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UPDATE 
Week ending July 4, 1999

+++ SAirGroup to acquire stake in South African Airways +++ Eurowings aims for higher profitability +++ Lufthansa Consulting signs for managementof Philippine Airlines +++ IATA warns airports on user fee increases +++ X-34 starts captive carry tests +++ New dates for assembly of the ISS +++ Rolls-Royce Trent 895 certified +++ News in brief +++

SAirGroup to acquire stake in South African Airways
SAA-Anteile gehen an Swissair-Gruppe

The SAirGroup has successfully concluded negotiations with the state-owned Transnet of South Africa to acquire an equity holding in South African Airways (SAA). Under the agreement, the SAirGroup will purchase a 20-per-cent stake in SAA for USD 230 million. The acquisition makes South African Airways, Swissair and its partners in the Qualiflyer Group the strongest alliance on the African continent. South African Airways is Africa's largest airline, with a fleet of 50 aircraft and 9 400 employees. The company transported 5.7 million passengers in 1998 and generated total turnover of some CHF 1.8 billion.
Swissair and SAA have been engaged in collaborative activities since September 1998. The partners have operated joint codeshare services on the Johannesburg-Zurich route since February 1, 1999. SAA, Swissair and the Qualiflyer Group account for over 40 per cent of all air traffic between South Africa and Europe.

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Eurowings aims for higher profitability
Gewinnsteigerung steht bei Eurowings im Vordergrund

After boosting turnover by 20,5 per cent to 706 million DM in 1998, German scheduled and charter carrier Eurowings expects another rise to 759 million DM in 1999, a plus of 7,5 per cent. On the other hand, the company aims to double operating profits from 15,1 million to 34 million DM. Net profit for 1998 was just five million DM, as exceptional investments in fleet equipment was needed. According to Eurowings, pasenger numbers last year were up 16,9 per cent to 2,9 million. Load factor was down from 57 to 54 per cent, but rose to 73 per cent on charter services.
To get a better base for further investments in the aircraft fleet, put at 1,8 billion in the next few years, Eurowings could start to sell shares. at the moment, 93,6 per cent is held by Dortmund businessman Albrecht Knauf. The fleet is at 41 aircraft now, among them 27 ATR turboprops, ten BAe 146 and four A319.

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Lufthansa Consulting signs for managementof Philippine Airlines
Lufthansa unterstützt Philippine Airlines bei Restrukturierung

On Monday, June 28th Lufthansa Consulting, the German Aviation Consultant, and Philippine Airlines (PAL) signed an agreement to provide consulting services for a turnaround management and restructuring project. The signing was witnessed by several members of the Philippine Airlines board of directors and officials. Terms of the contract describe the turnaround measurements to enhance the operational results and performance. Further goals are to achieve a steady improvement in long-term viability and better market positioning. A top management team of Lufthansa Consulting will begin an assessment phase for two months on July 1st, 1999, to be followed by a consulting phase of two years. Lufthansa Consulting, subsidiary of Lufthansa German Airlines, specialises in airline and airport related solutions and already manages comparable projects worldwide.

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IATA warns airports on user fee increases
Höhere Gebühren nach Ende des Duty-Free?

"The 1 July end of duty free sales within the EU has prompted an unjustified and unacceptable reaction by certain airports" said IATA Director General Pierre J. Jeanniot. "We already see the first indication of a policy which we have long feared - certain airports want a handout from the airlines. Since they are denied revenue from Intra-EU duty-free sales, airports are now announcing increased charges for airlines and their passengers in order to make up the difference. Copenhagen Airport was the first to announce an increase in charges and other European airports have announced similar intentions. Airlines are thus caught in a double bind. They are going to lose a source of revenue from loss of their own duty free sales - and are being asked to compensate airports for the loss of theirs! Airports have had eight years to prepare for the end of EU duty-free, ever since a compromise was reached in 1991 to end it in 1999. During those eight years, they have failed to increase their efficiency and cut costs, as well as develop alternative sources of revenue. Now they use the totally unimaginative device of asking airlines - and therefore passengers - to pay more for their flights."

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X-34 starts captive carry tests
Flugversuche mit der X-34

NASA made its first test flight of the X-34 test model, a prototype of a robotic spacecraft that will test new technologies and methods of operations needed to develop low-cost reusable space vehicles. The first of several captive carry flights between the X-34 technology testbed demonstrator and its L-1011 carrier aircraft was conducted from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards CA. The purpose of this test was to verify the safety of the combined vehicles for FAA certification purposes because of modifications to the L-1011 carrier vehicle. Takeoff took place at 1:12 p.m. EDT, with landing at 3:02 EDT. Initial data indicates that no major problems occurred in the 1 hour, 50 minute flight, although additional flights will be required to examine the entire flight profile for X-34 and its carrier before subsequent air-launched and unpowered approach and landing flights later in the year. The planned 2.5-hour test was shortened after a safety observer aboard a NASA F-18 chase plane accompanying the flight noticed that a fuselage panel on the L-1011 appeared to be vibrating. The panel was located on the bottom, aft fuselage of the carrier aircraft behind the X-34. Based on video from the chase plane, test officials decided to end the flight. No further details were available pending a close inspection of the aircraft and extensive flight test data.

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New dates for assembly of the ISS
Raumstation-Bau verzögert sich

New dates were announced for the remaining 43 missions required to build the International Space Station, when the heads of the space agencies representing the project's five international partners met at the European Space Agency's headquarters in Paris. The partners are the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe, represented by ESA.
Two elements of the Station - the Russian-built Zarya module and the US's Unity module - are already in orbit. The third element, the Russian service module named Zvezda ("star" in Russian), will now be launched in November from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. It is currently undergoing testing at the Baikonur cosmodrome. "Zvezda" will serve as the crew living quarters over the next four years while the Station is being assembled. The module will be equipped with the first piece of European hardware on the Station, an ESA-developed onboard computer that will act as Zvezda's "brain". Zvezda will also carry the antenna for the European Global Time System, the first experiment on the Station. It will broadcast experimental chronometric signals whose proposed uses range from automatic adjustment of clocks and watches between time zones to remote immobilisation of stolen vehicles.
The Columbus laboratory, Europe's main contribution to the Station, is now scheduled for launch on board the US Space Shuttle in February 2004, although the international partners are studying earlier launch dates. Work on the laboratory, however, is proceeding as planned, with the first system test well underway. Another key European system, the European Robotic Arm, built for the Russian Science and Power Platform, is set to be launched in November 2001. The 10-metre arm will be used to assemble the Russian segment of the Station. It is currently undergoing flight qualification.

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Rolls-Royce Trent 895 certified
Zulassung für das Trent 895

The latest member of the Rolls-Royce Trent engine family, due to enter service with British Airways' Boeing 777 aircraft early next year, has achieved airworthiness authority clearances a week ahead of schedule. The Trent 895, currently the most powerful Trent variant at 95,000lb take off thrust, has received certification from both the UK Civil Aviation Authority and the European Joint Airworthiness Authority. Combined engine and airframe certification will follow after a short flight test programme. The Trent 895 has the same design and build features as the Trent 892, which has accumulated over 600,000 hours in service with the industry's best reliability record. The engine will enter service with British Airways on its extended range Boeing 777-200s in January 2000.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

The TELKOM-1 satellite that will serve telecommunications applications in Indonesia was shipped to the launch site at Kourou, French Guiana. Following its trip across the United States via truck, the satellite was loaded onto the Arianespace ship, called the M.N. Toucan, at Port Canaveral, FL., which then sailed for Kourou. TELKOM-1 is scheduled to arrive in Kourou July 6 and will be readied for launch in the third quarter of this year on an Arianespace booster.
+++
Boeing has completed the forebody of its X-32B concept demonstrator aircraft significantly ahead of schedule, under cost and under weight. The new forebody -- produced in St. Louis -- was delivered to the company's X-vehicle assembly facility in Palmdale, Calif., in time for an early start of final assembly, which is the joining of the major fuselage sections, along with the wing and tail section. In March, Boeing delivered the X-32A forebody under the same conditions. The forebodies of the X-32A and B were designed, developed and produced by a Boeing Phantom Works team in St. Louis for the two concept demonstration aircraft being developed by Boeing for the JSF competition.
+++
Formal talks between the United States and the United Kingdom about a new aviation agreement were supposed to resume on July 5th, but instead have been postponed indefinitely. The hang-up reportedly stems from a dispute between British Airways and officials in the British Office of Fair Trading, as well as the country's transport offices. Both entities want the airline to surrender takeoff and landing slots at London's popular Heathrow Airport, but the airline apparently is balking at the number.
+++
Atraxis and Sabena are to create a new joint-venture IT company named Atraxis (Belgium) SA/NV. The new company will incorporate Sabena's present information technology business unit, and will be jointly owned by Atraxis and Sabena, with each holding a 50-per-cent equity stake. Setting up the new company will not result in job cutbacks in either Zurich or Brussels. It will be on the market from July 1, 1999.
+++
On June 28, Dell Computer announced that Boeing has selected Dell as its worldwide corporate standard for desktop and notebook personal computers, associated PC peripherals and selected services over the next three years. In addition to Dell OptiPlex desktop PCs and Latitude notebook PCs, Dell will provide Boeing with a suite of services associated with delivery, including asset tagging, custom software image loading through its DellPlus factory integration service, warranty and technical support, and installation services at selected Boeing locations -- all on a global basis.
+++
The AIM-9X Sidewinder short range air-to-air missile successfully completed its first guided launch by intercepting a QF-4 drone at the Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division in China Lake, Calif. The launch, from a U.S. Navy F/A-18D fighter aircraft, was the first in a series of guided launches off F/A-18 and F-15 aircraft. The AIM-9X is under development by Raytheon Systems Company, a unit of Raytheon Company. The launch marked a significant milestone for the AIM-9X program as it was the first guided launch evaluating the ability of the missile's high off-boresight, infrared seeker to track a full-size target through launch, flyout, and intercept. In addition, data from the flight is essential to validating the high fidelity simulation being used to predict missile performance. The guided launches are taking place in parallel with a series of separation and control tests whose objectives are to clear the missile for launch through the aircraft's flight regime and demonstrate the missile advanced airframe incorporating jet vane control. AIM-9X has successfully completed two separation and control tests from the F/A-18 and most recently one from the F-15. Subsequent guided launches and separation tests off the U.S. Navy F/A-18 and U.S. Air Force F-15 aircraft are scheduled throughout 1999.
+++
Ericsson's airborne early warning radar system, ERIEYE, was originally chosen by Greece's government in December 1998. On July 1, the parties have signed a final contract to the value of over $475 million. The contract comprise four systems and deliveries to begin in year 2002. The contract framework also includes an option for two systems. ERIEYE will be used to monitor airspace and the Greek islands. The Greek ERIEYE systems will be carried by Brazilian EMB-145 jet aircraft. All the systems are completely integrated with the prevailing management and communication systems used by NATO. Apart from Greece, ERIEYE has been sold to Swedish Air Force, and is also in production for Brazil's SIVAM project for surveillance of the Amazonas rain forests. The contract is an export success for the European industrial collaboration between Ericsson and french company Thomson-CSF. Together with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, the companies form a successful industrial consortium.
+++
Following a European Marketing Agreement signed by SPACEHAB Inc. and INTOSPACE GmbH one year ago, the two companies announced the official opening of the Joint Customer Support Office in Leiden, the Netherlands. David A. Rossi, SPACEHAB President, and Jurgen K. von der Lippe, INTOSPACE General Manager, hosted high level Directors and Presidents from ESA, DLR and the Dutch space industry and agencies for the formal opening of the new office. "The Joint Office represents another example of the importance of Europe to SPACEHAB business. This new office is intended to expand services to our European customers - particularly first time users and those from industry," said Rossi.
The two companies began offering Shuttle microgravity flight opportunities to European users in February 1989. Since then, Space Shuttle flight services for the microgravity research programs of ESA, DLR and European industry have been arranged jointly.
+++
The last Boeing 757-300 to be delivered to German holiday airline Condor Flugdienst in 1999 recently took off from Boeing Field in Seattle, Wash., for Frankfurt. The airline, which put the first 757-300 into revenue service in March, now has seven of the airplanes. To date -- in service with Condor -- the 757-300 has 99.5 percent schedule reliability and can be turned around at airports in less than an hour. Boeing is scheduled to deliver six more 757-300s to Condor in 2000.
+++
Boeing officials have said that they have identified a probable scenario for the premature shutdown of the second-stage engine during the May 4 Delta III flight. The unexpected event resulted in a communications satellite being placed into a lower than planned orbit. "We reviewed considerable data to re-create the events leading up to and after the flight anomaly," stated Dr. Russell Reck, Boeing Investigation Chairman. "While we are still pursuing several scenarios, the most likely one appears to be a breach in the engine combustion chamber that resulted in an explosive-type event." Telemetry data and analyses indicate that the failure occurred in the region of a combustion chamber joint. "The flight data indicates that there were two shocks: The first unexplained shock 4.5 seconds after the first ignition of the second stage, then a much larger shock 3.5 seconds after the second ignition. Data on the second larger shock is similar to that observed during separation of the first and second stage on Delta III which uses an ordnance system for that separation which shears the metal between the stages. We saw a similar shock environment when the engine shutdown," Reck added. In re-creating the sequence of events, the team now believes that the turbo machinery rotated for several milliseconds after the second larger shock, and that the shock event caused the turbo machinery to stop.
+++
On July 1, Lockheed Martin announced the creation of Lockheed Martin UK Limited, a new company based in London combining all its United Kingdom defense and commercial business interests under a single UK-registered company. Lockheed Martin's annual UK business is worth more than 600 million pounds sterling. The new company employs nearly 800 people, approximately 70 percent of whom are British citizens.
+++
On 29 June, Space Systems Loral has signed another contract for the launch of four Globalstar satellites with Starsem. An Soyuz-Ikar booster will be used in 2001 to orbit the satellites, which are necessary to maintain the constellation of wordlwide mobile telephone services. Soyuz had previously received orders for six launches of four Globalstars each, of which three have been completed so far.
+++
The European Commission has given the green light for the merger of British Aerospace and Marconi defence assets. The EC did not launch a full investigation as it was ordered to consider only the limited civil aspects of the deal. The military side will remain a national subject, to the reviewed by the Office of Fair Trading, which is expected to get results soon.
+++
Eurocopter has won a competition for nine EC 365 helicopters for the Portuguese military, beating Agusta and Bell. Pending final contract signature, deliveries will begin in late 2000 or early 2001.
+++
The Luftwaffe museum at Berlin Gatow will open a special exhibition soon, dealing with German and French pilots of the first World War. The focus will be on the day-to-day life at the front, illustrated with some 180 photographs.
+++

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Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen sind weiter abrufbar:

*June 27, 1999 *June 20, 1999 *June 13, 1999 *June 6, 1999

*May 30, 1999 *May 23, 1999 *May 16, 1999 *May 9, 1999 *May 2, 1999

*April 25, 1999 *April 18, 1999 *April 11, 1999 *April 4, 1999

*January to March 1999 *January to December 1998 *January to December 1997 *September to December 1996

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Last updated July 4, 1999
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