Page 53 - World Airnews Magazine November 2020

NEWS DIGITAL

SA AIRLINK CHANGES ITS NAME

Airways and began operating interline agreements with “It should be seen together
and issuing tickets on its own Qatar Airways, Emirates, British with recent commercial
Privately-owned regional ‘4Z’ code and designator. Airways, KLM, Air France and developments, the launch
of our own mainline South
airline SA Airlink has changed “This has liberated Airlink and United. African domestic services and
its company name to Airlink, as enabled it to forge commercial “The subtle, but significant, new regional routes linking
part of a strategy to distinguish ties with other international name change is a key element Johannesburg with Maputo and
itself as a totally independent airlines that carry passengers of our re-positioning, recovery Windhoek.”
airline. and cargo to and from destina- and growth strategy,” said He said that Airlink planned
“Earlier this year Airlink tions across Southern Africa,” Airlink chief executive officer to announce additional new
ended its 23-year franchise the airline said in a statement. and managing director, Rodger and re-instated routes in the
agreement with South African Airlink said it has since signed Foster. coming weeks and months. Q

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WITH BRAZILIAN

JETLINER

Pakistan’s Navy has selected the Embraer Lineage 1000 jetliner
to replace its P-3C Orion long-range maritime patrol aircraft, a
source has confirmed.
Outgoing naval chief Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi announced
recently that the navy would replace its P-3C Orion fleet with 10
converted commercial jets, the first of which has been ordered.
However, he did not identify the type.
The ministry of defence production, which handles acquisition,
did not return requests for comment regarding the conversion and
possible partners.
With only a single aircraft ordered thus far, the programme is in
its early stages. When converted for Pakistani service, the aircraft
will be called Sea Sultan.
It is unclear if the aircraft is being acquired directly from the
manufacturer or another party. Embraer did not respond to
requests for comment.
The question of what issues may arise in converting the
aircraft was put to Douglas Barrie, an aerospace analyst at the
International Institute for Strategic Studies:
“Using a commercial turbofan engine-powered aircraft as the
basis for an ASW [anti-submarine warfare] platform is not unheard
of. After all, the US P-8 is a Boeing 737-800 derivative," he said.
But there are challenges in converting the aircraft, he added, "not
least of all if internal weapons carriage is required where a bomb
bay will need to be cut into the airframe.”
“[It is a] significant undertaking, and risk management is going to
be important,” he said, adding that it’s likely Embraer will be asked
to help with the conversion, “otherwise the challenges just get all
the greater.”
Frederico Lemos, Embraer’s defence representative who handles
business in Asia, did not respond to questions about whether the
company is or would be involved in the conversion process. Q

World Airnews | November Extra 2020
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