All air transport news – Page 2277
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News
Pan Pacific plans for Let L-420 flights to small US communities
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Pan Pacific Airways' plans to serve small communities in the north-western USA are back on track after the company agreed to acquire Czech-built Let L-420s. An aircraft arrived in mid-July to enable training to begin. Burlington, Washington-based Pan Pacific hopes to begin operations by year-end. Chairman and ...
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DHL poised to take British Airways 757s
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON British Airways is in final negotiations with express package specialist DHL for the sale of almost half of the UK airline's Boeing 757s, with a deal expected to be concluded in the coming months. The transaction, valued at around $500 million (including conversions), would give Boeing a launch ...
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Spoiling tactics
When Boeing concluded its recent trade-in deal with Singapore Airlines (SIA) for 10 more 777s in exchange for a guarantee to buy and remarket its entire A340 fleet, the move seemed as capricious as it was masterful. But, with arch rival Airbus Industrie putting the finishing touches to a ...
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All systems go for Transpac Express Pacific services
Paul Phelan/CAIRNS Australian cargo start-up Transpac Express has received outline approval to launch cargo services to Pacific islands, using widebody freighters. The draft approval from Australia's International Air Services Commission will allow the Brisbane-based company to operate separate weekly freight services from Brisbane to Nauru, New Caledonia, the ...
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Cathay Pacific mulls over larger widebody options
Chris Jasper/HONG KONG Cathay Pacific is studying all of the larger widebody types, including the planned Airbus A3XX, as potential replacements for its 19 Boeing 747-400s. Tony Tyler, corporate development director at Hong Kong based Cathay, says it is evaluating long range Boeing 777s, including the planned General ...
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MD-10 speeds up as passenger version is studied
Boeing is talking to potential customers about developing a passenger version of the MD-10, as it considers accelerating the cargo-led programme by up to three months. US express carrier FedEx is so far the only customer for the MD-10 conversion of the DC-10, with orders and options for 120. ...
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Airbus plans to thwart Boeing's SIA deal
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Airbus Industrie has drawn up a confidential business plan aimed at frustrating Boeing's efforts to remarket 17 A340-300s it is to acquire from Singapore Airlines (SIA)as part of a recent 777 deal. The consortium declines to comment on the plan, but a source familiar with its contents says: ...
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Boeing soft pedals on programme cutting
Chris Jasper/LONDON Boeing is playing down the possibility of cutting programmes in its get-tough approach to what it had labelled "value destroying" product lines. The US giant's chief financial officer, Debby Hopkins, says several programmes previously in doubt are "operating above the line", and are off the at-risk list. ...
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NASA Messenger mission will map Mercury
NASA plans to return to Mercury, after an absence of more than 30 years, when its Messenger spacecraft reaches the innermost planet in 2008. The Messenger mission to map Mercury is one of two new projects selected for NASA's "quicker, cheaper" Discovery programme (Flight International, 21-27 July). The other ...
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Mergers
Northrop Grumman has bought Ryan Aeronautical - a manufacturer of target drones and unmanned air vehicles - from Allegheny Teledyne for $140 million. The business will move its base to San Diego, California, and will be used to develop Northrop's unmanned technology programmes. Allegheny Teledyne has also completed the sale ...
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Airbus expects Asian order bonanza after recovery
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPOREAirbus Industrie is predicting that Asia's airlines will order 4,300 passenger aircraft worth $450 billion over the next two decades as the Far East renews its economic growth. Adam Brown, Airbus vice-president, forecasting and strategic planning, says signs of recovery in the Asia-Pacific market will appear by the second ...
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SIA plans spending spree on shares
Singapore Airlines (SIA) is planning to spend up to S$1 billion ($586 million) on a share buy-back that may signal a departure from the carrier's strategy of directing its capital reserves towards airline purchases. Cash-rich SIA has in the past year pursued stakes in China Airlines, South African Airways, Thai ...
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Jetphone hangs up on airline market
Emma Kelly/LONDON In-flight telephone service provider Jetphone will cease operations on 31 December following a lack of demand by airline passengers for in-flight telephony. Jetphone is in discussions with its airline customers on service cessation, which will leave Europe without a terrestrial flight telecommunication system (TFTS) service provider following ...
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Novair nears A330-200 lease deal to replace TriStars
Swedish charter airline Novair is finalising a deal with International Lease Finance for two Airbus A330-200s to replace its Lockheed L-1011 TriStars. The airline, a wholly owned subsidiary of Scandinavia's third largest tour operator, Apollo, has been negotiating for a new long- haul aircraft for several months as it ...
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Lockheed Martin pins hopes of recovery on aeronautics
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Lockheed Martin is counting on improvements in its aeronautics sector to boost its ailing financial performance. Chief financial officer Phil Duke says the C-130J is expected to be "very slightly profitable" by year-end, after the programme was re-baselined in June. This involved the company taking a ...
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Alberta gets Phoenix FanJet go-ahead
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON Alberta Aerospace (AAC) has been given the green light by a Belgian court to proceed with certification of the Phoenix FanJet. This follows a protracted battle with former investors in bankrupt manufacturer Promavia over the rights to the single-engined aircraft, formerly known as the Promavia Jet Squalus. ...
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Air Europe poised to introduce Boeing 777
Air Europe is preparing to expand its fleet with the introduction of the first of two Boeing 777-200s, making it the first Italian airline to receive the twinjet. The Pratt & Whitney PW4090-powered aircraft, leased from International Lease Finance, will join the carrier's five Airbus A320s and five Boeing 767-300ERs. ...
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FAA softens stand on aircraft insulation
The US Federal Aviation Administration is to issue an airworthiness directive in the next few weeks giving airlines operating 700 Boeing MD-11s and McDonnell Douglas DC-10s, MD-80s and MD-90s four years to replace thermal insulation. The pending action reverses the FAA's decision six months ago to produce a tougher ...
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Routes
American Airlines will begin seasonal daily services to Los Cabos, Mexico, from Chicago O'Hare on 1 November, using Boeing MD-80s. The airline will also launch three daily Boeing 727 flights between Miami and Tampa on the same day, replacing services provided by regional partner American Eagle, which will reduce its ...
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Pratt & Whitney gets ready to conduct PW6000 first test run
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELESPratt & Whitney expects to begin the first test run of the PW6000 by early next month, following completion of the initial test powerplant at its base at East Hartford, Connecticut. The 24,000lb (107kN)-thrust-rated turbofan is in development for the Airbus A318 and will begin flight tests on ...