All Airframers articles – Page 1352
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News
AA 2000 to open x-files?
What are the chances of Asian Aerospace turning into an X-rated show? Asia-Pacific holds the key to the next major aircraft programmes planned by Airbus Industrie and Boeing. The European airframer is carrying out market testing for its planned 550-seat A3XX all-new aircraft and expects the region to account for ...
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Routes
Channel Islands-based Aurigny will launch twice-daily services between Guernsey and Manchester in the UK next month, using a Saab 340. Air France and Italian start-up Gandalf Airlines have signed a codeshare agreement on the Bergamo-Paris route, which Gandalf will operate with its Fairchild 328JETs. The agreement could be expanded to ...
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Road to recovery
The gloom of the past two years has been replaced by a cautious optimism Chris Jasper and Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON When the aerospace industry last gathered in Singapore, for Asian Aerospace '98, the sense of gloom was almost palpable. Subsequent events fully justified that pessimism. Only now are Asian orders beginning ...
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Lengthy service
The world's longest airliner, the 777-300, has been working for 18 months. Some of its key operators assess its progress Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Although Airbus Industrie pioneered the widebody twinjet concept in the early 1970s, its rival Boeing has developed the configuration to its ultimate size and weight, with ...
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Regional jets steal output lead
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON The booming regional market continued its climb skyward last year, as more airlines made the inevitable move to jets. The regional jet order backlog has increased by almost 50%, putting further pressure on the few turboprops still in production. Last year represented the cross-over point in ...
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Bad company
Asia's poor safety performers tarnish airlines in the region with good records David Learmount/LONDON By the end of the 1990s, South Asia and Asia Pacific had earned a poor reputation for airline safety, although not all of the region's airlines deserved it, but they suffer for the sins of others, ...
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Russians attach strings to opening up Polar routes
Paul Lewis/Washington DC The Russian Federation has agreed to a limited opening of the new transpolar and transSiberian routes to scheduled traffic, but is making full and open access conditional upon receiving international assistance to modernise its air traffic management system. At a recent International Civil Aviation Organisation-chaired ...
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Airbus lines up huge MAS order
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is in the final stages of negotiations with Airbus Industrie on an order for up to 80 aircraft, including 18 A340-500/600 widebodies and up to 62 examples of the A320 family. Industry sources say the aircraft types have been agreed ...
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Air Foyle plans widebody arm
Chris Jasper/LONDON UK cargo carrier and wet-lease specialist Air Foyle is to revamp its freight business around widebody long-haul operations, using four Boeing 747-200Fs. It plans to lease Boeing 737 Classics as it rethinks its passenger strategy after selling a controlling stake in Ireland's CityJet to Air France. Air Foyle's ...
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Air Canada tackles part of Canadian's debts
Air Canada has restructured part of the C$3.5 billion ($2.4 billion) debt owed by Canadian Airlines, with which it is merging, after reaching agreement with GE Capital Aviation Services. The deal, worth "tens of millions of dollars" according to Air Canada chief executive Robert Milton, covers the lease of a ...
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R-R and SR Technics agree Trent venture
SR Technics and Rolls-Royce have reached agreement on the formation of a Trent engine overhaul joint venture to serve operators in Europe and Africa. The pair had been discussing the move for over a year, but had struggled to agree a structure for the organisation. Under the deal, Zurich-based ...
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Caribbean start-ups muscle in on the action
Airline competition in the Caribbean is set to heat up with the planned entry of two new start-ups Eastern Caribbean Express and Caribbean Star Airlines, putting added pressure on the region's financially struggling regional operators to restructure and realign operations. Eastern Caribbean aims to start in April, using three Bombardier ...
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MD-80 crash sparks emergency AD
David Learmount/LONDON Guy Norris/Los Angeles Operators of the Boeing MD-80 series, MD-90s and 717-200s and the McDonnell Douglas (MDC) DC-9 series are making urgent examinations of stabiliser jackscrews and other elements of the pitch-control system. The checks follow preliminary inspections of the wreckage of the Alaska Airlines MD-83, ...
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CFM and Russians tie the knot on Il-76MF
Tashkent Production Plant TAPO, Ilyushin and CFM International (CFMI) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) covering development of an Ilyushin CFM56- powered Il-76MF freighter. The agreement calls for the potential launch of the programme by the end of the year, pending the sale of "at least five" aircraft, ...
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SAS studies candidates for 70-seat regional jet order
Andrew Doyle/COPENHAGEN SAS expects to launch a competition early next year to select a 70-90-seat regional jet family. The carrier requires around 20 aircraft for use on long thin routes, mainly from Stockholm and Oslo. The Scandinavian carrier, which does not operate regional jets, plans to complete a ...
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CFMI and Airbus discuss new powerplant to revitalise A340
Guy Norris/CINCINNATIAirbus Industrie and CFM International (CFMI) are in talks on proposed development of an upgraded A340-200/300 with an engine variant combining the CFM56-5C with the core of the CFM56-5B/P. At the same time, the General Electric/Snecma venture is adopting automotive assembly techniques to improve production efficiency. No firm agreement ...
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Boeing's 777-300 reliability figures are the best for a widebody introduction
Boeing's 777-300 reliability figures are the best for a widebody introduction Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Boeing says its experience with the introduction of the 777-300 has been a case of "no news is good news". Mike Fleming, Boeing's 777 fleet support chief, says: "In terms of performance ...
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Engine makers discuss A330-100 options
All three leading engine manufacturers are discussing with Airbus Industrie powerplant options in the 55-60,000lb-thrust (245-267kN) range for its proposed A330-100 medium-range 250-seat development. The aircraft is expected to combine an aerodynamically modified A300-600R wing with a shortened A330 fuselage. A quick solution is required to meet a projected ...
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Routes
Swissair is withdrawing its six-times weekly scheduled service between Basle and New York Newark from 26 March, citing poor demand with an average load factor of less than 60%. The flights, operated using an Airbus A310 and codeshared with the Swiss flag carrier's regional subsidiary Crossair, were introduced a year ...
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Marketplace
Air Alps Aviation of Innsbruck, Austria, has acquired an ex-PB Air Dornier 328-110 turboprop, in a deal arranged by Aircraft Leasing & Management. The deal boosts Air Alps' (which operates as KLM Alps) fleet of 328s to four. Safair of South Africa has placed two Boeing MD-82s with French carrier ...