Flight International 2023 11.pdf

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FlightGlobal.com
November 2023
Destination
Dubai: what to
expect at show
In a spin
NH90 programme hit by fresh setbacks
p22
Great Britten
Timeless
Islander
flies home
p42
UpNext unit sets the
pace for Airbus
p28
Can Droneliner’s cargo
concept deliver?
p40
£5.99
Road trip
Air forces
make ACE
landings
p34
Comment
Done and dusted
Commonwealth of Australia
Salvaged reputation?
Stripping Australia’s unwanted NH90 fleet for parts will be a
pragmatic move to help address the multi-role helicopter’s
major sustainment issues. But European industry must also
learn from the programme’s past mistakes
O
n the face of it, taking
almost 60 serviceable
– and relatively young –
helicopters and stripping
them for parts to feed the rest of
a global fleet is not a great look.
Yet this is exactly what European
manufacturer NH Industries (NHI)
is proposing.
To put that figure into some sort
of context, it is, give or take, a little
over 10% of the in-service NH90
fleet. Again, this is not a great
look, but given the programme’s
background, it is perhaps an
understandable step.
Even before Canberra’s 29 Sep-
tember announcement that its
locally-named MRH90s would not
be returned to flight, the Taipan’s
days were already numbered in
Australian service: its retirement
was scheduled for December 2024.
The decision to axe the MRH90
fleet and replace it with Sikor-
sky UH-60M Black Hawks was
effectively signed and sealed
a year ago; in essence all Aus-
tralia has done is to speed the
Taipan’s withdrawal, forcing it into
early-early retirement, if you like.
While the move has been shaped
by the pace of an ongoing inves-
tigation into a fatal crash, NHI
maintains it has seen nothing to
suggest a wider safety issue with
the helicopter.
One might suspect that with a
new fleet of Black Hawks to pay
for, Canberra is grateful for any
saving in sustainment costs, even
at the expense of a capability gap.
In essence, its choice is a highly
pragmatic one.
But the same could be said of
NHI’s plans to take those 45 aircraft
– and possibly the 14 no longer
wanted by Norway – and turn them
into parts donors.
Problems with maintenance –
both of time and cost – have long
bedeviled the multi-national NH90
programme, so an immediately
accessible treasure trove of bad-
ly-needed parts is a godsend, no
matter its circumstances.
The move comes as part of a
wider push by NHI and its partner
companies – Airbus, Leonardo
and GKN/Fokker – to tackle the
recurrent sustainment issues with
the type.
Operators, not unreasonably,
might ask why this was not fixed
from the very start. While they
have a point, they must also take
some of the blame: the prolif-
eration of variants was driven
by customer demand, after all,
causing complexity to be baked
into the programme.
In the meantime, NATO and
Europe are both contemplating the
development of a next-generation
rotorcraft for the coming decades,
with a familiar cast of countries
and their industrial champions very
much at the forefront of that effort.
They say that those who do not
learn from history are doomed to
repeat it. If Europe is to press ahead
with the initiative – and there are
sound reasons around sovereignty
and industrial capability to do so –
it must heed the lessons from the
NH90’s genesis.
◗
See p22
November 2023
Flight International
3
In focus
More F-35 deliveries on hold
6
Airbus and Boeing are playing
catch-up
7
NBAA rivals show new class
10
Honda seeks upper Echelon
for light jets
12
ATR chief aiming to deliver
40-plus aircraft in 2023
16
Problems escalate for NH90
22
Misunderstandings preceded
fatal A320neo collision
26
Inside Airbus UpNext
28
Rolls-Royce powers ahead with
latest hydrogen test
31
NATO’s ACE venturers
34
Droneliner details freight
expectations
40
B-N’s Islander comes home
42
48
Central hub
Dubai International remains dominant
FlightGlobal.com
November 2023
Destination
Dubai: what to
expect at show
10
£5.99
Norwegian Defence Ministry
In a spin
NH90 programme hit by fresh setbacks
p22
Great Britten
Timeless
Islander
flies home
p42
UpNext unit sets the
pace for Airbus
p28
Can Droneliner’s cargo
concept deliver?
p40
Road trip
Air forces
make ACE
landings
p34
Regulars
Comment
3
Straight & Level
60
Women in aviation
66
4
Flight International
November 2023
Contents
In depth
To Dubai to buy?
46
This year’s show will be a signal
of the industry’s confidence
in the Middle East and beyond
Global gateways
48
Dubai International has bounced
back from the pandemic, while
Abu Dhabi’s spectacular new
terminal is finally opening
A gulf apart
53
The UAE’s narrowbody
carriers, Flydubai and Air
Arabia, are on very distinct
growth trajectories
Maintaining an advantage
55
The region’s big MRO providers
have ambitious investment
programmes planned
Power shift
57
The brakes are on a potential
F-35 acquisition by the UAE
34
66
31
November 2023
Flight International
5

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