All air transport news – Page 2154
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News
Aircraft mixture may fill US sensor scheme
A US Army requirement for an Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) aircraft could be met with a mix of long-range/high-endurance fixed-wing aircraft and unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). ACS will combine the capabilities of three aircraft types into one or more platforms, offering corps-level airborne intelligence, surveillance and target acquisition capabilities. ...
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Kenya Airways weighs options for long-haul aircraft renewal
Jens Flottau/NAIROBI Kenya Airways is preparing to undertake a long-haul fleet-renewal programme. The carrier has issued requests for proposals to Airbus and Boeing and to leasing companies. A decision on the new long-haul fleet could be made as early as January. Although the airline's new chairman Richard Nyaga ...
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Delta learns crash lessons with mask deal
Delta Air Lines is to equip all its aircraft with full-face cockpit oxygen masks from BE Aerospace. The move follows a number of fatal fires and comes ahead of an anticipated Federal Aviation Administration ruling on their use. The airline plans to fit the system to all 600 ...
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Workshop
Australian regional Kendell Airlines has selected GE Engine Services to maintain and service the General Electric CF34-3Bs which power its new Canadair Regional Jet fleet. The deal is valued at around $40 million. KLM and its subsidiary, Martinair, have signed a contract with Boeing covering the exchange, overhaul and repair ...
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Helios charters rise in Cyprus
Backed by Cypriot and Swiss investors, a new privately owned charter carrier serving the leisure market will start operations from Larnaca, southern Cyprus, next June. Already licensed by Cyprus, the carrier, Helios Airways, will launch services with a single 170-seat Boeing 737-400 leased from GE Capital Aviation Services. By ...
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Globalstar tally increases as ICO changes business plan
Tim Furniss/LONDON Starsem launched another Soyuz-Ikar booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on 18 October, carrying four more Globalstar satellites into orbit, bringing the total to 44. Starsem, the Aerospatiale Matra, Arianespace, Russian Space Agency and Samara Space Centre company, plans another launch next month, carrying another four ...
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Airbus sales irk US Congressman
America West Airlines has confirmed a deal for up to 77 Airbus Industrie A320 series aircraft. The move follows a Frontier Airlines letter of intent (LoI) for another 20 jets, rekindling US political criticism of the European manufacturer's growing success in the US market at Boeing's expense. Phoenix-based America ...
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Continental boss hits out at Airbus A340/ETOPS campaign
Continental Airlines chief executive Gordon Bethune has hit out at Airbus Industrie over its advertising campaign promoting the safety of four-engined aircraft versus twins on Pacific routes. In a letter to Airbus managing director Noel Forgeard, Bethune accuses Airbus of exploiting "the unfounded fears of the travelling public on ...
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British Midland gets ready for Star sign
British Midland (BM) is poised to sign to with Star Alliance after agreeing to a two-week period of exclusive negotiations with Lufthansa. BM has been veering towards one global grouping after another for months. BM says its "proposed agreement" with Lufthansa would see the German major acquire a 20% ...
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Boeing to study further 777 stretch
Andrew Doyle/BRUSSELS Boeing is studying the possibility of stretching the 777-300X to accommodate up to 60 more passengers. The move comes at the request of some of the airlines evaluating the twinjet as a replacement for the 747-400. "We're listening to the airlines and asking the question: 'Can ...
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SAA targets Nigeria for sub-Saharan alliance
Hilka Birns/CAPE TOWN South African Airways (SAA) aims to become the guiding force in an alliance of sub-Saharan airlines, as it negotiates to acquire a major shareholding in Nigeria Airways. The moves come as the South African carrier prepares to relaunch a competition to upgrade its short- and long-haul ...
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USA aims to extend open skies arrangements round the world
The US Government plans to use a forthcoming meeting to spark discussions on broadening the scope of current bilateral open skies agreements into regional or global arrangements. It has previously been reluctant to do this. The gathering of international transport and aviation authorities will take place in Chicago on ...
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Tupolev Tu-334 is cleared for assembly at Moscow factory
Series production of the Tupolev Tu-334 twinjet has moved a step nearer, with the Russian Government issuing a special order approving assembly at the MAPO plant in Moscow. The paper, signed in early October by Russia's prime minister, Vladimir Putin, replaces a previous government decision to launch series production ...
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Bombardier will decide on regional jets early next year
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Bombardier says decisions on whether to proceed with the 90-seat CRJ-900 and 110-seat BRJ-X regional jets will be taken independently, within months of each other, next year. The Canadian company is offering the CRJ-900 to airlines, but will not have the authority to offer the ...
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Marconi secures 737 HUD approval from FAA
American Airlines is set to receive its first Boeing 737-800 equipped with a Marconi HUD 2020 Visual Guidance System (VGS) this month, following US Federal Aviation Administration certification of the head-up display (HUD). The aircraft is the first of at least 103 737-800s due to be fitted with the VGS, ...
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Boeing set to launch cockpit upgrades for 'classic' airliners
Andrew Doyle/BRUSSELS Boeing plans to launch major cockpit upgrade programmes for the 737 Classic, MD-80 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9 as airlines begin to address the problem of how to comply with future air navigation requirements. The initiative is being driven by industry moves to establish a "free flight" regime in ...
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Marketplace
Air Canada has received the first of six Rolls-Royce Trent 700-powered Airbus A330-300s. Qatari wet-lease specialist Gulf Falcon Group has arranged to acquire five ex-Japan Airlines Boeing 747s, including two -100s and three -200s, from Itochu Air Lease, for delivery from December. Indigo Aviation has sold two CFM International CFM56-powered ...
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TWA and Delta expand hub feed
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Trans World Airlines is to launch a regional jet operation as part of an expansion of its feeder service. Another US carrier, Delta Air Lines, has moved to further strengthen its Connection network by acquiring partner airline Comair. TWA plans to have eight 50-seat regional ...
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Lufthansa's Lido scoops BA flight planning contract
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH British Airways has chosen Lufthansa Group subsidiary Lido to provide its new advanced flight planning system after a two-year selection process. The UK carrier will use Lido Operation Centre (Lido OC) for all flight planning and dispatch procedures, replacing the SWORD system bought from American Airlines ...
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Europe realigns industry sectors
Chris Jasper and Stewart Penney/LONDON British Aerospace and Finmeccanica are to create a European defence electronics business from Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS). AMS is a joint venture between the Italian conglomerate's Alenia Difesa company and Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), with which BAe is merging. The breakthrough agreement, first ...