All Airframers articles – Page 1592

  • News

    Russian Mars 96 probe is ready for November launch

    1996-11-13T00:00:00Z

    Mars 96, Russia's contribution to an international three-craft exploration of the Red Planet, is due to be launched by a Proton K booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 16 November. It will follow the US Mars Global Surveyor, launched on 7 November, and the Mars Pathfinder, set for a 2 ...

  • News

    Admit it

    1996-11-13T00:00:00Z

    If anyone in global air-transport still believes that the legal minimum standards for airline pilot training are adequate for today's aircraft and air-traffic enviroment, they would do well to read the official report on the Birgenair Boeing 757 accident (P14). It states that the pilots involved in the accident, although ...

  • News

    New Snecma chief aims

    1996-11-13T00:00:00Z

    The new president of French engine manufacturer Snecma, Jean-Paul Béchat, says that the company's debt will be halved by the year-end, with "balanced books by the end of 1997". He is also making headway in attempts to avoid a sell-off of group subsidiaries - the prospect being faced by his ...

  • News

    USAir and Emirates boost Airbus

    1996-11-13T00:00:00Z

    Ramon Lopez/Washington DC and Max Kingsley-Jones/London Airbus Industrie has won two significant orders, securing agreements with USAir for up to 400 single-aisle aircraft and with Emirates for as many as 23 A330-200s. Both deals were won in the face of fierce competition from Boeing and McDonnell Douglas. ...

  • News

    Alitalia/Alpi Eagles conclude codeshare deal

    1996-11-13T00:00:00Z

    Marco Messalla/ROME Alitalia and Italian low-cost carrier Alpi Eagles have agreed a code-sharing deal, which includes the transfer of five Fokker 70s from Alitalia's former regional subsidiary Avianova -which has now been absorbed into the national carrier. Code-sharing operations will begin on 11 November, with Alpi ...

  • News

    Lockheed Martin starts non-core asset disposal

    1996-11-13T00:00:00Z

    Lockheed Martin has begun the promised disposal of non-core assets, with the sale of two armaments units to General Dynamics (GD)for an agreed price of $450 million. Lockheed Martin's Defense Systems and Armament Systems units, both of which employ around 1,600 workers, were originally part of the GE ...

  • News

    Transavia makes 'D-Check' on cost base

    1996-11-13T00:00:00Z

    Peter Legro, chairman of KLM subsidiary Transavia, says that the spiralling reduction in European air fares and the resultant erosion of yields has forced it to make a bottom-up study of its operations, to cut costs. "We are looking at every aspect of the airline, from the in-flight ...

  • News

    Canadian future is threatened if cost cuts are not endorsed

    1996-11-13T00:00:00Z

    Brian Dunn/MONTREAL Canadian Airlines International could be forced out of business by the turn of the year if employees and shareholders fail to endorse a sweeping programme of cost-cutting being proposed by the management, warns president Kevin Benson. The cost cuts, which are planned to add ...

  • News

    Reverser suspected in TAM Fokker crash

    1996-11-13T00:00:00Z

    Pilot exclamations on the cockpit voice recorder of the crashed TAM Brazilian Fokker 100 (Flight International, 6-12 November) have led investigators to suspect that the No 2 engine thrust-reverser may have operated in flight, say sources close to the investigation. This is supposed to be impossible, because the thrust-reverser actuators ...

  • News

    Hobart and Mak launch ground-power units

    1996-11-13T00:00:00Z

    Hobart Aircraft Ground Power has introduced a 90kVA ground-power unit (GPU), driven by a Deutz water-cooled engine. The GPU was launched at the InterAirport '96 show, held in Atlanta, Georgia, in October. The GPU combines an electrically governed Deutz engine with a generator designed by Troy, Ohio-based Hobart. ...

  • News

    Volga passengers

    1996-11-13T00:00:00Z

    The Russian heavyweight cargo specialist Volga-Dnepr Airlines has begun scheduled passenger services between its base in Ulyanovsk and Moscow. The carrier is flying 30-seater Yakovlev Yak-40s on the route, leased from the Ulyanovsk-based regional airline JSC Simbirsk Aero, which ceased flying in September because of debts of over 14 billion ...

  • News

    AVIC and AIA discuss extended-range AE-100

    1996-11-06T00:00:00Z

    Aviation Industries of China (AVIC) and Aero International Asia (AIA) are discussing development of an extended-range version of the proposed AirExpress AE-100 family of regional aircraft. According to industry sources, it is planned to offer the option of a longer-range derivative, designed to fly up to 4,800km ...

  • News

    IAE closes in on order for V2500 turbofans from SALE

    1996-11-06T00:00:00Z

    SINGAPORE AIRCRAFT Leasing Enterprise (SALE) is understood to be close to finalising a deal with International Aero Engines (IAE) for V2500 turbofans to power its planned fleet of 24 Airbus A320/A321s. SALE has selected the V2500 over the rival CFM International CFM56-5. The Singapore Airlines/Boullion Aviation Services joint-venture ...

  • News

    Maintenance Directory Part 3

    1996-11-06T00:00:00Z

    Compiled by Jennifer Pite/LONDON Introduction by Paul Lewis/Singapore A quick look at the activities of operators listed in this section of Flight International's three-part directory shows that, in the regions covered, the prime movers in maintenance at the moment are mostly based in Asia-Pacific. The ...

  • News

    China signs contract for CFM56-5B4s to power its A320 fleet

    1996-11-06T00:00:00Z

    China Aviation Supplies (CASC) has signed a $130 million contract with General Electric/Snecma for CFM56-5B4 engines to power 13 Airbus A320s for China Northwest Airlines and Zhejiang Airlines. Under a deal already agreed with CASC, ten of the A320s will be allocated to China Northwest, and the remaining ...

  • News

    Turkey issues RFP for F-5 avionics-upgrade plans

    1996-11-06T00:00:00Z

    Tony Gill/WASHINGTON DC Turkey has issued a new request for proposals (RFP) for an avionics modernisation of its Northrop F-5s. A separate, but interdependent F-5 structural upgrade, to be performed by the Turkish air force and local industry, makes up the remainder of a programme to update ...

  • News

    Boeing approaches 747-500X/600X design freeze

    1996-11-06T00:00:00Z

    Boeing is making final adjustments to the configuration of the 747-500X/600X as it prepares for an expected programme launch in early 1997.The changes are being made following analysis of more than 1,000h of wind-tunnel tests in Europe and the USA. Although Boeing warns that some changes can still be expected, ...

  • News

    Bombardier offers Challenger 604 part-shares

    1996-11-06T00:00:00Z

    Bombardier Business Jet Solutions has taken delivery of the first Canadair Challenger 604 for use in its FlexJet fractional-ownership programme. The delivery boosts the number of aircraft operated by the Bombardier/AMR Combs joint venture to 22, including eight Learjet 31A light business jets, nine mid-sized Learjet 60s and three wide-body ...

  • News

    BA 777 transatlantic

    1996-11-06T00:00:00Z

    British Airways initiated transatlantic services with its Boeing 777s on 27 October, between London Heathrow and Boston. Until now, the airline has been forced to deploy the 777 on its Gulf routes, because of the delay in extended-range twin-engined operations approval of the General Electric GE90-powered version. BA will launch ...

  • News

    Northwest orders RJ85s for Mesaba

    1996-11-06T00:00:00Z

    Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC NORTHWEST AIRLINES has placed a $300 million order with Aero International (Regional) (AI(R) for 12 Avro RJ85 regional airliners, for operation by its feeder partner Mesaba Airlines. The deal, which includes options for 24 more RJ85s, is the first order for the aircraft from ...