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DOHA — Though I hold an economy class ticket on all legs of my journey to and from Dubai, Qatar Airways provided me with a look inside their Premium Terminal for First and Business Class passengers transiting through Doha.

The terminal is separated into three primary areas, first class and business class and security screening and staff waiting area. Once I got off the Airbus A320 (A7-ADJ) in Doha and I boarded a people mover specially fitted with lounge seating for a trip to the terminal that takes less than a minute. Upon arrival I passed through security and made by way up the main escalators of the spacious naturally lit terminal.

One thing you won’t find in the Premium Terminal are loud speaker
boarding announcements. When you first check into the terminal, a staff
member notes your attire so they can find you individually when it’s
time for your next flight. When it gets a bit busier, staff members
will roam the area to make personalized group announcements starting 45 minutes before your departing
flight.

It becomes immediately clear that Qatar Airways has spared no expense for its premium customers, with showers and beds (for use up to 6-hours) for both classes. First Class lives up to its name with an area for spa treatments, a
jaccuzzi and a sauna. Access to the spa is actually the only area of
the terminal that is not included in the cost of the ticket and passengers
can select from a menu of indulgent options during their layover.

Small things like play areas for little children and families, as well as a room with Playstation 3 terminals are all available to pass the time (for kids of all ages). The terminal also features twin male and female prayer rooms for Muslim passengers, an indication of airline’s cultural heritage.

The First Class area can accomodate around 125 passengers and the Business Class area was expanded four months ago to accomodate up to 600 passengers. During peak evening hours, both room are very commonly filled to capacity. Both areas have business centers, free wi-fi terminal wide (thank you!), as well as buffets to fuel up before or after a long flight – which I’m doing as I write.

I want to thank Qatar Airways for the opportunity to visit their Premium Terminal. It’s good incentive to try and return one day as a premium passenger. A guy can dream, right? In the mean time, I’m perfectly content with whatever class I fly…as long as I’m in the sky.

(More pictures later)

DUBAI — Cessna handed over the keys of the first Middle Eastern Citation X fitted with elliptical winglets to Wallan Aviation here at the Dubai Air Show.

Saad Wallan, chairman of Wallan Aviation says the aircraft, with its range extending blended winglets, allows for non-stop travel between Riyadh and London at the Citation X’s signature high-speed cruise at Mach .92.  

The newly introduced winglets add a 15kt boost in cruise speed and 545kg more payload at hot and high airports, as well as a 280 km (150nm) increase in range.

Along with a reduced time to climb, Cessna says the winglets also reduce fuel consumption by 4-5% for long range missions.

With Sunday’s delivery to Wallan, the aircraft will immediately enter service following the show.

Wallan Aviation operates a fleet of Cessna aircraft and is the company’s authorized sales representative and authorized Citation Service Center in the Middle East.

The US Federal Aviation Administration certified the retrofit of the winglet for the Citation X in June and includes the replacement of the existing anti-collision and position light system with LED versions.

As a previous order holder for the super midsize Columbus business jet that was cancelled by Cessna in July, Wallan says that even with the downturn that sidelined the new aircraft, his company has found a silver lining that has made the substitution of the Citation X ideal.

Wallan says that his company has benefitted from the downturn, in that previous operators of large-cabin BBJ and Gulfstream aircraft have opted for a smaller aircraft like the Citation X for their travel needs.

Wallan says that the dust has now settled following the sharp downturn in business jet travel, adding that the Dubai Air Show represents a barometer for the industry.

“We have a lot of faith in this show to show us the direction,” says Wallan.

DUBAI — Boeing’s vice president of marketing, Randy Tinseth outlined development milestones for the company’s 787 and 747-8 programs today in Dubai.

The company announced earlier today the completion of the installation of the wing fix on its 787 static aircraft – ZY997 – and ZA002, the second of six flight test aircraft.

Tinseth says restoration operations are underway to refit access doors, systems, seals and fasteners on ZA001 and ZA002 in preparation for flight, while ZY997 is being refitted with strain gauges and instrumentation required for testing.

The company reaffirmed its plan to test the design of the modification on the static airframe later this month, and plans to fly ZA001 by the close of 2009.

Meanwhile, Tinseth announced that RC501, the first 747-8F which recently moved to the paint hangar is 98% complete, with the second and third 747-8F flight test aircraft 93% and 86% completed, respectively.

In addition, Tinseth says has passed 87% of engineering released on the company’s new 747-8 Intercontinental passenger jet and has completed the critical design review phase.

DUBAI — A few hours before Ethiopian Airlines announced its order for 12 Airbus A350-900 aircraft yesterday, I had a chance to sit down with CEO Girma Wake to discuss his airline’s plans for global expansion with its three new aircraft types, the A350, 777-200LR and 787.

I started off by asking Mr. Wake about the role of his newly purchased A350 and how it will fit in along side the 787 and 777-200LR.

“These are complementary [aircraft] for us,” wake says. “The 777-200LR has a very good range and especially from the Addis Ababa Airport, its very difficult with the altitude.”

“We are at 8,000 feet above sea level. It’s very difficult to get full benefits of engine performance. With the 200LR we get very good advantage with performance. Secondly, we have been growing the last five years — 20% year over year — and that necessitates an airplane that can take over 300 passengers. And the airplanes that we have today, the 767 carry about 270 passengers and the load requires we go over 300 [passengers] and that is why we picked the 777-200LR and we expect that the 787 to do the mid-range for us. The A350 will also help us operate the long range with that older fleet. Both of them can serve on the same route.”

I asked Mr. Wake directly about his airline’s order for the 787 and Ethiopian’s role as the African launch customer of the type and whether or not the title still held.

“Yes, that is still the case,” he replied. “We are taking all of the airplanes that we have ordered.”

Wake says his airline’s first 787 is now expected in mid-2011, which is
around the same time Ethiopian will be “taking most of our 777s.” He also revealed that two of the 10 787s on order would be 787-9s which would be delivered “sometime in 2013′.

With the performance of the 787 an open question until flight testing begins, I asked Mr. Wake about the prospect of early aircraft being delivered to the airline overweight.

“There is an overweight situation. We are not very happy that it is over weight,” says Wake.

“But even considering the fact that it is overweight, we believe that for our mid-range routes, it is still a very attractive airplane like Europe to Africa [and] within Africa. And if we can leave the Far East and the American operation to the 777 and the A350, the 787 will definitely be a very good replacement for us for the 767 and 757 routes. It will still be a lot better.”

Wake says that Boeing is trying to “come up with various solutions” to meet contractual range, payload and fuel consumption targets for the 787-9, adding that “If they come up with a solution, we will take the -9.  If they don’t come up with a solution we will keep the -8, we have that in our contract. In any case, initially only two -9s were contracted for us, but if it
does not work we can still go with -8, but we’ll take all the [orders].”
 
I then asked Wake about the introduction of the A350 and his airline’s plans for the new long-range widebody set to arrive in 2017.

“We have plans to dry lease some A350s before that if we see that demand is picking up, the new sectors that will come up gradually will be Brazil – Sao Paulo- more points in the USA, we want to fly to Canada and we want to expand to more points in the far east like Shanghai, Kulala Lumpur, so on and so forth,” says Wake.

Wake made a point of saying that Ethiopian Airlines will double in the next five years growing 20% year-over-year. Currently Ethiopian moves 3 million passengers per year.

I concluded the interview asking about his shift as a long-time Boeing customer to a split fleet with the purchase of 12 A350-900s. Wake addressed the decision in this way: 

“We had a very small fleet before. Diversification when you only have 30 airplanes is not a bad thing to do, but when you have 50-plus [aircraft], you can still accommodate it. Diversification is not cheap. So, if you have the right quantity you can still do that and we believe now we have the right number of airplanes in our system that we can diversify, he says.

“And secondly,” Wake adds. “I believe it is always better to put your eggs different baskets. Putting them all in one basket could be a problem. So, and we see the airplane also, the A350, when it was originally planned it was not as good. The new revised A350, at least on paper, is very good.”

Photo Credit Airbus

Gulfstream remains focused internally as speculation churns on a potential competitor to the company’s ultra long-range G650 business aircraft.

“We have about 200 [G650 aircraft] sold and that’s our market. We are much more focused on us and bringing products to market…than anything else,” says Larry Flynn, Gulfstream senior vice president marketing and sales.

Bombardier is widely believed to be quietly developing a replacement for its large cabin Global Express XRS and competitor for Gulfstream G650.

Gulfstream launched its flagship G650 in March 2008 and recently rolled the aircraft out in September.

“We think we have an airplane that has effectively developed a new market at the top end of the business aircraft market, it has been extraordinarily received and now we need to deliver,” adds Flynn.

Programme sources tell FlightBlogger that the aircraft has been recently undergoing low-speed taxi tests at the company’s Savannah, Georgia facility.

Flynn declined to comment on any specific tests, but said “If you’re at the airport in Savannah, you may see it on the runway” adding that aircraft is on track on meet its first flight target by the close of the year.

DUBAI — Airbus will offer fuel-saving winglets on its A320 family aircraft beginning in 2012.

The specially designed ‘sharklets’ will provide a 3.5% fuel burn savings on routes longer than 1500 nm. Air New Zealand will launch the new sharklets at the end of 2012 as part of its recent order for A320 aircraft. Airbus says the A321 and A319 will follow in 2013. Airbus has not yet decided if it will offer the winglet on the A318.

Airbus claims the winglets will offer a boost of 110 nm in range or a payload increase of 500 kg or about 2 passengers.

The winglets will not be offered as a retrofit, but Airbus says it is working with Aviation Partners to provide a simpler design on existing A320 aircraft.

DUBAI — It feels like just yesterday I was arriving in Dubai for my first day of work with Flight. Two years around the horn and I’m back for another go at the Dubai Air Show. Needless to say, the world (and this city) has changed much in the past two years. The 2007 show saw a staggering number of orders as backlogs exploded, pushing Airbus and Boeing towards record bookings.

Late 2007 saw mega orders for Boeing and Airbus by Emirates and DAE, while Bombardier selected the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan for CSeries, 787 first flight was scheduled for February 2008, United and Delta were in merger talks, 747-8F roll-out had slid and just one A380 had been delivered to Singapore Airlines.

What a difference two years makes.

The global economy is struggling to free itself from grips of recession, while the Middle East appears poised to lead the rest of the world out of the downturn. This region is an economic barometer for the rest of the planet, though it remains a widely discussed open question as to whether or not regional ambitions will become a reality.

Follow the latest on the Dubai Air Show on Flightglobal.com and Twitter.

Airbus
The European airframer is expected to live up to its M.O. of saving order announcements for air shows. Likely customers include Ethiopian (A350), DAE, Emirates (A330, A350, A380) and Vietnam (A380). Other big show questions for Airbus include: What’s the latest on A350 development? Also, what about those A320 winglets?

Boeing
Like the Paris Air Show, Boeing will likely remain quiet on the commercial side, with the real action happening 9000 miles away in Puget Sound with 747-8 and 787. On the defense side, the show is likely to be busy with potential fighter orders. Keep a close eye on The DEW Line and @thedewline for the latest defense coverage here at Dubai.

Embraer
The Brazilian airframer is busy here at the show working both angles of its civil business. The company has brought its Lineage 1000 and Phenom 100, and is widely rumored to have several order announcements in the pipeline from Middle Eastern customers for its E-Jets. 

Bombardier
CSeries is at the forefront of Bombardier’s show strategy as the company plans to meet with “over a dozen” Middle Eastern airlines to sell the new narrowbody. An order could be up Bombardier’s sleeve, however the magic eight ball is quite cloudy on this one. Also, I’ll be chasing the latest on the M-170, Bombardier’s G650 competitor.

Gulfstream
Let’s just put it this way – I’m on first flight watch for G650. Low
speed taxi tests took place on 12 Nov in Savannah pushing T1 to about
20-30 knots, but the tests are indicative of a rapidly approaching
maiden flight for the company’s ultra long-range flagship.

Wild Cards
Latest on Sukhoi Superjet? China’s Comac 919? Mitsubishi’s MRJ? Unexpected comments, orders, etc. Like any good air show, you begin with one plan for the show which quickly gets torn up in the first five minutes. The only thing predictable here is the unpredictable.

Required Reading:

• Overview and show preview: Middle East sets course for economic recovery
• Business aviation bounces back: Joining the new jet set
• Dubai’s expanding airports: The sky’s the limit
• Jordan aims high: Oasis of enterprise
• Royal Jordanian‘s strategy: Linking the Levant
• A low-cost spy in the sky: Security on a budget
• Training the region: Alya Aviation Academy takes off at Aqba
• Gulf’s ambitious network carriers: Flying the flags
• Budget carriers cause a ripple: Low-cost challenge
• Bahrain and Oman fly solo: Out of the shadows
• UAE stockpiles weapon systems: Building an arsenal
• Saudi Arabia’s military muscle: Robust Riyadh
• Iraq gathers arms for 2012: Starting from scratch
• NATO-like coalition takes shape: Fractious friends
• US aid for Israel’s neighbours: Border security

DUBAI — Bombardier appears to be closing in on a new ultra long-range business jet to rival Gulfstream’s G650 and replace the company’s Global Express XRS.

The new clean-sheet project, says one source familiar with the program, is code named the M170.

Bombardier declined to comment if the M170 was, in fact, the company’s new ultra long-range business jet, however the a recent increase in listings in support of a non-descriptive “M170 program” have begun appearing on Canadian job websites.

In response to an inquiry about the M170 designation, the company chose only to say, “We are involved in a number of R&D projects.”