All air transport news – Page 2258
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SAirLines buys into Italian charter airline Volare
SAirLines, the airline division of the Swiss SAir Group, has bought a 34% stake in Italian charter carrier Volare. The shareholding was acquired on 28 August as part of a capital increase by the Italian airline. The Swiss company says this will provide its own charter carrier Balair/CTA with greater ...
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Eurofighter brews up Typhoon for export market
Eurofighter expects to complete negotiations with the UK Ministry of Defence over a support contract for the EF2000 in the next few weeks, says managing director Brian Phillipson. Failure to conclude the deal has delayed the signing of a contract for the first production batch of 148 aircraft destined ...
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Varig picks GE90-powered 777 in $2.9 million fleet expansion
Varig of Brazil has committed to a major fleet expansion, with orders and options for up to 39 Boeing 737s, 767s and 777s worth an estimated $2.9 billion. An announcement confirming the deal is expected at the show. The most significant element is the selection of four 777-200ERs, with ...
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Searching foran answer
AL VENTER/Washington DC Devastating Terrorist bomb attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the subsequent US retaliation against targets in Afghanistan and Sudan have rekindled fears that airliners and airports could again become a battleground. The first line of defence will be airport baggage screening systems. ...
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Turboprop- and proud of it
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Cutaway Poster/Tim Hall Gentlemen prefer blondes and passengers prefer jets - two claims as hard to disprove as they are to prove. But Bombardier believes it can prove the latter claim to be inaccurate with its new 70/78-seat regional turboprop, the Q400, formerly the de Havilland Dash ...
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The Millenium bug
Ian Sheppard/LONDON As early as the 1960s, computer programmers warned that using a two-digit date field was dangerous. The practice may have saved memory - which was at a premium in those early days - but, when the year rolled over to 2000, computers would act as though it ...
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Cirrus gets closer to SR20 certification
Cirrus Design has appointed Wings Aloft as the first service centre for its single-engined SR20. The Seattle-based company will serve Cirrus' growing number of customers in the north-west region of the USA. The Duluth, Minnesota-based manufacturer plans to set up a network of service centres around the USA and, later, ...
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Bankruptcy may arrest Japan's civil EH101
EH Industries has delivered the first EH101 to Japan, but the helicopter's entry into service with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police is facing delay as the result of the planned take-over of local trading house, Okura, which imported the helicopter. The General Electric CT7-6-powered helicopter has been delivered to Kawasaki ...
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Explorer range poised to make switch to Belgium's Heli Fly
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Heli Fly is close to completing negotiations with Boeing over the Belgian company's purchase of the twin-engined MD-902 Explorer product line. An announcement is imminent. Talks have been under way for several months and, although the Halen-based company will not disclose the reasons for the ...
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Groen wins new gyroplane order from China
Groen Brothers Aviation (GBA) says it has secured a further large order for its gyroplanes from Shanghai Energy and Chemicals (SECC) of China . The order is on top of an existing contract for 200 of the Utah-based company's Hawk III gyroplanes, and covers purchase options on further Hawk ...
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PZL-Okecie flies P&WC-powered Kruk variant
Polish aircraft manufacturer PZL-Okecie has begun test flights of a new variant of its PZL-106 Kruk agricultural aircraft, powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34AG turboprop engine. According to the company, the modified aircraft is aimed at the export market, with particular emphasis of sales to South America, ...
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Western Work
Western Aircraft, a full service fixed-base operator and repair station based in Boise, Idaho, has been named as a Raytheon Aircraft Authorized Service Center for the Beech King Air, Baron and Bonanza. Western is also an authorised service centre for the Raytheon Hawker, types of Cessna aircraft, the Lockheed Jetstar ...
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UK company seeks funds to work on radical seaplane design
A UK aviation company is searching for financing to continue work on a six-seat light amphibious aircraft which it has under development. Warrior (Aero Marine) claims that its Centaur composite aircraft offers better performance and reduced costs compared with those of rival seaplane designs. Warrior has flown the first of ...
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Comair negotiates 428JET order
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Fairchild Dornier is in advanced talks with US regional airline Comair which could lead to a launch order for the 42/44-seat 428JET. The manufacturer confirms that negotiations cover a potential order for 30-40 aircraft, but it does not expect to be ready to make any conclusive ...
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Saab restructures
Saab Aircraft Customer Support, Saab Aircraft Finance Group and Saab Collaborative programmes are to be merged to form a Commercial Aircraft group. Saab Aircraft AB will become Saab Aircraft Customer Support AB. Source: Flight International
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MD-11 crashes after smoke fills cockpit
David Learmount/LONDON The crew of Swissair's Boeing MD-11 flight SR111 made a "Pan" emergency call to Canada's Moncton air traffic control centre (ATCC), reporting smoke in the cockpit. Sixteen minutes later the aircraft crashed into the sea, killing all 215 passengers and 14 crew on board, according to a ...
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Airbus plans A300/A310 update while replacement is sought
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Airbus Industrie has begun making presentations to airlines operating the A300/A310 on a range of proposed performance improvements and configuration changes in an effort to modernise and extend the family's market life until a replacement can be developed. The European consortium has told airlines that, given ...
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BMW R-R focuses on core as BR715 is approved
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH BMWRolls-Royce will begin testing a complete Engine 3E core, incorporating the company's new experimental staged combustion chamber, early next year. The core could eventually update its BR715 engine, certificated in late August. The Engine 3E ("Environment, Efficiency, Economy") programme involves BMW R-R and rival German engine manufacturer MTU ...
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Boeing finalises agreements on aluminium supplies
Boeing has signed 10-year agreements with five aluminium mills, worth a total of $4.3 billion, to guarantee stability of supply and prices. A similar "lean" raw materials procurement strategy has already been implemented with its titanium suppliers. TMX, a US-based company owned by Thyssen of Germany, was recently selected ...
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Derco secures upgrade work on Brazilian C-130s
Derco Aerospace of Wisconsin has won a $50 million contract to upgrade Brazilian C-130 Hercules, beating rival bids from Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. The work includes refitting outer wing structures, modification and overhaul of the Allison T56 engine, conversion of bleed ducts with more modern materials, auxiliary power unit ...