of dynamic
and hungry new carriers should keep prices keen and
ensure the double-digit increase of trafc continues.
While there are aspirant aviation giants all over Asia,
China represents the most stable long-term model, with
the government likely to keep a close eye on airlines
nancial health and unsustainable growth ambitions.
Airbus and Boeing are right to expect big things.
See China Special Report P32
THIS WEEK
BRIEFING
Read Flightglobals recent archive

of spaceflight coverage at
ightglobal.com/spaceight
The mission ended

shortly after launch in
a spectacular fireball
ETIHAD, ALITALIA OFFER UP SLOTS FOR MERGER
COMPETITION Etihad Airways and Alitalia have offered to give up

several airport slots on the Rome-Belgrade route in a bid to win
European Commission approval for merger plans that would see
Etihad acquire a 49% share of Italys national carrier. Brussels could
rule on the matter as soon as 17 November.
MANUFACTURING Bombardiers third quarter net orders nearly

trebled year-on-year to 76 aircraft, including 40 CS300s for a division
of Macquarie AirFinance. Deliveries of 71 commercial aircraft
marked an increase of 26. Aerospace revenues rose by 29% to $2.6
billion, though EBIT dipped 14% to $74 million. Bombardier continues to target CS100 service entry for the second half of 2015.
HSBC JOINS VIRGIN-LANZATECH CLEAN FUEL PACT
INVESTMENT UK bank HSBC is to bankroll the ramp-up to demonstration scale of a three-year old Virgin Atlantic-LanzaTech waste
gas-to-jet fuel project. Virgin boss Richard Branson says he foresees
at least one plane flying in 2015 on 50% LanzaTech fuel, which is
made of waste gases from steel and aluminium production.
MEXICO BOLSTERS C295 FLEET
NAVAL AVIATION Mexico has agreed to buy two additional Airbus

C295s for its navy, which already flies four of the medium transports.
The Mexican air force operates six, and with smaller CN235s and
C212s there will be 22 Airbus Defence & Space aircraft operating in
Mexico, the companys largest customer in Latin America.
AIRLINES NOT INTERESTED IN MISSILE PROTECTION
SAFETY Demand from operators of aerial refuelling, cargo and VIP

aircraft for an Israeli-developed system for protection against
shoulder-fired missiles is growing significantly but its maker, Elbit
Systems, sees no real demand from airlines. So far, Israeli airlines
are the only carriers to use the C-MUSIC directed infrared system.
SLOVAKS LIKE SPARTAN APPROACH TO TRANSPORT
MILITARY AIRCRAFT Alenia Aermacchi has contracted with

Slovakia to supply two C-27J Spartan twin turboprop military
transports, including logistic support and the training of pilots and
maintenance personnel. According to Flightglobals Ascend database, there are 51 of the type in service and 15 on order.
VEGA DELAY TO BETTER PLOT NEW PATH TO SPACE
SPACEFLIGHT The European Space Agency has postponed the 18

November launch of its Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV), to
further study the trajectory of the Vega rocket. Vega, which has flown
successfully three times, normally launches to the north to reach
polar orbits, but will fly east with IXV to release the spaceplane
demonstrator on a 100min suborbital path to the Pacific Ocean.
UK MILITARY ATM TO GET FUTURE-PROOFED
AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT A NATS and Thales team has been

awarded a 1.5 billion ($2.4 billion), 22-year UK Ministry of Defence
contract to upgrade a fragmented military air traffic management
system with a flexible service that is future-proofed to handle
regulatory and technological change. This Aquila joint venture will
from 1 April 2015 support some 100 domestic and international air
traffic management installations, including 60 airfields and ranges.
Rex Features
BOMBARDIER ORDERS, DELIVERIES RISE IN Q3
SPACEFLIGHT DAN THISDELL LONDON
Explosion puts
NASA on red alert
Agency vows to fix source of spectacular cargo launch failure
and warns against complacency as human flights approach
ASA got a stern reminder of

the hazards of spaceight
when an International Space
Station resupply mission ended
in spectacular failure on 28 October, just metres above the launch
pad at Wallops Island, Virginia.
Seconds after lift-off, the Antares rocket developed and operated by Orbital Sciences under
the private sector partnership
scheme NASA has relied on for
cargo ights since it retired its
Space Shuttle eet in 2011 exploded in a reball, made all the
more spectacular for being a
night-time launch.
No-one was hurt on the ground
and the six ISS crew in orbit are
in no immediate danger of
running short of provisions.
However, at a post-incident press
conference
NASA acknowledged Congressional critics of its
private sector launch partnerships, which will see Boeing and
SpaceX ferry US astronauts to the
ISS from 2017 a service currently bought from the Russians.
Noting that the rockets which
will carry US astronauts will not
use the Antaress AJ-26 main engines one of which appears to
have exploded in the Wallops incident associate administrator
William Gerstenmaier emphasised that space launches are a
tough business. As for upcoming human launches by private
contractors, he says that he and

NASA have been pretty open
with our Congressional friends in
Washington, explaining how difcult our launch business is.
He went on: The important
thing is we dont overreact to this
failure. That we really understand what occurred and x it,
and x it with some condence.
But Gerstenmaier, in a further
remark clearly aimed at everyone
associated with launches inside
NASA and at its contractors,
says: Dont get over-condent.
Cargo ights, he says, are a learning opportunity where we can
afford to have some failures.
Two previous ights of Antares
and Orbitals Cygnus spacecraft
were successful. The cause of
failure is not yet known, but
video shows the steady burn of
the rockets main engine become
a violent explosion at the base of
the vehicle.
AJ-26 engines are supplied by
Aerojet Rocketdyne, which
acquired from Russia a number of
Soviet-era NK-33s, originally
designed in the 1960s for the
Soviet Moon programme. Refurbished and Americanised, the
engines are tough and robust,
says Orbital vice-president Frank
Culbertson. And, he adds, each is
thoroughly tested so there is as
yet no cause to connect Wallops
to a May 2014 testbed failure.
flightglobal.com
THIS WEEK
Insitu reveals
ScanEagle 2
THIS WEEK P12

PROPULSION
P&W powers A321neo to go further

More efficient PW1100G engines give Airbus confidence to take on 757 on transatlantic with longer-range narrowbody
2% fuel efciency improvement promised by Pratt &

Whitney last July helped Airbus
secure approval to test the market
for a longer-range version of the
A321neo aimed at replacing the
Boeing 757 on transatlantic
routes, says president of Airbus
Americas Barry Eccleston.
So far, CFM International has
not offered a similar rangeimproving reduction in fuel consumption on the rival Leap-1A
engine, leaving the PW1100G-JM
geared turbofan as the only engine
option offered to airlines,
Eccleston told Flightglobal on the
sidelines of the British American
Business Council aerospace conference on 28 October.
We have not had that proposal
yet from [CFM], Eccleston says.
CFM, however, is condent
that fuel efciency improvements
will become available on the Leap
engine family over time. There
will absolutely be Leap upgrades, CFM says, noting technology in development for the
GE9X engine. However, we are
not ready to provide specics in
terms of what these upgrades will
be, what value we expect them to
add, or a timeline at this time.
P&W unveiled the 2% fuel efciency improvement for the
A320neo family at Farnborough
in July. That pledge came two
months after P&W announced
that a 35,000lb-thrust version of
the PW1100G-JM will be available for the A321neo.
The type can gain extra range with

strengthened wings and landing gear
Eccleston describes the engine
improvement as one of a handful
of critical factors that converged
in recent weeks to allow Airbus
to test the market for a transatlantic A321neo. Airbus engineers
released from development of the
A350-900 and early design work
on the A330neo family also determined that it was possible to
achieve extra range on the
A321neo by strengthening the
wing and the landing gear,
Eccleston says.
Airbus met one US airline that
operates the 757 on transatlantic
routes during the week of 20
October, Eccleston says. The current US operators are American
Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United
Airlines and US Airways.
Airbus received a terric
response from the US airline,
Eccleston adds. That doesnt
mean to say theyre going to buy
it. We havent made a formal offer
yet anyway.
The manufacturer is still only

testing the market for the transatlantic routes now operated by
757s only, he says. Airbus is not
yet ready to offer the aircraft on
another popular 757 route between Hawaii and the western
third of the USA.
Hawaiian Airlines and US
Airways both A321 customers
now use 757s on those routes with

dense seating congurations.
The longer-range A321neo
concept could connect Hawaii to
the mainline. However, it is not
clear if the proposed aircraft
would have the ability to land on
short runways on the islands in
high temperatures with a full
passenger load.
PRODUCTION
Mobile still mobile despite the oods

Two rainstorms last April flooded
Airbus partially-built factory in
Mobile, Alabama, but will not delay
the start of production in less than
12 months, says Airbus Americas
president Barry Eccleston.
The storms transformed the
A320 final assembly hall at Brookley
Field into a large swimming pool,
Eccleston says.
Despite the flooding, Airbus still
plans to inaugurate Station 40 in the
final assembly hall in slightly less

than a year, he says. Station 40 is
the assembly position where Airbus
mates the wings to the fuselage.
The first A321 assembled at the
factory will be delivered in 2016,
with production rising to four aircraft
per month in 2017.
Construction of the Mobile complex began in July 2013 as the final
piece of a decade-long industry expansion by Airbus in the USA.
START-UP
Launch of Qatars Saudi subsidiary slips to 2015

T
he launch of Qatar Airways

Saudi domestic carrier Al
Maha has slipped to early next
year as the local regulatory process is still ongoing. The Dohabased carrier had planned to start
services at the end of 2014.
Speaking at Flightglobals
Aviation Partnership Summit in
Madrid, Qatar Airways chief exflightglobal.com
ecutive Akbar Al Baker said that

while the rst A320 for the new
airline has just entered the Airbus
paint shop, it may initially be
operated by the parent carrier due
to a slip in the launch schedule.
There is a possibility that as
we are going to receive those aircraft before we have nished all
the regulatory requirements, that
we will start ying the aircraft

on Qatar Airways network
instead of parking them in Toulouse, he says.
He describes the division as
an independent full-service airline bordering on low-cost
structure that will serve the
Saudi domestic route network.
Although it is 100% Qatar
Airways-owned, Al Baker says

he would be very open to interest from Saudi investors.
Al Maha will launch operations with a eet of Airbus singleaisle aircraft but Al Baker says a
move to larger aircraft on Saudi
trunk routes is an option: We are
showing interest to Airbus in
A330neos for this project.
THIS WEEK
For more coverage of the burgeoning

unmanned air system sector log on to
ightglobal.com/UAV
UNMANNED SYSTEMS BETH STEVENSON PARIS
SAFETY JON HEMMERDINGER

WASHINGTON DC
Insitu reveals ScanEagle 2
Terrorist threat
spreading says
intelligence chief
Airframer targets civil UAV market with improved payload and reliable new-build engine
Orbital designed the

internal combustion
propulsion system
Insitu
propulsion system designed and

manufactured specically for a
UAV, the company adds.
Insitu is assessing how an upgrade package will be offered to
existing ScanEagle operators, but
says it expects ConocoPhilips,
which operates the ScanEagle in
US airspace in Alaska, to opt for
the upgraded system.
Hartman says the commercial
market, unlike its military counterpart, is not just looking for a
standard intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability. The new UAV, with an enhanced payload capacity and
better reliability, will facilitate
growth in this market.
Integration into national airspace requires reliability and

condence in a system that is
being
operated
alongside
manned aircraft, he says.
Insitu has received the rst of
the new Orbital powerplants,
which will shortly undergo testing ahead of new orders for
ScanEagle 2, that will be taken
starting in 2015.
The ScanEagle 2 also has a bigger nose that will provide a multiintelligence sensor capability, so
the UAV can carry day and night
cameras simultaneously. On the
original ScanEagle the different
sensors had to be swapped out
when required.
Boeing
nsitu has introduced a new

version of its ScanEagle unmanned air vehicle with a newbuild engine that could facilitate
further business in the commercial market.
The company has tasked
Orbital with building a new engine to increase the reliability of
the UAV, a feature that will appeal to commercial customers as
it ensures a safer system for integration into national airspace.
The ScanEagle has been operational for 10 years, during which
time it has amassed some 800,000
ight hours with the US Navy,
among other operators. The new
iteration allows the type to keep
up with technology that has developed over the past decade.
There are obviously many lessons learned, and there are lots of
areas that we identied for constant improvement of the system, Ryan Hartman, president
and chief executive of Insitu said
at the Euronaval exhibition in
Paris. Technology has matured
to a point where we can do a
quantum leap...in a few areas.
The type will boast the rst reciprocating internal combustion
CONTEST DAVID LEARMOUNT LONDON
Airbus, Tata bid for India

transport replacement
A
MILESTONE
Emirates 100th 777-300ER arrives

Emirates has taken delivery of its 100th Boeing 777-300ER, more
than two decades after the Dubai-based airline ordered its first 777.
The carrier has 142 777s in its fleet and 51 of the -300ER variant
on order, and is the only airline to operate all variants of the twinjet.
hreats posed by terrorism to

civilian aviation are on the rise
despite the improvements in security and intelligence that followed
9/11, says US director of national
intelligence James Clapper.
In a speech on 27 October to
the AVSEC World aviation safety
conference in Washington DC,
Clapper said aviation faces new
threats as terrorist groups have
evolved. The threat really isnt
diminishing. Its spreading globally and it is morphing, he says.
Clapper, whose job involves ensuring US intelligence agencies
collaborate to counter threats,
notes that additional terrorist
franchises have sprung up since
2001, including groups like
al-Qaeda in the Arabia Peninsula,
which has tried to attack civilian
aviation three times since 2009.
Clapper adds that Russias response to the crash of Malaysia
Airlines ight MH17 over Ukraine
in July reminded him of the Soviet
Unions response following the
1983 destruction of a Korean Air
Boeing 747. He says the incident
proves terrorism is not the only
threat facing civil aviation.
irbus Defence & Space is

teaming up with Tata Advanced Systems to offer the
Airbus C295 medium airlifter as
a replacement for the Indian air
forces ageing eet of small tactical transports. The main competitor is Alenia Aermacchi, with its
C-27J Spartan.
If the C295 is chosen Tata
would be Indian production partner for the project, which entails
replacing 56 British Aerospace
Avro 748s. Airbus says it would
supply the rst 16 aircraft in yaway condition from its own nal
assembly line, and the remaining
40 would be manufactured and

assembled by Tata in India.
Domingo Urea Raso, Airbus
Defence & Space executive vicepresident for military aircraft,
says: We rmly believe that in
the C295 we have clearly the best
aircraft to replace the IAF Avro
eet, and in Tata Advanced
Systems we have secured the
cream of the Indian private
aerospace sector.
Tata chairman S Ramadorai
describes the partnership as a
landmark for the development of
aircraft manufacturing capability in the country.
flightglobal.com
Pilots love this airplane for its quietness

and superb handling characteristics
its larger ight deck makes pilots feel more comfortable,
especially on long routes.
Boeing offers great support for the 787,

making its operation smoother and smoother.
Captain Pu Ming
VP of Operations
Hainan Airlines
THE DREAMLINER EFFECT.

HAINAN AIRLINES SUCCESS.
www.newairplane.com/787/dreamliner-effect
THIS WEEK
EU-US committee to
discuss Norwegian
air carrier permit
AIR TRANSPORT P18
PROCUREMENT DAN PARSONS WASHINGTON DC
Israel contract takes F-35 eet to 44

IAI gears up for wing production with countrys first batch of 19 Lightning II fighters due to arrive between 2017 and 2018
The country already

purchased 19 of the type
at a cost of $2.75 billion
Lockheed Martin
srael has decided to increase its

acquisition of Lockheed Martin
F-35 Lightning II ghters by 25
aircraft, bringing its eet to 44 of
the fth-generation type.
The countrys second contract,
which is not yet nalised, was
approved in principle when
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe
Yaalon recently met with his US
counterpart, Defense Secretary
Chuck Hagel, in Washington DC.
Israel has already purchased
19 of the aircraft at a cost of $2.75
billion. The rst two F-35s are
due to arrive in Israel by early
2017, and the rest should be delivered by 2018. The Israeli air
force (IAF) plans to base the aircraft at Nevatim air base in the
southern region of the country.
The F-35s wings will be built
in Israel by Israel Aerospace
Industries (IAI), and Lt Gen
Christopher Bogdan, the Pentagons F-35 programme chief,
plans to visit Israel this week for
the ofcial inauguration of the
wing production line. IAI will
begin delivery of F-35 wings to
Lockheed Martin in mid-2015.
The decade-long contract for
F-35 wing production is part of
Lockheeds plan to share manufacturing costs and responsibili-
ties among its partner nations, although Israel is technically a

foreign military sales customer
under US law. The contract is
worth up to $2.5 billion.
IAI has invested substantially
in the advanced systems and
technologies required to produce
the wings since signing the contract in April 2013.
Lockheed recently reached an
agreement with the US government for the eighth lot of lowrate initial production (LRIP),
which comprises 43 aircraft.
This represents 29 of the type for
the USA and the remaining 14
for international customers, in-
cluding four for the UK, two for

Norway, two for Italy, four for
Japan and two of Israels initial
purchase of 19 aircraft.
As international partner purchases begin to be made, the
price per aircraft a perpetual
concern is meant to decline.
Neither Lockheed nor the US
government has released a gure
for the LRIP 8 contract, because it
has not yet been nalised.
Cost details will be released
once the contract is nalised;
however, in general, the average
unit price for all three variants of
the airframe in LRIP 8 is approximately 3.6% lower than the pre-
vious contract, Lorraine Martin,

Lockheeds F-35 chief, says.
LRIP 7, with conventional
take-off and landing engines
bought under a separate contract
from Pratt & Whitney was
worth $115 million per aircraft,
so the 3.6% gure would mean
lot eight should have unit costs of
around $110.6 million.
The US Navy was set to begin
testing its carrier-based Lightning
II, the F-35C, aboard the USS
Nimitz on November 3, when an
example was due to land aboard
the vessel in the Pacic Ocean.
Additional reporting by Arie
Egozi in Tel Aviv
STRATEGY MAVIS TOH SINGAPORE
ainan Airlines wants to double its international business

within three years.
The Chinese carriers international network now accounts for
about 15% of its total revenues,
and the aim is to grow the gure
to 30% over the next two to three
years, vice general manager of
marketing Liu Jichun says.
He believes the airlines domestic business will likely be
limited by congestion at the
countrys main airports, coupled
with competition which will lead
to a capacity increase. Chinas
growing high-speed rail network
flightglobal.com
will also put more pressure on

the domestic air travel market.
The carrier, which features on
Flight Internationals cover this
week, aims to launch services to at
least two new North American
destinations using its Boeing 787s
next year, and has plans to enter
the Spain, Italy and UK markets.
By the end of the year, Hainan
will have a eet of 27 widebodies: 16 Airbus A330s, eight 787s
and three Boeing 767s, Liu says.
Flightglobals Ascend Fleets
database shows that Hainan has a
eet of 124 aircraft in service, comprised mostly of Boeing 737s.
AirTeamImages
Hainan targets international network expansion
The airline will operate eight Boeing 787s by the end of the year
Th
cus
am
Th
stu
n
Welcome to our A380.

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Soar to a place where productivity is the law of the land.
Overall Length: 72.72m
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eortlessly inside our A380 Business Class cabin. The cabins
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customer and generous space all round, so you can work in comfort
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he A380 lounge is the ideal place for First and Business Class
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Escape the ordinary and
enjoy the ight in style.
Enjoy a new level of comfort and entertainment in our A380

Economy Class. The cabin is designed with passenger comfort
at the forefront. Delicious cuisine and the latest generation of
in-ight entertainment makes ying enjoyable for all.
AIR TRANSPORT
LOW-COST
Aeroflot claims
victory as carrier
is relaunched
For up-to-the-minute air transport news,

network and fleet information sign up at:
ightglobal.com/dashboard
Opposition to a planned
budget operation flying to
the USA has been strong
eroot is to brand its new

low-cost carrier Pobeda,
meaning Victory, after its previous budget operation, Dobrolet,
was forced to halt services.
The airline will use Boeing
737-800s and largely retain
Dobrolets livery, although the
eet will carry the revised name.
Aeroot had launched budget
services with Dobrolet in June but
the carriers controversial initial
route to Crimea, the Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia earlier
this year, made the airline a target
of European Union sanctions.
Dobrolet was forced to suspend
services in August but Aeroot
vowed to resurrect its budget
strategy. Aeroots selection of
Pobeda illustrates its deance.
Next year, on 9 May, Russia
will celebrate the 70th anniversary of victory in the Second World
War. Aeroot chief Vitaly Saveliev says that the name also symbolises victory over external
challenges faced by Russia this
year.
AirTeamImages
REGULATIONS GHIM-LAY YEO WASHINGTON DC
Transatlantic summit set to

debate Norwegian impasse
US and EC officials will hold talks over airlines controversial plans for Irish-based permit
Four Boeings in
a day for Qatar
uropean Commission and US

ofcials will meet in Washington DC next month to discuss
Norwegian Air Internationals
(NAI) controversial application
for a foreign air carrier permit
from US authorities, say sources.
We understand that the
unprecedented extraordinary
meeting of the EU-US joint committee that oversees the EU-US
open skies agreement will take
place on 25 November.
n what is believed to be an industry rst, Qatar Airways has

accepted four Boeing widebodies
on the same day.
On Monday [27 October], we
took delivery of four Boeing aircraft three 787s and a 777,
said Qatar Airways group chief
executive Akbar Al Baker at
Flightglobals Aviation Partnership Summit in Madrid. Each
was on their way to Doha at
15min intervals.
Never in the history of an airline have so many aircraft been
taken in just one day, he adds.
Qatar Airways holds orders for
94 777s and 30 787s. Later this
year, the Oneworld carrier will become the rst customer to receive
the Airbus A350, with deliveries
due to start in December.
APPLICATION
EU ofcials had requested an urgent meeting after the US
Department of Transportation
(DOT) in September rejected
NAIs application for exemption
authority to operate to the USA,
saying it was not in the public interest to approve the request.
DOT said in September it was
still reviewing NAIs application
for a foreign air carrier permit.
EU ofcials plan to clarify
and resolve questions relating to
the application of the EU-US Air
Transport Agreement as regards
the application of Norwegian Air
International for an exemption
and its request for a foreign air
carrier permit, said European
Commission acting director for
DELIVERIES
aviation and international transport affairs Olivier Onidi in a 9

October letter to US Department
of State deputy assistant secretary for transportation affairs
Thomas Engle.
Onidi had proposed in the
letter, a copy of which has been
seen by Flightglobal, for the
meeting to take place in Brussels
EU ofcials will
clarify the EU-US Air
Transport Agreement
as regards Norwegian
Air International
OLIVIER ONIDI
Acting director for aviation affairs, EC
on either 11 or 20 November. It is
not immediately clear why the
meeting is now taking place in
Washington instead.
NAI is an Ireland-based subsidiary of Norwegian, which
plans to transfer its long-haul operations to NAI. Norwegian already serves the USA non-stop
through its Oslo-based subsidiary
Norwegian Long Haul. These
ights are not affected by the
DOTs decision in September.
Norwegian had planned for

NAI to take over the ights, but
the airlines plans in the USA
attracted a restorm of protest
from several airlines and labour
groups, which have accused
Norwegian of basing NAI in Ireland to escape stricter labour
laws in Norway.
NAIs critics also say that the
carrier will benet from lower
labour costs by using crew based
in Asia.
REPRESENTATIVES
Norwegian chief executive Bjorn
Kjos is scheduled to speak in
Washington on 20 November at
an industry event, where he is
expected to make a case for
Norwegians plans to an
audience that will include representatives from the US government, airlines, labour and lobbying groups.
On 23 October, Kjos said that
Norwegian is not planning to
open any further transatlantic
routes until it can secure an operating permit for its Irish lowcost subsidiary.
Kjos said during an investor
brieng that we will stick to the
[existing] transatlantic routes
until then.
flightglobal.com
AIR TRANSPORT
Virgin Atlantic set

to boost 787 fleet
AIR TRANSPORT P20

ORDER MURDO MORRISON LONDON
ENGINES
Breakthrough for Superjet
R-R and Safran

link up for drive
train production
Belgiums VLM to relaunch scheduled services as first European operator of Sukhoi type
The airline hopes to announce its destinations soon

or three routes. If successful in its
bids for trafc rights, it should be
ying four Superjets and two Fokker 50s on scheduled routes by
the end of the year, he says. VLM
hopes to announce its new destinations in the coming weeks.
VLM has opted for the longrange version of the Russian-built
aircraft, the Superjet 100LR.
White says the airline considered
a number of types, including
Embraers E-Jets and the Boeing
737, before committing.
The advantage the Superjet

has in terms of comfort, with its
wide cabin was a real driver, he
says. The performance of the
long-range model also suits Antwerps short runway.
Sukhoi has a total of 166 orders for the Superjet 50 of
which have been delivered,
Flightglobals Ascend Fleets database shows. However, Mexicos
Interjet is so far the only Western
customer, with 11 aircraft and orders for nine more.
VLM
elgian carrier VLM is to

become the rst European
Union operator of the Sukhoi
Superjet 100 following a deal
with Ilyushin Finance to lease
two of the regional aircraft.
It has options for a further pair
and purchase rights on 10 more.
Lease periods on the rst two jets,
which are subject to a letter of intent, will run for 12 years.
The airline which is completing a management buy-out from
Intro Aviation will use the Russian-built twinjets to return to
scheduled services from its Antwerp base in April next year.
Since becoming part of Air
France-KLMs CityJet business in
2009, VLM has operated charter
and wet-lease services for European airlines, including CityJet,
using a eet of 12 Fokker 50s.
New VLM chief executive and
majority shareholder Arthur
White says the airline will try out
the scheduled market with two
olls-Royce and Safran Group

division Hispano-Suiza have
nalised their plans for a drivetrain joint venture for civil aircraft engines.
The two sides had disclosed a
tentative agreement for the
venture in July. It will be based
initially on an exclusive 25-year
contract covering a range of civil
aircraft, including the Airbus
A330neo, to be powered by
Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines.
Production facilities will be
built in a competitive country,
says Safran, beginning next year.
The facility is expected to start
operating in late 2016 or early
2017. The venture will employ
about 180 staff.
Hispano-Suizas
site
at
Colombes, outside Paris, will
serve as the ventures headquarters. It will also have a presence
at Rolls-Royces plants at Derby
and Dahlewitz.
ROLLOUT
Vietnam Airlines A350-900 emerges
Airbus
Vietnam Airlines first A350-900 aircraft has rolled out of the Toulouse
assembly hall, and is set to begin ground tests.
The aircraft, which the carrier will lease from AerCap, is on track for
delivery in mid-2015, making Vietnam Airlines the first carrier in the
Asia-Pacific to receive the new type. Airbus says that some of the
major airframe assembly has been completed, and the aircrafts
electrical power has also been turned on. The aircrafts cabin installation will also continue a process that started in station 40.
Vietnam Airlines has orders for 10 A350s, with an additional four
aircraft to be provided by lessors.
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AIR TRANSPORT

INVENTORY NIALL OKEEFFE ATLANTA
Virgin Atlantic set to boost 787 eet

Airline to exercise options on four examples of -9 variant and weighs follow-on order for -10 to replace Gatwick-based 747s
irgin Atlantic intends to exercise its Boeing 787-9 options
and is looking at the -10 variant as
a potential replacement for leased
London Gatwick-based 747s.
Firming of the airlines four -9
options would bring its 787 eet
to 21 aircraft by the end of 2018,
notes chief executive Craig
Kreeger. We have not exercised
those last four options but we are
communicating very clearly that
we plan to, he says.
Speaking on a chartered 787
ight to Atlanta for media, guests
and company executives on 23
October, Kreeger also disclosed
that a follow-on order for the largest 787 variant, the -10, is being
considered as the airline moves to
a decision on how to adapt its eet
after leases on seven Gatwickbased 747s expire in 2019.
While the -10, with 323 seats,
is smaller than other candidate
aircraft the 777 and Airbus
A350 it offers the advantage of
eet commonality and the attendant efciency in pilot training
among other areas, he notes.
Virgin put its rst 787-9 into
revenue service on 28 October,
ying the aircraft to Boston. The
airline is the rst in Europe to operate the variant.
Rex Features
Virgins 787 flew to Atlanta, but Boston is the first scheduled US destination for the type
The second of the 17 rmly
ordered 787s which are replacing A340s and London Heathrow-based 747s will enter service with Virgin by year-end.
Washington DC, Newark and
New York JFK have been earmarked as the carriers next 787
destinations after Boston. Kreeger
says the plan is to stay on the
East Coast in the early days as we
build up our number of pilots
who have done many landings
on that airplane.
But while the 787 is ying to
places that are shorter-haul for

Virgin Atlantic for the rst several months, Kreeger stresses that
it will move, noting that its a
great airplane for places like Hong
Kong, places like Johannesburg.
He adds: The aircraft is a great
airplane from an economic perspective in any route that we y it;
its a particularly good airplane
the longer you y it, where the
benets and fuel savings get bigger. So the West Coast of the US
and Asia are two great examples.
Virgins 787s will make up
almost 60% of its aircraft inventory by the end of 2018. Today, the
in-service long-haul eet comprises 10 A330s, 15 A340s, 12 747s
and one 787, Flightglobals Ascend Fleets database shows.
Meanwhile, the airline is to
turn its attention to deciding how
to replace its Gatwick-based Boeing 747s. Virgin has a dozen 747400s 11 of them leased, Flightglobals Ascend Fleets database
shows. Seven of the jumbos are
based at Gatwick and ve at
Heathrow.
RECRUITMENT DAVID LEARMOUNT LONDON
CTC
Cadet scheme will be rst MPL to put graduates straight into right-hand seat
The multi-crew licence system will deliver graduates into cockpits

Virgin Atlantic has announced its

first ab initio pilot training programme aimed at attracting young
cadets into a commercial airline
career. Also, in a European first,
Virgin will be using the multi-crew
pilot licence (MPL) system to deliver
graduates straight into the co-pilots
seat of widebody airliners.
The Virgin Atlantic future flyers
programme, operated by Virgin in
conjunction with UK flight training
organisation CTC Aviation, will offer
about 12 aspiring pilots with no previous flying experience the chance to
train for a career with the airline. The
airline explains that the programme
is the only one in Europe to see new
recruits training on long-haul aircraft

once they receive their licence.
Applications opened on 30 October
on the CTC Aviation website.
David Kistruck, general manager
flight operations at Virgin Atlantic,
says the trainee pilots will be the
only ones in Europe to fly straight on
to long-haul aircraft once qualified.
The 18-month programme comprises ground school, flight training in
Phoenix, Arizona, and full motion
flightdeck simulation at CTCs training centre in Southampton. The
course leads towards the UK Civil
Aviation Authoritys MPL and a position as a Virgin Atlantic first officer
operating the Airbus A330-300.
flightglobal.com
AIR TRANSPORT
Auto ejection
grounds Indias
Su-30s
DEFENCE P22
FREIGHTERS
GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE
SAFETY DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON
Exit concern over A320 Recaro seat

uropes safety authority is intending to order a reinforcement of certain Recaro passenger
seats after concluding that they
could hinder evacuation.
Analysis of the design of particular type 3510 seats shows that
the pan is insufciently stable
to sustain loads imposed by passengers using the seat to help
them climb through overwing
exits on Airbus A320s, says the
European Aviation Safety Agency.
The authority is concerned that
passengers limbs could slide
through the seat structure and become trapped, potentially blocking the exit. EASA is proposing to
order a modication of the affect-
ed seats, within nine months, if

they are installed in an overwing
emergency exit row.
Recaro says it is aware of the
proposed directive and says is it
already
implementing
an
optimised technical solution for

the relevant seat pans.
It adds that it is continuously
supporting EASA with the
provision of the necessary
service bulletins.
Rex Features
SF sizes up with
P2F 777-300ER
Seats need to enable passengers to exit through overwing doors
hinese express cargo carrier

SF Airlines has ordered an
undisclosed number of Boeing
767-300ER passenger-to-freighter conversions.
The carrier, a unit of Chinese
delivery rm SF Express, will
take its rst converted 767 in the
second half of 2015, says Boeing.
The announcement marks SF
Expresss entrance into the widebody freighter market. Flightglobals Ascend Fleets database shows
that SF Express operates four
737-300SFs, three 737-400SFs,
and eight 757-200SFs. It is also
scheduled to add an additional
737-300SF in January 2015.
MANAGEMENT GRAHAM DUNN LONDON
OLeary signs on for ve more years

R
yanair chief executive Michael OLeary has signalled

his intent to remain at the helm of
the Irish budget carrier by signing
a new ve-year contract.
OLeary had been working
under a rolling 12-month contract
but has now signed a new veyear deal which commits him to
the airline until September 2019.
He has been the very public
face of Ryanair for more than 20
years and drove its transition
flightglobal.com
into a low-cost carrier and the

explosive growth that followed.
The airline now ranks as the fth
largest in the world by passenger
number carrying 81.7 million
in 2013/14 and recorded net
prots in all but one of the last
10 years.
As long ago as 2007 OLeary
said he thought he was probably
entering his last two or three
years in the role as the airline
continued to mature.
But he has remained in place

and oversaw the development of
a new senior management team
at Ryanair after the departures of
long-time deputies Michael Cawley and Howard Millar.
That team is now leading both
the carriers attempts to transition
itself into a more business and
customer-friendly carrier and a
achieve a return to growth after
securing a new long-term eet
deal with Boeing.
Rex Features
Ryanairs colourful chief executive commits to budget airline until 2019, despite earlier suggestions that he plans to quit
OLeary: 20 years at the helm
DEFENCE
ustralian defence minister

Senator David Johnston has
formally declared a Boeing
Defence Australia and Thales Australia team as the winning tender
for the Australian Defence Forces
Project Air 9000 Phase 7 Helicopter Aircrew Training System
(HATS).
The requirement calls for the replacement of the Royal Australian
Navy and Australian Armys current training rotorcraft with 15 new
Airbus Helicopters EC135s, plus
three full-motion simulators and
synthetic training devices.
The 23 October announcement
comes after 10 months of negotiations, following the teams selection as the preferred tender last December. A contract signature was
expected by the end of October.
The navys current training eet
comprises 15 Airbus Helicopters
AS350BA Squirrels with 723 Sqn
at NAS Nowra in New South
Wales, which entered service in
1984. The army operates around
30 Bell Helicopter 206B-1 Kiowas,
which have been in use since the
early 1970s. The aircraft are based
at Holsworthy Barracks near Sydney with 173 Aviation Squadron,
and with the Army Aviation Training Centre at Oakey, west of
Brisbane.
The new aircraft and training facilities for both services will based
at Nowra, with the system expected to commence training in late
2016.
This will deliver a fully-integrated training environment on
contemporary twin-engined helicopters, Johnston says. Crews will
transition from the EC135 to the
Airbus Helicopters Tiger, Boeing
CH-47F, Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky MH-60R and NH Industries
MRH90, he notes.
The Boeing/Thales team for
HATS was selected ahead of a direct bid by Australian Aerospace
now part of Airbus Group Australia Pacic with the EC135, and
the team of Raytheon Australia and
Bell with the Bell 429.
Auto ejection grounds Indias Su-30s

I
ndias air force has temporarily

suspended ying on its entire
eet of an estimated 200 Sukhoi
Su-30MKIs, following an uncommanded ejection on 21 October.
Both crew members from the
air forces 30 Sqn escaped injury
when their aircraft tail number
SB 050 came down 11nm
(20km) short of the runway at
Lohegaon air base in Pune, with
its airframe largely intact. Both
ejection seats had red whilst the
aircraft was coming in to land,
the Indian defence ministry conrms, adding that a court of inquiry is in progress and certain
specic checks are being conducted on the aircraft.
The latest mishap was the fth
crash to involved the multirole
type in Indian service, and has
called into question the safety of
US Air Force
HATS off as
Boeing-Thales
team bags deal
SAFETY ATUL CHANDRA BENGALURU
The nations fleet boasts around 200 of the Sukhoi combat fighter
the ghters Zvezda K-36D ejection
seats.
The
nations
Su-30MKIs have also been
dogged by trouble with the types
NPO Saturn AL-31FP engines
and a poor serviceability rate, according to informed sources.
Counting the latest crash, the

air force has lost 20 combat aircraft since August 2011, including
two other Su-30s, eight Mikoyan
MiG-21s, three MiG-29s, three
Sepecat Jaguars, two Dassault
Mirage 2000s and one MiG-27.
PROCUREMENT CRAIG HOYLE LONDON
UK feels Afnity with new

xed-wing trainers eet
KBR/Elbit Systems joint venture to supply Military Flying Training System for RAF and Navy
he UK Ministry of Defence is
to replace the bulk of its
current xed-wing training aircraft
with three new types, following
the selection of a Military Flying
Training System (MFTS) programme bid by KBR/Elbit Systems
joint venture Afnity.
Conrming Afnity as preferred bidder for the requirement
New types
to include
Beechcraft
T-6C
on 24 October, the MoDs training

system partner for MFTS, Ascent
Flight Training, says: This is a
key milestone along the route to a
major investment decision.
New eets of Grob Aircraft
G120TP, Beechcraft T-6C and
Embraer Phenom 100 aircraft are
due to be introduced, to respectively deliver elementary, basic
Beechcraft
TRAINING
ANDREW MCLAUGHLIN NOWRA
Follow more defence topics and keep up

with the latest news from the sector:
ightglobal.com/defence
and multi-engine training for the

Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.
An undisclosed number of
each type will replace in-service
Grob G115 Tutors, Shorts Tucano
T1s and leased Beechcraft King
Air 200s under the arrangement,
which is expected to run through
to 2033. Flightglobals MiliCAS
database records a respective
119, 38 and eight of these as
being in current active duty, with
the G115s provided by Babcock.
Ascent says instruction using
the new aircraft will be delivered
at the RAFs Barkston Heath and
Cranwell air bases with the
G120TP, at RAF Valley with the
T-6C and at Cranwell with the
Phenom 100. The RAF already
operates a eet of 28 BAE
Systems Hawk 128s from its Valley base in Anglesey, north
Wales, which deliver the advanced jet training element of the
UK MFTS programme.
flightglobal.com
DEFENCE
Searchmaster
locates first
customer
DEFENCE P24
FIGHTERS DAN THISDELL LONDON
TECHNOLOGY ARIE EGOZI TEL AVIV
Gripen deal airborne as

Saab, Brazil seal contract
Elbit points way

with UAV laser
aab and industrial partners

including Embraer are to start
work on 36 Gripen NG ghters
formally ordered by Brazil with
the signing on 27 October of a
SKr39.3 billion ($5.4 billion) contract for delivery over ve years,
starting in 2019.
The deal under negotiation
since December 2013, when Brazil
selected the Gripen over Dassaults
Rafale and the Boeing F/A-18E/F
Super Hornet for its F-X2 requirement is for 28 single-seat and
eight two-seat aircraft, and makes
Brazil the export launch customer
for the NG model.
About 15 aircraft will be assembled in Brazil and the rest in Sweden, although 150 Brazilian engineers and a number of technicians
will soon be arriving in Sweden
for training and to help assemble
some of the Swedish-built aircraft.
Lennart Sindahl, who heads
Saabs aeronautics business, says
the single-seaters will be similar to
the E-model Gripens under development for the Swedish air force.
As part of a technology transfer
plan, the two-seaters will include
some Brazil-specic design features and will be developed with
Saab
Braslia chose Gripen over Dassault Rafale and Boeing F/A-18

the help of the engineers being
dispatched to Sweden.
The two-seaters will therefore,
adds Sindahl, be delivered later
in the ve-year delivery cycle.
The Gripens will replace
Dassault Mirage 2000C ghters
operated by Brazils 1st Air Defence Group and a number of
modernised Northrop F-5EMs in
four other air force squadrons.
Co-design with Saab of some
aspects of the two-seaters will
open a new phase of development of Brazils especially Embraers military aircraft capabilities. Sindahl, speaking by
telephone after the contract sign-
ing, did not detail whether Brazilian nal assembly work would
include some or all of the twoseaters. However, in July, Embraer chief executive Frederico
Curado said Brazils assembly
point would be Embraers military factory and ight test centre
in Gavio Peixoto.
Citing commercial condentiality, Sindahl declined to comment on the apparent increase to
about $5.4 billion in the price of
a contract that was announced
as some $4.5 billion when the
Gripen was selected. However,
he did underscore Saabs reputation for efciency.
Israel Defence Forces
Technology transfer pact sees local partners collaborate in engineering of two-seat variant
romising to slash sensor to

shooter times, Elbit Systems
has unveiled a 100g (0.22lb) laser
designator small enough to be
carried by mini-unmanned air
vehicles like its Skylark.
Dan Slasky, the companys
vice-president for electro-optics
and laser systems, says: When a
mini-UAS carries an electro-optical payload that includes this
laser designator, a target simply
cannot get away.
And, he adds, a ghter aircraft
ying above clouds could deploy
its laser-guided weapons in collaboration with such a handlaunched air vehicle.
Elbits miniature designator is
small enough to t in a 10cm-diameter (4in) electro-optical turret.
The Skylark has a maximum
take-off weight of 7.5kg, including a 1.1kg payload.
Small enough for Skylark
SEARCH AND RESCUE GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE
obham has won a A$640 million ($564 million) contract to

provide search and rescue (SAR)
services to the Australian government between 2016 and 2028.
Under the deal, won in an open
bidding process, the company
will provide four Bombardier
Challenger 604 aircraft specically equipped for the SAR mission.
Much of the modication work
on the General Electric CF34powered aircraft which will receive a new sensor suite, observation windows and air operable
doors will be undertaken at
flightglobal.com
Cobhams facilities in Adelaide

starting later this year.
From August 2016, Cobham
aircraft will operate from Perth,
and will add Cairns and Melbourne by the end of that year.
Mick Kinley, chief executive of
the Australian Maritime Safety
Authority, says the faster and
longer range Challenger jets will
provide a similar level of capability to the ve Dornier 328 turboprops currently in service.
AeroRescue, the present contractor, will continue in place
until August 2016.
Cobham
Enter the Challenger as Cobham wins in Australia
Cobham is adapting Bombardier Challenger 604s for the mission

DEFENCE
Follow more defence topics and keep up

with the latest news on The DEW Line:
ightglobal.com/dewline
AVIONICS BETH STEVENSON PARIS
Searchmaster locates rst customer

Thales latest maritime radar marks sea change for French navys Atlantique 2 fleet as part of upgrade programme
rench navy Atlantique 2
(ATL2) maritime patrol aircraft can expect better detection
of small targets in high seas and
improved coastal surveillance
from a radar upgrade to be supplied by Thales.
The new Searchmaster airborne
multirole surveillance radar is an
active electronically scanned
array system that will be integrated into 15 of the Dassault-built
aircraft, as part of an upgrade programme announced in October
2013 that aims to extend the life of
the twin-engined aircraft out to
the 2030s.
Speaking during the Euronaval
exhibition in Paris last week, armament chief engineer and mission aircraft managing ofcer Patrick Aufort of French defence
procurement agency DGA said
Searchmaster benets from research studies funded partly by
the DGA and partly by Thales.
Searchmaster shows that studies
can become real and relevant
equipment, he adds.
Dassault Aviation
The system will be integrated into 15 of the Dassault-built aircraft

France requires the radome for
the ATL2 upgrade have the same
form factor as the previous mechanical radar used on the aircraft, as well as having the ability
to carry out multiple roles. The
Searchmaster has a 360 view
and a 200nm (370km) range.
Thales was the only one to meet
our goal, Aufort says. In addition to the radar, the ATL2 upgrade also includes an electrooptic modication and computer
and console modernisation.
Flight testing is expected to
begin in 2016, with deliveries in
2018. The International Trafc in
Arms Regulations-free radar will
be available for export deliveries

in 2017.
The 5-in-1 X-band radar provides capabilities in ve key
areas: anti-submarine warfare,
anti-surface warfare, maritime
surveillance, ground surveillance
and mapping and tactical air support. The technology derives
from that developed for the
Dassault Rafale combat ghter.
Thales director of strategy,
intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance, Pierrick Lerey,
says the company is also actively
pursuing applications on medium altitude, long-endurance unmanned systems.
We are already having discussions with UAS providers,
Lerey says. We can see this ying on a [Elbit Sytems] Hermes
900, for example.
The radar would also be suited
to lighter-than-air systems, he
adds. The company hopes to announce further contracts for
manned or unmanned aircraft by
the end of this year.
UNMANNED BETH STEVENSON PARIS
chiebels Camcopter S-100

unmanned air vehicle is now
ying above Ukraine, operating
some 12h daily ahead of the deployment of a second system that
will ramp surveillance coverage
up to 24h.
Two systems consisting of four
aircraft will be provided under a
services contract signed on 13 August in support of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation
in Europe (OSCE) special monitoring mission to Ukraine, for
which Schiebel will provide 24h
coverage to survey the region.
The vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAVs will support
the OSCEs work in monitoring
the conict zone in eastern
Ukraine, and will be provided
under an indenite length
month-by-month contract.
The OSCE realised that the

VTOL system brings a lot of advantages to the operation, Schiebel chief executive Hannes Hecher told Flightglobal at the
Euronaval exhibition in Paris.
A xed-wing aircraft cannot
hover over an area for a long
period of time, but Camcopter
can stop at an altitude of some
3,280ft out of sight so it can
watch activity below.
Hecher says there were
hurdles to overcome in deploying the Camcopter to the region
as protocol and authorisations
have to be in place but the capability has so far been delivered on
time. In normal airspace it
would be far more difcult to get
the authorisation to y, says
Hans Georg Schiebel, chairman
of the company.
Schiebel
Camcopter on duty over Ukrainian conflict zone
Schiebel will provide four aircraft for the OSCE monitoring mission
Meanwhile, in order to further
potential usage of the Camcopter
in commercial markets such as agriculture, the company is working
to facilitate the integration of the
system into unrestricted airspace.
The
company
envisages
spending some 8 million ($10
million) to gain EASA certica-
tion for the UAV to y in open

European airspace.
My vision is that there will be
patches of airspacewhere you
can operate manned and unmanned aircraft in the same
space, Schiebel adds. At some
point we will see cargo planes
without pilots.
flightglobal.com
NEWS FOCUS
GE and Sierra team

up for Citation
engine retrofit
BUSINESS AVIATION P26

AUXILLIARY POWER STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC
A350 battery details emerge

Airbus reveals plans for how lithium-ion power packs will be used on widebody, but remains coy on internal chemistry
irbus and supplier Saft have

conrmed
several
key
details of the A350-900s
rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which are soon to become
the production standard.
Though
incomplete,
the
details show Airbus and Saft
designed the batteries with more
conservative power output and
energy levels than found on the
787 batteries that caused a fourmonth grounding in 2013.
The grounding was lifted in
May 2013 only after Boeing
revised the installation design,
although the architecture of the
GS Yuasa-designed system remained the same.
The 787 uses two rechargeable lithium-ion batteries to start
the auxiliary power unit and
provide temporary, back-up
power to the avionics, with each
battery consisting of eight cells
storing 72Ah of electrical power
and running at 3.7V.
The twinjet will carry four rechargeable packs to provide back-up power
storing a combined 45Ah of
energy and running at 3.6V.
One of the four batteries is dedicated to starting the APU, and the
three others will provide power to
other components in the A350
electrical system, Airbus says.
Details of the A350s lithiumion batteries have been a closely
held secret since Saft was identied as the supplier six years ago.
As the 787 entered the battery-induced grounding, Airbus said the
A350 would rst be certicated
with more traditional nickel-cadmium batteries, which produce
signicantly less power for the
BillyPix
COMPONENTS
Though much heavier than the
Boeing design, the Airbus
approach is more cautious.
Instead of the 787s two batteries, Airbus will install four
Saft-made lithium-ion batteries
in each A350-900. Each of the
Saft batteries consists of 14 cells
Airbus
Saft displayed a mock-up of its solution at NBAA in October

flightglobal.com
same weight as a lithium-ion battery. In early October, however,

Airbus said the nickel-cadmium
batteries would be replaced by
the Saft lithium-ion batteries by
early next year.
Unlike GS Yuasa, which has
released a specication sheet on
the 787 batteries, Saft had never
revealed the technical characteristics of the A350-900 battery
until recently to Flightglobal.
The company displayed a
mock-up of the A350-900s
lithium-ion batteries at the
NBAA convention in Orlando on
21 October. The units power
levels were displayed on the box.
Airbus and Saft then conrmed
the number of cells inside the battery and the voltage of each cell
after being contacted by Flightglobal with pictures of the battery
mock-up. Despite repeated requests, however, both companies
have refused to identify the chemistry of the positive electrode, or
cathode, in the A350 battery.
The chemistry is a signicant
feature in the design. The 787 battery, says GS Yuasa, uses a lithium
cobalt oxide chemistry which is
considered the most reactive and
inherently volatile electrolytes in
lithium ion-based systems.
The voltage of the A350 battery appears to rule out lithium

iron phosphate, which is the
least volatile lithium-based
chemistry, says Cosmin Laslau, a
battery industry analyst for Lux
Research. But Airbus could still
be using other chemistries considered safer than lithium cobalt
oxide, such as lithium nickel
manganese oxide.
Boeings original installation
for the 787 batteries consisted of
densely packed cells with no
thermal shielding planked into
an
aluminium
box.
The
redesigned installation added
ceramic tiles for thermal shielding between the cells, a stainless
steel box and new ductwork to
vent fumes and smoke directly
off board the aircraft in case a battery caught re.
These features of the new in-
Airbus and Saft

have conrmed the
number of cells inside
the battery and the
voltage of each cell
stallation worked as designed
when a single cell vented in a
Japan Airlines 787 parked on the
ground at Tokyos Narita International Airport last January.
The A350 installation always included an overboard venting
system, Airbus says.
That system is now being
reviewed by the European
Aviation Safety Agency and the
US Federal Aviation Administration.
We are progressing well with
EASA and FAA also considering recommendations from the
US National Transportation
Safety Board to certify the li-ion
main batteries in order to offer
them to our customers at a later
stage, Airbus says.
BUSINESS AVIATION

INFRASTRUCTURE KATE SARSFIELD LONDON
Chinese plan aviation cities

to give sector room to grow
FINANCING STEPHEN TRIMBLE

WASHINGTON DC
Company behind bid to buy Hawker Beechcraft backing one of two aerotropolis projects
hree global investment rms

have launched a new leasing
service Global Jet Capital with
more than $2 billion in available
nancing catering to the large-cabin, long-range business jet market.
The Boca Raton, Florida-based
rm aims to ll a perceived gap
in business jet nancing services,
as some traditional lending
sources have become less active
over the last three years, says
Shawn Vick, chairman of Global
Jet Capitals executive committee.
Global Jet Capital will offer a
broad range of services on new
and used business jets, including
operating and interim leases, nance leases, mortgage loans and
mezzanine nancing.
In addition to uniting GSO
Capital Partners, the Carlyle
Group and AE Industrial Partners, Global Jet Capital also will
bring together ex-Gulfstream executives Vick, Bill Boisture and
David Rowe.
wo Chinese companies have

launched a pair of projects to
build airport-based greeneld
business aviation industrial and
service developments, to serve
the countrys expanding business
and general aviation sector.
The so-called aerotropolis
clusters will be near Beijing and
in Ordos in inner Mongolia.
Superior Aviation Group the
rm that unsuccessfully tried to
buy Hawker Beechcraft in 2012
is preparing to build a 800ha
(1,980 acre) town 20km (12
miles) from Beijing.
Tim Archer, Superior Aviation
group chief executive, says the
project is a response to the frustration felt by many Western
manufacturers and businesses
over the slow pace of investment
in the countrys infrastructure to
support business aviation.
When completed, this will be
the only town in China to be centred around a modern executive

airport with a 2,400m [7,870ft]
runway and designed to meet
the needs of general and business
When completed,
this will be the only
town in China centred
around a modern
executive airport
TIM ARCHER
Group chief executive, Superior Aviation
aviation aircraft manufacturers,

maintenance providers, owners,
sellers and pilots, Archer says.
Superior is in talks with three
undisclosed manufacturing companies with the aim of encouraging them to locate new facilities
in the town. The community will
also feature a training school and

completion centre as well as a
hospital, housing and hotels.
Superior says it is vital that
China creates a modern aviation
infrastructure to support the industry. The project is being funded by Superior and other unnamed private investors, and is
expected to cost around $3.2 billion. Construction is scheduled to
begin next year, once all the [government] approvals have been received, and should be completed
around two years later.
Meanwhile, a joint project between the city of Ordos and
China Aviation Investment
Group plans to construct World
Aviation City, which will feature
the largest pilot aviation training
centre in the Asia-Pacic, manufacturing facilities and a xedbase operation with parking for
between 500 and 1,000 jets.
Trio of investors
launch fund for
large-jet leasing
PROGRAMMES DAN PARSONS ORLANDO
E Honda is partnering with

Sierra Industries to retrot
Cessna CitationJet, CJ1 and CJ1+
models with its newly developed
HF120 turbofan engine.
The project, Sapphire Jet, is designed to boost the performance
and productivity of the jets, all of
which are out of production. Sierra primarily provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services to business jet operators.
We at GE Honda are pleased to
add Sierra Sapphire as an application of the 120 engine, says Masahiko Izumi, executive vice-president of GE Honda Aero Engines.
Our goal is to make both airplanes the HondaJet and the
Sapphire a great success in their
respective market segments.
The HF120 is scheduled to
enter service by the end of rst
quarter 2015, he says. By that
time, production will have shifted from the companys Lynn,

Massachusetts facility to a new
factory in Burlington, North Carolina. Three engines have already
been built at that facility and another three are in various stages
of production.
Weve been working on this
engine for a long time, obviously, says Steven Shaknaitis, GE
Honda Aero Engines chief executive. We are really close. We
have the facilities, the people, the
organisation and the tools to be
ready for when this engine goes
into service.
The HF120 powerplant received US Federal Aviation Administration certication in December 2013, but still lacks
European approval. However,
Izumi says this should come by
March 2015.
Honda Aircraft
GE and Sierra team up for Citation engine retrofit
The type is powered by HF120 turbofans

CORPORATE AIRCRAFT STEPHEN TRIMBLE ORLANDO
HondaJet duo to serve as staff shuttle

GE Aviation plans to acquire two
HA-420 HondaJets to launch an
internal shuttle service for nonexecutive employees moving between the companys 42 US
manufacturing sites, says president
and chief executive Brad Mottier.
The move expands the companys
private fleet of aircraft powered with
engines linked to GE, and creates a
new model of internal transport that

could be copied by other corporate
divisions if it proves successful,
Mottier adds.
The HondaJet is powered by
HF120 turbofans produced by GE
Honda Aero Engines. The light twinjet is scheduled for certification and
service entry in the first quarter of
2015.
flightglobal.com
NEWS FOCUS
Comacs big test

is still to come
FEATURE P28
AIRSPACE BETH STEVENSON LONDON
Watching them watching you

The UK is developing a flexible approach to the legal and practical concerns of regulating unmanned civil aircraft
PRIVACY
Policy commission chairman
David Omand, a former director
of the UKs GCHQ intelligence
agency, says UAVs are a welcome and highly discriminating
technology. If used in accordance with domestic and international law, they have much to
offer the UK military and civil
sectors, he says.
But he adds that progress
could be held back by a lack of
central direction in UK policy, as
well as by real concerns over
privacy if the government does
not establish sound policies and
communicate them to the public.
Gerry Corbett, unmanned air
system programme lead at the
UK Civil Aviation Authority,
speaking before both the parliamentary committee and the commercial UAV conference, said it
flightglobal.com
British photographer
Peter Ayriss is licensed
to work up to 400ft
was not the responsibility of the
CAA to police hobbyist use.
He adds that there is a sliding
scale of regulation applicable to
UAVs, ranging from almost none
to full control.
Corbett told the parliamentary
committee that the safety agency
is concerned with just that safety. If there is no third-party risk
then the CAA does not need to enforce to such an extent, he says.
We cant solve all of this with
regulation, Corbett told the
conference, claiming that the reliability of the systems has to play
its part, including the development of sufcient sense-andavoid technology for use in
unrestricted airspace.
Corbett says it is a matter of
personal responsibility to ensure
unmanned systems are used safely, but the CAA plans to assist
with a campaign to educate the
public on the legal operation of
UAVs. This will include the production of leaets and a video.
The CAA has prosecuted operators who have not adhered to
safety regulations when using
UAVs, and Corbett says clear
advice is set out on the agencys
Rex Features
ilitary use of unmanned air

vehicles is carried out in
segregated airspace by trained
personnel under strict rules of engagement. By contrast, while development of unmanned technology for the commercial sector is
also being realised, the rules surrounding the use of such systems
are comparatively unclear.
But with interest in UAVs for
commercial applications ranging
from hobbyist use to potentially
high-value applications in agriculture and oil and gas, industry
pressure to greatly expand UAV
use has led the UK government to
consider what proliferation could
mean, and how UAVs can t into
both British and European legal
frameworks.
In the same week that the UK
hosted the Commercial UAV
Show in London, a parliamentary
committee continued to hear evidence regarding the civil use of
UAVs within the EU. Meanwhile,
a University of Birmingham policy commission released a paper
on the security impact of UAVs.
website, although he acknowledges a need for more publicity.

Some 90-95% of the public will
follow the law, he says, and most
operators will recognise that legal
restrictions apply to UAVs.
Im hoping we get
to a point where
[UAVs] are just aircraft
and we certify
them that way
GERRY CORBETT
UAS programme lead, UK CAA
Regulations for UAVs in the UK

will sit with ICAO, EASA and the
Joint Authorities for Rulemaking
on Unmanned Systems.
Im hoping we get to a point
where these are just aircraft and
we certify them that way, Corbett
says. Certication at all levels
will be at the European level
like every other facet of aviation.
He says that ultimately this
will have to be implemented at
the national level, but that it will
all t into a larger European
structure. Corbett adds that the
density of UK airspace means

some rulemaking will have to be
UK-specic.
ICAO says that by 2018 there
will be initial UAV integration
into air trafc in non-segregated
airspace. By 2028 there will be
full integration, in which UAVs
will be able to communicate
with air trafc control.
Although law enforcement
agencies across the UK are using
UAVs for surveillance, the commercial systems they acquire can
also quite easily and legally
be purchased by those who will
not abide by the law.
While the hazards presented
by inadvertent or accidental misuse of RPA [remotely piloted aircraft], or the consequences of their
malfunctioning are becoming better understood, more thought
needs to be given to their employment for malign purposes in the
domestic environment, the University of Birmingham policy
commissions Omand says.
As a small number of cases
have demonstrated, RPA present
a potentially new and useful tool
to those of criminal, including
terrorist, intent.
CHINA
The iron bird rig at the Aircraft Research

and Design Institute is almost complete
COMACS BIG TEST

IS STILL TO COME
The Chinese airframer is pulling out all the stops to hit its end-2015 rst ight target for the
C919, but questions linger over its certication in the West and wider market acceptance
MAVIS TOH SHANGHAI
hinese airframer Comac has certainly been keeping busy. In a hangar at

its Shanghai Aircraft Research and
Design Institute near the Pudong
New Area sits an almost complete C919 iron
bird test bench.
In the past year, engineers have installed
over 90% of the necessary structures and systems onto the test rig, as the Chinese airframer
gears towards an end-2015 rst ight target
for the narrowbody programme.
At its nal assembly centre near Shanghais
Pudong International airport, Comac shows
Flight International, in an exclusive tour, the

rst C919 forward fuselage manufactured.
The aluminium-lithium alloy structure is also
the rst major C919 structure to be delivered,
and sits ready for nal assembly.
This is a drastically different scene from
two years back. Then, Comac had no iron bird
to speak of and rst metal was months away
The C919 programme

will denitely not be
smooth sailing
CHEN YING CHUN
C919 vice-chief engineer, Comac
from delivery. The ground where its nal assembly centre now stands was no more than a
dusty construction site.
Today, things are visibly different. The bulk
of the construction work on the assembly centre has been completed and Comacs upbeat
employees are attired in crisp uniforms. They
are under pressure, but excited about making
progress with a high-prole patriotic endeavour Chinas rst modern narrowbody airliner.
It is important to remember that Comac is
only six years old. It was set up in May 2008
with key businesses drawn from state-owned
AVIC, following a 2007 government decision to
develop Chinas rst large commercial jet.
flightglobal.com
Mavis Toh/Flightglobal
SPECIAL REPORT
CHINA
The company has since grown to a staff

strength of over 9,000 employees, up from
3,800 in 2008. These include over 800 experienced foreigners brought in specically to
help Comac in various aspects of the aircraft
manufacturing process.
In a rare interview, C919 vice-chief engineer Chen Ying Chun tells Flight International the programme is expected to complete a
detailed design review this year. Initial production will soon follow.
To help Comac keep to its schedule and
meet its rst ight target, Chen explains frankly that the airframer has two sets of requirements for avionics and ight control suppliers: one set is gauged to meet the rst ight
target, the other to meet certication.
Were giving them some technical requirements. The rst stage is to make the aircraft
y, allow for some basic ights and tests and
three to ve months later, give me the second
requirement, he says. There are over 10 systems on the airplane, we can test some systems rst, this will not affect our work.
It is not the rst time Comac has had to take
drastic steps to keep its programme on track.
Last year it abandoned plans for a composite
wing and wingbox to prevent further complications and delays to the programme.
The initial target was for 30% of the aircraft
to be made of composites, but the gure has
since been cut to about 10%, with only the
aircrafts tail and movable parts made using
the more advanced material. This means the
C919s airframe will be the technological
equivalent to current narrowbodies produced
by Airbus and Boeing.
Chen says that last July, Comac embarked
on a weight-reduction exercise for the C919
which is 1-2% overweight. He explains that
the airframer had initially taken a more con-
INDIGENOUS PROGRAMMES
Banners urge Comac workers to push on

servative approach to play safe, hence specifying greater strength for its structures and
systems, adding to the weight of the aircraft.
After having test data, we have more accurate and precise specications, with parts
that can be thinner and narrower, hence
bringing down the weight, he says. It will
take more time and effort to redesign the parts
and systems to reduce weight but this is
something that has to be done.
The two airframers rst signed an agreement in 2012 to pursue commonality between
the C919 and CSeries in supply chain services, electrical systems, human interface and
cockpit. Neither has disclosed what, if anything, has been achieved in the collaboration
thus far.
Comac is keenly aware that even though it
can count on a global supply chain and international assistance, the C919 can only be successful if it stands on its own merits.
Final assembly of its rst of six test aircraft
started after it took delivery of the rst mid fuselage section of the C919 in mid-September,
joining its forward fuselage. The aircrafts aft
fuselage and nose have rolled off the respec-
The FAAs position will be

affected by the eventual
outcome of its experience
with the ARJ21
RAY JAWOROWSKI
Senior aerospace analyst, Forecast International
COCKPIT CHALLENGES
Chen also disclosed that Comac and Bombardier have dropped plans to pursue cockpit
commonality in the C919 and CSeries after
spending a large part of 2013 looking at the
issue, only to nd that wide disparities
between the two types meant it was, from the
start, hard to create a common cockpit.
Bombardier
had
previously
told
Flightglobal it was sharing its CSeries cockpit design with Comac, with the latter left to
decide how much it would adapt to the
C919, a less mature programme.
In the development of the C919, Bombardier is not involved, says Chen. They have
experience in building regional jets, but not
so much in narrowbodies.
tive manufacturers production lines.

Li Hu, assistant general manager of Comacs
nal assembly centre, says nal assembly of an
aircraft typically takes four to ve months he
expects Comac to take more time, however, to
fuse its very rst C919. To ensure as smooth an
assembly process as possible, the airframer is
also seconding experienced engineers and
technicians from the ARJ21 programme.
Chen says that although Comac has not fallen behind on the C919s schedule, software integration could be the most challenging aspect
of the programme going forward. His view is
that unlike hardware, where one can see and
feel issues almost immediately upon delivery,
software problems can only be detected after
the systems run and tests are done.
Comac has also been reluctant to set a public target on when it expects the C919 to be
certicated, no doubt haunted by delays in its
ARJ21 programme. Sources, however, tell
Flight International the internal ofcial target
for certication is end of 2017 or 2018, but
that a delay is highly expected.
flightglobal.com
Construction of the Chinese airframers final assembly centre is now almost complete
CERTIFICATION ROUTES
Comac also has yet to decide on whether to
pursue certication from the US Federal
Aviation Administration or EASA for the
C919, although it has decided it will only seek
one Western certication initially. The airframer, however, should be more familiar
with the FAA route, considering its experience on the ARJ21.
Asked why Comac could be turning to
EASA, deputy director of the C919 programme Qian Zhongyan says: The reality is
that the ARJ21 certication has not been com-
CHINA
SPECIAL REPORT
pleted and FAAs shadow certication on
the CAAC [Civil Aviation Administration of
China] is also not done. So for us, we need to
evaluate the situation. He adds that Comac
will soon need to make a decision on which
certication route to pursue.
Forecast Internationals senior aerospace
analyst, Ray Jaworowski, says a key issue
with Western certication of the C919 is
whether either agency would recognise the
validity of work done towards Chinese certication of the aircraft. The FAAs position will
be affected by the eventual outcome of its experience with the ARJ21, he adds.
Comac is condent that the ARJ21, a programme started over 12 years ago, will receive
certication from CAAC by year-end. It maintains that achieving FAA certication for the
type remains a target.
Comac does not strictly need Western certication for either the ARJ21 or the C919 be-
cause most orders are from local airlines and

leasing companies.
The C919 is, however, a national ambition,
and China craves recognition on the international stage. Comac has so far received commitments for 400 of the narrowbody.
MARKET ACCEPTANCE
Certication aside, the C919s real test will be
market acceptance, considering Comacs position as a new manufacturer with no track record to speak of, says Rob Morris, head of consultancy at Flightglobals Ascend consultancy.
If Boeing can get the 787 wrong and
Bombardier the CSeries, and arguably Airbus
the A380 in its early days, then clearly Comac
faces a signicant challenge in demonstrating
to the market that it has the capability to integrate and manufacture a larger commercial
airliner like the C919, particularly given the
ARJ21 experience to date, he says.
With the A320neo due to y commercially

in 2015 and the 737 Max in 2017, it is critical
that the C919 enters service on schedule to
avoid losing time to competition.
Comac also has to ensure that the aircraft
meets its advertised performance targets, analysts add. Comacs Chen sums it up best: The
C919 programme will denitely not be
smooth sailing. It has not been smooth sailing
in the initial stages and looking forward it will
not be smooth sailing. But this is a process
that a new airframer manufacturing a new
product will encounter. This is normal.
What Comac lacks in experience and capability, it makes up for in determination.
This spirit is reected in the banners that
hang on the walls across the companys
facilities. In white lettering with a bright red
background, the banners urge employees to
work hard, be dedicated and most importantly, to push on.
TESTING MAVIS TOH SINGAPORE
ARJ21 ON VERGE OF CERTIFICATION AFTER DELAYS

COMAC APPEARS to be on the
verge of getting its much-delayed
ARJ21 regional jet certificated, having completed all the necessary
ground tests and 95% of all flight
test modules.
Its four flight-test aircraft have so
far completed 2,652 flights, accumulating 4,812 flight hours.
The programmes vice-chief designer, Zhao Keliang, says there are
about 10 flight-test certification
modules left, including tests on the
aircrafts maximum brake energy,
rejected take-off and its flight
control system.
PROGRAMME DELAYS
The ARJ21 has to undergo functional and reliability testing, requiring the
aircraft to fly for another 150h. This
means the test fleet will pass the
5,000 flight hour mark by the time it
is certificated by the Civil Aviation
Administration of China (CAAC).
Zhao admits Comacs inexperience in aircraft development, supply

chain management and certification
has led to the long delay in the
programme, which launched in
2002. The aircraft flies, issues are
detected and changes have to be
made. This is a very time-consuming
process. This speaks of our
inexperience, Zhao says.
He adds that changes often
have to be made to various aircraft
systems from avionics to landing
gear after test data is crunched,
and suppliers can take months to
make the modifications.
Issues with the aircrafts emergency landing-gear system took
four years to resolve. The airframer
also passed the natural icing test
only on its fifth attempt, because
the necessary weather conditions
could not be met in China.
The airframer has so far secured
commitments for 258 ARJ21s,
mostly from Chinese airlines and

leasing companies.
Comac is aware that the ARJ21
will be dated when it enters service,
The aircraft ies,

issues are detected
and changes have
to be made. This is a
very time-consuming
process. This
speaks of our
inexperience
ZHAO KELIANG
Vice-chief designer, Comac
especially when pitted against newer types such as the Mitsubishi

MRJ regional jet and Embraers E2
family of re-winged and re-engined
jets. Discussions on an improved
Comac
The AR21 still has to undergo

functional and reliability
testing before certification
version have started, to ensure that

the aircraft stays competitive.
Discussions will commence in full
once CAAC certification is granted,
Zhao says. Comac wants to reduce
the aircrafts structural weight, improve its avionics and power systems
and enhance the manufacturing of its
exterior to produce a smoother surface and reduce drag.
There is, however, no near-term
plan to re-engine the ARJ21, partially because of an agreement that
makes GE Aviation the sole supplier of the types engines. The
ARJ21 is powered GE CF34-10As.
Zhao expects Comac to produce
30-40 of the current ARJ21 before
the improved variant is rolled out.
The airframer is already building
a second assembly line for the
ARJ21 at its final assembly centre
near Shanghais Pudong
International airport, which is under
construction. The new facility will
feature a more efficient straight
flow line, unlike the current system
at Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing,
where the aircraft has to be towed
to four different stations. When
construction is complete, the two
lines will have a combined capacity
to produce 50 ARJ21s annually.
Publicly, Comac says securing
US Federal Aviation Administration
certification for the regional jet is
still an objective, but it appears it is
no longer a priority.
flightglobal.com
CHINA
COVER STORY
China Eastern 737: Narrowbodies

have led the growth in China
CRACKING CHINA
Airbus and Boeing are expecting signicant demand growth in the country over 20
years, but local challenges and potential competition will keep them on their toes
MAVIS TOH SINGAPORE
hen Airbus launched a lower

weight variant of the A330
pitched at the Chinese market
last year, Boeing scoffed that its
competitor was introducing old technology to
China, with one salesperson going as far as to
say it was an insulting move.
The episode offers a telling glimpse into the
erce rivalry between the two aircraft manufacturers in the Chinese market. After all,
China accounts for about one-quarter of the
duopolys single-aisle aircraft deliveries annually, and is set to be their second-largest market outside the USA.
There are 1,085 Boeing and 1,063 Airbus
aircraft in service in China, according to
Flightglobals Ascend Fleets database. The
majority of these jets are narrowbodies, comprising the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families. Of the 258 widebody aircraft the A330
is the dominant type, with 140 in service.

Boeing is expecting the strong domestic
market, airlines focus on international expansion and new market entrants to drive Chinas
demand for more than 6,020 new aircraft over
20 years, most of which will be for growth. Of
these aircraft, 4,340 will be narrowbodies.
Airbus is forecasting that Asia-Pacic will
require 12,253 new aircraft over the next 20
years, and that China will be the key market
from the region. In fact, Airbus sales chief John
Leahy says China is poised to displace North
America as the worlds largest domestic market
in terms of passenger trafc within a decade.
ASSEMBLY LINE
The European airframers market share in
China has risen steadily over the years, and
Airbus believes its decision to set up an A320
nal assembly line in Tianjin its rst outside
Europe has denitely accelerated its growth
in the country. When Airbus rst inked an
agreement with the Chinese government for

the nal assembly line in 2005, it had a mere
240 aircraft ying in the country. Today, that
gure has surpassed the 1,000 mark.
Airbus has delivered 188 A320-family aircraft from Tianjin, with the 200th jet scheduled for delivery in December. The airframer
also successfully extended the joint venture
for another 10 years to 2025, during which
time it will assemble the A320neo and possibly the larger A321. It has also signed a letter
of intent to set up an A330 completion and
delivery centre in Tianjin, a move aimed at
winning more widebody orders from China.
Boeing is adamant it will not launch its
own assembly line. Boeing China president
Ian Thomas says the airframer obviously
looked at it, but made a strategic decision
against it. Were comfortable with that, and
we think the breadth and depth of our current
and planned future partnerships in China will
continue to convey, to our airline and governflightglobal.com
CHINA
Boeing
AIRFRAMERS
ment stakeholders that we have not just a

deep commitment, but also plans to deepen
and broaden that, Thomas says. He also
stresses that every Boeing aircraft has Chinese
content, and that it is important not to judge
a partnership by one building.
Rob Morris, head of consultancy at Ascend,
a Flightglobal advisory service, points out that
nal assembly is a relatively low value part
If I were to bet on whos

going to be the third big OEM,
Id put money on China
of the aircraft manufacturing process albeit a

high prole one.
With only two OEMs in this sector at present, I think it was inevitable that market share
in China would broadly equalise at 50% each,
and I think this would have happened without
the nal assembly line, he says. He notes that
neither the former McDonnell Douglas
MD80/90 nor Embraers ERJ-145 assembly
IAN THOMAS
Boeing China president
lines drove any appreciable increase in the

Chinese market share for these two airframers.
Nonetheless, Boeing and Airbus are acutely
aware of the need to show they are committed
to far more than just selling jets in China. Both
have various partnerships with aviation players in the country, and Chinese rms have
workshare on a large number of their aircraft
programmes from the A320 and 737 to newgeneration jets such as the 787 and A350.
Even as Chinese economic growth slows,
falling from double digits to a still enviable
7-8% annually, rising disposable income is
driving an appetite for international travel.
But it is not all smooth sailing.
flightglobal.com
Airbus
China Southern is using A380s on routes from Beijing to Guangzhou and Shenzhen
CONTINUED CONSTRAINTS
Airport congestion, a shortage of pilots and
byzantine airspace constraints imposed by
the military continue to plague the air transport industry in China.
Amid these conditions, which mainly afict major hub airports, Boeing (which pitches the 787 as a hub buster) has observed that
CHINA
Chinese airlines are looking to expand

their international networks from secondary
cities. This will drive growth in the long-haul
segment, while easing congestion in the golden triangle between the cities of Shanghai,
Beijing and Guangzhou.
I think the trend is to open up new international markets more directly with airplanes
like the 787. In doing that you take some pressure off the golden triangle in terms of trafc.
This is a trend weve seen in the USA and Europe, says Boeing Commercial Airplanes
marketing vice-president Randy Tinseth. If
the hub is congested, what do you do? Fly
around it and nd a way that provides even
better service to your passengers.
Boeing foresees its 787 serving more pointto-point routes. There are currently 19 787s in
service with China Southern Airlines, Hainan
Airlines and most recently Xiamen Airlines.
Airbuss solution to domestic constraints is
getting airlines to upgauge to bigger jets. This
inspired the airframer to launch the regional
A330. The aircraft will have a lower maximum take-off weight of 200t and a reduced
range of 3,000nm (5,560km). It has, however,
yet to secure a launch customer for the type.
Chinese airlines are already using widebody aircraft on high trafc domestic routes
because of a lack of airport slots. China Southern Airlines, unable to get the rights to use its
506-seat Airbus A380s on international routes
out of Beijing, is even plying the superjumbos
from Beijing to Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Airbus
AIRFRAMERS
Airbus has delivered 188 A320-family aircraft from its China facility in Tianjin
Every Boeing aircraft, such as this Air China 777, features China-made content
Airbuss view is that the LCC segment has

huge potential in China, since such players
only have a 5% share of the Chinese market,
compared to a 26% world average.
While Boeing and Airbus look certain to
enjoy strong, stable growth in China for years
to come, there are clouds on the horizon. Eventually they will have to contend with the entrance of a third player into the Chinese market. Chinese airframer Comac is on the verge of
getting its much-delayed ARJ21 regional jet
certicated, and is targeting to have its in-development narrowbody, the C919, enter service in 2018. China also hopes to collaborate
with Russia on a next-generation widebody.
Flightglobals Fleet Forecast predicts the delivery of around 5,400 new large commercial
jets over the next 20 years to China. Of these, it
expects Boeing and Airbus to each capture
around 40% of the units, with the remainder to
be taken by Comac and Bombardier.
Forecast International senior aerospace analyst Ray Jaworowski believes that even with
the C919 in production, the Chinese market
will absorb a signicant number of Western
narrowobodies for years to come.
Airlines tend to stick to proven products
from established manufacturers. This is even
more true for leasing companies. Comac thus
has the task of proving itself and the C919 with
Chinese airlines, which have gotten used to the
reliability and support of Western airframers.
Airbus and Boeing concede the duopoly will
not last forever, but are condent in their strong
track records and powerful support operations.
If I were to bet on whos going to come out
as the third big OEM in this business, Ill put
my money on China, says Boeings Thomas.
It takes national will, political will, deep nancial resources and deep reserves of talent
[to build an aircraft], and China has all of
those in abundance.
flightglobal.com
RANDY TINSETH
Boeing Commercial Airplanes marketing VP
tered the budget segment, while some Chinese carriers have also jumped on the bandwagon, converting subsidiaries into low-cost
operations so as to secure a slice of the pie.
This new development has kept Airbus and
Boeings sales teams busy.
Chinese low-cost incumbent Spring Airlines is an A320 operator. Airbus has also won
commitments from two new Chinese carriers,
Zhejiang Loong Airlines and Qingdao Airlines, for some 43 A320-family aircraft.
Boeing has secured three new Chinese
start-ups: 9 Air, Donghai Airlines and Ruili
Airlines, with a combined commitment for
almost 90 aircraft.
Boeing
HOME-GROWN TALENT
One big opportunity for both airframers is the
changing dynamic of the Chinese market.
State-owned airlines have tended to divide
the market between the two big airframers,
but this could change with the governments
push to develop home-grown low-cost carriers. These budget operators tend to stick to
one aircraft type to keep costs down.
A number of new entrants have already en-
If the hub is congested... y

around it and nd a way that
provides even better service
CHINA
SPECIAL REPORT
HIDDEN POWER
Zhuhai offers a peak into Chinas guarded military air capabilities, with observers
watching out for a J-20 or J-31 appearance that may provide clues to its ghter expertise
GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE
hinas biennial aviation gathering in

Zhuhai is among the most exciting
shows on the global circuit. The Peoples Liberation Army Air Forces
(PLAAF) August 1st display team has no
qualms about roaring above the crowd with
their Chengdu J-10A ghters, ejecting ares
with every pass. Invariably the Chengdu JF-17,
still in search of a buyer beyond Pakistan, will
make an appearance, and the Russian Knights
will likely be in the air with their Sukhoi Su27s. With luck, the show, which runs on
11-16 November, will not be aficted by
smog, which restricted the ying displays in
2010, or strong winds, which restricted displays in 2012.

However impressive the displays, the real
action for defence experts is in the halls, which
hold a staggering array of conceptual models,
weapons blatantly imitated from the West, and
models of developmental and conceptual unmanned air vehicles. The shoot down of Malaysian Airlines MH17 notwithstanding, there
will inevitably be a hall lled with surface-toair missile systems. Large interactive displays
and videos will show how all this repower
will come together seamlessly and lethally
in networked combat scenarios.
In 2010, one large mural displayed imagery of Chinese aircraft and ground-launched
missiles attacking a US aircraft carrier. The

US carrier did not make an appearance in
2012, but given recent tensions between Beijing and Washington, it would be no surprise
if US forces take another virtual beating at
this years show.
While the show offers a unique glimpse
into Chinese air power capabilities, both real
and imagined, it tends to leave many questions unanswered. For China aviation experts,
it is generally more notable not for the types of
aircraft that are displayed at the show, but for
those that are not.
One type that failed to appear in any form
whatsoever at the 2012 show was the Chengdu J-20. Given that this aircraft rst ew in
flightglobal.com
CHINA
MILITARY PROGRAMMES
footage showed the aircraft carrying a PL-10
short-range IR homing missile, while others
showed the extended rail without a missile.
One animated video of questionable origin
suggests the J-20s side missile bays can
carry up to three missiles each. Before launch,
the door opens and a rail carrying the missile
is extended, after which the door closes again.
After the round is launched, the rail returns
inside the aircraft to collect another missile.
January 2011, just six weeks after Zhuhai, its

failure to appear in 2012 was not entirely surprising. More surprising, perhaps, was the
complete lack of pictures related to the jet or
scale models. Whether the J-20 will appear in
any form at this years show is anyones guess,
but even a model of the type will draw signicant attention.
In the last two years the J-20 appears to
have made a good deal of progress. Flight tests
have been ongoing around Chengdu, dutifully
observed by local plane spotters, and photos
of a fourth prototype bearing the registration
number 2012 emerged in June 2014. The two
most recent prototypes of the aircraft have a
blister under the nose, possibly intended for
an infrared search and track (IRST) sensor.
There were also renements to the intakes
and modications to control surfaces.
In 2013 images and videos emerged showing the aircraft ying with the two main
weapons bays in its belly open, each capable
of carrying two radar guided air-to-air missiles. Other images and videos, breathlessly
speculated upon by Chinese enthusiasts,
showed its side-weapons bay open. Some
flightglobal.com
Social media suggests the J-31 could appear in

the ying display this year, but show organisers or other ofcials have yet to conrm this.
Daniel Darling, an analyst at research
rm Forecast International, underlines the
challenges involved in understanding these
two programmes.
Considering both of these platforms are still
in development and due to Chinas tight control over media and military not subject to
much transparency, it is difcult to discern exactly what the J-20 and J-31 say about Chinas
airpower strengths, except that a safe determination would be that they are not yet quite up
to Western standards simply because the
[Lockheed Martin] F-22 is in service and the
F-35 is now in low-rate production, he says.
PERENNIAL PROBLEM
Otherwise, little is known about the J-20 platform, such as the numbers Beijing intends to
procure, other variants, or even its eventual
missions although the weapons it has been
spotted with thus far suggest aerial superiority is a key focus. Moreover, the perennial
problem that faces all Chinese ghters also
faces the J-20: engines. The prototypes are believed to be powered by the Saturn AL-31F
from Russia, which also powers the J-10 and
Su-27. It is also believed that Chinas indigenous engine, the WS-10, may have been deployed aboard one of the J-20 prototypes, but
experts are divided on this.
The J-20s low observable qualities are also
open to question. Aside from the challenges
inherent in developing and maintaining
stealth coatings for combat aircraft, the types
large canards are not consistent with a lowobservable design.
Another mystery into which visitors to
Zhuhai will hope to gain some insight is Chinas other stealth ghter, the Shenyang
J-31. Images of the J-31 rst appeared in September 2012. Just two months later a model
of the type appeared without a designation
on the AVIC stand at Zhuhai. When asked
about the aircraft, AVIC personnel at the
show were noncommittal.
In the two years since its emergence, footage has appeared on social media sites showing the J-31 taking off and ying. It is still not
clear if the J-31, which has a more conventional layout reminiscent of the Lockheed
Martin F-35, is intended to complement the
J-20 or compete with it for a production contract. There is speculation that China would
like to develop the type with a foreign partner,
possibly Pakistan, or develop it as the key
type aboard future Chinese aircraft carriers.
It is difcult to discern what

the J-20 and J-31 say about
Chinas airpower strengths
DANIEL DARLING
Analyst, Forecast International
Seen from another angle, China appears

going forward to have adopted an approach
similar to that of the former USSR numbers
overcome repower, and the cheaper and
easier it is to produce [as well as operate]
hardware the greater chance that any militarytechnological edge an opponent may have
could be eroded.
Darling adds that the scarcity of concrete
information about the two types makes it
challenging to list the strengths and weaknesses of the types against Western aircraft
such as the F-22, F-35, Dassault Rafale, and
Euroghter Typhoon.
Greg Waldron/Flightglobal
August 1st J-10A at Zhuhai

2012. The PLAAF is inducting
an upgraded variant, the J-10B
A J-31 model appeared at Zhuhai in 2012
STANDARD GAP
Most indications are that re-control radars
and weapons loads appear comparable to
that of US standards, he says. Since neither
platform has begun full-scale production
and the J-31 is either destined for the export
market or carrier-based operations depending
on which state-run media outlet is reporting
it is too early to determine the level of gap
[depending on if there is one] between, say,
the J-20 and the F-22. The J-20 design appears
to continually be undergoing renement as
China works on advancing the model.
Although the future could see PLAAF squadrons kitted out with J-20s and the decks of Chinese carriers covered with J-31s, the mainstay of
Chinas combat airpower resides in types such
as the single-engined Chengdu J-10A and Shenyang J-11, a direct copy of the Sukhoi Su-27.
The Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has
also been conducting ight tests with the Shenyang J-15 Flying Shark, an aircraft all-butidentical to the Russian Su-33, which appeared
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CHINA
MILITARY PROGRAMMES
China continues to
emphasise Russian-based
models for niche capabilities
DANIEL DARLING
Analyst, Forecast International
Experts will also be looking for models or

images that hint at Chinas supposed plans to
build a long-range bomber aircraft. Chinese defence enthusiast sites have been abuzz with
rumours and speculation about such a programme for quite a while. If such an aircraft exists, the worlds rst conrmation will all too
likely come from enthusiasts monitoring activity at Chinese aircraft production centres.
Support aircraft, such as transports and airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) will
also be a key area of interest at this years show.
flightglobal.com
The Xian H-6 fulls a number of roles, from cruise missile attack to aerial refuelling
RUSSIAN DEAL
Beijing is also reportedly interested in the Su35, the most advanced variant of the Su-27
family, but a deal with Russia has yet to be
conrmed. Beijing also has a large eet of
older ghters such as the J-7, Chinas copy of
the Mikoyan MiG-21, and the Shenyang J-8.
The World Air Forces directory indicates that
China operates 388 J-7s and 96 J-8s.
One notable participant at the last two instalments of the Zhuhai show is the Xian
H-6H based on the Tupolev Tu-16 long
range bomber. The World Air Forces directory
shows the PLAAF operating 120 H-6s and the
PLAN 14. This type is used for a range of missions, including conventional bombing,
cruise missile strike, air-to-air refuelling and
intelligence gathering. The H-6H that has appeared at the last two iterations of the show
can carry two long-range cruise missiles
under its wings. A more advanced variant, the
H-6M, has yet to make its appearance at Zhuhai. The H-6M sees the navigators station in
the nose replaced with a radar, similar to
Western bombers, and it has the capability to
carry a total of four cruise missiles, giving it
twice the armament as previous H-6 versions.
The JF-17 has yet to nd an export buyer

China continues to emphasise Russianbased models to meet many specic niche capabilities such as AEW&C, says Forecasts
Darling. Its force-multipliers are often derived from Russian technologies or are purchased from Russia directly [example: the Tu154s converted in the early 1990s for ELINT
and electronic-warfare purposes]. This is an
area where China has a distinct gap vis--vis
its strategic rivals to the east [ie the USA and
Japan], but it is also part of a longer-term push
to reduce the capabilities gap between the
West and the PLAAF/PLAN.
Although Zhuhai will no doubt offer some
hints about Beijings future war ghting aspirations, and the kit it wants to sell to overseas
buyers, one area where it is unlikely to shed
much light on is the most important element
in airpower: people.
Although the August 1st team will put on a
thrilling aerial display, the teams last minute
failure to appear at the Singapore air show in
early 2014 raises questions about the professionalism of the team and the broader Chinese air force. Sources familiar with the team
say it had planned to transit Thailand on the
way to the show, but that the PLAAF insisted
on its own controllers guiding the aircraft in
for landing. In addition, the team apparently

demanded extensive air space restrictions be
imposed in Singapore before and after their
ying display, but this would have disrupted
commercial ights at Changi airport. In the
end, the team was a no-show.
A far more serious incident occurred in August, when a PLAAF J-11B performed an extremely aggressive intercept of a Boeing P-8A
Poseidon operated by the US Navy over the
South China Sea east of Hainan Island.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
During one pass, the J-11B was about 50-100ft
(15-30m) from the 737-based patrol aircraft. A
Pentagon spokesman described the intercept
as very close, very dangerouspretty aggressive and very unprofessional. Some US military ofcials believe pilots or specic PLAAF
units could be acting on their own. The incident conjured up memories of a Shenyang
J-8s collision with a US Navy EP-3E Orion in
2001 during a close intercept. The J-8 crashed
and the pilot was killed, but the EP-3E managed to make an emergency landing in Hainan, resulting in a major international incident.
Nonetheless, in recent years Beijing has
placed a greater emphasis on training, In September the PLAAF held its fourth annual Gold
Helmet air combat exercise over the Gobi desert. Ofcial announcements about the exercise
indicate that 170 pilots took place in this years
event, which focuses on air-to-air combat.
For China defence watchers, Zhuhai is an
essential. That said, it can raise more questions than it answers. One thing that will denitely be new at this years show is the advent
of the rst female display pilot in the August
1st team. Chinas defence ministry has issued
a statement declaring this news. Unfortunately its transparency does not extend greatly
beyond this.
on the deck of the Soviet carrier Admiral

Kuznetsov in the 1980s.
Flightglobals World Air Forces directory
pegs the J-10 strength at 200 aircraft, and J-11/
Su-27 strength at over 300. Of the pair, the
J-10 appears to be the key programme for development, lling niches similar to the F-16
in Western air forces. A J-10B variant has been
developed with an IRST mounted in front of
the cockpit, modied control surfaces and an
upgraded engine. This type is likely being
rolled out into the eet. In addition, in 2012, a
model of a J-10S twin-seat variant was shown
at Zhuhai, featuring a dorsal spine, similar to
later models of the F-16, and carrying bombs.
CHINA
SPECIAL REPORT
CHINAS MAJOR AIRLINES

Beijing
Air China
Established: 1988
Aircraft in service: 304
Aircraft on order: 66
Capital Airlines
Established: 1995
China United Airlines
Tianjin
Okay Airways
Established: 2004
Tainjin Airlines
Established: 2004
Aircraft on order: LOI for 40
Established: 1986
Aircaft on order: 0
Chengdu
Chengdu Airlines
Established: 2004
Sichuan Airlines
Established:1988
Guangzhou
China Southern Airlines
Established: 1988
9 Air (also known as Jiuyuan Airlines)

Established: 2014
Xiamen
Xiamen Airlines
Established: 1984
Kunming
Lucky Air
Established: 2004
Kunming Airlines
Established: 2005
Shenzhen
Shenzhen Airlines
Established: 1992
Haikou (Hainan Island)

Hainan Airlines
Established: 1989
SOURCE: Airlines and Flightglobals Ascend Fleets database
flightglobal.com
CHINA
AIRLINERS
Shanghai
Taipei
China Eastern Airlines
China Airlines
Established: 1988
Established: 1959
Shanghai Airlines
Mandarin Airlines
Established: 1985
Established: 1991
Juneyao Airlines
Eva Air
Established: 2005
Aircaft on order: 4
Established: 1989
Aircaft on order: 22
Spring Airlines
Uni Air
Established: 2005
Aircaft on order: 5
Established: 1998
Aircaft on order: 3
TransAsia Airways
Established: 1951
CHINA
Jinan
Shandong Airlines
Established: 1994
Hong Kong
Cathay Pacic
Established: 1946
Dragonair
Established: 1985
Aircraft in service:40
Hong Kong Airlines

Established: 2002
Hong Kong Express

Airlines
Established: 2004
Aircaft on order: 0
flightglobal.com
CHINA
SPECIAL REPORT
CHINAS AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

Beijing
Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC)
Aircraft produced: ARJ21 and Y8 Transporter variants include, MPA,
helicopter carrier, freighters and civilian variant for export purposes
Originally established in April 1951

as Bureau of Aviation Industry, it
went through rebranding over the
decades before restructuring in
1999, which resulted in a split into
China Aviation Industry Corp I and II
(AVIC I and II). However in November
2008, the two companies merged
back to form Aviation Industry
Corporation of China.
Tianjin
Airbus China (nal assembly line)
Aircraft produced: final assembly line for Airbus A319 and A320
Opened in September 2008, the Airbus Tianjin final assembly plant (FAP) is
the airframers first FAP outside of Europe, producing A319s and A320s. The
agreement to manufacture aircraft at the facility was also extended to
beyond 2016.
Boeing Tianjin Composite

Parts produced: interior parts and composite structures (commercial aircraft)
Produces components for all of Boeings in-production programmes
including the 737,747-8, 767, 777 and 787.
Xian
AVIC Xian Aircraft Industry
Aircraft produced : MA60 turboprop and MA600 turboprop
Proposed production: Xian MA600F and Xian MA700
Produces parts for: Airbus A320 family, Comac C919 and Boeing 747, 767, and 737 Max (2015)
Established in 1958, AVIC Xian is one
of Chinas major aircraft
manufacturers, producing civilian and
military aircraft and their parts. It
also produces ground equipment.
Nanchang
AVIC Hongdu
Parts produced: Comac C919 forward fuselage
Established in 1951 as Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing
Company, AVIC Hongdu produces not just military aircraft
and helicopters, but motorcycles too. Also a supplier for
Comac, which is responsible for the C919 and ARJ21
passenger aircraft programmes.
flightglobal.com
CHINA
AEROSPACE
Harbin
AVIC Harbin
Aircraft produced: Embraer Legacy 650 (converted from ERJ145 regional jet) and Y12
commuter transport aircraft
Established in 1952, it produced helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. These include the
Airbus Helicopters EC120 and EC175 helicopters, and the Harbin Y12 transport aircraft.
Harbin Hafei Airbus Composite Manufacturing

Parts produced: elevators on horizontal tail of A350s
Joint venture between Airbus and
several Chinese partners, it
produces elevators, rudders and
horizontal tail plane spars of
A320s, and will produce
components of A350s including
rudders, elevators, section 19
maintenance doors and belly
fairing parts.
CHINA
Shanghai
Comac
Aircraft produced: ARJ21 and C919 narrowbody
Established in 2008, Comac describes itself
as the main vehicle in implementing large
passenger aircraft programmes in China. It
also has the mandate to develop aircraft,
and to realise the industrialisation of civil
aircraft in China.
Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing

Parts produced: Boeing 737 horizontal stabiliser
A subsidiary of Comac, it previously built
licensed McDonnell Douglas MD80 family
aircraft. It also builds the ARJ21 regional jet
and the C919 narrowbody aircraft.
flightglobal.com
STRAIGHT&LEVEL
From yuckspeak to tales of yore, send your offcuts to murdo.morrison@ightglobal.com
Rex Features
Pampered pilots:
thats your LOT
Bosses at Polish airline LOT
have attacked pilots RayBans culture, claiming that
many of the old school are
still wedded to the privileges of
yesteryear.
Earlier this year the embattled
carrier faced the threat of a strike
over moves to impose new
working conditions and scrap a
seniority system.
The opposition was led by
veteran ightcrew. LOT chief
Sebastian Mikosz explains:
They [the old school] were
sentimental about the Ray-Bans.
I said: Guys, look... wake up.
This will never come back that
you will be in a ve-star hotel
and then a spa because you ew
two times a month its not the
1970s. Stop watching DiCaprio
in the movie [Catch Me If You
Can]. This is not Pan Am.
Does my rear look big in this?
Rex Features
Shed. I remember the question:

Whats the Shed like in a
crosswind, captain? The
answer: Good to shelter
behind.
Shown the door
Count the A319s overwing exits
Capt Robert Burt writes to

correct fellow captain James
Basnetts claim in a spotters
guide he produced for his
employer British Airways that
an Airbus A319 can be easily
differentiated from an A320 by
the fact that the former has just
one overwing exit on each side.
That may be the case for BAs
A319s, of course, but EasyJet
and others operate the higherdensity versions of the smaller
narrowbody, with an extra
overwing exit, making it hard to
tell it apart from an A320 by this
feature alone, Burt explains.
He helpfully attaches a
picture of such an EasyJet A319
published on P45 of the same
issue of Flight International.
We suspect Capt Basnett was
referring specically to BAs
A319s, but point taken.
Rex Features
Short shrift
Ray-Ban culture has factored out
David Lye, who works for

Bombardier in Toronto, points
out another horrendous
blunder of our own making on
this page in the 21-27 October
issue, where we referred to the
Short 330 Skyvan.
The Short Skyvan was not
the 330, but the earlier SC.7, he
reminds us.
Any true total aviation
person would of course know
about all this instinctively, but
perhaps you had a busy day and
had to rely on a partial aviation
person for this piece.
Meanwhile, John May adds to
the correspondence on jokes
about the aestheticallychallenged type, sometimes
referred to by its crew as the
Technical hitch
Understated tweet of the week.
Minutes after TV viewers
watched its $200m,
International Space Stationdestined Antares rocket
disintegrate in a reball
immediately following launch
from Wallops Island, Virginia,
maker Orbital Science posted
this: There has been a vehicle
anomaly. We will update as
soon as possible.
Travel back to
the past
Leslie Taylor writes from Bethesda,
Maryland, with this rebranding
suggestion.
Given the amalgamation of
Beechcraft and Cessna, perhaps the
resulting company should be
renamed Travel Air.
Travel Air was a short-lived
manufacturer set up in Wichita ,
Kansas, in 1924 by Lloyd Stearman,
Clyde Cessna and Walter Beech.
The company was purchased by
Curtiss Wright six years later, and
the three founders went on to found
their own eponymous aircraft
companies.
The wiser Kaiser

The Kaiser unfortunately
missed a splendid exhibition of
bomb-throwing by
a British airman,
because fifteen
minutes after he
had departed a British
monoplane appeared. The
airmen dropped six or eight
bombs. The town hall and the
Palace of Justice were
damaged considerably. The
population were not greatly
alarmed. My informant stated
they had a previous experience
of bomb-throwing from a
Zeppelin a month or two ago.
A load of Gunk
The Air Ministry has given its
approval for the use of the new
hydro-degreasing
solution known as
Gunk 901 Aircraft
Compound. Gunk
works cold and dissolves
mineral oils, greases and
petroleum jellies, and is quite
harmless to fabrics.
Nothing on TV?
The range of television
transmission from space was
nearly doubled
during the flight of
Voskhod. This is
not the limit,
says Prof Kaplunov, a Soviet
specialist on radio-electronics.
The range of transmissions
of space television must be
increased by scores of times.
Keeping quality up
McDonnell Douglas
Helicopters has announced
the appointment
of 46 new
directors as part
of a major
management restructuring,
known as its total quality
management system.
100-YEAR ARCHIVE
Every issue of Flight

from 1909 onwards
can be viewed online at
ightglobal.com/archive
flightglobal.com
LETTERS
flight.international@flightglobal.com
FLIGHT
COCKPIT RECORDERS
We welcome your letters on

any aspect of the aerospace
industry.
Please write to: The Editor,
Flight International, Quadrant
House, The Quadrant, Sutton,
Surrey SM2 5AS, UK.
Or email ight.international@
ightglobal.com
It is encouraging to read of progress in getting deployable recorders

and aircraft tracking systems into service (Flight International,
14-20 October).
However, data storage or transmission is of no value unless data
integrity can be assured between the data sources and the data
recorders and antennas. For instance, I believe cockpit voice data is
still compromised by the duration of the recording.
The Greek accident report on the Helios Airways Boeing 737 accident in August 2005 recommended the installation of a CVR that
records the entire flight. In an era when aircraft can sustain flight
for many hours without human intervention, a 2h recording limit is
likely to deny investigators useful information on events that incapacitate the crew.
Further, the diagnostic data needed for recording or streaming
can be degraded by in-flight fire. Electronics bays and wiring are often located in, or adjacent to, cargo holds. The large cargo capacity
of modern aircraft increases the risk from undeclared hazardous
consignments of, for example, lithium-ion batteries.
Even if a cargo fire is suppressed, equipment and wiring could be
exposed to overheating, corrosive combustion products, mechanical
disruption and loss of cooling due to decompression. Its possible
some tracking and recording functionality could be preserved by
distributing systems to other parts of the fuselage.
Theoretical analysis can only go so far; isnt it time there was
some full-scale testing to understand and enhance the resilience of
systems handling diagnostic data?
Richard Lloyd
Coventry, UK
INTERNATIONAL
The opinions on this page do not

necessarily represent those of the editor.
Flight International
cannot
letters
Letters
without a full
postalpublish
address
supwithout
name
andpublished.
address. Letters must
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may
not be
may
be nobemore
than 250
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also
published
on flightglobal.com
must be no longer than 250 words.
Catalogue of
errors on AF447
A recent investigation into the
loss of Air France ight 447 has
revealed disturbing details.
Why was there was only one
pilot on the ightdeck at the
time, the most junior co-pilot?
This is a clear breach of
procedures.
It is extraordinary that entering a known area of thunderstorms, which presumably the
crew would have been briefed
about pre-ight, the captain was
absent from the ightdeck.
Also amazing is that after entering the ightdeck 1min and
38s after the airspeed sensors
had failed, he did not take over
control but witnessed the co-pilot pulling the nose hard up, thus
causing the stall.
It goes to show again, sadly,
that pilots do not always know
how to interpret the computergenerated systems and presentations that y the aircraft.
As I stated in a letter to Flight
International some time ago, in
the event of loss of awareness of
the aircrafts attitude or unusual
attitude, revert to basics aviate,
navigate, communicate.
Why data needs integrity
This means in this case reverting to the independent articial

horizon/attitude indicator, levelling the wings and ensuring that
proper power is being provided,
then go from there.
Peter Gray
Redhill, UK
Not so cool
Referring to the article on the Air
France pilots strike (Flight International, 14-20 October) you say
that Airlines carefully select
ightcrew... who remain coolheaded... and do not give up in
critical situations.
An ironic reference to AF447?
Peter Martin
Beacon Hill, UK
State of
confusion
You have problems with geographical locations and compass
directions. The issue of 14-20
October provides two splendid
examples.
Firstly, Stephen Trimble, who
has been in Wichita enough
times to know what is where, describes Textron Aviations former
Beech facility as the west campus and that of Cessna as the
east campus. Unfortunately,
Beech is on the east side of Wichita and Cessna on the west side.
Then Liz Moscrop tells us
LHTs offshoot, Bizjet International, is in Tulsa, Arizona.
Wonder what the inhabitants of
that city feel like being relocated

from Oklahoma?
John M Davis
Wichita, USA
Editors reply: Apologies for both
these errors.
Outnumbered
Regarding your Straight & Level
article (Flight International, 28
October-3 November): Have a
nose at droopy Concorde.
Unfortunately you have got
the number for G-AXDN wrong.
The British-built pre-production
Concorde G-AXDN is 101, not
001 as stated. Concorde 001 is
the French-built prototype
aircraft F-WTSS.
The rather confusing numbering and registration details of all
Concorde aircraft is clearly recorded in Christopher Orlebars
book The Concorde Story.
G-AXDN was unique in being
UK-built and having an odd
number all other British-built
Concordes had even numbers.
Also, she is the only Concorde
with a G-A registration, all other
British Concordes are G-B.
G-AXDN was the rst Concorde with the production type
of nose and visor that permitted
reasonable visibility with the
visor up in its supersonic ight
position. On the prototypes, visibility was signicantly restricted
when the visor was up. So it is
appropriate too that G-AXDNs
nose and visor work again.
I have fond memories of ying
in G-AXDN as a ight test engineer for Rolls-Royce and am
pleased that she is being refurbished. My logbook records eight
ights in G-AXDN, the rst being
on 6 July 1972 with interim
Olympus 593-4 engines and the
last on 14 May 1975 with Olympus 593-602 engines.
David Corbyn
By email
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Signicantly this CTC WINGS Route also contains the exciting new option to combine airline pilot training with a
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ightglobal.com
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RECRUITMENT
Getting careers off the ground
flightglobal.com/jobs
EMAIL recruitment.services@rbi.co.uk CALL +44 (20) 8652 4900 FAX +44 (20) 8652 4877
Play a vital role training Royal Air Force and Royal Navy aircrew
Ascent Flight Training is the training design and delivery organisation created through a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and
Babcock International. Appointed as the UK MoDs Training Service Partner in 2008, Ascent has a 25-year contract to provide a United
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Ascent General Manager RAF Valley

Competitive Salary
Anglesey
You will work in the state-of-the-art Moran Schoolhouse at RAF Valley.

You will be responsible for the delivery of the Fast Jet ab-initio pilot
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You will be a senior supervisor of military flying training, preferably
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You will be responsible for the entire syllabi and courseware for Fast
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In 2015 Ascent will be recruiting a number of Aircrew Training Specialists for a variety of roles in Elementary Flying Training; Basic Fast Jet
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CTC Aviation is a global airline pilot training and resourcing company. We work in partnership with our customer airlines to deliver
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A VVIP airline based in Qatar is looking for highly qualified and motivated individuals to be part of the team.
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fax +44 (0) 20 8261 8434
email recruitment.services@rbi.co.uk
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WORKING WEEK
WORK EXPERIENCE JACK FRODSHAM
Early start for a career in aviation

Teenager Jack Frodsham believes he became the youngest Briton ever to gain a private pilots licence for
fixed-wing and helicopters simultaneously on his seventeenth birthday and his ambitions dont stop there
What rst ignited your passion
for ying?
I remember going to my rst air
display at Blackpool airport
when I was about 10 years old.
The sight of the Battle of Britain
Memorial Flight, together with
the display by the Red Arrows,
ignited my passion to y. I imagined myself as a pilot in the display. Later that year, my parents
bought me an aircraft band radio
so that I could listen to the communications between the pilots
and air trafc control.
Why did you decide to pursue
your pilots licence at such a
young age?
At the age of 12 I just wanted to
y, and at every opportunity I
would be at Blackpool airport
watching the aircraft take off and
land. One day, in the summer of
2010, my parents surprised me
with a voucher for a trial lesson. I
will always remember for the rest
of my life the feelings of anticipation and the exhilaration of my
rst take off and landing. That
sheer sense of freedom continues
to this day. From that moment I
was determined to become a
competent pilot, to y solo at the
earliest age possible and obtain
my private pilots licence (PPL).
How often do you get to y?
I ew for just 38h in the rst
year when I was 12, and this has
gradually built up to approximately 2h a week in both xedwing aircraft and helicopters.
The hours own up to your
fourteenth birthday do not
count towards your PPL(A), but
they can be logged. To date I
With hard work

and persistence
your dreams can
become reality
have accumulated more than
250h in xed-wing and helicopters. I have own into many UK
airports ranging from Carlisle
and Kirkbride in the north of
England to Bournemouth in the
south. I have also own to
Blackpool, Caernarfon,
Hawarden, Oxford, Welshpool
and Wolverhampton.
Do you prefer to y xed-wing
or helicopters?
My passion is ying. I can honestly say that I enjoy ying both
the Robinson R44 helicopter and
the Piper PA-28 Archer equally.
However, both disciplines require distinctly different skills.
What do you do when you are
not ying?
My other interests are scuba diving and power boating. I hold
qualications in these disciplines.
Do you plan to pursue a career
in the aviation business?
It is my ambition to pursue a career in the aviation business as a
commercial pilot, and I hope to
study for the air transport pilots
licence xed-aircraft or helicopters. This will be after I have
completed my A level studies in
mathematics, physics, chemistry
and geography.
Flying can be an extremely
expensive business. How do
you fund your passion?
I cannot thank my parents
Frodsham also holds qualications in scuba diving and power boating

enough for supporting me nancially and funding the PPL(A)
and PPL(H) courses during the
past four years. This culminated
in the UK Civil Aviation Authority issuing both licences on my
seventeenth birthday. I believe I
am the youngest person to
accomplish this.
What advice would you give to
another young person wanting
to take up ying?
I would certainly recommend
contacting your local ying club
or getting involved with the Air
Training Corps. Follow your
dreams and your dreams can
come true. Be determined, dont

give up and with hard work and
persistence your dreams can become reality. And remember,
you are never too young to have a
trial lesson. Q
Search through a wide
range of aviation jobs at
ightglobal.com/jobs
If you would like to feature in

Working Week, or you know
someone who does, email your
pitch to kate.sarseld@
ightglobal.com
Build your career

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URXWHWREXLOGLQJ\RXUDHURVSDFHDQGDYLDWLRQFDUHHU
flightglobal.com
Training courses to take you there

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Pratt & Whitney.

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pw.utc.com/DependableServices. Providing dependable services and customer-focused value.
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