All air transport news – Page 2321
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News
News in Brief
Singapore signs - Singapore Airlines has signed the contract for up to 10 ultra-long-range Airbus A340-500s, confirming an earlier commitment. Deliveries will be completed by the middle of 2003. Transaer PIA contract - Irish charter airline Transaer has signed a five-year contract with Pakistan International (PIA) under which it ...
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Beijing tightens its belt
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) may have escaped Beijing's directive that requires other agencies to divest their interests in the industries that they regulate, but aviation is not entirely unscathed by the latest belt tightening aimed at boosting China's weak economy and currency. Heading the list ...
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Routes
Japanese codes - Cathay Pacific Airways and Japan Airlines (JAL) are to start codesharing on Hong Kong-Osaka services on 28 March. JAL will also halt its Boeing 767-operated Nagoya-Hong Kong service on 1 April, when it starts codesharing on Cathay's daily service. Meanwhile, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and United Airlines ...
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PAL pays and wins time
Philippine Airlines (PAL) bought more time from its creditors' lawsuit in January with its first payment to lenders since June. The carrier made the $37.9 million payment to fully secured aircraft creditors on 29 January to avoid having 19 aircraft seized. In doing so, it won agreement that there ...
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Guyana sets sell-off date
The government of Guyana is hoping to have handed over control of Guyana Airways Corporation (GAC) by the end of April. The government's privatisation unit says it had set a deadline of 16 February for would-be purchasers to submit proposals and then it was hoping to complete the sale within ...
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Double Standards
Airlines face a growing array of different and often divergent competition rules, as recent transatlantic cases have shown. David Knibb, a former antitrust lawyer, examines the issues. Antitrust authorities are positioning themselves as the new policeman of the world marketplace. And as they do so, they begin to replace the ...
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Ansett greets Star with fleet upgrade
Ansett Australia is upgrading its fleet to include Boeing 747-400s as it prepares for its entry on 28 March into the Star Alliance. In a surprise move, Australia's second carrier says it will lease two 747-400s for five years from new partner Singapore Airlines (SIA), when leases on two ...
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Low cost or bust
Europe's low-cost experiment is in full flow, but are there casualties waiting? Ever since the low-cost formula began to take root in Europe a couple of years ago, industry observers have been waiting keenly for the first start-up to fail. Even the low-cost pioneers themselves have expressed surprise that ...
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Third Party Pressure
The third party maintenance, repair and overhaul business will consolidate further as the dominant companies seek greater economies of scale and airlines turn their attention back to improving costs. If you were asked to name the landmarks of the aircraft maintenance and overhaul industry over the past year, you ...
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Asia faces fallout
The Asian downturn has led to overcapacity in the maintenance market, but there is no sign that the major carriers will let go of their in-house operations. When Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering (HAECO) cut 8% of its workforce at the end of last year, it was seen as an indication ...
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Life starts at 50
SITA may just have turned 50, but its gaze remains firmly fix on the future. Kevin O'Toole talks to chairman John Watson. "People try to categorise SITA but it's just a phenomenon," says its chairman John Watson. The fact that it exists at all is thanks to the foresight of ...
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Defending duty free
Duty free sales within Europe appear to have won a reprieve. But how hard will airlines be hit if duty free is eventually abolished? To bureaucrats, the abolition of duty free must have looked a simple matter when it was mooted. The European Union (EU) decided in 1991 to ...
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BA set to stay in red
British Airways' first quarterly loss in four years has triggered doubts over its grip on premium business markets and analysts expect further losses before things improve. Intense competition, particularly across the Atlantic, finally pushed the group into the red, resulting in a £75 million ($122 million) loss before ...
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US yields spoil the party
Despite a solid set of 1998 results, the US majors are nagged by doubts over yields. After all the pessimism, and the damage of the Northwest Airlines strike, the year-end figures from the US majors held little to complain about. That little something, however, was an overall fall in yields. ...
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Carrier of controversy
Jet Airways has surmounted every obstacle to become India's dominant private carrier and pose a serious challenge to rival Indian Airlines. But its rise has been dogged by political controversy. When India opened competition in the domestic airline market about eight years ago, local entrepreneurs rushed to launch airlines. ...
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Engine makers press for 777X exclusivity
General Electric and Pratt & Whitney are pressing Boeing for an exclusivity deal to power the proposed 777-200X/300X long range derivatives, as repeated demand for increased levels of thrust progressively drive up development costs. The two powerplant suppliers, along with Rolls-Royce, are briefing airlines on 110-114,000lb (490-507kN) thrust engine growth ...
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New short haul airline planned to boost Gulf regional links
Max Kingsley-Jones/BAHRAIN Plans have emerged for a new regional airline in the Gulf which would operate an intensive network of short haul services between major cities in the region. The impetus for the airline has come from business interests in the Bahrain and other Gulf states. Local sources ...
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Making a noise about safety at Schiphol
An overrun by an El Al Israel Airlines Boeing 747-200 freighter at Amsterdam Schiphol's runway 01L, after landing in snowy weather on 8 February, has again spotlighted the Netherlands Government policy of requiring air traffic controllers to avoid noise nuisance to local communities when selecting the runways in use. The ...
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Qatar begins fleet roll-over with A320
Qatar Airways has begun its short haul fleet update, with the delivery of the first of four new Airbus A320s leased from Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise. The International Aero Engines V2500-powered aircraft are replacing four ageing Boeing 727-200s on regional services from Doha, begining with flights to Abu Dhabi on ...
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BWIA confirms regional launch
BWIA International Airways has confirmed plans to launch a regional airline, with newly created "BWee Express" set to launch operations on 1 March operating two new Bombardier Dash 8-300s. BWee Express will operate a regional network in the South and Eastern Caribbean, intially serving Grenada, Barbados, and St. Lucia. ...