Fourth Superjet 100 Flies on Borrowed Powerjet Engines

The fourth Superjet 100 flew for the first time on February 4.

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (SCAC) managed to fly the fourth prototype of the Superjet 100 this month, no thanks to Russian engine maker NPO Saturn, which partners with Snecma in building the Superjet’s Powerjet engines. Clearly feeling desperate after the Saturn-Snecma partnership failed to deliver the program’s seventh and eighth Powerjet SaM146 turbofans  in due course, Sukhoi removed the engines from the first prototype and installed them on the fourth, simply to get the airplane airborne, in time perhaps to gain Russian certification by July. Meanwhile, a lack of ready production airplanes likely means launch customers Aeroflot and Armavia won’t receive their first examples until late this year.

Plagued last year by near financial collapse, an exodus of more than 200 engineers, quality-control inadequacies and a change in ownership structure, Saturn not only failed in its commitment to Sukhoi, it also might have validated skepticism over the wisdom of Snecma’s partnership with the Russian company. Snecma, which is controlled by France’s Safran Group, agreed to build the high-pressure side of the engine and ceded responsibility to Saturn for the low-pressure side and final assembly in Russia. But rather than result in an equal partnership, the deal has seen Safran send a team of engineers to Saturn’s assembly facility in Rybinsk to help Saturn work through its quality “issues.” The partnership has also reallocated production of certain low-pressure components–most notably fan blades–to French suppliers.

Alas, Powerjet—one of the earliest examples of aerospace collaboration between Western Europe and the former Soviet Bloc—might well serve as a cautionary tale for other companies. Happily for Safran, Sukhoi and the marketing joint venture between Italy’s Alenia and SCAC known as Superjet International, the Russian government has intervened with monetary support for Saturn–but not in time to save the program from another year-long delay and perhaps a loss of credibility that will require more than money to recover. 

Source: ainonline.com

Armavia launches Israel service

Armavia from 28MAR10 launches 2 weekly Yerevan – Tel Aviv service with CRJ200. Schedule as follows:

U8277 EVN2030 – 2115TLV CRJ 57
U8278 TLV2215 – 0250+1EVN CRJ 57

Source: airlineroute.net

« ArtsakhAvia » va mettre en place des vols réguliers Stepanakert-Erévan-Stepanakert

Mikhaïl Baghdassarov le propriétaire d’Armavia a informé lors d’une conférence de presse que sa compagnie va mettre en place des vols réguliers sur les lignes intérieures ainsi que soutenir une compagnie du Haut Karabagh à l’installation et l’exploitation de la ligne Stepanakert-Erévan-Stepanakert.

« Malheureusement, aujourd’hui il existe en Arménie à peine deux aéroports aux normes internationales, ceux de « Zvartnots » à Erévan et « Chirag » à Gumri. Pour ce qui est des aéroports de Goris et Ghapan, très vite nous allons acquérir des avions ATF 42-500 de 48 places qui pourront assurer les vols intérieurs, si l’aviation civile arménienne donne son autorisation pour ces types d’appareils » dit M. Baghdassarov. « Après la rénovation de l’aéroport de Stepanakert, la compagnie « ArtsakhAvia » mettra en place des vols réguliers Stepanakert-Erévan-Stepanakert qui bénéficieront du soutien d’« Armavia ».

Krikor Amirzayan

Source: armenews.com

Armavia gets IOSA certificate

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armavia national carrier got its IOSA certificate (IATA Operational Safety Audit) on February 3, 2010. 

 

The IOSA registration revalidation was granted to Armavia after the conclusion of the auditing process by independents and accredited technicians by IATA (International Air Transport Association. The IATA audit certified that the company had satisfied standards for safety and operational quality.

The IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) program is an internationally recognized and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. IOSA's quality audit principles are designed to conduct audits in a standardized manner.’

With the implementation and international acceptance of IOSA, airlines and regulators achieve the following benefits: A reduction of costs and audit resource requirements for airlines and regulators; Continuous updating of standards to reflect regulatory revisions and the evolution of best practices within the industry; A quality audit program under the continuing stewardship of IATA; Accredited audit organizations with formally trained and qualified auditors; Accredited training organizations with structured auditor training courses; A structured audit methodology, including standardized checklists; Elimination of audit redundancy through mutual acceptance of audit reports; Development of auditor training courses for the airline industry.

Source: panarmenian.net

No changes in Armavia's tariff policy

Armavia will make alterations in company’s tariff policy, Armavia President Mikhail Bagdasarov told the journalists on February 3, underlining that special discounts for tickets are already available.

“The price cut for Yerevan-Moscow flights for males will be introduced, thereafter action will extend to females and discounts will be available for everyone,” he said, adding that high airfares are conditioned by heavy airport tariffs and administrative expenses, as well as high credit tariffs. “High prices are conditioned by relations with leasing companies as they have high loan rates. Presently we are negotiating with creditors, as rates were set two years ago under economic upturn and prices for aircrafts were high. Presently, under the global crisis the situation changed dramatically,” Bagdasarov stated, noting that if creditors cut rates it will affect the airfare. Armavia president outlined that this year company’s profit fell compared to February, 2009.

Source: news.am

Yerevan-Tbilisi flights suspended due to unprofitability

Yerevan-Tbilisi flights were cancelled due to unprofitability, Armavia president Mikhail Bagdasarov said on February 3, adding that within 10 months of 2009 the losses reached $3 million. He also informed that the company requested assistance of Tbilisi airport to cut taxes. “For each passenger we pay €21 plus other expenses, but they refused to do so. Therefore, we decided to suspend the flight,” Bagdasarov stated underlining that Georgian colleagues eventually lowered the tariffs and most possibly Yerevan-Tbilisi flight will be carried out starting February 10.
This year Armavia will operate new flights to Cyprus, Tel-Aviv, Delhi, Barcelona, and increase number of flights to Italy up to 4-5 times a week.
Company’s president also emphasized: “A new Boeing 767 will be purchased by the company shortly enabling long distance flights to the U.S., China, Thailand and Japan.”
Today, Armavia was awarded with IOSA (Operational Safety Audit) certificate by IATA for security. Bagdasarov noted that his company gets the certificate for the second time.

Source: news.am

Armavia: Tbilisi airport does not make concessions

Air communication between Tbilisi and Yerevan is suspended from February 1 this year, Georgia Online reported.

As the United Transport Administration informed, suspension of air communication carries seasonal nature and is justified by the low passenger flow. As the "Armavia" spokesman Nana Avetisova told PanARMENIAN.Net, flights to Tbilisi are suspended for two main reasons: the flights’ seasonal nature and fees the airport of Tbilisi offers. 

"To date, fees set by Tbilisi airport are not payback. The management of the airline suggested to revise them, but Tbilisi does not make concessions, " she said.  

She recalled that Armavia has stopped flights in this direction since January 15, 2010.  Flights from Tbilisi to Moscow were carried out by Armenian Armavia, the first flight was operated on March 14, 2009. 

Armavia is the national air carrier of Armenia. Established in 1996, Armavia operates about 250 flights a month to over 30 destinations in the CIS countries, Europe and the Middle East. In 2008 Armavia transported more than 647 thousand passengers. Air fleet of the company consists of A-319 (3), A-320 (2), Boeing 737-300, CRJ-200, Tu-134 aircrafts. In 2010 Armavia will receive a new Superjet 100. 

Source: panarmenian.net