All Airframers articles – Page 1435
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News
New materials for GE fan blades
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Dow-United Technologies Composites Products is to develop jet-engine fan blades for General Electric, using an improved carbonfibre material. The blades will be produced using Dow-UT's advanced resin transfer moulding (AdvRTM) process, but employing the company's new Uni-Hybrid composite. Dow-UT says the new material is more ...
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Cyprus opts for Russia's Tor as standby to Italy's Aspide missile
Cyprus will buy the Russian Tor (SA-15) surface to air missile system if Italy continues to hesitate in selling the Alenia Aspide 330 system, according to Cypriot media sources. The Cypriot defence minister, Yiannakis Omirou, is understood to have told a closed session of the parliamentary defence committee that ...
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AMR searches for a buyer for its fixed-base operations chain
American Airlines' parent company AMR has put its AMR Combs fixed-base operation (FBO) network up for sale along with its AMR Services and TeleService Resources units. The company says it wants to focus on its core airline and Sabre computer reservations businesses. AMR acquired the Combs Gates network of ...
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Philippine Airlines reprieved by union deal
Grounded Philippine Airlines (PAL)has won a reprieve from a final shutdown, following a "yes" vote by ground staff to accept a government-brokered last-ditch deal to revive the ailing carrier financially . The 6,500-strong PAL Employees Association voted on 2 October by a two-to-one margin to accept the deal reached ...
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SAS thinks over airliner options
Julian Moxon/PARIS SAS says it could decide "by the end of the year" on its next airliner purchases, following the September delivery of its first Next Generation Boeing 737. The Scandinavian airline is looking at replacing its 14 200-seat Boeing 767-300ERs with the Boeing 777 or a mix ...
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Airbus may move wing production to China
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Airbus Industrie is proposing to transfer part of its A320 aircraft series wing production to China, in a move intended to compensate for the recent demise of the Sino-European AE31X regional jet programme and to counter a similar offer of 717 wing work from Boeing. The European consortium ...
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Australia throws challenge to flailing Air Niugini
Brisbane-based Flight West Airlines has expanded plans for new services between northern Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG), further challenging embattled Air Niugini on one of its prime revenue earning routes. The Australian regional carrier now plans to add two direct flights weekly between Cairns and PNG's second city, Lae, ...
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Southern Air ceases operations
Financially troubled US cargo carrier Southern Air Transport (SAT), which has been up for sale for some time, ceased operations on 25 September. The airline plans to liquidate assets as it contemplates filing for bankruptcy protection from creditors. The end came after first Fine Air Services, and then Kitty ...
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Proteus aims to reach new high
Scaled Composites, manufacturer of the Proteus high-altitude long operation aircraft, plans later this month to expand the flight envelope to altitudes above 35,000ft (10,700m) and speeds up to 175kt (320km/h) indicated airspeed (or Mach 0.55) as part of its goal of achieving "loiter" operations at 64,000ft. Proteus, which was ...
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MD-82 overrun at Ulsan adds to Korean Air's catalogue of woe
Korean Air's (KAL) battered safety record suffered another blow on 30 September when a Boeing MD-82 landing in wet weather at Ulsan Airport overran the runway by 150m (470ft), less than two months after another major incident at Seoul involving a KAL Boeing 747-400. According to the airline, three ...
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BA 777 order leads to launch of Trent 895
Rolls-Royce has launched the 95,000lb (423kN)-thrust Trent 895 engine on the back of an order to power up to 32 Boeing 777-200ERs ordered by British Airways (Flight International, 30 September-6 October). The 895 is identical to the current Trent 800, but has increased thrust because of higher temperature margins. ...
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Marconi tests head-up display system for 737
Certification flight testing of Marconi's HUD2020 head-up display (HUD) system for the Boeing 737 began on 28 September with a 2h 35min test flight from Mojave, California. The HUD, mounted by Tracor Flight Systems in the flightdeck of a 737-200 "-worked well during the initial flight", says Marconi, which ...
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737 Directive
The US Federal Aviation Administration has given affected airlines 60 days to inspect boost pump wiring on Boeing 737s which have logged 20,000-30,000 flight hours. It also ordered installation of an extra layer of Teflon sleeving to protect the fuel pump wires. The order affects 737-100-500 series. The FAA estimates ...
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Fairchild Dornier admits doubts over Crossair 728JET order
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Fairchild Dornier has admitted that doubts are growing over Crossair's commitment to the new 728JET family of regional aircraft, as a result of recent configuration decisions which have gone against the Swiss airline's wishes. Crossair and Lufthansa CityLine each signed a letter of intent earlier this year to ...
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Comair includes 70-seaters in big Canadair Regional Jet deal
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDONComair has placed the biggest single order ever for the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ), with a 10-year agreement for up to 150 aircraft, including its first deal for the stretched 70-seat version. The 50 firm orders are worth more than $1 billion. The deal from the Cincinnati-based Delta ...
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DHL standardises on A300B4 freighters for European services
Herman de Wulf/BRUSSELS DHL International is standardising on the Airbus A300B4 freighter for its European operations and says it will need more than the 14 aircraft it has already agreed to acquire. The European arm of DHL has its main hub in Brussels handling some 250t of freight a night. ...
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Boeing wins C-130 support contract
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded Boeing a $1.2 billion, 10-year contract to support variants of the Lockheed Martin C-130 operated by US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The Integrated Weapon System Support Programme (IWSSP) covers repair, maintenance, modification and upgrade of ...
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First for latest 737
KLM has ordered four Boeing 737-900s for delivery in 2001, becoming the first European customer for Boeing's latest 737 model. SAS has converted recently ordered 737-600s into a minimum of 12 CFM56-7-powered 737-700s and 737-800s. Source: Airline Business
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Routes
Renewed efforts to step up cooperation between Caribbean carriers could start with the joint handling, purchasing and wet leasing of cargo aircraft. The aim is to improve efficiency in one of the most fragmented air transport markets. US regional carrier Aspen Mountain Air is to restructure its route system ...
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The rouble plays Russian roulette
First it was the crisis in South East Asia. Now it is meltdown in Russia's financial system that is spreading panic in global markets. The lesson from Asia is that what may start with currency collapse swiftly and inevitably translates into damage for the real economy of production, output and ...