Page 11 - AAA MAY-JUNE 2012 Online Magazine

NEWS

Mubadala builds 777-
787 composites
Strata Manufacturing, Mubadala
Aerospace’s advanced composite
aerostructures facility in Al Ain, UAE,
has signed a 10-year contract to produce
commercial composite aerostructures
for the 777 and 787 Dreamliner. The deal
also added Strata as a future supplier ATR goes big thousand
of the vertical fin for the Dreamliner,
a major composite assembly. The deal The ATR 72-600 which rolled onto the Toulouse tarmac in the colours of the Spanish
underlines Abu Dhabi’s plans to become airline Air Nostrum marked the 1,000th ATR 42/72 aircraft to be delivered by the
a global aerospace hub. “This is an company. ATR has aircraft flying in 180 different airlines, and in over 90 countries,
important milestone for Strata,” said said Filippo Bagnato, Chief Executive Officer of ATR. “Few programmes can boast
Mubadala Aerospace Executive Director such a global presence,” he said. “Over the years, ATR has established itself as the
Homaid Al Shemmari. “The signing of benchmark in regional aviation. We are very proud of the resilience that ATR has
this agreement is testament to how demonstrated since the launch of the program.” Since 2005, ATR has recorded almost
far Strata has come as a company half of all of its orders and handed over nearly one-third of its aircraft deliveries. In
in the short 18 months it has been 2011 it posted 157 firm sales, and made up over 80% of regional aircraft sales with 90
operational.” Strata will manufacture seats or less. “The trend in regional aviation shows an increasing predominance of
empennage ribs for the 777 and vertical turboprops in the 90-seat or less aircraft segment,” said Bagnato, noting that many
fin ribs for the 787 Dreamliner. Deliveries airlines are opting for turboprops as they are best suited to meet increasingly strict
are scheduled to begin in 2013. airline and passenger environmental requirements.

SAID WHAT?!

“It tasted strange, and I turned the light on and looked at the
rest of the packet, and just started seeing maggots coming
out of it everywhere. I couldn’t talk.
I was nearly throwing up. I was beside myself.”

Qantas passenger Victoria Cleven, on opening a packet of trail mix in the dark on an A380 flight from LAX.
Qantas couldn’t explain how the maggots got on board, and suggested it was the manufacturer’s fault.

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