Beginning with new aircraft deliveries in 2024, Pilatus has extended the payload-range capability of its Super Versatile Jet to achieve a maximum range with six passengers of 2,000 nautical miles (3,704 kilometers). Pilatus also incorporated an array of new interior amenities, including a large side-facing divan which can be converted into a bed!
The new PC-24 features a 600 pound (272 kg) increase in full fuel payload and maximum payload capacity. This enables operators to increase the PC-24’s maximum range by 200 nm (370 km) with six passengers on board. The PC-24 now offers a full fuel payload of a single pilot plus 1,315 pounds (596 kg), and features a class-leading maximum payload capacity of 3,100 pounds (1,406 kg).
Pilatus engineers conducted an extensive flight test campaign to expand the entire envelope for the higher design weights. At the PC-24’s maximum take-off weight, balanced field length at sea level is only 3,090 feet (941 meters), allowing the use of very short and even unpaved runways.
Divan and Inflight Entertainment System
Already offering the largest cabin volume in its class, the interior of the new PC-24 has also been given a number of enhancements to improve the overall passenger flight experience. Ambient sound levels have been reduced through optimization of passenger service unit ducting, noise absorbing panels, and tuned engine accessory air intake ducts. Cabinetry, storage areas, and the Welcome Center have all been refined to optimize the vast amount of space in the PC-24’s cabin.
Pilatus partnered with Lufthansa Technik to incorporate a new integrated Cabin Management System (iCMS) featuring a 10″ touch screen controller with 3D moving map, four high fidelity cabin speakers with a sub-woofer option, mood lighting, USB ports, and a media storage server.
Finally, in a first for this class of business aircraft, Pilatus is offering the option of a large side-facing divan that is 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) in length, and can be converted into a bed in flight.
Predictive Maintenance
All PC-24s from serial number 501 onwards will be equipped with a new feature to enable predictive services. The automated data transmission of key aircraft data directly to Pilatus upon landing will be analyzed and, if necessary, a predictive recommendation is made to the operator.
Aeroflot has flown at least 129 fewer Sukhoi flights since the crash
Petition to ground plane has over 200,000 signatures
MOSCOW, June 3 (Reuters) – Russian airline Aeroflot has scaled back the number of Sukhoi Superjet 100 flights it operates after one of its planes made a crash-landing last month, killing 41 people, according to data provided by a flight tracking website.
Flightradar24 data shows Aeroflot has also at times substituted Airbus or Boeing planes for the Superjet, the first new passenger jet developed in Russia since the Soviet Union collapsed.
Fallout from the crash risks undermining the aircraft’s reputation at a time when Russia is promoting another domestically made passenger plane, the M-21, as a rival to Boeing and Airbus.
Aeroflot and Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, the Superjet’s maker, declined to comment on the data or on the use of other aircraft instead of the Russian plane. Both the airline, Russia’s national flag carrier, and the manufacturer have said in the past that the aircraft meets all relevant international safety standards and will continue to be made and used.
The cause of the May 5 crash, the second deadly accident involving the Superjet in nine years of service, has not yet been established. Russian authorities said afterwards there was no reason to ground the Superjet.
Yet Aeroflot flew 129 – or about 7% – fewer Superjet flights in the two weeks after the crash than in the previous fortnight, the Flightradar24 data showed.
In one case, frightened passengers on a Sukhoi refused to continue their journey after an aborted take-off, forcing Aeroflot to lay on an Airbus instead, an airline industry source with direct knowledge of the matter said, a version of events corroborated separately by Russia’s RIA news agency.
Aeroflot after the crash began paying extra attention to safety checks and to scale back the Superjet’s usage to try to reassure passengers, the same source said.
More than 213,000 people have signed a petition demanding the plane be grounded since May 5.
‘WHO NEEDS IT?’
Some Russian and foreign operators have complained about the difficulty of servicing the Superjet due to delays in sourcing spare parts. Irish airline CityJet and Belgian carrier Brussels Airlines turned their back on the Superjet citing those reasons.
State officials and airline executives say the airliner spends about half its time on the ground undergoing maintenance, and can fly only about a third as much as foreign-made rivals in a 24-hour period when in use.
They blame a lack of readily available spare parts and the complexity of servicing its engines.
Vitaly Savelyev, Aeroflot’s CEO, told Russian news agency TASS in 2017 that his company, which is majority-owned by the Russian state, might not have bought the Superjet at all if it was a private company.
Aeroflot, which has promised to buy a further 100 Superjets on top of the 49 it has already, is in a difficult situation because of the project’s political importance for Russia.
There are signs however that even some allies of President Vladimir Putin are growing weary of the aircraft.
Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the upper house of parliament, in November publicly rebuked the transport minister over the large sums she said had been pumped into the Superjet in vain.
Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta estimated in 2012 that $7 billion had been spent on the project, while Sukhoi has put the figure at $2 billion.
“Who needs it? … It’s not good for anything,” said Matviyenko. “Aeroflot says we bought them and they sit on the ground. Nobody abroad is buying them … What have we achieved?”
Mexican low-cost carrier Interjet, citing maintenance and parts problems, told Mexican daily newspaper El Universal just over a week after the crash that it was trying to sell its 20 Superjets and favoured Airbus 320s instead.
Regional carrier Yamal Airlines, Russia’s second biggest Superjet operator after Aeroflot, said a day after the crash that it was cancelling its planned purchase of 10 of the planes. It cited high servicing costs.
And RusLine, another regional carrier, told Kommersant it was scrapping provisional plans to obtain 18 Superjets as part of a leasing deal. The paper cited RusLine’s owner Nikolai Ulan as saying he thought the plane was safe but that passengers would be afraid to fly on it, making it harder for him to break even. RusLine did not respond to a request for comment.
PASSENGER FEARS
The Superjet, which entered service in 2011, is predominantly operated inside Russia by regional airlines, corporations and government entities. Sukhoi had hoped to sell hundreds, but slack demand means only 138 of the planes are in use.
On the Moscow-Murmansk route, the one taken by the plane involved in the fatal crash, Aeroflot replaced the Superjet with either Boeing 737s or Airbus A320s in the five days after the accident, a practice it partially continued the week after.
This was done in direct response to the crash in order to try to calm passenger fears, the same airline source said.
There have been a spate of safety-related incidents and cancellations since May 5.
In one case, a Superjet flight from Moscow to Riga was held up after passengers noticed a burning smell and demanded a new plane. Engineers found nothing wrong, one of the passengers told state TV.
In another, on May 18, passengers on a Moscow-bound flight from the city of Ulyanovsk took fright after their Superjet aborted take-off because of a warning about the hydraulic system.
“Passengers were told that the flight was being delayed for technical reasons. Of course, after the catastrophe, they started to panic and refused to fly on the same plane. The psychological factor came into play,” the airline source with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
Aeroflot flew the passengers to Moscow the next day on an Airbus A320 and engineers found nothing wrong with the Superjet involved in that incident either, the transport prosecutor’s office said.
Yevgeny Dietrich, Russia’s transport minister, said the situation was not “radically changed” from the pre-crash period.
“In fact, delays and cancellations occurred previously. You simply wrote about them less,” Dietrich told reporters.
His statement and the crash have highlighted the fact that many Superjets do not fly very often.
Flightradar24 data shows that 37 of 127 Superjets in commercial use globally did not make a single flight from April 22 until May 19, and that 45 did not make more than 10 flights during that period.
That tallies with expert reports, which have said foreign-made planes in Russia average nine hours flying time in every 24-hour period compared to between just three and four hours for the Superjet.
The same industry source said only about 50% of Aeroflot’s Superjets flew regularly and that Superjet pilots, who are paid for completed flights, had their salaries topped up to compensate for time spent on the ground.
(Writing by Andrew Osborn and Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Pilatus has already handed over 30 PC-24s since the first customer delivery in February 2018. The PC-24 fleet leader, serial number 101 belonging to PlaneSense, has already flown over 1,100 hours in its first 15 months of operation. The PC-24 fleet as a whole has clocked up over 5,000 hours of safe airborne time – an impressive result for the newly launched business jet by Pilatus.
The PC-24 Super Versatile Jet takes off! All in all, 30 PC-24s are currently in operation around the world, including three PC-24s used as medevac aircraft for the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. Pilatus plans on delivering about 40 PC-24s in 2019, and on stepping up production to 50 aircraft the following year.
Oscar J. Schwenk, Chairman of Pilatus, is delighted with the success of the PC-24: “Demand for the PC-24 is phenomenal. From day one, there has been keen interest from various customer segments all over the world. Feedback from the first 30 PC-24 operators is extremely positive, with special mention for the aircraft’s versatility, its spacious, quiet cabin and the incredible performance of the PC-24. These remarks plus the high degree of attention which the aircraft commands all confirm our chosen PC-24 strategy.”
Certified for unpaved runways and steep approaches
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have already certified the PC-24 for use on unpaved runways. Work to obtain post-certification for other surfaces, including grass, is currently underway. The PC-24 has also been certified for steep approaches as required for e.g. the approach into London City Airport.
The very first PC-24 of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS Central Operations) with serial number 118 arrived in Australia on 29 April 2019. A few days later, the first landings on unpaved strips went ahead in Kingoonya, a small and almost totally abandoned farming settlement in the central outback of the Australian state of South Australia.
Order book reopened
In 2014, Pilatus sold 84 PC-24s in the space of one and a half days. The order book was subsequently closed until receipt of feedback from the first PC-24 operators.
Pilatus and its Authorised Pilatus Centres are now taking orders for the PC-24 again, with delivery positions programmed for late 2020 and 2021. The base price of the PC-24 is 10.7 million US dollars.
The PC-24 Super Versatile Jet will be on display at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) from 21 to 23 May in Geneva, Switzerland. Reservations for personal visits can be made on site or at any Authorised Pilatus Centre.
The business year 2018 was an exceptionally successful one for Pilatus, but also a challenging one. At around 1.1 billion Swiss francs, sales revenue was brought back to the billion mark again. The 128 aircraft delivered in total included the first PC-24 – a milestone in the company history. All in all, 18 PC-24s were handed over to customers in the past year.
Financial 2018 was better than the previous year. At 1,092 million Swiss francs, sales revenue surpassed the one billion mark for the first time since 2015. The operating result totals 157 million Swiss francs. And the future looks good: following incoming orders worth 1 billion Swiss francs, the current order volume stands at 2.1 billion Swiss francs – the equivalent of just under two years of sales revenue. A total of 128 aircraft were delivered to customers – 18 PC-24s, 80 PC-12 NGs, 27 PC-21s and three PC-6s.
PC-24 in focus
Pilatus PC-24 Jet
The delivery of the first PC-24 to the first customer in February 2018 marked a milestone in the development phase spanning over eleven years. The brand-new Super Versatile Jet was the focus of much work throughout 2018: besides bringing PC-24 series production operations up to speed, the customer service unit and entire service network also switched to “live” mode. Pilatus continued to make improvements to the PC-24 in parallel, pushing ahead with various post-certification test programmes aimed at delivering all aircraft capabilities promised to customers at the outset. The next milestone is just around the corner: the reopening of the PC-24 order book.
Customer service business grows in both pillars
Whilst the military sector is hugely important to Pilatus, the lack of new trainer fleet contracts in 2018 is not unduly worrying: Pilatus is focused on the necessary upstream work and has reinforced its sales efforts in this area. Constant growth in after-sales business is encouraging.
Pilatus PC-12
The Business Unit General Aviation also saw continued expansion of its customer service operations. The volume of PC-24s in operation grows with every week that passes, generating similar growth in the number of customers requiring support. The network of Authorised Pilatus Centres was further strengthened to offer customers around the world the level of service they are entitled to expect in the business aircraft league.
Preparing for success in the future
At the end of 2018 the Pilatus Group employed 2,283 people, including 127 apprentices. Over 150 new jobs were created. 93 percent of all employees work in Switzerland. At the headquarters in Stans work progresses on the construction of the new structure assembly hall: this new centre of competence for airframe construction operations will be commissioned in spring 2019 – a clear sign of commitment to the location in Switzerland.
Pilatus PC-21
The new completion centre run by the US subsidiary Pilatus Business Aircraft Ltd in Broomfield, Colorado, opened in the autumn. In Adelaide, preparatory work continued for the construction of a new, company-owned building for the subsidiary, Pilatus Australia Pty Ltd.
Commenting on these results, Chairman Oscar J. Schwenk remarked: “I am pleased to note that financial 2018 was a very successful year for us. A year in which a great deal of energy went into performing much detailed work. Work which will take us forward throughout the coming year, creating added benefit for our customers. The good financial results of the past year will also benefit our employees under our profit-sharing programme. In addition to an extra month’s salary, they have also been paid a bonus of 1.5 salaries. Our next challenge is already in sight: the imminent re-opening of the PC-24 order book. This is the year in which the reputation of the PC-24 and all other related services will be established. We are consistent in our efforts towards that goal, thereby consolidating our success and our future.”
JAKARTA (Reuters) – A Lion Air flight with at least 188 people on board is believed to have sunk after crashing into the sea off Indonesia’s island of Java on Monday, shortly after take off from the capital on its way to the country’s tin-mining hub, officials said.
A spokesman for Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said the Lion Air flight, JT610, lost contact 13 minutes after takeoff, adding that a tug boat leaving the capital’s port had seen the craft falling.
“It has been confirmed that it has crashed,” the spokesman, Yusuf Latif, said by text message, when asked about the fate of the Lion Air plane, which air tracking service Flightradar 24 identified as a Boeing 737 MAX 8.
Debris thought to be from the plane, including aircraft seats, was found near an offshore refining facility, an official of state energy firm Pertamina said.
Wreckage had been found near where the Lion Air plane lost contact with air traffic officials on the ground, said Muhmmad Syaugi, the head of the search and rescue agency.
“We don’t know yet whether there are any survivors,” Syaugi told a news conference. “We hope, we pray, but we cannot confirm.”
Flight JT610 took off around 6.20 a.m. and was due to have landed in the capital of the Bangka-Belitung tin mining region at 7.20 a.m., the Flightradar 24 website showed.
“We cannot give any comment at this moment,” Edward Sirait, chief executive of Lion Air Group, told Reuters, adding that a news conference was planned for later on Monday. “We are trying to collect all the information and data.”
Preliminary flight tracking data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft climbed to around 5,000 feet (1,524 m) before losing, and then regaining, height, before finally falling towards the sea.
It was last recorded at 3,650 feet (1,113 m) and its speed had risen to 345 knots, according to raw data captured by the respected tracking website, which could not immediately be confirmed.
Its last recorded position was about 15 km (9 miles) north of the Indonesian coastline, according to a Google Maps reference of the last coordinates reported by Flightradar24.
The accident is the first to be reported that involves the widely-sold Boeing 737 MAX, an updated, more fuel-efficient version of the manufacturer’s workhorse single-aisle jet. The first Boeing 737 MAX jets were introduced into service in 2017.
Lion Air’s Malaysian subsidiary, Malindo Air, received the very first global delivery.
Boeing is aware of the airplane accident reports and is “closely monitoring” the situation, it said on social network Twitter.
Reporting by Augustinus Beo Da Costa and Ciny Silviana; Additional reporting by Jamie Freed in SINGAPORE and Tim Hepher in HONG KONG; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
