ATR has embarked on flight testing to obtain Chinese certification for its ATR 42-600 turboprop. The airframer says the initial 3h test was conducted from Toulouse’s Francazal airport, which is located some 10km south of the city’s main Blagnac airport. China’s civil aviation administration CAAC co-operated with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency for the 3 July test. EASA pilots were on board the turboprop with ATR’s own. Certification of the type, an enhanced and modernised version of the ATR 42-500, will enable deliveries to Chinese operators. ATR says sub-100-seat regional aircraft account for just 2.5% of the Chinese airline fleet, compared with around 25% globally. It claims that the ATR 42-600 configured with 30 seats would offer an “ideal solution” for Chinese connectivity. Chinese testing of the variant will provide a lift to the company, which is preparing to halve its production, as a result of the air transport crisis, a measure which will result in just over 200 job losses.

Source: Cirium

Operators of Rolls-Royce-powered Boeing 787's are set to be instructed to conduct inspections of certain Trent 1000 low-pressure turbine discs, over a possible cracking risk. Assessment of certain discs in service has revealed that rubbing contact with interstage static seals can lead to cracks in the front seal fins – which, in turn, could lead to cracks in the disc. As an interim measure, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency is preparing to mandate an inspection of seal fins on the third- and fourth-stage discs – with specific part numbers – in the low-pressure turbine. The one-time ultra-high sensitivity fluorescent penetrant inspections should take place at the next engine refurbishment shop visit, according to a proposed EASA directive. If any cracking is indicated on the seal fins, the disc parts must be replaced. EASA warns that the condition could lead to propagation of cracking, possible low-pressure turbine disc failure, and expulsion of high-energy debris. Rolls-Royce has drawn up a service bulletin, dated 29 June, covering the issue. EASA has opened the directive for consultation until 3 August.

Source: Cirium

South Africa’s government is urging creditors and unions to support South African Airways’ proposed rescue, warning that the airline’s liquidation is the worse of the options available. But the opposition Democratic Alliance believes the country’s treasury, which is having to cope with funding pressures from the coronavirus crisis, is reluctant to continue bailing out the troubled airline as part of any rescue. The government’s department of public enterprises has been backing a rescue plan on which creditors are set to vote on 14 July. Liquidation, it says, would be “protracted and costly” and will “lead to financial hardship” for employees as well as a “substantial undervaluation” of the airline’s assets. “All SAA stakeholders… should realise that business rescue provides a better outcome than liquidation and should be supported for their collective interests,” it adds. The department argues that a rescue is a “viable alternative” which supports job preservation and can “bring the airline back from the brink”. “Transformation of SAA into a competitive airline will unfortunately require sacrifices and a major restructuring, starting on a conservative basis and gradually and systematically building up over the next three years,” it says. But the treasury outlined South Africa’s financial pressures during a joint meeting, on 3 July, between the parliamentary standing and select committees on finance. “Higher government spending and borrowing has not led to higher growth in many years,” it stated. “We should not confuse people’s desire to lend us money with our ability to pay it back.” The treasury added that it considered the government has a choice between a “looming debt spiral or fundamental reform – and no other option exists”. South Africa’s political opposition, the Democratic Alliance, is accusing the department of public enterprises of misleading the public into believing that funds for SAA’s rescue have been budgeted, stating that an emergency budget last month “did not make any provision” for SAA funding. It says the rescue plan requires R33 billion in funding for three years but offers “no guarantee”, despite projections, that the rescued airline – which the party is describing as a “dead-duck vanity project” – will become profitable in its fourth year.

Source: Cirium