LHT makes Indian move

Joint venture Lufthansa Technik has become the first international maintenance, repair and overhaul provider to set up a dedicated third-party facility in India. The new $20 million site at Rajiv Gandhi International airport near Hyderabad will offer base maintenance services for Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s. Lufthansa Technik will team with joint-venture partner, the Indian construction firm and airport operator GMR Group, although it will be the majority 75% stakeholder. Construction of the 20,000m2 (215,300ft2) hangar and workshops will begin this summer with the operation due to start by 2009.

CAE expands network

Training CAE has added three flight schools to its Global Academy network, taking the total to six and increasing its training capacity from 600 to more than 1,000 new airline pilots a year. The new members are Hub'Air in Brussels, Belgium Moncton Flight College in New Brunswick, Canada and SAA Flight Training in San Diego, California. The initiative offers ab initio training with standard operating procedures, and type-rating qualification available through CAE's network of simulator centres.

Isle of Man launches aircraft registry

Tax breaks Corporate and private aircraft will benefit from tax breaks by listing on a new registry being set up by the Isle of Man's government. Aircraft on the register will carry an "M" prefix, rather than the "G" of the UK. Isle of Man director of civil aviation Brian Johnson says the island's fiscal advantages make it popular for aircraft financing, although the aircraft are often registered with offshore locations such as the Cayman Islands, Bermuda or Aruba. The new register will make it possible to centralise financing and registration locally and within the same time zone.

Neville Duke

Obituary Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Neville Duke, who has died aged 85, was a highly decorated Second World War fighter pilot and former Hawker chief test pilot. Duke, who joined Hawker after the war, was at the controls of the Hawker Hunter for its first flight in 1951. He also set the world air speed record in September 1953 when his all-red Hunter WB 188 reached a speed of 727.63mph (1,171 km/h) over the UK south coast.




Source: Flight International