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Russia re-aiming for Space glory
 Russia,
which inherited much of the space programme of the
erstwhile Soviet Union after its disintegration in
1990s, is now working seriously and systematically on a
high profile mission aimed at turning Russia into a
global space supremo. Thanks to the buoyancy in the
Russian economy, partly due to the sudden wealth brought
in by the raising oil prices, the Russian Federal Space
Agency has unveiled its first US$9.77-billion, decade
long plan to boost the scope and significance of the
Russian space venture. Needless to mention, the Russian
space outfit is also keen to turn Russian space
programme into a revenue generating enterprise by
providing a wide range of services to space faring
nations on the look out for support in critical areas. |
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Asian Aerospace 09 big
success as industry starts to rebound
 Reed
Exhibitions drew in over 12,600 attendees - one third
from China, one third from Asia and the remainder from
the rest of the world - at Asian Aerospace 09 last week
in Hong Kong. One hundred senior industry speakers
addressed the supporting conferences and 200 media came
out on the opening day and visited the aircraft on
display at Hong Kong International's Business Park.
Business aviation had a strong profile this year with a
record 16 aircraft out in the static park (up from seven
in 2007). There were debut appearances from Airbus'
Elite ACJ A318, Dassault's Falcon 7X and Piaggio of
Italy's fast business turboprop, the Avanti II.
Gulfstream and Cessna, both absent at Paris Show, were
present and Bombardier had a strong showing with a
Global Express XRS, Challenger 605 and 850 and Learjet
60X on display. The static display complemented a new
two half-day conference in co-operation with Asian
Business Aircraft Association where OEMs and operators
highlighted that China especially is going to be a huge
market - but growth needs to be cautious and investment
in infrastructure, maintenance and support will be
crucial to success.
News highlights from the show included Asia Jet,
together with operating partner MetroJet, announcing the
introduction of a new Challenger 605 into the charter
market in Hong Kong; Jet Aviation announced it is
establishing a new FBO (fixed base operation) in Beijing
in a JV with Deer Air and Reach Investment. Eurocopter
announced the sale of three EC155 helicopters to the
Royal Thai Police and Cessna announced the sale of three
Sovereign Aircraft for airways calibration. Jet Aviation
confirmed it is adding an Embraer Legacy and two more
Challengers to its Asia fleet. Panasonic, the IFE
specialist announced the opening of a new regional
headquarters in Hong Kong as it works to conclude new
business deals in China.
Boeing highlighted that the Asia Pacific region will be
the biggest growth market over the next 20 years with
some 40% of the world's traffic beginning, ending or
taking place there. The Asia Pacific fleet will treble
from 3,910 to 11,170 - 80% of that representing new
growth, according to the manufacturer. Strong domestic
growth in China, India and other emerging Asian nations
will contribute to the high demand for single aisle
aircraft and more than half the deliveries (5,600) will
be single aisle versions.
International debut of COMAC C919
Making its international debut in the exhibition hall,
one of a total 356 companies from 28 countries, was
Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China
(COMAC) with one of the largest stands. It unveiled a
large model of its new C919 airliner, scheduled to enter
service in 2016, and offering 130 to 200 seats. (See
photo attached) The C919 featured alongside models of
the ACAC ARJ21-700 regional jet.
Asian Aerospace, organised by Reed Exhibitions
represented a relevant opportunity - in the right place
and at the right time - to open up Chinese manufacturing
capability to Western manufacturers. Key sponsor Cathay
Pacific Airways Tony Tyler commented: "Asian Aerospace
was a good event in such a difficult context. We met
quality people and enjoyed quality conferences."
Robert Laird, Senior Vice President, China and Asia
Sales, Commercial Airplanes of Boeing said: "The venue
for Asian Aviation Expo provided our customers and event
staff with a clean facility, easy access and an
environment that made it easy to meet and visit with our
valued customers, suppliers, partners and guests. The
Show organisers worked well with our event planners and
facilitated our needs. The combined cargo, interiors and
training shows at the Expo increased our customers‘
participation and gave us more opportunity for
networking and business. We have had the opportunity to
meet with many of our customers from the region;
participated in the Congress which tackled key
contemporary issues and enjoyed the hospitality of the
great city of Hong Kong. We are looking forward to
returning in March 2011."
Asian Aerospace is unique on the aviation show calendar
as a purely commercial show with umbrella events for
smaller specialist exhibitions and conferences all in
one place at the Asia World Expo site.
"We drew in more attendees than anticipated and the
feedback we have started to receive is extremely
encouraging," said Head of Global Sales Aerospace Group
Richard Thiele from Reed Exhibitions. "The easy access,
vibrancy of such hospitality in such a terrific city and
Hong Kong's close proximity to China proved to be
excellent for facilitating important business to
business networking. Delegates were forging good
relationships here."
Asia Aerospace will return to Hong Kong in March at the
earlier time of 8-10 March, 2011. |
The
Ministry of Defence has issued new guidelines for arms
procurement. We reproduce below the document issued b
the government.
After
F-16IN Super Viper of Lockheed Martin and F-18 Super
Hornet of Boeing, it is the turn of the French made
advanced fourth generation fighter Rafale to go through
flight evaluation trials in Bangalore as part of the
fiery competition for bagging the US$-10-billion plus
mega Indian defence order for 126 medium, multi role
combat aircraft (MMRCA).
As
military spending grows steadily, the number of players
in the fray is also increasing for a share of the pie. A
report.