Flight International - 1 October 2019

Expansion goalVirgin details growth plan as A350 enters service 13

Rome advantageFrom airframes to interiors and space – how Italy innovates 26

1-7 October 2019 I flightglobal.com

CARRIER

Leisure and painWhy debt-ridden Thomas Cook

lost its battle for survival

I S S N 0 0 1 5 - 3 7 1 0

9 7 7 0 0 1 5 3 7 1 3 1 0

4 0

£3.90

1-7 October 2019 | Flight International | 3flightglobal.com

CONTENTS1-7 OCTOBER 2019

Administrator pushes for Piaggio rescue plan P34

Kla

sJet

Piag

gio

Aer

ospa

ce

THIS WEEK 8 Max handovers to hit 70 each month10 Virgin delays retirement of A340 fleet11 Boeing plans overhaul of safety culture.

Regulators and industry must keep distance

AIR TRANSPORT 12 Kalitta may ditch Dutch due to slot row.

Australia agrees SilkAir Alice Springs Max move13 Flybe and widebodies vital for Virgin14 Montreal provides room for SpaceJet

AVIATION EXPO CHINA SHOW REPORT 16 Ameco aims to grow third-party MRO17 Airbus pushes A220’s economic appeal.

C919 schedule slips towards 2022

DEFENCE 18 USMC will restore AURA via attack fleet renewal.

F-35A takes Guard duty with Vermont squadron19 Stingray makes its autonomous debut.

French air force fuels up with KC-130J tanker

NEWS FOCUS 20 GatorWorks makes engine development snappy

BUSINESS AVIATION 22 Revamped Globals achieve certification.

NetJets Challenger fleet reaches 100th delivery23 Longitude jet passes ‘most robust’ testing

DATA VIEW 24 Comac drives summer sales

Kor

ea A

eros

pace

Indu

strie

s

BEHIND THE HEADLINESAlfred Chua visited Beijing for the Aviation Expo China event (P16). For our Italy special report, Murdo Morrison toured some of the nation’s aerospace industry players (P26)

NEXT WEEK ADEXWe preview South Korea’s biennial defence show. And don’t miss our commercial engines special report

Volume 196 Number 5705

VIP-configured Boeing 737-500 joins KlasJet corporate fleet P23

COVER STORY9 Thomas Cook failure prompts rethink

Dramatic collapse of holiday giant into insolvency leads UK government to re-evaluate airline failure strategy

26 Securing the future It has been an eventful year for Italian aerospace, with Leonardo and others getting on board the UK’s Tempest future fighter programme. Meanwhile, will a saviour rescue Piaggio? Our special report focuses on these stories, as well as Avio Aero’s efforts to market an all-European GA engine to export-restricted nations, and Italy’s space programme. We also visit two of the nation’s leading players in cabin interiors

NEWS

FEATURES

REGULARS 7 Comment 39 Straight & Level 40 Letters 42 Classified 44 Jobs 47 Working Week

Expansion goalVirgin details growth plan as A350 enters service 13

Rome advantageFrom airframes to interiors and space – how Italy innovates 26

1-7 October 2019 I flightglobal.com

CARRIER

Leisure and painWhy debt-ridden Thomas Cook

lost its battle for survival

I S S N 0 0 1 5 - 3 7 1 0

9 7 7 0 0 1 5 3 7 1 3 1 0

4 0

£3.90

AirT

eam

Imag

es

Download The Engine Directory.flightglobal.com/ComEngDirectory

19/07/2012 17:51

Download the new Commercial Engines Directorynow with enhanced data and in-depth market analysis

flightglobal.com/commengines13

Download the 2019 Commercial Engines Reportnow with updated enhanced data and in-depth market analysis

flightglobal.com/commenginesCFM 2017 strip ad.indd 1 30/05/2019 08:37

flightglobal.com4 | Flight International | 1-7 October 2019

CONTENTS

flightglobal.com/flight-international

Question of the week

Vote at flightglobal.com

The week in numbers

Cirium’s premium news and data service delivers breaking air transport stories with profiles, schedules, and fleet, financial and traffic information flightglobal.com/dashboard

38%

18%

44% Spot on 236 votes

Deliberately understated271 votes

A bit low 144 votes

This week, we ask: Thomas Cook’s demise? ❑ Government should have acted ❑ Airline remained viable ❑ Financial inevitability

651Total votes:

Last week, we asked: Airbus NMA forecast You said:

Wholesale jet fuel price rise in aftermath of the 14 September drone attacks on Abqaiq oil processing plant in Saudi Arabia

10%

€137m

$800m

Net cost to airline group IAG of September pilots' strike at subsidiary British Airways; further stoppages are planned

JetBlue Airways has authorised a buyback of common stock, running until end-2021; a $750m repurchase ended in 2017

ICIS Jet Kerosene Weekly

Cirium Dashboard

Cirium Dashboard

Airb

us H

elic

opte

rs

Image of the week Airbus Helicopters has claimed a new record with its H145, following flight trials performed in the Andes. The activity involved setting the twin-engined rotorcraft’s skids down atop Mount Aconcagua, Argentina, at an altitude of 22,840ft, with a test pilot and engineer on board

View more great aviation shots online and in our weekly tablet edition:

Download the Military Simulator Census online now.www.flightglobal.com/milisimCAE – Your worldwide training partner of choice

BUSINESS AVIATION


Comac drives summer salesData View P24

Text

ron

Avi

atio

n

Kla

sJet

Clean-sheet twin now sits atop Cessna's Citation product range

Latest addition is fourth -500 model in Lithuanian operator's line-up

Lithuanian business aviation services provider KlasJet has

refurbished a Boeing 737-500 and added the VIP-configured aircraft

OPERATIONS KATE SARSFIELD LONDON

Wheels Up has eyes for US tech company Avianis

CHARTER KATE SARSFIELD LONDON

Refurbished 737 given touch of Klas

US membership-based private aircraft firm Wheels Up has

acquired technology company Avianis Systems, in a move de-signed to strengthen its digital of-fering to a growing North Ameri-can customer base. The transaction was expected to close by the end of September.

Avianis has developed a digital flight management system (FMS), that enables business aircraft owners and providers to simplify and streamline their operations.

Benefits of the FMS include cal-culating real-time aircraft pricing and availability, as well as “creat-ing new revenue streams through access to additional flight demand at scale”, says Wheels Up.

The New York-headquartered company will use the FMS tech-nology to accelerate development of its digital platform. This in-cludes enhancing Wheels Up’s digital charter marketplace, which currently connects 1,000 “safety-vetted and verified aircraft” to its 6,000-strong membership base.

“These members are able to in-stantly look, book, and fly through the Wheels Up app,” the firm says. With the Avianis acqui-sition, current and future Wheels Up members will “greatly benefit from a significantly larger num-ber of private aircraft to choose from, as well as even more com-petitive real-time pricing,” it adds.Wheels Up chief informa-tion officer Dan Crowe describes Austin, Texas-based Avianis as “a formidable addition to our ex-panding organisation as we build out the most advanced digital platform in private aviation”.

Wheels Up operates a branded fleet of over 120 Textron Aviation aircraft, notably Hawker 400XPs, Cessna Citation Excels/XLSs, Citation Xs and over 90 Beechcraft King Air 350is. The latter are from a 2013 order for 105 of the type and form the backbone of Wheels Up’s membership programme. ■

to its six-strong fleet of corporate jets. The 56-seat model (LY-JMS) is the fourth 737-500 in KlasJet’s line-up, which also includes a

737-300, a Bombardier Challeng-er 850 and CRJ200. The Vilnius-headquartered company is now refurbishing a second 737-300 (LY-BGS) for delivery in Decem-ber and plans to purchase another Boeing narrowbody later this year.

Acquired by KlasJet in Novem-ber 2018 from Latvian carrier Air Baltic, LY-JMS had been operating until August in a 120-seat passen-ger layout, the charter firm says.

The newly configured aircraft will be used for bespoke group transportation, such as profes-sional sports teams and music tours. ■

MILESTONE KATE SARSFIELD LONDON

Super-midsize Longitude jet passes 'most robust' testingCertification granted after aircraft overcame regulator's fuel tank flammability concerns

Textron Aviation has secured US Federal Aviation Admin-

istration (FAA) type certification for the Cessna Citation Longi-tude, and will begin customer deliveries of the super-midsize business jet during the fourth quarter.

The long-awaited approval fol-lows what Textron describes as the “most robust flight, structural and component qualification testing completed on a Citation to date”.Certification was originally expected in 2017, but issues re-garding FAA flammability re-quirements for the Longitude’s fuel tank contributed to a delay of around 18 months while Textron petitioned for a permanent ex-emption. This was granted by the US regulator in June.

The Longitude is Cessna’s flag-ship product, for now, and heads the seven-strong Citation family which consists of the M2, CJ3+, CJ4 and XLS+ light types, along with the Latitude and Sovereign+ midsize variants. Textron sus-

pended the large-cabin Hemi-sphere programme in July due to a failure by Safran Aircraft En-gines to fix problems with the Silvercrest turbofan.

Textron calls the Longitude “one of the most thoroughly re-searched cabin experiences, and elevates passenger expectations in the super-midsize category”, where it competes with the Bom-bardier Challenger 350, Embraer

Praetor 600 and Gulfstream G280.Powered by two 7,665lb

(34.1kN)-thrust Honeywell HT-F7700L turbofan engines, the Garmin G5000-equipped type has a maximum cruise speed of 480kt (900km/h) and a range of 3,500nm (6,500km). The Longi-tude also features Cessna’s first use of fly-by-wire technology, with electronically actuated spoilers. ■


DATA VIEW

Three Chinese carriers provided lion’s share of business in August with a total of 105 ARJ21 orders, but deliveries were down 50 units year on year and remain depressed by Max effect

Comac drives summer salesGRAHAM DUNN & ANTOINE FAFARD LONDON

August was dominated by high activity for Comac’s ARJ21, as Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines each

ordered 35 units.Their commitments for a combined 105

regional jets accounted for almost 85% of the net total of 124 aircraft ordered during the month, which ranked second only to June’s 205 for new business so far in 2019. Air China expects to take delivery of its ARJ21s in stag-es from 2020 to 2024, with some examples of the type intended to expand the fleet at its regional subsidiaries.

China Eastern says its order is intended to overcome a “shortage of feeder capacity”, improve its network, and “explore the devel-opment potential of the feeder market”.

For China Southern, the ARJ21s will “strengthen the support of the trunk-routes market” and “further expand the market coverage”.

China Eastern and China Southern both mentioned that their orders will be funded through a combination of their own resources and bank loans or financial arrangements with institutions.

Cirium fleets data shows that prior to the announcements by the three state-owned Chinese carriers, Comac had orders for 233 ARJ21s from different airlines and lessors.

In the narrowbody sector, Airbus received an order for 15 A321neo narrowbodies from an undisclosed commercial customer, while Boeing accounted for all four

Imag

inec

hina

/Shu

tters

tock

Airframer’s backlog had been 233 units before latest announcement

widebody commitments. China Airlines converted three options for

777 Freighters into firm orders, more than two months after signing a memorandum of understanding to replace its ageing 747-400Fs. Turkmenistan Airlines signed for a single 777-200LR – it currently has three examples of the type in its fleet.

No turboprop orders were recorded, mark-ing the fifth month this year with no business in the sector. A total of 75 aircraft were deliv-ered to a combined 49 operators in August: over 50 units fewer than during the same month in 2018. This can be attributed to Boe-ing’s ongoing pause in deliveries of 737 Max-family aircraft, which remain grounded.

Airbus shipped 42 aircraft and Boeing 16, with the balance of 17 units having been

regional types. Delta Air Lines received six Airbus aircraft: three A321s, two A220s and a single A330. FedEx took in four Boeing widebodies, while China Southern received a pair of A320neo-family aircraft, one 777 and a single 787. ■

85%Share of 124 combined commitments during August accounted for by Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, representing the second-highest total so far this year, against 205 new orders in JuneNew orders, August 2019

Air China ARJ21 35China Eastern Airlines ARJ21 35China Southern Airlines ARJ21 35China Airlines 777F 3Turkmenistan Airlines 777-200LR 1Note: Information for known customers Source: Cirium fleets data


ORDERS & DELIVERIES

In focus: commercial aircraft fleet development by regionDuring the 2010-2019 period, growth in the Asia-Pacific market has clearly been greater than any other region of the world. The total fleet jumped by 70% from 5,700 units in September 2010 to just under 10,000 today.

The storage ratio for Asia-Pacific opera-tors has averaged 6% over the period.

By contrast, the total fleets in North America grew by 6% and in Europe by 11%. The storage ratio for North American carriers has declined from 15% in 2009 to 12%, while in Europe, it has dropped from 13% to 9%.

At almost 9,100 and 8,600 active units, respectively, the Asia-Pacific and North America fleet totals are currently narrowly separated. However, since 2018, the in-service fleet alone has been larger in the former region. ■

1.80%

2.40%4.40%

4.40%

49%

38%

Boeing5,514

Comac642

Airbus7,145

ATR252

Other635

Embraer355

14,543Total

Commercial aircraft order backlogby manufacturer

Source: Cirium Fleets Data

-200

-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Aug-19Jul-19Jun-19May-19Apr-19Mar-19Feb-19Jan-19Dec-18Nov-18Oct-18Sep-18Aug-18

Narrowbody Regional Turboprop Widebody

Commercial monthly net orders, August 2018-2019

Source: Cirium fleets data

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Aug-19Jul-19Jun-19May-19Apr-19Mar-19Feb-19Jan-19Dec-18Nov-18Oct-18Sep-18Aug-18

Narrowbody Regional Turboprop

Commercial monthly deliveries, August 2018-2019

Widebody


5%7%

5%

29%30%

24%

North America8,585

Europe7,286

Asia-Pacific9,087

Africa1,352

Middle East1,451

Latin America1,971

29,732Total

Commercial in-service fleetby region

Source: Cirium Fleets Data

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

Sep-19Sep-18Sep-17Sep-16Sep-15Sep-14Sep-13Sep-12Sep-11Sep-10

In-service fleet Stored aircraft (%)


Total fleet in Europe Total fleet in other regions Stored fleet in Europe Stored fleet in other regions

Total fleet and stored aircraft

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

20%

Total fleet in North America

Total fleet in Asia-Pacific Stored fleet in North America Stored fleet in Asia-Pacific


ITALYSpecial report

CONTENTS28 Defence Flying with Tempest30 Cabin comfort Espresso days 34 Manufacturing Saving Piaggio 36 Seating Sizing up OEMs 37 Propulsion ITAR-free power 38 Spaceflight Attention to detail

Avio Aero eyes special missions (top), Vega back on track and Typhoon partnership to live on (above)

Min

daug

as K

ulbi

s/A

P/Sh

utte

rsto

ck

It has been an eventful year for Italian aerospace, with Leonardo and others getting on board the UK's Tempest future fighter programme. Meanwhile, will a saviour come to the rescue of Piaggio and its new-found know-how in unmanned aircraft? Our special report focuses on both these stories, as well as GE subsidiary Avio Aero's efforts to market an all-European GA engine to export-restricted nations, and Italy's efforts in space. We also visit two of the country's leading players in cabin interiors

SECURINGTHE FUTURE

MT-

Prop

elle

rC

orva

ja/E

SA

Helicopters | Aeronautics | Electronics, Defence & Security Systems | Space

leonardocompany.com

In making critical decisions, information is key.

Leonardo’s tactical UAS Falco EVO provides command and control centres with a comprehensive operational overview, in real-time. The integration of a wide suite of payloads for a broad range of missions maximises situational awareness for critical decision making.

Inspired by the vision, curiosity and creativity of the great master inventor – Leonardo is designing the technology of tomorrow.

Enabling CriticalDecision MakingFalco EVO


ITALYSpecial report

CRAIG HOYLE LONDON

Italy's Leonardo has joined forces with BAE Systems of the UK and Sweden’s Saab to define the fighter aircraft that aims to establish the next generation of European air superiority

BA

E Sy

stem

s

Italy’s intentions with regard to Europe's fu-ture combat aircraft sector became clear in mid-September, when Rome and its de-fence industry champions joined formation

with the UK on its Tempest programme.The international armament directors of

both nations used the opening day of the DSEI exhibition in London on 10 September to sign a statement of intent (SOI) to partner on Tem-pest – a proposed next-generation successor to their Eurofighter Typhoons. This state-level agreement was strengthened the next day by a similar framework pact signed by leading play-ers from their respective defence industries.

Speaking during a joint press conference with his BAE Systems counterpart Charles Woodburn, Leonardo group chief executive Alessandro Profumo hailed the development as “great news for Italian industry and the fu-ture prosperity of our nation”.

“We believe that working together on Tem-pest will further strengthen each nation's tech-nological, industrial and skills base to ensure prosperity for decades to come,” Profumo says.

“We are very keen as a company to bring our Italian expertise and capabilities. From a

cross-industry perspective, joining a pro-gramme early allows you to participate more deeply in the discussion on requirements, the design of the accompanying industrial archi-tecture and the share of work in the final de-livery,” he adds.

Other Italian companies supporting the initiative are Avio Aero, Elettronica and MBDA Italy.

According to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), joint feasibility study work performed since Tempest's emergence in July 2018 “con-cluded that the UK and Italy are natural com-bat air partners”. It points to “a proven 50-year track record of working closely together”. In addition to their current involvement in the four-nation Eurofighter consortium, their industries have also previously collaborated on the Panavia Tornado.

“We are already close, and now we will be-come closer still,” Profumo says, adding: “British and Italian engineers already work together every day.” Other examples of their relationship include BAE and Leonardo stakes in pan-European guided weapons spe-cialist MBDA, and the involvement of Elettronica and Leonardo's UK arm in the Eu-roDASS consortium's Praetorian defensive

aids subsystem on the Typhoon.“Our company favours the long-time and

productive collaboration with governmental and industrial partners who have signed this SOI, on similar programmes such as Tornado and more particularly Eurofighter,” says Enzo Benigni, chief executive of electronic warfare specialist Elettronica.

“We trust that the partnership between the two nations can evolve towards a new collab-oration model – as an evolution of the Eu-rofighter – within the already acquired na-tional technological sovereignties, and through an appropriate handling of design authorities,” Benigni adds. By doing so, he be-lieves Rome can “maintain and increase skills and opportunities for our country”.

Elettronica and Leonardo are partners in the EuroDASS consortium with Germany’s Hensoldt and Indra of Spain. The companies in early September received a study contract in support of the Eurofighter programme’s long-term evolution activity, regarding its Praetorian suite of equipment. “This will lay the groundwork for future development work, which will ensure that the Typhoon’s elec-tronic warfare system will remain one of the most advanced in the world for decades to come,” the partners say.

For its part, propulsion specialist Avio Aero is also eyeing a continued relationship beyond the Typhoon. “We are honoured and proud to be part of this strategic collabora-tion,” says chief executive Riccardo Procacci.

Renewing a relationship

Tempest concept was launched at 2018 Farnborough air show


ITALYFighters

“This represents a unique opportunity for us, for our industry and for Italy to ensure tomor-row's industrial leadership by developing cutting-edge technologies and know-how in the strategic field of aircraft propulsion.”

Led by Rolls-Royce, the power aspect of Tempest will include investigating novel en-gine configurations, including the use of an embedded auxiliary power unit, which will free up valuable space for other systems.

Avio Aero says the industrial SOI “will see the parties work together to define an innova-tive concept and partnership model which will include knowledge sharing, product defi-nition and technology development for future combat air systems”.

According to the MoD, the bilateral rela-tionship with Italy will also explore the po-tential for “closer government alignment on future Eurofighter Typhoon enhancements”, and develop a combat air roadmap “identify-ing opportunities to integrate advanced tech-nologies into Tempest” from the current type. Potential examples could include self-protec-tion equipment, and drawing on the Eurora-dar consortium’s work on advanced active electronically scanned array radar technology for the Typhoon, industry sources indicate.

STRONGER TOGETHER“Our proven record of successful collaboration with Italian industry makes us certain that this partnership between our two nations is a strong fit for Tempest and demonstrates the growing momentum behind this important in-ternational endeavour,” says Woodburn. Rome’s commitment to Tempest came two months after Sweden also signalled its inten-tion to work with the UK. Stockholm in July entered into a one-year study phase, which is intended to determine whether its future com-bat aircraft requirements and schedule could align with those of its potential partner.

Saab is also involved in the process, with the company to “contribute with its experi-ence of advanced technology development, system integration of complete combat air systems and related areas including sensors, missile systems and support”.

Noting that “Italy and Sweden are already working together on a range of defence and security programmes”, Profumo says: “We are also looking forward to expanding our area of collaboration with Swedish industry.”

Woodburn describes the UK-led pro-gramme’s aim as being to deliver a “competi-tive, connected and capable future combat air system to meet our respective nations' re-quirements”. He says the initial joint study

with Italy “revealed a future common require-ment, technological synergies and a huge po-tential for collaboration between Italian and UK industry”.

In addition to exploring requirements for a next-generation fighter, the Tempest pro-gramme is also eyeing additional combat air elements such as advanced weapons and other so-called “additive capabilities”, in-cluding unmanned vehicles that could be op-erated alongside manned assets for tasks such as the suppression of enemy air defences.

Leonardo UK managing director Norman Bone – who also heads the company's wider electronics business – is especially pleased about the bilateral SOI, and notes that Italy “has never walked away from a programme”.

One area of Italian expertise that Bone points to is Leonardo’s infrared search and track technology for fighter aircraft. The com-pany supplies the Pirate system for the Ty-phoon, and its Skyward-G sensor is installed on Saab’s new Gripen E. Leonardo also has current development and production experi-ence with the M-346 and smaller M-345 jet trainers, which he says represents knowledge of a “different cost base” to that experienced via the Eurofighter programme.

“When you put clever engineers together from the UK and Italy, they will achieve great things,” says Bone. “Being part of Team Tem-pest has been an amazing opportunity for Leonardo in the UK – we are all excited that Italy is now on board at this very early stage.”

The next year will be a busy time for Team Tempest, as by the end of 2020 the group must submit an initial business case to the UK and its potential partners to advance the ambitious scheme to its next stage. Ultimately, a new capa-bility could be in operational use before 2040.

“We believe that joining Tempest is vital if we want to preserve our nation's skills base and sustain thousands of highly skilled jobs,” Profumo says. “The future will not wait for us to meet it – now is the time to sustain our ad-vantage for a generation.” ■

Saab

Euro

fight

er

“We trust that this partnership can evolve towards a new collaboration model”Enzo BenigniChief executive, Elettronica

Bilateral relationship will explore potential for developing further Typhoon enhancements

Leonardo produces Skyward-G sensor installed on the Gripen E


ITALYSpecial report

MURDO MORRISON FERENTINO

Family firm has built its reputation on innovation when it comes to catering for upscale travellers

brew 1.4 litres of beverage in 2.5min.Persuading airlines to raise their game

when it comes to onboard coffee has been one of his objectives over the past quarter century. The quality of coffee offered in premium cab-ins has often been a “big disaster”, he insists.

While his focus has mostly been on the pre-mium cabin, Lucio says he is increasingly talking to low-cost airlines looking at the op-portunity of offering premium-priced coffee to maximise their ancillary revenues.

Another key area has been ovens, with the introduction of the Gusto, which Iacobucci HF bills as the only certificated unit for gal-leys that allows airlines to “cook food on board for their premium passengers like in a five-star restaurant”.

One of the big challenges for airlines, says Lucio, has been their “inability to differentiate their food offering in business class and first class”. Using induction technology, crew are able to serve “fully cooked meals and not just food reheated from frozen”.

He remains “100% involved personally” in the development of new lines: “I travel a lot and try different airlines and am always criti-

The lack of a “good espresso” on a long-haul business class flight 25 years ago launched Lucio Iacobucci on a mission to improve the quality

of coffee at 35,000ft. The son of renowned in-flight trolley designer Emilio – who had start-ed the self-named family firm near Rome in 1972 – the younger Iacobucci came up with what he claims was the industry’s first maker of the signature Italian short coffee. The Hi-Fly Espresso won its first customer, Singapore Airlines, in 1995.

Eight years later, Lucio spun off the coffee-maker business as a separate company, HF (named after his signature product). Today Ferentino-based Iacobucci HF – he bought back the original business in 2010 – is one of Europe's foremost airline interiors suppliers, with a range spanning high-end galley catering equipment, trolleys, and seating, the latter supplied mainly to business jet com-pletion houses.

With 150 employees, the company does not have the scale of some of its competitors. However, with an emphasis on the premium cabin and VIP aircraft, the family firm has es-tablished a lucrative niche in the market.

Galley equipment such as ovens, coffee makers and trash compactors is the core busi-ness, making up around 70% of revenues. Seating, which represents about a quarter of turnover, has been a growing focus for the company, while trolleys, the original Iacobuc-ci activity, accounts for the remainder.

With production shifting to developing coun-tries such as Thailand, Iacobucci HF has tended to shun the commodity end of the trolley market and concentrated on premium designs.

To this end, Iacobucci HF has been working with Airbus on a new product for onboard re-cycling. Launched at the Hamburg Aircraft Interiors Expo last year, the ReTrolley, devel-oped by engineers at both companies and made up of three modules, allows the pre-sorting of waste during the flight, and is tar-geted at airlines keen to make a statement about their environmental credentials.

Iacobucci HF invests about one-tenth of its revenue each year into new product develop-ment. “As soon as one is certificated, we are working on the next on a constant five-year product cycle,” says Lucio. The firm’s latest coffee maker is the Robusta, a lower-weight machine suitable for all cabins and able to

cal about what can be done better.”Around a decade ago, the company moved

into seating, certificating its first product in 2011. Initially focusing on the high-value but extremely low-volume private jets and head of state market, Iacobucci HF launched its first airline business class seat at the 2017 Paris air show. The Cambiano – a collabora-tion with Italian automotive design house Pininfarina – has yet to find a customer, al-though Lucio says he is happy to take a cau-tious approach.

“The process is moving, airlines are consid-ering it, but I am relaxed with where we are. Boeing are aware of us through what we have done on BBJs [Boeing Business Jets] and that our mid-term strategy is to enter this sector very slowly, but with an important presence,” he says. “I don’t want to compete with the big players and go out and try to get 10 airlines at once. I would prefer to get one or two and do very well. Leaders in this market want to be different. They want a product that distin-guishes them from their competitors. We have the capability to help them design something unique.” ■

Iacobucci’s good taste

Bill

yPix

Lucio Iacobucci with the ReTrolley at

Hamburg last year

March 22 2019 Italian Space Sinergy

The Italian ESA launcher Vega, put in orbit the Italian hyperspectral Earth observation satellite Prisma

On March 22 PRISMA satellite has begun its mission orbiting Earth. Its hyper-spectral eyes are observing and acquiring new images of Earth giving insight into its natural resources. PRISMA is an Italian Space Agency’s satellite demonstrator. National industries and many Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) contributed to its design, launch and data receipt. Using the VEGA launcher, it took off from the European base of Kourou in French Guyana.

PRISMA represents the first European hyperspectral mission and represents a unique opportunity to develop advanced know-how and test the innovative contri-bution expected from hyperspectral data in Earth Observation applications. Fur-thermore, PRISMA plays a strategic role

in the future hyperspectral operational mission within Sentinel missions of Co-pernicus European Program.

PRISMA will complete the current Italian Space Agency offer of Earth Observation space segment, now primarly based on the Synthetic Aperture Radar of CO-SMO-SkyMed constellation. Thanks to its hyperspectral innovative optical sensor, PRISMA is able to acquire images of Earth surface to see the chemical and physical composition and provide information for several applications. PRISMA hyper-spectral technology observes each object

with its spectral signature, a real digital footprint: a unique combination of co-lours associated with each object, which reflects and absorbs solar light in specific bands of Visible spectrum and of near Infrared (NIR-SWIR).

PRISMA, a satellite of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), represents an excellence deriving from the scientific and industrial ability of Italy to work as a team. PRI-SMA was developed by a Temporary Joint Venture of companies, led by OHB Italia, responsible for the mission and manage-ment of the three main segments (ground,

Take-off occurred at 2.50am aboard VEGA Italian launcher. The ASI satellite PRISMA, realized by OHB Italy and Leonardo, will provide hyperspectral images of Earth

PRISMA satellite successful launched

PRISMA (Hyperspectral Precursor of the Application Mission) is an Earth Observation system with innovative, electro-optical instrumentation that combine a hyperspectral sensor with a medium-resolution panchromatic camera.

flight and launch) and Leonardo, which built the electro-optical hyperspectral instrumentation in addition to on-board equipment such as solar panels and power supply unit. The launch took place aboard ESA’s launcher designed and conceived in Italy: VEGA, produced by AVIO. Telespa-zio (Leonardo 67%, Thales 33%) set up the mission control center at Fucino Space Centre, while data acquisition and pro-cessing will take place at the ASI Matera Space Centre.

Leonardo’s hyperspectral camera is the most advanced and most powerful in the

world and gives Italy the ability to study the Planet like never before. The Fucino Space Centre guarantees the scientific community access to valuable data for sustainable development.

Thanks to this mission, OHB Italia has acquired competences unique in Europe to develop future projects, already under study, which will make space closer to citizens and to their needs.

Vega launcher represents an important step for the Italian space industry as it strengthens the capability of Europe’s

autonomous access to Space, in particu-lar in low orbits where Earth observation satellites operate.

The satellite is already operational and providing images of great scientific in-terest to the national and international community of users. Collected data will provide a crucial contribution to the development of research as well as to the testing in various fields of Earth Obser-vation applications: Earth monitoring, management of agriculture and natural resources, pollution control, study of cli-matic and environment changes (support to emergency management).


ITALYSpecial report

Piag

gio

Aer

ospa

ce

MURDO MORRISON VILLANOVA D’ALBENGA

Piaggio Aerospace is still in administration. Can the Avanti and P1HH maker find a buyer and avoid being broken up?

T he administrator running Piaggio Aerospace for most of the past year remains confident that the business can be rescued intact, thanks partly

to an Italian government commitment to keep alive its flagship P1HH unmanned air vehicle programme.

Before its collapse into administration late last year, things appeared to be looking up for the company, whose roots in aviation go back to the 1920s. The manufacturer of the distinc-tive Avanti twin-pusher executive and utility transport had emerged as Italy’s unlikely cham-pion in unmanned air systems after unveiling its P1HH concept at the 2013 Paris air show.

The HammerHead, based on the P180 Avanti airframe and with fellow Italian player Leonardo recruited to provide the mission systems, was intended to compete in an emerging market for unmanned medium-alti-tude, long-endurance (MALE) surveillance aircraft. It was also a hedge against softening demand for its P180 Avanti, which, despite a recent update to the Evo variant, was a 1980s design. Backed by Mubadala – the sovereign fund of oil-rich Abu Dhabi – the Genoa-based company had moved into a modern factory in Villanova D’Albenga, close to the French bor-der, in 2014 and secured an order from the United Arab Emirates for eight P1HHs, with the Italian government also committed to sup-port the programme with a purchase. Howev-er, behind the scenes, all was far from well. By

early 2018, Mubadala had injected €255 mil-lion ($280 million) into its subsidiary and ab-sorbed further debts as part of a five-year strat-egy to stabilise the business, which was struggling for cash, given the slow sales of the Avanti Evo and the cost of developing the P1HH and another, now dormant, special missions variant.

PULLING THE PLUGIn November, the Emiratis announced that they would no longer be funding Piaggio, and were cancelling the commitment for the eight P1HHs, even though one had already been de-livered to Abu Dhabi. Executives were under-stood to be nervous about the new Italian coa-lition government’s commitment to the programme. Immediately, Piaggio entered voluntary administration.

According to one source, Mubadala had only been interested in Piaggio for the P1HH and its potential to give the UAE an “indigenous” capability in MALE surveil-lance, a vital requirement in the region, with-out having to rely on US exports. However, the state-controlled investment house had

also to be sure of the support of the govern-ment in Rome.

Vincenzo Nicastro, the veteran state-ap-pointed administrator trying to find a buyer for the company as it continues to trade, is “confident” he will be successful. Thanks mainly to fresh commitments from the Italian government, anxious to avoid the collapse of one of its most important aerospace players, Piaggio has a backlog worth €834 million. “We have added a lot of contracts in the last two months,” he says.

They include an order from the defence ministry for nine new Avanti Evos to be oper-ated by four armed services, and to be deliv-ered over the next three years. There is also a commitment for cockpit and other upgrades for 19 further examples, mostly Avanti I and II versions, and a logistics support deal across the entire fleet of 37 aircraft.

However, while these pieces of business are welcome in that they will help Piaggio tick over into 2020 while retaining most of its workforce, Nicastro’s priority remains to sell the company in one piece, securing an owner that will retain the workforce and pro-vide the funds to certificate the P1HH and take it to market.

“The object is to sell it as one company,” says Nicastro. “Yes, it’s a challenge, but Piag-gio would be difficult to break up. It is unique in Europe in that we are in military and com-mercial aircraft and also in engines.” About one-third of Piaggio’s revenues have tradition-ally come from its engines business, which focuses on build-to-print manufacturing for Pratt & Whitney and others, as well as MRO.

While Nicastro will not reveal who he is talk-ing to, his insistence that “this company has to go into a bigger group” suggests a clear number

In one piece

“The object is to sell it as onecompany. Piaggio wouldbe difficult to break up”Vincenzo NicastroState-appointed administrator

Italian defence ministry has drafted a contract to acquire more HammerHeads

avioaero.com

Designing sustainable and connected skies

from Europe to the world

Partnering with the aviation industry to develop and produce advanced co-designed solutions. Growing at the speed of digital transformation. Driven by human intelligence.

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

MRO & CRO SERVICES PROPULSION SYSTEM DESIGN & INTEGRATION

ACCESSORY AND POWERTRANSMISSIONS

TURBINESAND COMBUSTORS

SAND CASTING


ITALYSpecial report

MURDO MORRISON LATINA

Armed with a range of new products, Avio Interiors has designs on returning to an original equipment sector it has been largely absent from for some time

Seat smart

T here are more airliners than ever in the skies, but competition to supply their seating remains tough. Three big players – Collins Aerospace Sys-

tems, Safran, and Recaro – dominate the mar-ket, with a number of start-ups emerging in recent years to focus on niches such as pre-mium or entry-level lines. Even Boeing has got in on the act, acquiring one seat manufac-turer, Encore, and partnering with another, Adient, in a joint venture.

For established suppliers offering a full range of seating products – such as Italy’s Avio Interiors – winning factory-option en-dorsements from the big two OEMs has not been easy. These days, the 47-year-old com-pany – which has its factory in Latina, one hour’s drive south of Rome – delivers up to 30,000 seats a year, but four-fifths are for the retrofit market. Original-equipment custom-ers include RUAG for passenger versions of its Dornier 228, and Icelandair, which has been a customer for 20 years and uses the company’s seats across its entire Boeing fleet.

However, the pioneer in the 1990s of busi-

ness class seats powered by electric motors rather than mechanically is confident that it can break back into the original equipment segment in a major way with a single-aisle version of its Galileo widebody business class seat, designed specifically for a growing seg-ment of medium-haul services, using aircraft such as the Airbus A321LR.

Although the company does not formally have a deal yet, Airbus is believed to be evalu-ating the product, which has “75% common-ality” with the widebody version and which Avio hopes to unveil at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg next April.

Avio Interiors, which employs 420 staff, of-fers a range of more than a dozen products from first class to economy, including seven separate business class designs. They range from the more functional and slimline Canova and Sophia to pod-like, high-density options, Adagio and Galileo, as well as the conceptual Zeus, which incorporates features such as flip-up armrests to allow a “larger bed size in the shoulder zone without the complication of the up-down side armrest mechanism”.

Other innvoations have included its y-bed, a set of three economy seats where the bottom surface of each seat slides out to transform the row into a couch able to accommodate one or two sleeping passengers.

Making a return to the Paris air show in June after several years’ absence, Avio Interiors showed the latest version of its Sky-rider, a saddle-style 23in-pitch seat first un-veiled almost a decade ago that offers the po-tential of “ultra-high density seating” to low-cost carriers. So far, however, the concept has had no takers.

Unlike several of its competitors, Avio Inte-riors remains highly vertically-integrated, de-signing and producing its own metal and composite components, as well as upholstery. It has its own extensive test facilities and is li-censed by the European Union Aviation Safe-ty Agency as a certification authority.

“We do everything internally, which means we can prototype much faster for the customer,” says sales manager Andrea Morel-li. “In the retrofit market especially, you need a quick response.”

The company, which lists among its customers Air India, Qatar Airways, and Rossi-ya – and is one of two major seat manufactur-ers in the country along with Geven – puts great store in its “made in Italy” credentials. “People like Italian design,” says Morelli. “We like to employ that artisan spirit, recognising that every customer is different.” ■

one target: Leonardo. But persuading Italy’s biggest aerospace and defence group to ride to the rescue may not be that easy.

Leonardo chief executive Alessandro Pro-fumo has expressed an interest, but only in buying Piaggio’s engine business – not the re-mainder of the company’s assets, including the P1HH, a programme on which he said Leonardo had already lost up to €130 million.

However, the Italian government is keen to ensure that Piaggio’s vital defence know-how is not lost with a piecemeal sale. In May, the leader of coalition partner the Five Star move-ment, Luigi Di Maio – at the time serving as deputy prime minister and now foreign min-ister – said Rome would not allow a break-up of the company.

Nicastro is set to issue a tender for bids for the assets of Piaggio by early November, and hopes to announce a buyer by July 2020. The successful bidder will be handed the entire assets of the business debt free, but must com-mit not to reduce the workforce for two years. Money raised from the sale will be used by the administrator to pay creditors. At Piag-gio’s Villanova D’Albenga site, there is activity in the engine area, and on the P180 assembly line, with four aircraft in various stages of construction. The company has delivered two Avanti Evos so far this year, with one more likely to be shipped in 2019.

However, behind closed doors in an area at the rear of the factory, the P1HH line is frozen, with work suspended when the UAE can-celled its commitment as Mubadala with-drew. Aside from the example delivered to Abu Dhabi, there is one prototype in the test facility and another near complete on the as-sembly line. Work has begun on two others.

However, Nicastro is upbeat about confirming a commitment from Italy for one system – two aircraft and a control station – in the next few months. The defence ministry has issued a “draft” contract, which is being debated by two parliamentary commissions. The government would need to pay €75 mil-lion to bring the aircraft to initial operating capability, says Nicastro, before negotiating an acquisition price.

Once agreed, the Italian military could have the aircraft within 18 months, says Nica-stro, who admits that the main driver for the government is retaining an unmanned air ve-hicle capability in the country to strengthen Italy’s hand when it comes to claiming a stake in a future pan-European MALE programme. “Retaining talents is important,” he says.

Nicastro – whose record in finding buyers for previous Italian businesses in administra-tion is impressive – believes that Piaggio can emerge from this crisis as a vital part of Italy’s aerospace assets. “We are coming back,” he vows. “We are reactivating, ready to push again.” ■

Adagio is one of a range of products made by Avio Interiors, covering every segment

Avi

o In

terio

rs

❯❯


ITALYPropulsion

In July, GE Aviation clinched a second ap-plication for its Catalyst engine, with start-up XTI Aircraft selecting it for the in-devel-opment, hybrid-electric TriFan 600 vertical

take-off and landing aircraft. Textron’s nine-seat Cessna Denali is the launch platform for what the US propulsion specialist calls the first all-new business and general aviation tur-boprop powerplant in almost 40 years.

However, for GE’s Italian subsidiary, Avio Aero, the biggest opportunity for the full authority digital engine control (FADEC) engine – due to take to the air for the first time later this year – is in the military and special missions market.

That is because GE has entirely developed the engine in Europe, with its subsidiaries in Italy, the Czech Republic and Poland holding the intellectual property. This means it is free of US international traffic in arms regulations (ITAR) that restrict the transfer of technologies deemed sensitive to national security.

“One of the key values for the Catalyst is its European credentials,” says Paolo Salvetti, sales director for military turboprop engines at Avio Aero, who notes that unmanned air vehicles and trainers or other light manned aircraft that can be adapted for special mis-sion duties are the “two major segments” out-side general aviation for the 850-1,600shp (630-1,190kW) engine.

“If you look at these segments, there are a lot of countries around the globe – Turkey, India, South Africa – which are developing their own indigenous solutions to stay out of US export controls,” he says. “This provides an opening for an integrated propulsion sys-tem – with FADEC-controlled engine and pro-peller – that is all-European.”

A deal signed in June with MT-Propeller is helping to reinforce those European creden-tials, with the Bavarian company committing to replace the USA’s McCauley as the “pre-ferred propeller supplier” on engines for the ITAR-restricted market. “It is an example of where one and one makes three,” says Salvetti.

GE launched the Catalyst as the Advanced Turboprop or ATP at the National Business Aviation Association convention in 2015 to take on Pratt & Whitney in a sector its rival had dominated for almost half a century with the PT6 family, but also energising the capa-bilities of two recent European acquisitions.

The US giant followed its purchase of some of the assets of ailing Czech engine maker Wal-ter in 2008, a specialist in small engines, with the much bigger acquisition five years later of Italy’s propulsion champion Avio Aero.

The Italian outfit joined its new sister com-pany on a project that had been in gestation in Prague, with the Czech unit retaining the en-gineering responsibilities for what was to be-come the Catalyst and Avio Aero’s factory at Rivalta near Turin taking responsibility for the manufacture of the gearbox, power turbine and combustor. Rotating components are pro-duced at Avio Aero’s Warsaw subsidiary.

Commercial variants will be assembled in Prague, while the Czech site and Turin will share final assembly of military versions de-pending on the end customer.

Since the first engine run in December 2017, four examples of the Catalyst have ac-cumulated more than 1,350h in tests, and full certification trials have begun, says Salvetti. GE is aiming to fly the engine on its Beech-craft King Air 350 testbed later this year, fol-lowed by the maiden flight of the Denali.

According to Salvetti, the Catalyst offers manufacturers of trainer or special mission aircraft “a step change in performance at lower operating costs”, adding: “On a typical MALE [medium-altitude, long-endurance un-manned air vehicle] mission, we estimate the operator having a 10% improvement in pay-load compared with the competitor. That equates to an extra 2h of loitering time.” ■

MT-

Prop

elle

r

MURDO MORRISON LONDON

With an all-European ITAR-free offering, GE Aviation’s Italian subsidiary aims to shake up the turboprop market

A Catalyst for success

MT-Propeller will replace McCauley as the supplier on any ITAR-restricted aircraft


ITALYSpecial report

DAN THISDELL LONDON

In crewed flight, science and, critically, access to orbit, Italy is a key driver of Europe's collective mission to maintain a fully independent capability in Earth orbit and beyond

Space raceA string of Vega successes points to 'robust' design

S C

orva

ja/E

SA

Never let it be said that Italians do not know a thing or two about food. But knowing a bit more about the link with nutrition, health and micro-

gravity is firmly on the agenda, too. For Euro-pean Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Par-mitano, a highlight of his second stint living in orbit is to run an experiment called Nu-trISS – Nutrition Monitoring for the Interna-tional Space Station.

The initiative is one of a tranche of experi-ments the Italian space agency (ASI) has as-signed to Parmitano during his six-month “Beyond” mission, which began on 20 July, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. But where NASA’s pioneers had only to worry about nutrition and health for a cou-ple of hours on the Moon and a few days away from Earth, Parmitano and his ISS col-leagues spend typically six months in orbit – in part to pave the technical and medical path for longer trips into deeper space.

Using an ASI-supplied “bioelectric imped-ance” device to measure his bodily conductiv-ity and a special astronaut app called Every-Wear, NutrISS will track Parmitano’s meal times and energy levels. The experiment, led by Professor Gianni Biolo of the University of Trieste, is exploring the effects of a high- protein diet designed to limit the typical microgravity-driven loss of bone and muscle.

Representing ESA and ASI, Parmitano is a graduate of the Italian air force academy at Pozzuoli with a Masters degree in experimen-tal flight-test engineering and military qualifi-cations in electronic warfare. This mission, his second to the ISS after a maiden visit in 2013, will run through February 2020; in Sep-tember he took charge of the mission, the third European to serve as ISS commander.

Space is not just about science, exploration and freeze-dried meals, of course – and Par-mitano has minced no words about what he sees from his privileged position some 400km (250 miles) above our planet. In a video re-leased from the ISS on 16 September, the Ital-

ian reported on how the crew is documenting “hundreds” of forest fires raging in the Ama-zon, Colombia and Mozambique.

He told viewers that by burning forest to clear land: “We may be destroying our only chance of survival, the lungs of the Earth, by trying to adapt it to us as humans instead of leaving it as a natural resource.”

GETTING THEREAnother Italian star is Vega – as in the largest light in the sky or, if one prefers acronyms, Vet-tore Europeo di Generazione Avanzata (ad-vanced generation European carrier rocket). Another ASI-led project, Vega is the European light launcher to complement ESA’s heavy-lift Ariane 5. Designed to be cheaper and quicker to build and launch, and taking advantage of the manufacturing and storage flexibility of modern solid-fuel rocket motors, Vega first flew in 2012. And, as intended, it has proven ideal for preci-sion placement of satellites – for payloads of up to 2.5t into the low orbits invaluable to Earth ob-servation missions.

A string of flawless missions ended in July this year when, in the third minute of the 15th Vega flight from ESA’s French Guiana space-port, the launcher failed, taking with it the United Arab Emirates’ Falcon Eye 1 military observation satellite. Investigation pointed to a “thermo-structural failure” of the second stage.

Calling for “an exhaustive verification plan of its findings” and “corrective actions on all subsystems, processes and equipment”, the inquiry commission expects a return to flight in the first quarter of 2020, an expectation un-derscored by Giulio Ranzo, chief executive of prime contractor Avio.

Ranzo tells Flight International that while a long list of successes has proved the design to be “robust”, failure highlights the need to im-prove execution in manufacturing, non- destructive inspection and non-destructive testing. Working with ESA, as the qualifying agency, and recognising that all rockets have a certain incidence of anomaly, he says Avio’s mission now is to boost the certainty of de-tecting even a “very minor glitch”.

The failure, he stresses, will have no impact on Vega C, a bigger iteration offering greater payload flexibility and playing a key cost and efficiency role in Europe’s next generation of launchers; its main stage will double as the strap-on boosters for the in-development Ariane 6. Designed with Vega experience, says Ranzo, Vega C is naturally one-step advanced in product evolution. With the first quarter of 2020 dedicated to returning Vega to flight, expect Vega C to fly in the second quarter.

And, by the end of this year, Avio will have carried out a full-scale test of the M10 liquid oxygen-methane motor that will replace Vega C’s third and fourth stages to create Vega E – a further simplification of this light launcher. ■

STRAIGHT&LEVEL

From yuckspeak to tales of yore, send your offcuts to [email protected]

100-YEAR ARCHIVEEvery issue of Flight from 1909 onwards

can be viewed online at flightglobal.com/archive

1-7 October | 2019 Flight International | 39flightglobal.com

The flying picketsUrgent mails, as well as passengers, are being taken

by aeroplane, whereby the rigours of the railway strike are

being vastly alleviated. Were it not for the development in aerial transport brought about by the War, the fight against the forces of anarchy would be more strenuous.

Rocket-propelledThe Allied Air Force has met increasing numbers of the

jet-propelled Me 262, which is very fast. The rocket-propelled

Me 163 has been used only as a defensive fighter. The German pilots seem to find difficulty in manoeuvring both these types.

Supersonic StatesSubject to approval the US supersonic programme is to

proceed. On September 23 President Nixon gave a go-ahead

for the programme – a decision based on political (the US “must lead the world in air transport”), rather than economic arguments.

Uncontrolled spinThe second stage of the Zenit booster, which was

used to launch the Cosmos 2290 satellite on 26 August, has

gone into an uncontrollable spin. The 10m-long, 4m-wide, second stage – seen clearly from Earth like a bright, flashing, beacon – has been observed spinning at a rate of 153RPM.

Stev

e B

lee

Geo

rge

Cra

ckne

ll W

right

/LN

P/Sh

utte

rsto

ck

Francois: Airbusted

AP/

Shut

ters

tock

Lear: Sense of humour

Making a name for himselfQuite appropriately for an event intended to provide a distant outlook, Airbus chose the vantage point of the 29th floor in London’s 387ft-tall Millbank Tower to unveil its latest global market forecast.

Among the landmarks clearly visible was the Palace of Westminster, where members of parliament would normally have been sitting but for a controversial (later ruled illegal) prorogation as the UK careers towards a deadline to exit the European Union.

Members such as the Conservative party’s Mark Francois, whose staunch pro-Brexit stance and public claims – against all the evidence – that Airbus has performed a U-turn over its threat to rethink its UK operations post-Brexit have not endeared him to the European airframer.

This fractious relationship is unlikely to be healed by the revelation, picked up by our reporter at the Airbus event, that Francois’ pronunciation of chief executive Faury’s name is something closer to “Gollum” than “Guillaume”.

And the fact that one individual close to the Airbus public relations team also has a name for Francois which is less likely to be found in the pages of Lord of the Rings than in the dictionary, under ‘W’.

Lear – of Lear Jet fame – named one of his daughter’s Shanda.

Shanda Lear makes her living by delivering speeches about the secrets of her late father’s success, often rounding them off with a performance of “God Bless America”.

Her web site lists her other skills as “business woman”, “motivator teacher”, and “lactation consultant”.

Korea we goNice pun-upmanship from the PR team at Hungary’s main airport, who headline a release about new services to the South Korean capital by the Polish flag-carrier: “Budapest’s got a LOT of Seoul”.

Idle gossip“I took a day off work to go and salivate over the hedge at RAF Waddington during exercise Cobra Warrior,” writes Steve Blee. “The Israeli 707 was great to see with noisy, smoky un-PC proper jet engines. I managed to get some reasonable photographs, but was particularly taken by this one [main image above], which suggests that this particular Italian Typhoon pilot’s performance has already been reviewed by Air Traffic.

“Perhaps he took a short cut?”

FoursightVirgin Atlantic’s ageing Airbus A340-600s have been granted a two-month stay of execution because of a shortage of Rolls-Royce Trent 100 engines for its incoming Boeing 787-8s.

The Trent 500-powered quadjets were due to retire at the end of October.

Maybe Virgin should give one last airing to Toulouse’s long-gone marketing slogan “4 engines 4 long haul” – for old times’ sake.

EnlighteningNot exactly news, but perhaps a little-known fact is that the legendary aircraft designer Bill

“Surely they don’t mean me”

LETTERS [email protected]

ENVIRONMENT

Heated by flight shame debate With reference to your article “Climate action is Sweden’s shame” (Flight International, 10-16 September) about the country’s “flight shame” campaign, being aided by teenage activist and Swedish national Greta Thunberg, to make people think twice about flying; why not focus instead on “heat shame”?

In many regions, much could be achieved by reducing room temperature during the winter months to, say, 18°C. This would require an outfit change, no more.

Protesting is easy; generating solutions is difficult, some-times even painful. Nowadays, it takes a few hours to organise a worldwide protest, yet noteworthy progress in the aviation industry can take several years.

Thanks to Flight International for continuously reporting on the progress made.Rene Meier Grenchen, Switzerland

We welcome your letters on any aspect of the aerospace industry. Please write to: The Editor, Flight International, 1st Floor, Chancery House, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 1JB, UKOr email: [email protected] opinions on this page do not necessarily represent those of the editor. Letters without a full postal address sup-plied may not be published. Letters may also be published on flightglobal.com and must be no longer than 250 words.

Understanding aerospace rolesCan I encourage you to standard-ise your use of technical descrip-tors? In your article “Technical panel lengthens Max review” (Flight International, 10-16 September) you describe the

Joint Authorities Technical Re-view (JATR) panel as being com-posed of “safety technicians”. However, the US Federal Avia-tion Administration describes the JATR panel as “experts”.

They are likely to be engineers or scientists with a great depth of technical experience and knowledge, based on years of work, study and research.

I think it’s critical to understand the different roles undertaken by scientists, engineers and technicians.

If we want to attract young people into the aerospace industry, this knowledge is an important link in the chain.

In the UK the current dearth of engineers is almost certainly a result of confusion between “engineers” and “mechanics” – confusion which, rather sadly, it seems your editors are also suffering from.Paul BurchFarnham, Surrey, UK

Protests are easy, solutions less so

Kirs

ty W

iggl

esw

orth

/AP/

Shut

ters

tock

Get premium content every week, including top tips, careers advice and industry developments

Set up job alerts and receive relevant jobs in your inbox as soon as they appear

Create your profi le and get headhunted by recruiters and airlines

Take your career to new levelsRegister your CV and start

your job search today

Start your journey today. Register at Jobs.flightglobal.com/register @fl ightjob @fl ightglobaljobs FlightJobs

READER SERVICES

For a full list of events see flightglobal.com/events

EVENTS

flightglobal.com

EDITORIAL, ADVERTISING, PRODUCTION & READER CONTACTS

Flight International is one of FlightGlobal’s (publishing, events and FlightJobs) products and services.

FlightGlobal uses data and analytics sourced from Cirium.www.cirium.com

Flight International welcomes unsolicited contributions from readers but cannot guarantee to return photographs safely.

© and Database Rights 2019 DVV Media International Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the publishers.

Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper. Published by DVV Media International Ltd, 1st Floor, Chancery House, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 1JB, UK.

Newstrade distributed by Marketforce (UK), 2nd Floor, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HU, UK. Tel: +44 20 3787 9001.

Classified advertising prepress by CCM. Printed in Great Britain by William Gibbons and Sons Ltd

Flight International published weekly 49 issues per year.

This periodical is sold subject to the following conditions: namely that it is not, without the written consent of the publishers first given, lent, re-sold, hired out or in any unauthorised cover by way of trade, or affixed to, or as part of, any publication of advertising, literary or pictorial matter whatsoever. No part of the content may be stored electronically, or reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the Publisher.

ISSN 0015-3710 (Print) ISSN 2059-3864 (Online)

EDITORIAL 1st Floor, Chancery House, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 1JB, UK [email protected]

Editor Craig Hoyle +44 20 8652 3834 [email protected] Editor Dominic Perry +44 20 8652 3206 [email protected] Head of Strategic Content Murdo Morrison FRAeS+44 20 8652 4395 [email protected] Features Editor Dan Thisdell +44 20 8652 4491 [email protected] Business & General Aviation Editor Kate Sarsfield +44 20 8652 3885 [email protected] Consulting Editor David Learmount +44 7785 901787 [email protected] [email protected]

AIR TRANSPORT TEAM Executive Editor Graham Dunn +44 20 8322 6858 [email protected] Editor – Airline Business Lewis Harper +44 20 7911 3105 [email protected] Transport Editor David Kaminski-Morrow +44 20 8652 3909 [email protected]

AMERICASAmericas Air Transport Editor Pilar [email protected] Aerospace Editor Jon Hemmerdinger+1 617 397 2809 [email protected] Reporter Garrett Reim+1 571 216 5327 [email protected]

ASIA/PACIFIC Asia Editor Greg Waldron +65 6780 4314 [email protected] Reporter Alfred Chua+65 6780 4309 [email protected]

CIRIUM DASHBOARD EDITORIALSteve Goldstein, Michael Gubisch, Firdaus Hashim, SiMin Ngai, Niall O’Keeffe, Thomas Risen, Jonathan Robins, Sophie Segal, Ellis Taylor

FLIGHTGLOBAL.COMOnline Content Manager Amber Elias+44 20 8652 3835 [email protected]

EDITORIAL PRODUCTION Chief Copy Editor, FlightGlobal Dan BlochLayout Copy Editor Tim NormanDeputy Global Production Editor Rachel WarnerDeputy Global Digital Producer Andrew CostertonConsulting Technical Artist Tim Hall

DISPLAY ADVERTISEMENT SALES 1st Floor, Chancery House, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 1JB, UK

EUROPE Key Account Manager Richard Perry+44 20 8652 8798 [email protected]

Sales Support Gillian Cumming +44 20 8652 8837

NORTH & SOUTH AMERICA Vice-President, North & South America Rob Hancock +1 703 795 5155 [email protected] Regional Sales Director Warren McEwan +1 703 836 3719 [email protected]

ITALY Sales Manager Riccardo Laureri +39 (02) 236 2500 [email protected] Laureri Associates SRL, Via Vallazze 43, 20131 Milano, Italy

ISRAEL Sales Executive Asa Talbar +972 77 562 1900 Fax: +972 77 562 1903 [email protected] Talbar Media, 41 HaGiva’a St, PO Box 3184, Givat Ada 37808, Israel

ASIA/AUSTRALASIA Key Account Manager Jay Ee +65 9173 3502 [email protected] Media International (Asia) Pte. Ltd.15 Beach Road, 2nd Floor, Singapore 189677

RUSSIA & CIS Director Arkady Komarov Tel/Fax: +7 (495) 987 3800 [email protected] Business Media, Leningradsky Prospekt, 80, Korpus G, Office 807, Moscow 125190, Russia

RECRUITMENT Head of Sales Sophie Wild+44 20 8652 4239 [email protected] Business Development Manager Katie Mann+44 20 8652 3074 [email protected] Development Manager Lauren Cooper+44 20 8652 [email protected] Development Manager Nathan Dillon+44 20 8652 [email protected]

CLASSIFIED Key Account Manager Jay Ee +65 9173 3502 [email protected]

ADVERTISEMENT PRODUCTION Production Manager Sean Behan +44 20 8652 8232

MARKETING Group Marketing Manager Jo Goodwin+44 20 7911 1366 [email protected]

DATA Data cited in Flight International is sourced from Cirium, a data and analytics company in the wider travel industry. For Cirium’s data team, please contact: Trevor Mountford [email protected] PUBLISHING MANAGEMENT

Managing Director Andy SalterVP, FG Connect and Conferences Mark [email protected] Executive Director Content Max [email protected] Director Publishing Stuart Burgess [email protected]

READER SERVICES Subscriptions Jenny SmithFlight International Subscriptions, DVV Media International,PO Box 302, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 3DH, UK

Subscription Enquiries From UK: 0330 333 9533From overseas: +44 1444 475 682Fax +44 1444 445301 [email protected]

Subscription Rates1 Year: £145/$229/€1792 Years: £246/$389/€3043 Years: £348/$549/€429Only paid subscriptions available. Cheques payable to Flight International

1-7 October | Flight International | 41

15-20 OctoberSeoul ADEXSeoul, South Koreaseouladex.com

17 OctoberAirlines 2050

London, UKflightglobal.com/airlines2050

5-7 NovemberVertical Flight ExpoFarnborough, UKverticalflightexpo.com

17-21 NovemberDubai Air ShowDubai, UAEdubaiairshow.aero

4-5 DecemberMexico’s Aerospace SummitSantiago de Queretaro, Mexicomexicoaerospacesummit.com

5-6 DecemberAerospace Big Data

BarcelonaBarcelona, Spain flightglobal.com/bigdata

10-12 DecemberGulf Defense & AerospaceKuwait City, Kuwaitgulfdefense.com

28-30 January 2020HAI Heli-ExpoAnaheim, California, USArotor.org/home/heli-expo

4-6 FebruaryRoutes AmericasIndianapolis, Indiana, USAroutesonline.com

11-16 FebruarySingapore Air ShowSingaporesingaporeairshow.com

25-28 FebruaryAerospace Europe ConferenceBordeaux, Franceceas.org/aerospaceeurope2020

30 March-4 AprilGlobal Aerospace SummitAbu Dhabi, UAEaerospacesummit.com

31 March-5 AprilFIDAE International Air & SpaceSantiago, Chilefidae.cl

22-26 AprilEurasia Air ShowAntalya, Turkeyeurasiaairshow.com

2-3 MayWings over IllawarraWollongong NSW, Australiawww.wingsoverillawarra.com.au

13-17 MayILA Berlin Air ShowBerlin, Germanyila-berlin.de

WORKING WEEK

flightglobal.com 1-7 October 2019 | Flight International | 47

People in isolated conflict zones have greatest need, says Martou

Aid agency chief offers flight reliefA Belgian air force and humanitarian sector veteran with more than 30 years of experience, Philippe Martou now leads the UN World Food Programme’s effort to reach major global troublespots by air

WORK EXPERIENCE PHILIPPE MARTOU

the only option humanitarian workers have to reach these very vulnerable populations.What do you enjoy most about your role?For the past 15 years, UNHAS has been the air service of choice for UN agencies, non-governmental organisations, donors, and other bodies responding to humanitarian and development needs across the globe. Knowing that UNHAS plays a key role in allowing so many agencies to achieve their humanitarian goals, I feel a deep sense of gratification having this unique opportunity to lead the WFP Aviation family.What are the challenges?Our working environment is extremely complex. There are many challenges and risks associated with operating in mostly hostile locations with exposure to extreme insecurity and very poor infrastructure. Where we work, aviation safety and security concerns are quite high, and over the years we have developed and refined processes and systems to sharpen our capabilities and indeed we are continuously aiming to be more effective and efficient. n

What sparked your interest in aviation?I first flew with my family the summer before I turned five. I was invited into the cockpit, and the captain and first officer allowed me to spend some time with them. I felt so important. The thrill of that first flight gave me the ambition and drive to become an aviator. Since very early in my aviation career, I felt a genuine identification with humanity and an interest in helping others. I always wanted to venture into remote territories to rescue and provide food and opportunities to refugees, victims of war, and survivors of natural disasters. The transportation of relief goods to areas in need of humanitarian aid is the “last-mile problem”. Heli-copters or short take-off and land-ing aircraft are often the only solu-tion to reach these very vulnerable populations. I wanted to be part of and leading this solution.How has your career developed?My career in aviation started with the Belgian air force. A pivotal point was moving to the humani-tarian sector in 2001 and being able to transfer my expertise in rapid response and air operations into one of the world’s largest hu-manitarian organisations address-ing hunger: the UN World Food Programme (WFP). I took up my duties as director of the WFP Avi-ation Service in June, after serving as chief of the preparedness branch within the WFP emergen-cy preparedness and response di-vision, and after years working as WFP co- ordinator and head of the

area office in several areas, such as Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South and East Darfur.What is your role in the WFP?The UN Humanitarian Air Ser-vice (UNHAS), managed by the WFP Aviation Service, offers safe, reliable, cost-efficient and effective passenger and light cargo transport for the humanitar-ian community to and from areas of crisis and intervention. I lead a team of 600 multinational staff based in different countries and offering a unique range of skills. We provide air access to locations in hostile, remote and challenging environments, transporting humanitarian passengers and cargo where safe and adequate commercial air transport alterna-tives are not available. We are on the front line of some of the

world’s direst crises, including Yemen and the Ebola response in the DRC. We ensure operational presence in 16 countries through a network of over 300 destina-tions among the hardest to reach and most isolated locations in the world, using a fleet of more than 60 aircraft, with an additional 35 aircraft on standby to deploy in the shortest time possible.What role does aviation play within the WFP and how vital is it to the communities it serves?Humanitarian workers face a race against time to safely reach affected communities threatened by violence, hunger and disease. Most humanitarian needs occur in conflict settings hindered by insecurity and in isolated areas with access constraints and d amaged or extremely poor infrastructure. UNHAS is often

UN

Wor

ld F

ood

Prog

ram

me

If you would like to feature in Working Week, or you know someone who would, email your pitch to kate.sarsfield@ flightglobal.com

Looking for a job in aerospace? Check out our listings online at flightglobal.com/jobs

A future strategy for the UK aviation sector

Hosted by

London 17 October 2019

Airlines

Airlines 2050 is a landmark event bringing together leading industry and government figures to share unique insights on

Boosting competitiveness in the UK airline sector

FutureproofingtheUK’spositionasaglobalaviationhub

Achieving a more diverse, inclusive and resilient industry

Howbesttocapitaliseoninnovationtodriveasustainablefuture

Speakers include

Alex CruzChairman and CEOBritish Airways

Sir Tim ClarkPresidentEmirates Airline

Baroness VereUK Aviation MinisterUK Government

Richard MoriartyChief Executive OfficerUK Civil Aviation Authority

Shai WeissChief Executive OfficerVirgin Atlantic

Learn more: flightglobal.com/airlines2050

Documents

Flight International - 1 October 2019