All Airframers articles – Page 1585
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PMAT for 747-400
California-based Demo Systems and Boeing have signed a licensing agreement for a software package which will enable Demo's portable maintenance access terminal (PMAT) - originally developed for the Boeing 777- to interface with the Boeing 747-400 central maintenance computer. The development has been asked for by several airlines, which would ...
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Out of the wilderness
The new chief executive of Air Niugini, Moses Maladina, is leading the national airline of Papua New Guinea towards privatisation. Paul Phelan/PORT MORESBY AIR NIUGINI'S new chief executive and former company secretary, 31-year-old lawyer Moses Maladina, faces daunting tasks in his work of grooming the airline ...
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Theseus flies
The Aurora Flight Sciences Theseus remotely piloted aircraft had a successful 1h 17min flight on 1 July at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, California, when it reached an altitude of around 8,000ft (2,450m). The first flight of the Theseus was cut short by problems with the propeller controller ...
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Family fortunes
Braathens SAFE celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, with the founder's grandson at the helm Max Kingsley-Jones/OSLO AT THE LAST COUNT, the Norwegian population totalled some 4.5 million. In 1995, Norway's flag carrier, Braathens SAFE, carried more than 4 million passengers on its domestic routes, representing 52% ...
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Lockheed Martin begins talks with Czech manufacturers
LOCKHEED MARTIN has held negotiations with Aerovodochody and engine manufacturer Motorlet on possible industrial offset packages which could accompany a deal to sell F-16 fighters to the Czech Republic. A team of industrial experts from the US manufacturer arrived in Prague on 1 July for discussions with several ...
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Deutsche Post seeks domestic airmail
GERMANY'S POSTAL service Deutsche Post is to issue, for the first time, an international invitation to tender for internal German nighttime airmail services. The tender will be issued later this month. Deutsche Post says that the new contract will begin on 26 October, and will be worth "three-figure ...
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Unions kill Air France Europe
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDONJulian Moxon/PARIS THE GRAND PLAN of Air France Group chairman Christian Blanc to create a single European operation from the merger of Air Inter and Air France's regional operations, has been blocked by the unions' failure to agree to productivity improvements. Instead, Blanc says that Air ...
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Gulf Air stems losses with rationalisation
GULF AIR SAYS that route cuts and rationalisation of its fleet have put it back on course for an early return to profitability, but warns that further cuts are in the pipeline. The airline had revealed that it lost $159 million in 1995 (Flight International, 3-9 April). Outlining ...
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Airbus tackles A320 pilot shortage
Andrew Doyle/LONDON AN AIRBUS INDUSTRIE pilot team is attempting to improve the utilisation rate of Indian Airlines' A320 fleet. The team, which consists of Airbus training captains and airline check-pilots, has been dispatched to the airline in an effort to help it overcome a shortage ...
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Tu-204 programme in doubt
THE FUTURE OF THE Tupolev Tu-204 has been thrown into doubt, following a decision by Aeroflot-Russian International Airlines (ARIA) to leave the Russian Aviation Consortium, an industrial investment group set up to promote the aircraft. ARIA has already invested around 48 billion roubles ($10 million) in the consortium, ...
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Embraer increases EMB-145 cruise speed
WITH THE Embraer EMB-145 flight-test programme now well on the way towards certification, the Brazilian manufacturer has released more details on the improved performance of the aircraft, with cruise speed and fuel consumption better than originally advertised. At an early stage of flight-testing, Embraer revealed that the aircraft ...
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Spanish wings
Gamesa Aeronautica of Spain has signed a contract with Sino-Swearingen Aircraft to build the wing for the SJ-30 business jet. The initial contract is valid for ten years, and has a value of Ptas 50,000 million ($400 million). The work will be undertaken at the company's Vitoria-Gasteiz plant, where Gamesa ...
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Virgin service
Euro Belgian Airlines is to start a service linking Rome and Madrid on 2 September, marking the company's first market outside its Brussels hub. The low-fare service will be operated with a new Boeing 737-300, due to be delivered in August, when the company will be formally relaunched as Virgin ...
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Soyuz facelift
Russia's space booster, the Soyuz, is receiving new engines and avionics. Tim Furniss/LONDON RUSSIA'S CENTRAL Specialised Design Bureau in Samara has formed a partnership with France's Aerospatiale and the European launcher organisation Arianespace to attempt to market the Russian Soyuz booster for launches into low-Earth ...
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Eurowings turns first profit
Andrzej Jeziorski/NUREMBERG GERMAN AIRLINE Eurowings, buoyed by strong growth in Europe's regional market, has announced its first profit since its formation from the merger of NFD Luftverkehrs and Regionalflug in 1993. The airline reports a net profit of DM2 million ($1.3 million), reversing a loss ...
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Western Pacific nears decisions on orders
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON WESTERN PACIFIC is about to finalise plans for the acquisition of new aircraft, with orders anticipated for a 30- to 40-seat aircraft for its new commuter-airline division, and orders for Boeing 737-300s and -700s expected for its main fleet. The Colorado Springs, USA-based ...
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Cycles in the sky
The aviation-industry recovery is in full swing, but economists are even now forecasting when the next downturn will occur Kevin O'Toole/LONDON IN GERMANY THEY CALL it the pig cycle. When pork prices rise, farmers pile into the market to cash in on the boom, only to find ...
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UK charter operator Excalibur finally folds
UK CHARTER OPERATOR Excalibur Airways, pilloried in the UK media for two weeks over a series of embarrassing delays, went into liquidation on 26 June. The decision is blamed partly on the "sensationalised media coverage", which followed a scare among passengers over technical problems on a leased McDonnell ...
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Bouillioun order
Boullioun Aviation Services has concluded a $350 million contract with Boeing for eight Boeing 737-300s, which marks the first new order placed by the lessor. It is understood that some of the orders could be delivered as the -400 variant. The Seattle, USA-based leasing company, a division of Sumimoto Trust ...
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BAe looks to cash in on jets
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON BRITISH AEROSPACE'S jet-aircraft leasing arm has announced the sale of another three ex-Swissair Fokker 100s, and says that it plans to take advantage of the market upturn to begin selling down more of its fleet of BAe 146 regional jets. BAe Asset Management-Jets ...