Airlander returns to the skies

All objectives of the planned flight were accomplished and the aircraft is now safely back at its masting site. The Airlander was taken off its mooring mast at 17:20 last night and took off at 17:28. It flew for a total of 180 minutes before landing at 20:15 and was secured safely on the mast at 20:20. 

“It was truly amazing to be back in the air. I loved every minute of the flight and the Airlander itself handled superbly. I am eager to get back into the cockpit and take her flying again,” said chief test pilot, Dave Burns.

Also on board was experimental test Pilot, Simon Davies.

This marks the return to the skies of the world’s largest aircraft, the Airlander 10, and draws a line under the heavy landing it experienced last August.  

The Airlander has now flown three times in addition to a successful flight as HAV-304 during the US Army’s Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle program in 2012.  There were considerable modifications since it was the HAV-304 and the Hybrid Air Vehicles team have made a number of additional modifications since last August, the main ones visible today being a new more powerful and more manoeuvrable Mobile Mooring Mast (MMM), and the additional “landing feet” of the Auxiliary Landing System (ALS).

Lufthansa Technik sign contract with Mango Airlines

Lufthansa Technik AG and Mango Airlines from South Africa have signed an exclusive contract for the maintenance of CFM56-7B engines, which power the airline's fleet of ten Boeing 737NG aircraft.

Within the framework of the agreement, Lufthansa Technik will provide overhaulservices for the engines at its German locations until 2022.

Mango Airlines' parent company, South African Airways, has been receiving exclusive support from Lufthansa Technik for the CFM56-7B engines of its Boeing 737NG fleet for more than 15 years already.

This new agreement now comprises at least 19 overhaul events over the next five years, with billing on a power-by-the-hour basis.

"We are very pleased to expand our footprint in South Africa by adding Mango Airlines to our customers," said Robert Gaag, Vice President Corporate Sales Europe, Middle East & Africa at Lufthansa Technik. "Lufthansa Technik has a long lasting presence in thisregion and this agreement is a further proof that our services can betailor-made to the different needs of this market."

The newly signed contract with Mango Airlines means that Lufthansa Technik is adding another South African customer to its base and now has long-term maintenance contracts with all major airlines in the country. Besides South African Airways (SAA) and SAA-Technical, its customers also include the airlines Comair and Safair.

Cargolux increases market presence in Africa

Cargolux Airlines has introduced two new destinations in Africa, Douala in Cameroon and Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The first Cargolux cargo plane to Lubumbashi will take off on 15 September, while Douala will be served from 3 October.

Flights to Lubumbashi leaving Luxembourg every Friday night and come in the DRC on Saturday morning at 05:25 at. The return flight via Johannesburg, Nairobi and Stansted in the UK. Arrival in Luxembourg on Sunday at 13:25 (both local time).

The Douala flights lift every Wednesday at 16:15 of Luxembourg and passed over Bamako. You arrive at 01:55 in Cameroon on Thursday. The return flight lands on Friday at 10.55 am in Luxembourg.

Lubumbashi is, after the capital Kinshasa, the second largest city of the DRC and acts as a hub for the mining industry of the country. The city is an important commercial and industrial center known for the production of textiles, food and beverages as well as copper processing. It is also home to one of the largest banks in the country. In Lubumbashi estimated that more than 3 percent of the world's copper and cobalt half its inventory is produced.

Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and the home to the largest port in Central Africa. The town is economically and commercially seen the capital of the country, because that's where most of the country's exports are handled, including oil, cocoa, coffee, fruit, metal and wood. The European countries are the main export and import partner for Cameroon, followed by Asia.

Cargolux looks promising growth potential in the region. With its own feeder services, the company is also capable of fast and efficient connections to Yaounde, the Cameroonian capital and the second largest city to offer. To Cargolux imports are high-tech products, agricultural products and machinery, while especially perishable goods such as fruit and vegetables for European consumers, are exported.

Douala and Lubumbashi be added to the existing 33 destinations Cargolux on the African continent. This extensive network has a long history and Cargolux enjoys the continued loyalty and support of carriers and shippers in this market. The carrier is a proven expert in a number of different shipments of perishable goods such as fruit and flowers to heavy equipment for the oil and gas industry on the continent.

"Africa has been and will always be an important market for Cargolux, and we are pleased to be supporting the trade routes of the continent to Europe, the US and Asia as well as the global Cargolux network," said Jonathan Clark, Regional Director Africa at Cargolux.

Nigeria zones in on drone regulation

Although the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) targets 2018 to publish standards and recommended practices (SARPs) for the certification and operations of drones, interest in their civil and military use in Nigeria has continued to increase.

The level of interest in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)/remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) gained prominence when, in December 2013, Nigeria’s then president, Goodluck Jonathan, unveiled the country’s first indigenous UAV, codenamed GULMA.

It was designed and constructed by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) at the base in Kaduna. 
Speaking during the unveiling ceremony, he congratulated the air force, saying that the achievement marked a turning point in indigenous technological development in Nigeria. He urged the private sector to key into the NAF breakthrough in order to achieve a high level of mass production and the highest and best commercial use of the prototype UAV.

The need for UAVs has increased for Nigeria at a time the nation is diversifying its economy. Drones can be deployed for disaster management, power line survey, telecommunication, weather monitoring, news coverage, oil and gas exploration, aerial imaging and mapping.

“The development of the use of RPA nationwide has emerged with somewhat predictable safety concerns and security threats. Therefore, with the preponderance of these operations, particularly in non-segregated airspace, there has to be proactive safety guidelines,” said Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) spokesman Sam Adurogboye.

He revealed that, by early 2016, some RPA/UAVs had been deployed for commercial and recreational purposes in the country without adequate security clearance, stating that the NCAA had put in place a regulating advisory circular to guide the certification and operations of civil RPA in its airspace.
“No government agency, organisation or individual will launch an RPA/UAV in the Nigerian airspace for any purpose whatsoever without obtaining a requisite permit from the NCAA and the office of the national security adviser (ONSA),” he said.

“In addition, operators must ensure strict compliance with the condition stipulated in their permits and the requirements of Nigeria civil aviation regulations (NCARs).” 

Adurogboye added that violators would be sanctioned according to the dictates of NCARs.
Engineer Ifeanyi Ogochukwu, of the safety directorate of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), said the regulation of drone operations in the country had become an emergency because of the security threat capabilities of the technology.

Another expression of the government’s commitment to UAV regulation occurred on November 21, 2016 when ONSA, in collaboration with the NCAA, held a one-day stakeholder meeting to articulate the use of UAV/RPA in Nigerian airspace. 

Discussions centred on safety implications, risk assessment, oversight, regulations and certification.
NCAA director general, Captain Muhtar Usman, recently took steps to establish an RPA/drones safety team, which will help to develop recommendations to assist his organisation in creating an RPAS registration system in the shortest possible time. This would also help connect an RPAS with its operators in cases where people were not following the rules. 

The RPAS advisory committee, to be overseen by NCAA’s Directorate of General Aviation, is also to help prioritise RPA integration activities, including development of future regulations and policies.
The first regulation for routine RPA use took effect in 2015. According to the NCAA, a new regulation that will put a limit of 25kg as the allowable weight limitation for civil drones in the country will be made public by 2017, providing an important regulatory foundation for allowing additional weight categories in future, to be followed by proposed rule on RPA operations over populated areas.

The announcement by the United States military, in September 2016, for plans to build a $100 million drone base near Nigeria, particularly in Agadez, central Niger, to help the west African country combat militant groups and protect its borders, could be an added emphasis on the importance of strengthening UAV regulation in Nigeria.

Kenya Airways Limited advised on financial restructuring

Global law firm White & Case has advised Kenya Airways Limited on its US$2 billion financial restructuring.

Key features of the restructuring include a reprofiling of payments owed to operating and finance lessors, a conversion of debts into newly issued equity in the company and the provision of a new multi-purpose facility from Kenyan banks. Following the transaction, Kenya Airways has been repositioned for long term growth and is around 90 percent owned by the Government of the Republic of Kenya and a group of 11 local banks.

“Our cross-practice team advised on a significant and multi-faceted transaction involving multiple jurisdictions that ultimately required the agreement of creditors, shareholders, the Kenyan government and other key stakeholders to the business,” said London-based White & Case partner Christian Pilkington, who led the Firm’s deal team. “The leadership and participation of US EXIM Bank was also instrumental to the success of the restructuring.”

“White & Case delivered the combined strength of its experience in African restructurings and aviation finance to successfully execute a complex transaction that ensures the stability of a strategically important national transport resource,” said London-based White & Case partner Justin Benson.

Ethiopian receives second Boeing 787-9

Ethiopian Airlines has taken delivery of its second Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner fleet on November 21, 2017.

In less than a span of a month since Ethiopian took delivery of Africa’s first Ethiopian B 787-9, the 2nd B787-9 aircraft has joined its youngest fleet totaling its operating fleet to 95 among which 21 are from the Dreamliner family.

Gulfstream exceeds G500 and G600 planned performance

Gulfstream Aerospace has announced that during rigorous flight-testing its long-range Gulfstream G500 and Gulfstream G600 offer better performance than originally thought.

As a result, Gulfstream is announcing new performance standards for both aircraft.

Upon entry into service, the G600 will deliver 6,500 nautical miles/12,038 kilometers of range at Mach 0.85, 300 nm/556 km farther than the initially promised range of 6,200 nm/11,482 km. At its high-speed cruise of Mach 0.90, the aircraft will fly 5,100 nm/9,445 km, an increase of 300 nm/556 km over original projections. 

The G500 can fly 5,200 nm/9,630 km at its long-range cruise speed of Mach 0.85, providing operators even greater mission flexibility over the aircraft’s original 5,000-nm/9,260-km range. At its high-speed cruise of Mach 0.90, the G500 will offer 4,400 nm/8,149 km of range, a 600-nm/1,111-km increase over its projected range of 3,800 nm/7,038 km.

 “As we methodically moved through our concurrent flight-test programs, which are going exceptionally well, we recognised we had both the time and ability to enhance G500 and G600 performance and give our customers a business-jet family that’s better than the one we had promised them,” said Mark Burns, president, Gulfstream. “Extracting more capabilities from our aircraft has become a Gulfstream hallmark, the result of creating and maintaining a culture committed to continuous improvement, listening to our customers and exceeding our promises.” 

To demonstrate its increased range, a fully outfitted G500 set a potential city-pair record between London and Las Vegas, flying 4,690 nm/8,686 km at an average speed of Mach 0.88 with a 32-knot headwind. Now in Las Vegas, both the G500 and G600 — with fully outfitted interiors — will be part of the Gulfstream static display at the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition at Henderson Executive Airport. The city-pair record is pending confirmation with the National Aeronautic Association.

Powered by twin Pratt & Whitney Canada PW800-series engines, the G500 and G600 have a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.925 — the same as Gulfstream’s G650 and flagship G650ER.