All air transport news – Page 2214
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Turnaround target
Turboméca says overhaul and repair turnaround times on its Arriel 1 turboshaft - averaging 89 days last year against a target of 28 days - are reducing as it increases capacity and overcomes parts shortages. The company was shipping at least 20 engines a month by the end of last ...
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Pakistani pilot deal linked to US block on UAE technology release
Plans by the United Arab Emirates air force to contract up to 200 Pakistan air force fighter pilots to fly F-16D Block 60 fighters it has ordered from Lockheed Martin are at the heart of the US Government's decision to block the release of sensitive technology to the Gulf state, ...
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FAA rules out 737 rudder malfunction crash link
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Recent Boeing 737 rudder malfunctions are not being linked to rudder control unit failures suspected of causing fatal 737 crashes in 1991 and 1994, senior US Federal Aviation Administration officials say (Flight International, 3-9 March, P13). Preliminary rulings refer to a MetroJet Boeing 737-200 incident on ...
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Air 2000 delays A330s in favour of 767s
Air 2000 has completed integrating the Leisure International Airways (LIA) fleet following last year's merger. The airline's two ex-LIA Boeing 767-300ERs (above), leased from International Lease Finance, will be joined this month by the first of two similar aircraft leased from GE Capital Aviation Services. Air 2000 has dropped plans ...
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CFMI prepares for massive slowdown in engine orders
Guy Norris/CINCINNATI CFM International is predicting a significant slow-down in new orders for 1999 and 2000 , to levels possibly 50% below last year's intake. At the same time, the General Electric/Snecma joint venture is having to achieve record production levels to meet the demand from massive orders ...
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Safety boards act on cockpit recorder safety
Canadian and US safety boards are recommending changes to cockpit voice and flight data recorders (CVRs and FDRs) to prevent power interruptions which have complicated recent accident investigations. Canadian investigators say their efforts to determine the cause of last September's Swissair Boeing MD-11 crash have been compromised by missing ...
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European Air Express launched with Fokker 50s
A former shareholder in Debonair Germany has setup an airline to operate on the Mönchengladbach-Munich route using 48-seat turboprops. UK-based Debonair pulled out of the German domestic market in December after signing a wet-lease deal with Lufthansa. European Air Express (EAE) is operating twice-daily flights using two Fokker 50s ...
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Y2K live test set for US airspace systems
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC The first live test of changes made to the US national airspace system to overcome year 2000 (Y2K) computer problems has been scheduled for the early hours of 10 April, centred on Denver, Colorado. The Federal Aviation Administration says it is on course to complete ...
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ICAO leads way with enhanced proximity warning proposals
David Learmount/AMSTERDAM In a visible break with tradition, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is set to make mandatory the use of flight data analysis (FDA) and enhanced ground proximity warning systems (EGPWS) even though they have not yet been declared requirements in any member state. Previously, the organisation ...
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Gandalf targets Linate traffic with 328JET fleet
Italian new entrant Gandalf Airlines is to launch operations from Bergamo at the end of this month and will take delivery of four Fairchild Dornier 328JETs between September and December. Initial flights will be operated to Munich and Stuttgart in Germany, using two 328 turboprops dry-leased from the manufacturer, ...
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Indonesia pushes for transport safety board
Andrzej Jeziorski/JAKARTA The head of Indonesia's Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission is pushing for the formation of a body, modelled on the US National Transportation Safety Board, to take control of air safety issues by 2004. The move is being pursued in the wake of the much-criticised investigation into ...
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Expanding Jersey to order new aircraft
Jersey European Airways (JEA) has finalised negotiations with Bombardier for its major fleet re-equipment. The UK regional airline's chief executive, Barry Perrott, is expected to announce the order in London on 17 March. The deal, thought to be worth over $250million, is expected to total at least 15 aircraft, ...
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Troubled Olympic may defer 737-800 deliveries as new team arrives
Julian Moxon/PARIS Olympic Airways, struggling with financial and management problems, is considering deferring delivery of eight new Boeing 737-800s for up to a year. The Greek flag carrier, which remains 100% government-owned, says the decision on whether to delay delivery "must await the arrival of a new consulting team ...
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PIA turns to Cathay Pacific for 747-300 lease
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has signed a letter of intent with Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways for the lease of five Boeing 747-300s as interim replacements from mid-April for the carrier's six 747-200Bs. PIA has long been planning a 747-200 replacement programme, examining the Boeing 747-400 and 777 and Airbus ...
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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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U-Land faces grounding over Taiwan airport fee payment
Brent Hannon/TAIPEI Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration is expected to ground domestic carrier U-Land Airlines this month if it fails to pay the $760,000 it owes in airport fees. The CAA, which is also threatening helicopter operator Asia Pacific Airlines over an outstanding $35,000, has rescheduled U-Land's debt several ...
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Airlines move to fill Channel Islands vacuum
Herman de Wulf/BRUSSELS Aurigny Air Services and VLM are looking to capitalise on KLMuk's decision to reduce its Channel Islands operations, with new routes to the UK mainland and Continental Europe. Channel Islands-based Aurigny has applied to replace KLM uk on services between Guernsey and London Stansted from April. Jersey ...
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Lufthansa plans capacity rise despite decline in yields
Andrew Doyle/BERLIN Chris Jasper/LONDON Lufthansa is planning to buck the European trend and increase capacity by 13% with the introduction of its summer schedules, despite sharing industry concerns over declining yields. Other European - and US - majors have been saddled with excess capacity over the past 12 months ...
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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 ...