Airframers – Page 1614
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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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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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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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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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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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Atlas lease
Atlas Air is to lease a Boeing 747-200 freighter to Thai Airways - the carrier's first - under a $76 million, three-year contract which holds a one-year option. Thai Airways has the option to lease two other aircraft from Atlas Air in two years' time. The deal, with all options, ...
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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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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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Tay approval
IPTN's Universal Maintenance Centre at Bandung, Indonesia, has been granted US Federal Aviation Administration approval for the repair and overhaul of the Rolls-Royce Tay 650 engine. This follows Rolls-Royce's own approval to maintain the engine. The Tay 650 powers the Fokker 100 regional airliner, which is operated by Indonesian airlines ...
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LIAT orders DASH 8s
Caribbean regional carrier LIAT has ordered three 50-seat Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-300 turboprops, worth about $43 million. The airline already operates nine 36-seat Dash 8-100s, and six Twin Otters. Source: Flight International
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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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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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IAI makes plans to convert KLM Boeing 747s SUDs
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON THE BEDEK Aviation Division of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) is about to sign a contract with KLM for the conversion of two Boeing 747-200 stretched upper deck (SUD) combis to full freighter configuration. The Netherlands airline has signed a letter of intent, and ...
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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 ...
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Emirates is looking at Airbus replacements
Max Kingsley-Jones andAndrew Doyle/LONDON EMIRATES IS evaluating bids from Airbus and Boeing for around 16 aircraft to replace its fleet of Airbus A300-600Rs and A310-300s after 1998. Gulf rival Kuwait Airways, meanwhile, has agreed a deal swapping Boeing 747-400 orders for Boeing 777s. The packages ...
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Basic appeal
The EMB-145 is not an innovative aircraft, but Embraer's attention to basics makes it pleasant to fly. Peter Henley/SAO JOSE EMBRAER, IT SEEMS, could not be launching its EMB-145 50-seater at the world's commuter-airline market at a better time. Delays to the programme arising from its privatisation and ...
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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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A330s and 777 share Asiana deal
Paul Lewis/JAKARTA ASIANA AIRLINES of South Korea has signed agreements with Airbus Industrie and Boeing to order up to 58 new Airbus A330s, Boeing 777s, 747-400s and 767-300s in what is likely to be the largest widebody deal to be agreed this year. The carrier ...
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New test needed for CFM56-7B
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES CFM INTERNATIONAL (CFMI) plans to test a revised fan-blade retainer design on the CFM56-7B engine, following the failure of the original system during a crucial blade-off test which resulted in several blades detaching. Despite the need for a new test, CFMI is ...