All Airframers articles – Page 1463
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News
SA Airlink will move on Kalahari Express deal
South African regional airline SA Airlink has reached an agreement with Namibian state holding company TransNamib on taking a large stake in start-up Kalahari Express Airlines. The agreement still needs to be ratified by both boards. Trans Namib rescued the airline in June after the original shareholders failed to ...
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US Army saves the Outrider as Navy VTOL UAV
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Department of Defense Joint Requirements Oversight Council has agreed to let the US Navy and the US Marine Corps switch to a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicle (UAV), while allowing the US Army to procure the Alliant Techsystems Outrider UAV. ...
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Boeing faces tough delivery target
Boeing's efforts to stretch production capacity has left it facing the challenge of delivering up to 182 aircraft over the last three months of the year if it is to meet its predicted delivery tally of 550 aircraft in 1998. According to third quarter delivery figures released by the ...
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Boeing completes reshuffle
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has made sweeping changes to its management in the wake of the structural changes announced in early September providing for three new Commercial Airplane business units. Under newly appointed Boeing Commercial Airplane Group president Alan Mulally, the company is divided into three main units. ...
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PAL seeks foreign capital as resumption nears
Philippine Airlines (PAL) is due to resume skeleton international flights from 15 October, following the restart of domestic services with a much reduced fleet of aircraft. It is now seeking to attract new foreign investors, with efforts focused on Cathay Pacific Airways and Northwest Airlines. International operations will begin ...
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Virgin to grow single-aisle fleet
Günter Endres/LONDON Virgin Atlantic is to boost its Airbus A320 fleet in the next few months to accommodate the expansion of its European scheduled and charter flights. Initial expansion is expected later this year, with the opening of the London Heathrow-Moscow service, followed by the start of the new ...
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Solid succeeds Icelandair service
New Luxembourg airline Solid'air is to plug the gap which will be left by the planned withdrawal next January of Icelandair's long-standing operations out of the Grand Duchy. Solid'air is working towards a 12 December start, putting together a regular schedule to destinations in Florida and the Caribbean. ...
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Marketplace
-India's Jet Airways has taken delivery of two Boeing 737-800s. The leased aircraft will replace one 737-400 and one 737-500. -Indian airline Bengal Air is adding two more British Aerospace 748-2Bs for a late October start. -Cargo airline Atlas Air has purchased Cargolux International's three Boeing 747-200 freighters, but will ...
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Space rescue
Tim Furniss/LONDON On 26 September, 92 days after being lost in deep space, the European Space Agency (ESA)/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) began sending back images of the sun again. The spacecraft's remarkable rescue owes much of its success to the initial location work completed by the large radio ...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 ...