All air transport news – Page 2248
-
News
CAL ready for launch
New Israeli freight carrier CAL (Cargo Air Lines) will start operations on 1 December using a Boeing 747-200 freighter acquired from Atlas Air and taking up extra capacity on other cargo airlines operating to Israel until it introduces a second freighter. Established in the 1970s by Israeli agricultural organisations ...
-
News
Europeans think radically
Julian Moxon/TOULOUSE Airbus Industrie and its partner companies have begun looking at configurations that could lead to the introduction of radical designs for new airliners in the next century. The first of a series of meetings to consider future concepts takes place in Toulouse, France, this week. "We are examining ...
-
News
LAAS trials show Category 3 accuracy
The US Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) has demonstrated the required accuracy for Category 3 approach and landings in the latest in a series of flight trials. The GPS-based LAAS is being developed as a government-industry partnership to replace the existing Cat 1/2/3 instrument landing systems in the USA. ...
-
News
LTU starts fleet update with A320s
Andrew Doyle/MUNICHGerman charter carrier LTU International Airways is acquiring 12 Airbus A320s in the first stage of a fleet restructuring that will lead to the selection of a new widebody type to replace its Boeing 767-300ERs. The company, 49.9%-owned by the SAirGroup, is also considering concluding a sale and leaseback ...
-
News
USN tests anti-missile laser
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON The US Navy has conducted the first live-fire test of laser missile jamming systems suitable for installation on fast-jet combat aircraft. The UK observed the trials, conducted under the Navy's Tactical Aircraft Directed Infrared Countermeasures (TADIRCM) advanced technology demonstrator programme. Prototype systems developed by Lockheed Martin Sanders ...
-
News
The Manufacturer's view
Max Kingsley-Jones/LUTON Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Roger Lecomte, Airbus Industrie's vice-president of engineering support, says: "The introduction of the A330-200 was like that of the A321 [after the A320] for us. We were able to benefit from the lessons we learned with the introduction of the A330-300 and A340." ...
-
News
Boeing looks at 757 slowdown
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Falling order backlogs are forcing Boeing to study a production slowdown of the 757 earlier than expected next year. Boeing plans to deliver 53 757s next year, and has been preparing to cut the rate from the present five per month to around 4.5. But now ...
-
News
Long-range workout
How has the latest long-range A330 performed since its entry into service? Andrew Doyle/ZURICH Max Kingsley-Jones/LUTON Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC In its latest market forecast, Airbus Industrie predicts that 210/250-seaters like the A330-200 will make up one-fifth of the 14,800 new aircraft to be delivered over the next 20 years. The ...
-
News
City Bird moves to short-haul as Branson deal expires
Herman De Wulf/BRUSSELS City Bird is undertaking a strategic change in direction early next year when the low-cost, long-haul airline begins short-haul charter operations with a fleet of Boeing 737s. The move was signalled when Brussels-based City Bird signed a lease deal with Boullioun Aviation Services for two Boeing ...
-
News
Industry is warned over Wall St
US Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre has warned that Wall St demands for strong quarterly returns could undermine the long-term health of the defence industry. At the same time, British Aerospace has been elevated to the status of a US company, opening the door to further transatlantic tie-ups. Hamre ...
-
News
KAL boss arrested on tax evasion charges
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE South Korean police have arrested Korean Air (KAL) chairman Cho Yang-Ho on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement. Cho was arrested on 11 November. Prosecutors have reportedly charged him with evading 62.9 billion won ($54 million)of taxes and embezzling billions of won in company funds. ...
-
News
EC faces rethink on safety authority
David Learmount/RIO DE JANEIRO Julian Moxon/PARIS The creation of a European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) has virtually been put on hold after a European Commission (EC) working party, looking at the issue, uncovered constitutional problems involving individual member states giving up their aviation rulemaking powers. Its findings have resulted ...
-
News
Tu-334 production set to take off
MAPO aims to reach a production rate of 24 Tupolev Tu-334 twinjets a year by 2007, but will need over $300 million to fund the production programme. It plans to utilise cash earned from its military export contracts to fund the production launch. The Moscow-based production plant was recently ...
-
News
Marketplace
Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise has firmed up a commitment for 23 more A320 family aircraft, taking the Singapore Airlines/Boullioun Aviation joint venture's Airbus narrowbody orders to 41. The deal includes 20 A320s and three A321s for delivery between early 2001 and 2008. Engine selections have not been announced. Malaysia Airlines' ...
-
News
RJ makers outline growth plans
Regional Jet manufacturers Embraer, Bombardier and Fairchild Aerospace are pressing on with planned larger 70- to 120-seat programmes, despite uncertainty over industry consolidations, mergers and scope clause limitations in the USA. Embraer plans to start a second phase of subsonic wind tunnel tests on the 70-seat ERJ-170 later this ...
-
News
Routes
British Airways is launching a new three times daily route from London Gatwick to Hanover, operated by franchise partner CityFlyer Express. United Airlines is introducing 20 new daily nonstop flights to key Californian business destinations, including Santa Barbara, Medford, Reno, Palm Springs and San Diego, from its Los Angeles hub. ...
-
News
Mexican crash kills 18
Investigators are searching for evidence in the crash of a TAESA McDonnell Douglas DC-9 on 9 November. The crash happened shortly after the aircraft left Uruapan airport in central Mexico. All 18 people on board, including five crew, were killed when the DC-9-31 (XA-TKN), operating TAESA flight 725, nose-dived into ...
-
News
Workshop
Lease management provider C-S Aviation Services has entered into a five-year tripartite agreement with Air India and Aviation Sales Distribution to perform maintenance on its General Electric CF6-50C2 engines on an exclusive basis. The contract, worth $100 million, stipulates a five-year option to extend the agreement. Air India will perform ...
-
News
Falling down
The boom-bust cycle of airliner production is raising its ugly head again in Seattle, but this time it's not the industry cycle that is ringing the alarm bells around Puget Sound. For although Boeing is set to slash rates by at least 20%, it cannot take solace in the fact ...
-
News
Lack of cable standards bedevils aircraft industry
Geoff Thomas/DUBAI The average single-aisle 150-seat aircraft contains more than 80km of cabling to help meet today's demands for 'touch of a button' cockpit information and user-friendly electronic features. This increase in cabling creates a new set of engineering challenges because 80km of cable weighs around 600kg. In ...