Andrew Doyle/LONDON
SAS IS TO HUSHKIT ALL of its remaining McDonnell Douglas DC-9s by January 1997, despite having placed an order for up to 76 Boeing 737-600s earlier this year (Flight International, 22-28 March).
The carrier has been forced to take action as Scandinavian airports tighten their restrictions on noisy aircraft failing to meet Stage 3 limits. The penalties include vastly inflated landing fees and total bans on night flying at certain airports.
SAS says that its decision to fit ABS hushkits to its DC-9s is based on a "policy of heightened environmental awareness", but acknowledges that there are also clear economic reasons for doing so. "It is an investment," says Dick Jacobson, SAS director of fleet planning and control. "When we sell these aircraft, we will be getting most of the money back. It is also a practical decision based on increasing fleet flexibility and avoiding the penalties."
SAS operates 20 DC-9-41s, and has leased out a further four. All of these aircraft will be hushkitted. The carrier's four DC-9-20s have already been hushkitted.
The modifications will be carried out by SAS' Koksa site at Oslo Airport and by Volvo Aero at Trollhattan, Sweden. The programme will begin in January 1996, initially at the rate of one aircraft a month.
According to Jacobson, 12 conversions should be completed by September 1996, with the final aircraft due to emerge in January 1997. Each shipset (pair of engines) will take 60 days to modify.
Deliveries of 737-600s will begin in the last quarter of 1998, initially replacing leased MD-80s and Fokker F28s.
Source: Flight International
