LIFE AFTER SQ006 - Orient Aviation

in the Asia-Pacific they have not been sosuccessful because of the wide spread of theregion. But information technology such asthe Internet is now being used to reach morebusinesses to demonstrate corporate jet travelis accessible.MAS’s Mastar is an example and otherswill likely follow. There were arounda dozen business jets, an unprecedentednumber, on show at February’s AustralianInternational Air Show near Melbourne. All20 major manufacturers of business jets werethere, an increase of 15% on the last show in1999. They were pushing hard to convincecompanies of the cost-savings and efficienciesthey can deliver.That 15% appears to be reflected in regionalbusiness jet activity. ExecuJet Australia,a leading operator of executive aircraft, isintroducing a fourth aircraft into the fleetfollowing an increase of 15% in jet chartersand enquiry levels during 2000.“Our market is not only current users ofbusiness aircraft, but many who previouslymight not have considered using corporatejets as an alternative to scheduled airlineservices,” said Ian Vanderbeek, managingdirector of ExecuJet.“Business jet operators can fly when theywant, be guaranteed of travelling, enjoy accessto a much larger number of airfields andvisit many more locations than scheduledairlines.They can also achieve substantial costsavings by visiting multiple destinations inless time than they would using scheduledservices, thus reducing the requirement forovernight accommodation.”The arrival of big corporate jets such asthe BBJ and the ACJ have also changed themap of business jet travel, catering for longhaultranscontinental flights. Boeing’s ownchief, Phil Condit, uses a BBJ extensively onhis world travels.All the planemakers point out the returnon investment – anything up to US$40 millionand beyond – cannot be counted simply incash. The flexibility offered in executive jettravel relieves much of the stress of scheduledair travel and puts executives in a better frameof mind to do business.Peter V. Agur, Jr., president of The VanAllenGroup in the U.S., a Georgia- basedcompany, cited a recent study which showedthe use of business aircraft can increase thetime available by at least 4%. “That doesn’tsound like much until you realise that 4% canadd two weeks to your company’s businesscalendar, add another mover and shaker toyour top marketing and management teamand take your wasted hours, week in andweek out, and make them some of yourbest,” he said.Successfully convincing potential customersin the Asia-Pacific to accept sucharguments is precisely what the business jetmakers hope to do to boost sales of theirhigh-flying corporate offerings across theregion.CRJ-200 ‘sim’ boost for AnsettAnsett Australia is aiming to cash inon the boom in regional jet aircraftsales, writes Tom Ballantyne. Thecarrier has begun operating an US$8.6 millionBombardier CRJ 200 regional jet simulator, theonly one in the southern hemisphere, at itsMelbourne base.One of only 12 in the world, Ansett expectsto reap big rewards, an estimated $2.7million annually in export earnings. Initially, itwill mainly be used to train pilots for Australianregional and Ansett subsidiary Kendell Airlines,which is purchasing 12 new BombardierCRJ200 50-seater jets. It also has options on 12CRJ700 70-seater aircraft.When the bulk of Kendell CRJ pilot trainingis completed, Ansett will be pushing hard towin contracts from around Asia.Trevor Jensen, head of operations atAirNZ-Ansett, said the new simulator wasprimarily procured to serve Australia and tocontinue establishing Ansett as the leadingprovider of training for pilots who fly regionalaircraft outside the country’s capital cities.“Financially, our costs are minimised by nothaving to send pilots overseas to train and thenew simulators will be a major revenue earnerin the training it provides for pilots from otherairlines around the world.“Talks are continuing with Bombardier totrain foreign pilots in Melbourne. We are alsoTrevor Jensen, head of operationsat AirNZ-Ansett: Ansett pushinghard to win Asian contracts forits new CRJ-200 simulatortalking to numerous other companies andairlines. Pilots from Vietnam and Kenya haverecently used the centre, plus airlines fromSouth Africa, Japan and China have expressedstrong interest in training time on the newCRJ,” said Jensen.While Ansett’s simulator centre near Melbourne’sTullamarine airport is well equippedwith big jet capability – including BoeingB767, B737 and Airbus A320 simulators – it isdeveloping into an attractive option for carriersrequiring regional aircraft simulator training.As well as the CRJ equipment, it also hasSaab 340 and Metroliner simulators.The new CRJ simulator represents thelatest state-of-the-art aviation technology andallows pilots to perform under a wide rangeof different conditions, some of which theywould not be able to do if they were trainingin actual aircraft.It took 18 months to build after years ofdevelopment by Flight Safety Internationalbased in Oklahoma.George Savvides, Ansett’s flight simulationand business manager, said it was hopedBombardier would assist in redirecting trainingcustomers to Melbourne. Most existing CRJsimulators are in the U.S. and for Asian airlines,sending pilots to Melbourne is an attractivealterative.Savvides said Air China and China Northwest,which have used the carrier’s Bae 146simulator, Xiamen Airlines (B737) and ShandongAirlines (Saab 340) are among Ansett’sChina clients.Having already programmed simulators toreplicate a large number of Chinese airports thetraining centre can now adapt the programmesfor the new CRJ facility.Operating 24 hours a day, seven daysa week, Ansett’s simulator centre conductsabout 20,000 hours of training each year, halfof it used by pilots from overseas.March 01 | Orient Aviation | 45