EBACE Show News - May 21, 2008 - (Page 4)

EBACE 2008 BJETS Orders Ten Hawker 4000s AgustaWestland Thinks It Would Be Just Grand To be a Major Russian Power “In five years time, we would like to be the leaders in the Russian market. We are not competing to come second or third; we want to be a major player.” So says Renzo Lunardi, svp, commercial business, AgustaWestland. His jumping off point for this big ambition is a newlysigned agreement with Russia’s unified helicopter Renzo Lunardi. giant Oboronprom that gives AgustaWestland five years of exclusive access to the Russian helicopter industry. To begin with, AgustaWestland and Oboronprom have a distribution agreement to sell 450 million euros of helicopters through to 2012, with 65 million euros in commitments already logged. The next step will see a number of maintenance and support centers established across Russia. Finally, AgustaWestland will team with local industry for the final assembly of its helicopters in Russia. Lunardi says the company hopes to sell between 10 to 15 helicopters a year—a number in line with the current size and growth of Russia’s market. “This is a strategic decision to become a better partner with Russia. Before the agreement with Oboronprom, we had some success on our own, but they give us much wider access and understanding of the market, and it’s exclusive. “We plan to start building at least one of our four models—119, Grand, Power and 139—at a site in European Russia. An announcement on that decision will be made in the coming weeks. In the future, we might also take on an additional role in an existing Russian program if it was a complementary product. “In five years time we could be working at full power, assembling, testing and flying helicopters in Russia—not just for the Russian market but for customers worldwide.” —Robert Hewson BJETS, the India-based fractional and block charter provider, has ordered ten Hawker 4000 super midsize business jets and taken options on five more. Total value of the contract with options is reported as $330 million. The company has operations in Mumbai and Hyderabad in India, as well as a facility in Singapore, all serving businesses and high net worth individuals throughout Asia. BJETS has a previous standing order for 11 Hawker 900XPs and nine 850XPs. Last year, India rose to third largest market for Hawker Beechcraft products after the U.S. and Brazil. The aircraft will be maintained at InterGlobe, the Hawker Beechcraft authorized service center in Delhi. BJETS CEO Mark Beier praised the 4000 and called Hawker Beechcraft “an outstanding partner.” as Hawker Claims 70 Premier II Commitments Hawker Beechcraft (Booth 7462) said yesterday that the number of commitments for its Beechcraft Premier II has grown to more than 70 positions, including more than 40 firm orders. “Customer response has been fantastic,” said Hawker Beechcraft commercial aircraft president Brad Hatt. The new light business jet evolves from the Premier IA but will feature higher cruise speeds and 20% greater four-passenger range with increased payload. It will have new winglets and Williams International FJ44-3AP engines, each producing 3,000 pounds of thrust. Embraer Reports EBACE Orders Embraer yesterday reported orders for two Legacy 600 jets, one to the Lootah Group of Dubai and the other to Sheikh Ahmed Al Hamad of Kuwait’s Burgan Co., and orders for a Phenom 300 and a Phenom 100 to ASAIG Aviation, also of Kuwait. The total value of the firm orders is $63.56 million. ASAIG, a new charter operator, also signed a letter of intent for new Legacy 450 and Legacy 500 jets. Embraer said too yesterday that it’s secured a second Legacy 600 order, valued at $26.9 million list, from Slovenia’s Linxair, that the Finnish Aviation Academy has signed for two Phenom 100 VLJs, and that the UK’s VLJ Consultancy is buying a Phenom 100 and has taken options on two more. A Legacy 600 is shown. Pledges to Show Phenom 100 at Oshkosh Embraer also said here yesterday that the first air show appearance of a flying Phenom 100 VLJ will be at the 2008 Air Adventure in Oshkosh, Wisconsin this summer. The annual aviation festival will be held July 28-August 3—a week after Farnborough. and Ties Carbon Offsets to Maintenance Embraer has initiated a carbon offset scheme in connection with its Embraer Executive Care scheduled maintenance program. It is “the first OEM ‘tip-to-tail’ program to provide full carbon offset as simply and automatically as they have their airplane maintenance taken care of in the EEC program,” said customer support vp Maurício Aveiro. “We are introducing an industry-first program especially developed to support our executive aviation customers who wish to voluntarily compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions,” said environmental strategies and technologies director Graciliano Campos. An ethanol-fueled Embraer Ipanema is shown here. Embraer is at Booth 7441. Eight More Jets For Ocean Sky London’s Ocean Sky Aviation is making some big additions to its fleet in the shape of eight new large-cabin jets—three Bombardier Challenger 605s and five Gulfstream G650s. Deliveries of the Challengers already have begun, with two in service and the third due for handover in August 2009. The G650s will arrive from 2013 onwards. These eight new aircraft are above and beyond eight other recent additions to Ocean Sky’s fleet, which will enter service over the next six months. Ocean Sky is looking to grow to 17 aircraft, of which at least 11 will be fully-owned. The company says it remains unaffected by economic slowdowns and that its turnover is set to double this year. 4 May 21, 2008 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EBACE Show News - May 21, 2008

A318 Elite is on a Roll A Circle Around London P&WC Deliveries Triple Avanti Sees Sales Shift RUAG Eyes Needy Cabins Global Gets Even NICEr Embraer Beefs Up Support Honeywell ‘Virtual VFR’ Signature Europe Grows Gestair Seeks to Double Aero-Dienst Turns 50 Gama Doubles in Size All is Not Woe with Oil Ocean Sky is Aggressive

EBACE Show News - May 21, 2008

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