Flyingphotos Magazine News: março 2023

quinta-feira, 30 de março de 2023

SPECIAL LIVERY - New special scheme of Viva Aerobus. Promoting Queretaro state with some of its attractions. "Peña de Bernal" the cheese and wine route, the cactus and the world famous "Lelé" doll.

Photo: Joel Xool
XA-VIA / Airbus A320-271N

NEW AIRLINE - New airline of Uzbekistan Centrum Air - First B737-800 / LY-DUE

Centrum Air is a low cost carrier based in Uzbekistan. The carrier received its first aircraft at Tashkent Islam Karimov International Airport on 18-Jan-2023. The airline operations on 15-Feb-2023 with Tashkent-Fergana service.

Centrum Air took delivery of two Airbus A320-232s, which arrived from Europe. Earlier in received two Boeing 737 aircraft. A third A320 is expected to arrive later this week. The company plans to expand the end of the year and has ambitions to operate 100 aircraft by the end of 2026.

Centrum Air plans to launch international routes between Uzbekistan and 15 countries, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, India, and South Korea. Domestic routes will include flights from Tashkent to five Uzbek cities: Nukus, Urgench, Termez, Namangan and Fergana. The company is also seeking to secure additional foreign investment as part of a broader revitalisation of Uzbekistan’s civil aviation sector. In November, Centrum Air’s sister company, the logistics specialist MyFreighter, took delivery of a Boeing 747-200F. MyFreighter is the first Uzbek company to operate the freight variant of Boeing’s iconic “jumbo jet.”

Asian aviation

Photo: Rustam Mannanov

SPECIAL LIVERY - ANA and Pokémon to take Pikachu Jet to the skies on “Pokémon Air Adventures” Collaboration

All Nippon Airways (ANA) and the Pokémon Company have teamed up under the “Pokémon Air Adventures”to launch its specially painted “Pikachu Jet NH*” on June 4, 2023. The collaboration will include a series of
special products and services including original goods and inNight entertainment.

With easing travel restrictions, the “Pokémon Air Adventures” is a project set to elevate the excitement of
travel with the world of Pokémon. This new endeavor is a testament to the company’s unwavering commitment
for people to experience the joy of travel and the pleasure of mobility once again.
The ANA Group believes in connecting people and communities through travel and we are delighted to introduce
the “Pikachu Jet NH”, with hopes to rekindle the joy and excitement among our customers.

With easing travel restrictions, the “Pokémon Air Adventures” is a project set to elevate the excitement of
travel with the world of Pokémon. This new endeavor is a testament to the company’s unwavering commitment
for people to experience the joy of travel and the pleasure of mobility once again.
The ANA Group believes in connecting people and communities through travel and we are delighted to introduce
the “Pikachu Jet NH”, with hopes to rekindle the joy and excitement among our customers.
For details and updates, please visit the special website: https://www.ana.co.jp/en/jp/international/
theme/pikachujet/
Pokémon Air Adventures oUcial website: https://;ying-pikachu.com/en/
*NH: NH is the airline code that recognizes ANA as deWned by the International Air Transport
Association.
1. Specially painted “Pikachu Jet NH” aircraft (scheduled to begin service on international routes from
June 4, 2023)
■ Operation period: Approximately 5 years from June 4, 2023
■ Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 aircraft (JA894A)
■ Design concept: The “Pikachu Jet NH” aircraft features a livery designed for ANA, in which the Sky
High Pokémon Rayquaza is depicted across the entire fuselage to create a vivid ecect.
Charizard, Latias, Latios, Vivillon, and other Nying Pokémon from all over the Pokémon world move
together with Pikachu toward the shining rays of hope and endless possibilities of an interconnected
world. Pokémon are also hidden inside the engines, so please keep an eye out for them when boarding
on your next adventure with the Pikachu Jet!
■ The following is a list of routes that may be operated from June 4, 2023 to October 28, 2023. The
routes are subject to change due to changes in operations.
! Haneda – Bangkok (NH847/NH850/NH849/NH848)
! Haneda – Singapore (NH841/NH844/NH843/NH842)
! Haneda – Jakarta (NH855/NH856)
! Haneda – Manila (NH869/NH870)
! Haneda – Ho Chi Minh City (NH891/NH892)
! Haneda – Delhi (NH837/NH838)
! Haneda – Sydney (NH879/NH880/NH889/NH890)
! Haneda – Vancouver (NH116/NH115)
! Haneda – Honolulu (NH186/NH185)
Please note that the routes/Nights will not be decided until the day of the Night, as it changes daily depending
on the operation status.
■ The interior cabin design of the “Pikachu Jet NH” and original goods to be distributed to passengers
will be announced at a later date

2. First original goods “Bath Poncho” (on sale from June 4, 2023)
The Wrst original goods will be the “Bath Poncho,” which will go on sale on June 4, 2023. The product will be
available to passengers on ANA international and domestic Nights through the in-Night duty free sales service
as well as the “ANA STORE@SKY” online shopping service accessible through the Wi-Fi on ANA domestic
Nights and lounges. Details will be ocered in the May/June issue of ANA SKY SHOP (digital magazine) available
from the end of April.
International Nights: https://www.ana.co.jp/en/jp/guide/;ight_service_info/intservice/
y/dutyfree/
Domestic Nights: https://www.ana.co.jp/en/jp/guide/;ight_service_info/dom-service/premiumclass/
ana-sky-shop/
Please stay tuned for more original goods to be added in the future.
Please note that the number of items in stock is constantly subject to change and may run out early.

3. In-Night entertainment (scheduled to be available on international Nights from June 2023 and domestic
Nights from July 2023)
Passengers will be able to enjoy Pokémon-related content such as Pokémon Kids TV and POKÉTOON on all
ANA international and domestic Nights.
*Scheduled to start in June 2023 for international Nights and in July 2023 for domestic Nights.
*Contents are subject to change.
*For details, please check the ANA SKY CHANNEL, where more information will be available from the
end of the previous month. The contents to be screened will dicer depending on the time of
boarding.
International Nights: https://www.ana.co.jp/en/jp/guide/;ight_service_info/int-service/y/wiA/?
tabitem=asw-tab__item-box-1
Domestic Nights: https://www.ana.co.jp/en/jp/guide/;ight_service_info/dom-service/y/wiA/?
tabitem=asw-tab__item-box-2

NEW AIRCRAFT - HK Express receives first A321neo

Hong Kong, 29 March 2023 – Airbus has announced the successful delivery of its first Airbus A321neo to the low-cost carrier HK Express, a member of Cathay Pacific Group based in Hong Kong.

This milestone marks the first of 16 A321neo aircraft for HK Express and features the airline’s latest livery, with vibrant shades of purple and white. In addition, the aircraft’s winglets and empennage spots an “e” shaped journey symbol, which evokes the start of a pleasant journey with HK Express.

"We are thrilled to welcome the first A321neo to our fleet," said Mandy Ng, CEO of HK Express. "As an operator of the A320 Family, we are confident in the A321neo’s game-changing ability to provide more capacity with greater sustainability. At HK Express, the A321neo is key in our efforts to reduce our impact on the environment."

“Airbus is proud to extend our relationship with the Cathay Pacific Group, and this new delivery represents a new milestone in our long relationship. The A321neo’s performance and efficiency will allow HK Express to expand its network, while reducing its carbon footprint,” said Anand Stanley, President Airbus Asia-Pacific.

HK Express’ A321neo is powered by CFM International LEAP-1A engines and can seat up to 236 passengers in Airbus’ award-winning Airspace cabin, which brings unique lighting displays, more personal space and a sleek design to improve passenger experience.

HK Express is an all-Airbus operator, with its current fleet comprising 27 A320 Family aircraft, including 11A321ceo, 10 A320neo, five A320ceo and its first A321neo.

The A321neo is part of the A320neo Family, which incorporates new generation engines and Sharklets, together delivering more than 20 percent fuel and CO2 savings, as well as a 50 percent noise reduction.

To date, the A320neo Family has received more than 8,600 firm orders from over 130 customers worldwide.

AIRBUS

terça-feira, 28 de março de 2023

NATO Support and Procurement Agency orders additional Airbus A330 MRTT

Getafe, 28 March 2023 – The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has ordered an additional Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), increasing the Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF) to 10 aircraft.

This announcement follows Belgium’s decision to increase its number of hours in the programme with an additional 1,100 flight hours per year. The Multinational Multi Role Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF) provides strategic transport, air-to-air refuelling and medical evacuation capabilities to its six participating nations: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Norway. These Nations signed the Memorandum of Understanding that enables them to share costs proportionally according to the national commitment of flight hours per year.

“Since the arrival of the first aircraft in 2020 and especially since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the MMF is protecting European sovereignty and showing its capabilities as a multirole tanker,” said Jean Brice Dumont, Head of Military Air Systems at Airbus Defence and Space. “With this new order, NSPA has already acquired one out of four optional MRTTs requested beyond the nine aircraft contracted earlier, demonstrating the level of customer satisfaction.”

MMU already operates seven A330 MRTTs and reached Initial Operational Capability ceremony on March 23rd. Full Operational Capability is expected in mid-2024.

Its success relies on the excellent cooperation between NATO, the participating nations and industry. The programme also stands as an example on how nations can cooperate, pooling and sharing resources to get ongoing access to state of the art capabilities.

The unit has been deployed in NATO's Eastern Flank, as well as for the evacuation of Afghanistan civilians and refugees and for multinational exercises in the Indo-Pacific region with the German Air Force, among other missions.

Two of the tankers yet to be delivered are expected to enter service in 2024, while this new aircraft will arrive at the end of 2026. The MRTTs from MMF operate from MMU Main Operating Base (MOB) in Eindhoven (Netherlands) and the Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Cologne (Germany).

A321XLR programme completes second cold-weather testing campaign

This week the A321XLR development flight-test aircraft (“FT3”, MSN11080) dedicated to the cabin returned from its four-day cold-weather ground testing at Iqaluit in northern Canada.

A few weeks earlier, one of the other A321XLR test aircraft (“FT2”, MSN11058) made a similar visit to Iqaluit. On that initial occasion the mission was to test the operation of the hydraulics and other systems at extreme cold temperatures – after an overnight soak at minus 40 degrees Centigrade.

Ground testing the water and waste system
“The objective of this most recent cold-weather campaign was to validate the aircraft operation in cold weather for ground operations,” says Tuan Do, Lead Flight Test Engineer.

He notes: “This time around we tested the cabin water and waste system – which required the temperatures inside the unheated cabin to ‘soak’ at below -15 degrees Centigrade overnight. To this end, several cold soaks were conducted over successive nights with the doors left open, while the outside temperature was around minus 20 degrees Centigrade.

In each case different heating and insulation configurations were applied for subsequent comparative analysis by the engineering department.”

As part of this, a new ‘cold weather option’ available for A321XLR operators, was tested in real conditions for the first time – it adds heaters to ensure the system doesn’t freeze-up overnight. The tests also validated the ‘standard aircraft’ configuration – ie. without the optional package activated - and a weight-saving opportunity configuration, with less insulation.

Of course, every airliner cruises at high altitudes where the outside temperatures are much lower. However, inside the cabin the water and waste systems operate in above zero temperatures. This is why ground testing (in a completely powered-down state) is specifically called for – so that the ambient environment inside the cabin and below the passenger deck, where many systems are located, can cold-soak at sub-zero temperatures.

Hydraulics, oil and electrical system testing at -40 degrees Centigrade
“During our first five-day visit to Iqaluit a month ago, when we powered-up the aircraft in the morning, we would ‘wake-up’ the hydraulics, electrics, and other systems and see how long it took to operate the aircraft and get it ready for taxiing and takeoff.”

“There were also some flights to validate the landing gear operation in very cold temperatures. Notably, the A321XLR features an uprated landing gear – to support the higher maximum take-off weight of the aircraft (whose MTOW is 101 metric tonnes, vs 97 tonnes for the A321LR). Consequently, the shock-absorbers on this new variant are designed to handle higher loads compared with those on the other A320 Family members.

The test objective was to check the ‘weight-on-wheels’ signal, so the aircraft knows when the main landing gear shock absorbers are compressed or extended.

“There are many systems on the aircraft which depend on the weight on wheels signals to tell them whether the aircraft is in flight or on ground. So during our first visit to Iqaluit we verified how the weight-on-wheels function is affected by the physical changes in the main landing gear, and how shock absorber stiffness is affected by cold temperatures,” recalls Tuan.

Another design feature of the -XLR related to hydraulics which needed to be evaluated in the cold environment were new hydraulic lines which pass through Rear Centre Tank, located aft of the Landing Gear bay. “Our design office colleagues wanted us to check that the routing of the pipes did not significantly affect the hydraulic temperatures and operations after warm-up of the aircraft,” notes Tuan.

Other cold weather challenges, applicable for any aircraft, include ensuring that hatches don’t freeze shut, or that the systems in general don't freeze up – not only the water pipes, oil and hydraulics systems, but also the electrical system, especially batteries. “Batteries don’t hold as much charge or provide as much power output when they are at low temperatures. Meanwhile, oil and hydraulics become very viscous at very low temperatures which makes it hard to move flight control surfaces around and drive pumps etc. So you need to heat the aircraft up and its pipework to be able to operate the aircraft,” explains Tuan.

Human challenges
The challenges behind the cold weather campaign also include human ones,” he notes. “We have maintenance and ground support teams who need to prepare and configure the aircraft, and check everything outside. They need to have the right clothes and equipment compatible with operations outside. But even with those provisions, the wind-chill factor is so strong in Iqaluit that it's difficult. You can only work for a limited time outside, so we have shifts to ensure that nobody stays outside for too long.”

On-site Airbus for its part, had brought a team of more than 30 people. These included: six flight crew – pilots, flight test engineers, and a test-flight engineer; a cabin specialist engineer; a maintenance team – comprising mechanical specialists, electrical specialists, quality inspectors; instrumentation specialists; systems design specialists; technical photographers; as well as an operations colleague to oversee the logistics for the overall journey

The human challenges are not simply on-site in Iqaluit, rather, they begin much earlier. The flight-test engineers will have agreed the test requirements with the design engineers’ office several months in advance, and from that will have prepared the campaign mission plan together with the mission flight-crew and ‘test-flight’ engineer colleagues. Together they determine how they need to configure the aircraft inside and out, when to start taxiing and then take-off, and what the ambient and systems temperature conditions should be etc. They will sequence all the testing and planning of the campaign, and of course, ensure that the whole mission is conducted safely.

AIRPORT - EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg - 03/2023

Paul Bannwarth

Boeing Statement on Canada’s Multi Mission Aircraft Project

ARLINGTON, Va., March 27, 2023 – The Canadian Government today announced that it has submitted a Letter of Request through the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales program, regarding the acquisition of up to 16 Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft.

“The P-8A is a proven multi-mission capability that meets all requirements and will protect Canada’s oceans and its borders for future generations. We look forward to working with the U.S. and Canadian governments to finalize this sale under the Foreign Military Sales process. Together with our Canadian industry partners ― CAE, GE Aviation Canada, IMP Aerospace & Defence, KF Aerospace, Honeywell Aerospace Canada, Raytheon Canada, and StandardAero ― we are committed to delivering 100% Industrial and Technological Benefits that will significantly grow Canada’s aerospace and defense industry.”