Airframers – Page 1412
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Royal Air Maroc fine-tunes fleet renewal requirements
Emma Kelly/CASABLANCA Royal Air Maroc (RAM) will finalise its long-haul fleet requirements by June. It is close to completing its fleet plans for the next 13 years, but is "fine-tuning" its needs, says chairman and chief executive Mohamed Hassad. The Moroccan flag carrier has decided that its major requirement ...
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Airbus seeks exit rule changes
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH David Learmount/LONDON Airbus Industrie is trying to persuade European and US regulatory authorities to modify certification rules to allow it to build the A340-600 with the same number of emergency exits as the smaller -300, despite the fact that the new variant seats nearly 100 more passengers. To ...
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Lufthansa eyes new 767 options
Guy Norris/SEATTLE Lufthansa is studying a possible new version of the Boeing 767 being evaluated as a potential spin-off development of the new -400 entering production. The German flag carrier could be interested in a longer-range version of the 767-300ER and an extended-range variant of the -400ER, which ...
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Fairchild and ATR close in on joint venture decision
Jens Flottau/MUNICH Andrew Doyle/BERLIN The chief executives of Fairchild Aerospace and ATR partners Aerospatiale and Alenia are expected to meet on 22 March to discuss joint-venture plans amid signs that the US company may be willing to make major concessions to secure a regional aircraft tie-up. Meanwhile, it ...
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BASE enters BA franchise deal
Dutch regional carrier BASE Airlines has linked with British Airways to operate franchise services from its base in Eindhoven. BASE becomes the tenth BA franchisee, and brings seven new routes to its European network. BASE provides links from Eindhoven and Rotterdam to Birmingham, Manchester, Zurich and London Gatwick. London ...
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737 wiring checks
Compulsory inspections for chafed fuel float switch wiring in the centre fuel tank of US-registered Boeing 737-100s through to -500s have been ordered by the US Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA says that wire chafing caused by vibration could provide an ignition source inside the fuel tank. Source: Flight ...
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Escape route
Reducing the number of cabin exits to accelerate emergency passenger evacuation sounds like a contradiction in terms. That is, however, what Airbus Industrie is arguing as it tries to persuade European and US regulators to change the certification rules which affect the exit layout for its stretched A340, the -600 ...
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Marketplace
Augsburg Airways has moved on plans to order Bombardier Dash 8Q-400s, with a deal for five aircraft, including two options (Flight International, 17-23 February). Deliveries will take place in mid-2000. Alitalia regional subsidiary Alitalia Express has ordered three ATR 72-500s for delivery between July and December, to replace ...
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Peruvian domestic carrier reaches into Chilean market
Peruvian domestic carrier Aero Continente is investing $10 million in setting up an airline in Chile. The company will take a 49% stake in the airline - the maximum permitted under Chilean law. The remaining stake will be held by a group of Chilean investors led by airline pilot ...
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News in Brief
Allied A340 deal AlliedSignal's 331-600 auxiliary power unit (APU) has been selected by Airbus for the A340-500 and -600 growth versions in a deal worth more than $1 billion over the expected life of the programme. The new APU is based on the 331-500 developed for the Boeing 777 ...
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Bavaria Leasing eyes 328JETs for Mediterranean services
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Bavaria International Aircraft Leasing is studying the Fairchild Dornier 328JET 33-seat regional jet for operations between southern Germany and Mediterranean destinations, and expects to decide by April. The plan stems from a desire by Bavaria Leasing's 100% shareholder, the Schoerghuber family, to boost premium class flight ...
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Go chases offshore base plan
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Go, the low-cost airline set up by British Airways last year, looks set to adopt the strategy of rival airlines such as easyJet and Virgin Express by establishing a string of "offshore" mini-hubs throughout Europe. Barbara Cassani, chief executive of the London Stansted-based airline, revealed the plans ...
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Iberia examines 747 replacements
Max Kingsley-Jones/MADRID Iberia is finalising the last element of its fleet renewal programme to enable it to begin phasing out its Boeing 747-200s in three-four years' time. Last year, the Spanish flag carrier signed deals with Airbus Industrie covering orders for up to 76 Airbus A320 family aircraft ...
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KLM completes testing of 747 cockpit upgrade
KLM Engineering & Maintenance and Canadian Marconi have completed flight tests of a Boeing 747 Classic cockpit upgrade, and have achieved supplemental type certification. The upgrade will extend the life of KLM's fleet of 13 747-200/300s beyond 2010. The cockpit upgrade is built around three Canadian Marconi CMA-900 flight management ...
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Can or should?
An appeal from Boeing has put extended range twin-engined operations (ETOPS) in the headlines again. It does not take much to regenerate heated ETOPS debate among those within the airline industry or those outside. For some time now Boeing, and Pacific route operators of its 777, have been pressing ...
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New Chinook variant enters final assembly for October roll-out
The first improved Boeing CH-47SD Chinook is in final assembly ready for a planned October roll-out. Meanwhile, work has begun on remanufacturing the first two US Army machines to the modernised CH-47F configuration under the Improved Cargo Helicopter (ICH) programme. With the switch to the new CH-47SD, Boeing hopes ...
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Revolutionary rotorcraft enters US race for maritime VTOL UAV
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The UK's Intora-Firebird is to offer its Firebird hydrogen peroxide-powered rotorcraft in the US Department of Defense's competition to acquire a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicle (UAV) for the US Navy and Marine Corps. The company joins a list of contenders for the ...
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Daewoo plans armed scout variant of KT-1
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE Daewoo Heavy Industries is expecting a development contract this year for an armed reconnaissance variant of its KT-1 Woong-Bee turboprop trainer, designated the KO-X (Flight International, 4-11 November, 1998). According to Kwang Jin Lee, managing director of Daewoo's aerospace and defence division, the South Korean state-run ...
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Martian gliders
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA hopes to deploy a fleet of small gliders to explore parts of Mars that other spacecraft cannot reachSwooping through Mars' own grand canyon, the Valles Marineris, would be the ultimate hang-gliding trip. The first aircraft to make that tantalising journey could be the $40 million Mars ...
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Archedyne revamps Amjet 400 amphibian
Archedyne has redesigned its Amjet 400 single-engined amphibian business aircraft, changing the name, the number of engines and fuselage length. Now dubbed the Nautic Air 450, the aircraft will be powered by two Williams FJX-2s when they enter the market next year, and its 12.2m (40ft) fuselage has been extended ...