EBACE Show News - May 20, 2008 - (Page 26) MAINTENANCE, SERVICE & TRAINING EBACE 2008 Honeywell for $400 Million NetJets Support Uncertainty Benefits Biggest of the Completions Houses, Says Lufthansa Technik Man VIP completion centers face a dilemma: how much do they expand capacity to cope with the current boom even as the world’s economy shows signs of slowing down? “It’s not good for a market where customers have to wait seven years for their aircraft,” says Hans Schmitz, svp for VIP and executive jet solutions at Lufthansa Technik. “Not only is there economic uncertainty, but it is very difficult to specify what an interior will be like that far in the future based on today’s state of the art.” Hans Schmitz. The long delivery times are having another effect, he believes. Customers are tending to award business to the longer established completions companies rather than startups that can promise earlier slots. “Clients are asking for more dependable partners,” he explained. “What happens if a downturn really oc-curs?” he asked. “Will everybody offering slots today be there in seven years’ time?” Lufthansa Technik, with its scope as the world’s largest MRO company, certainly will, and it will be able not only to deliver an aircraft but also to support it for the foreseeable future, he added. The next few years pose another challenge, too: they will be very capital intensive as completions companies design increasingly complex cabin management and IFE systems, and as they learn how to work on new-technology airplanes such as the Boeing 787, 747-8 and Airbus A350 XWB. —John Morris NetJets has awarded Honeywell a $400 million maintenance contract for all of the Honeywell TFE731-5BR and TFE731-50 engines on NetJets’ Hawker 750s and Hawker 900XPs, respectively, over the next 10 years. “These agreements will cover a minimum of 192 engines,” said Honeywell aftermarket vp John Bolton. The contract includes major inspections, core zone inspections, repairs and overhauls. The TFE731 agreements follow others for Honeywell engines on Hawker 800XPs and Dassault Falcon 2000s. Honeywell is at Booth 322, NetJets at Booth 109. Bombardier Service at Moscow-Vnukovo Bombardier Aerospace has appointed Jet Aviation as its first line maintenance facility in Russia. Located at Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport, the Jet Aviation facility offers round-the-clock AOG service for Challenger and Global business jets. Jet has more than 1,600 square feet of hangar space next to the Vnukovo 3 FBO building, providing line maintenance, defect rectification and AOG support. “Vnukovo Airport is a strategically important location for the increasing number of Bombardier business aviation operators either based in or passing through the region,” said James Hoblyn, Bombardier Business Aircraft svp, customer experience. Air Partner Expands at Biggin Hill Air Partner (Booth 287) has been given the go-ahead for its 175,000-sq-ft, $14 million private jet enclave at Biggin Hill Airport, near London. Construction is to be completed by late 2009. The site, accessed via a secure approach road, will comprise ground floor VIP aircraft handling, linked to a mezzanine flight operations center, office suites and areas dedicated to private jet maintenance operations. A hi-tech hangar will accommodate a mix of more than 20 jets, up to BBJ size. CAE Wins Level D Certification for 7X Sims CAE SimuFlite (Booth 601) has achieved industry firsts with the receipt of FAA and JAA Level D certification for two Dassault Falcon 7X full-flight simulators located at the Burgess Hill training center in the UK, and its North East Training Centre (NETC) near Morristown, New Jersey. A Gulfstream G450/550 full-flight simulator at NETC has also been certified to Level D. “Receiving Level D certification for the world’s first Falcon 7X simulators confirms that our customers are training on the highest quality flight training equipment,” said CAE’s group president, innovation and civil training and services, Jeff Roberts. Forms Phenom Training JV with Embraer Embraer has signed a joint venture agreement with CAE SimuFlite to provide comprehensive training for customers of the Phenom 100 and Phenom 300 very light/light jets. The new company, Embraer CAE Training Services, will provide initial and recurrent training for pilots and maintenance technicians. The initial training program for the Embraer Phenom family is on schedule to begin at CAE’s Dallas, Texas, site in the third quarter of this year, and at CAE’s Burgess Hill, UK, center in first quarter 2009. To support the Phenom program, CAE will manufacture two Phenom fullflight simulators and will combine CAE Simfinity technology and devices into the Phenom training program. Embraer is at Booth 7441. as Embraer Paris Center Gets EASA Nod Embraer’s new Executive Jets Center at Paris-Le Bourget has received European Aviation Safety Agency Part 145 approval. The facility is dedicated exclusively to the Embraer executive jet fleet, offering maintenance for the Legacy 600, and it will support the Phenom 100 and Phenom 300 as they enter operational service in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Significant investments were made in the refurbishment of the Le Bourget facility, in the spare parts inventory and in ground support equipment, in order to offer specialized executive jet support and maintenance. 26 May 20, 2008 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.