The Turnbull govt is under pressure to allow foreign airlines to operate as many flights as they want to the planned new Western Sydney Airport in order to boost its commercial viability. Classifying it a "regional airport" under international agreements will also give it a leg up against Sydney Airport, which investment banks now rate a low chance of constructing the new airport at Badgerys Creek. NSW opposition leader Luke Foley has demanded the federal govt confirm that the new airport will be exempt from the restrictions imposed on foreign airlines which fly to Australia's major airports such as Sydney's Kingsford Smith. "This is a way to support the airport at no cost to the taxpayer," he said in a letter to federal Urban Infrastructure minister Paul Fletcher. <br/>
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Russia’s United Engine Corp. (UEC), a part of state-owned Rostec, is ready to equip Ilyushin Il-114-300 aircraft with turboprop engine TV7-117ST, UEC said Feb 16. The Il-114-300 is a relaunched version of the Ilyushin Il-114 regional airliner. The TV7-117ST is a main engine for the Il-112V military aircraft. The engine’s maximum take-off power on the Il-114-300 will reach 3,000 hp, with a contingency power of 3,600 hp, UEC said. “The use of the same engine for the Il-112V and Il-114-300 will allow us to cut costs and will be an example for the transfer of military technologies to civil aircraft,” UEC added. The Il-114 is twin-engined turboprop designed by the Ilyushin design bureau in the late 1980s. Aircraft were assembled in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, but in 2012 the line was closed with just 20 aircraft built. <br/>