All air transport news – Page 2177
-
News
Teledesic finalises Internet deal
Teledesic has signed a launch contract with Lockheed Martin and concluded a system agreement with Motorola for its global, broadband Internet-in-the-sky satellite communications network. Teledesic's contract with Lockheed Martin calls for the lift-off of three Proton M and three Atlas V launches, carrying multiple Teledesic satellites per mission, with ...
-
News
SabreTech faces ValuJet murder charge
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC SabreTech, the maintenance contractor for the former ValuJet Airlines, says it will "vigorously defend" itself against murder and manslaughter charges brought by Florida state prosecutors. It also faces federal grand jury criminal indictments. The charges relate to the crash of a ValuJet McDonnell Douglas ...
-
News
Boeing tackles winglet erosion in MD-11 modification package
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing plans to complete work by the end of the year on improvements to tackle long-standing operational problems on the MD-11. They include new coatings to prevent excessive erosion to the winglets, modifications to stop skin cracks and changes to system fittings and valves to prevent ...
-
News
Italian Venture
Finmeccanica and UK partner Rolls-Royce have opened a joint turbine blade manufacturing company at Morra de Sanctis in Italy. Europea Microfusioni Aerospaziali is 66.6% owned by Finmeccanica with R-R holding the remainder. Source: Flight International
-
News
Vagabond four-seater aims for home with private operators
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON A four-seat general aviation aircraft aimed at private operators is being developed by Italian design and engineering company Etruria Technology. The Vagabond piston single is in the design phase, says Etruria. "We are about two years away from the maiden flight of the first [of three] ...
-
News
General Electric pushes on with JSF powerplant development
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES General Electric's Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) JSF-F120 engine team has signed a $440 million contract with the JSF programme office covering Phase III of the alternative engine development effort. The contract, consisting of $115 million covering the firm requirement for Phase III and an option ...
-
News
New engines
Reg Technologies has completed a short test run of a new "winged-rotor" diesel engine being developed through NASA's Small Business Innovation Research programme. Vancouver, Canada-based Reg also seeks a $600,000 grant to design, fabricate and test a 185kW (250hp) Rand Cam engine built to power light aircraft. The engine borrows ...
-
News
Mesa's preference for 35-seat regional jet favours Embraer
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTONMesa Air Group wants early delivery of a new 50-seat regional jet. It has an additional requirement for a smaller complementary aircraft, giving the Embraer RJ-145 the edge over the competing Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-200. Phoenix, Arizona-based Mesa plans soon to announce the acquisition of up 40 new ...
-
News
BM widens the field for Fokker replacement
British Midland (BM) is widening its evaluation of 100-seat aircraft to replace its Fokker 70/100 and warns that, with the increasing number of new types becoming available, Boeing will have to make a "very attractive offer" to win the UK carrier's order for its 717 twinjet. The airline has ...
-
News
Routes
Japan Airlines (JAL) plans to codeshare with Iberia on Amsterdam-Madrid and Amsterdam-Barcelona routes from October. JAL and KLM co-operate on the Amsterdam-Spain routes, but this would end if the JAL/Iberia link is confirmed. Continental Airlines launched the first non-stop connection between Cleveland, USA, and London Gatwick, UK, on 1 July, ...
-
News
Esprit racer appears at Cranfield
The Esprit VFII experimental homebuilt racing aircraft was on display at the Cranfield, UK, Popular Flying Association rally on 2-4 July. The Rolls-Royce 0200-powered all-composite kit, designed by Switzerland's Valentino Fry, offers a maximum range of 1,000km (540nm) and a maximum speed of 210kt (385km/h). According to Fry, the aircraft's ...
-
News
Resurrected Luscombe heads for approval
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON Renaissance Aircraft's Luscombe 8F light aircraft is on target for certification and first deliveries by the fourth quarter of the year, nearly four decades after production of the piston single was halted. "The first production aircraft is flying and we are taking orders," says Renaissance. Monkton, Maryland, ...
-
News
UK police Islander will test anti-noise propellers
In response to growing environmental concerns over noise from general aviation aircraft in Europe, the UK's Britten-Norman plans a six-month trial of new generation propellers on a BN2B light utility piston-engined Islander. The test is part of a UK Government-backed programme. Designed by US propeller manufacturer Hartzell as part ...
-
News
Diesel Air sets sights on general aviation piston engine market
As the potentially lucrative piston engine replacement market emerges, UK manufacturer Diesel Air has entered the fray, with plans to produce a diesel engine family aimed at the general aviation market. The 75kW (100hp) DAIR 100 is the first in a 75-450kW engine range. It has completed more than ...
-
News
Bangladesh buys eight MiG-29s
Bangladesh is buying eight MAPO MiG-29 Fulcrums in a $115 million deal. An air force requirement for new fighters has existed for several years. Four aircraft will be delivered in December following pilot and technician training in Russia, while the remaining aircraft will follow next February. Bangladesh will ...
-
News
Carriers put transpolar plans on ice
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC North American carriers are being forced to shelve plans for new non-stop direct services between US and Asian destinations as infrastructural and political problems delay the opening of transpolar routes . Trial flights over the North Pole have stopped only 12 months after the inaugural ...
-
News
Testing times
Test flights of a Boeing 707-320 with one JT8D-219 and three JT3Ds start this month in preparation for more tests in November, when all four JT3Ds will be replaced by the newer engine. The re-engining effort is led by San Antonio, Texas-based Seven Q Seven and involves Omega Air, Ed ...
-
News
Free flight
The UK's new air traffic services supremo believes privatisation is the way forward for ATC David Learmount/LONDON Airlines are condemned to face serious air traffic control delay in European airspace for the foreseeable future unless there is a revolution in how policy decisions governing the continent's air traffic services ...
-
News
Holding on
Mexico's aviation industry is battling regulations as well as competitors Roberto Mena/MEXICO CITY Despite significant advances in the past four years, Mexico's commercial aviation industry is struggling. Not only does it face intense competition from the onslaught of international carriers following deregulation, but government regulators seem determined to crush it. ...
-
News
Exclusion zone
The unusual became the unprecedented last week when Boeing, having launched its original 777 programme giving airlines the choice of three competing engines, decided it would revert to a single exclusive supplier for a new variant of the aircraft, to the exclusion of the two rival powerplant manufacturers. This is ...