All air transport news – Page 2357
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Messier-Dowty plans giant drop rig
Messier-Dowty, now wholly owned by Snecma, is to build Europe's largest landing gear drop test rig. The MEGA (Machine d'Essais pour Grands Atterrisseurs) is a $3 million project to assemble the rig in Toulouse. Entry into service is scheduled for early 2000. The rig will be sited at the ...
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KLM set to bring first737-900 to Europe
KLM has underlined its commitment to Boeing's Next Generation 737 family by becoming the first European operator to order the stretched 737-900. The order for four aircraft is a blow to Airbus Industrie, which had campaigned hard to sell the A321 to KLM as part of attempts to complete ...
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Rolls-Royce ties up RB211 Qantas upgrade
Rolls-Royce has secured a deal with Qantas to upgrade its fleet of RB211-524 turbofans to the new -524G/HT standard and a further $1 billion worth of Trent 500 engine orders from Emirates and International Lease Finance (ILFC). The Qantas order covers modernising airline's fleet of 18 RB211-powered Boeing 747-400 ...
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TNT A300F lease paves way for BAe deal
TNT is finalising a major Airbus A300B4 conversion contract with British Aerospace Aviation Services (BAeAS), following the signing of a lease deal with C-S Aviation Services (CSAS) for four A300B4 freighters. The deal with CSAS, and another with Airbus Industrie's Asset Management division for three A300B4s, comes as part ...
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737 order boost
GATX Capital has boosted its Next Generation 737 orders to 15 with a deal for five 737-800s. SAS has also ordered Next Generation 737s, exercising nine options from a 1995 deal and adding five more as it seeks to modernise its fleet. The orders are for -600s, -700s or -800s. ...
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Customers prompt 90-seat proposal
Bombardier is preparing to launch a 90-seat regional jet before its 70-seat contender has even flown because "...our customers are telling us they want such an aircraft," says chairman Laurent Beaudoin. "If we could have delayed them, we would, but they say they want a 90-seater." The company says it ...
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Rekkof 'ready' to resurrect Fokker jet line
Rekkof Restart will make a final decision on 24 September whether to revive production of Fokker 100 and Fokker 70 regional jets. The decision hinges on the results of an economic assessment on the impact the gathering global economic problems will have on the project. The study is being ...
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ATR and Embraer to decide on 70 seater by year-end
ATR and Embraer expect to decide by the end of the year whether to launch new 70-seat size regional jet developments. At the same time, the companies are continuing to seek partners and jointly discuss a possible collaborative programme in what is fast becoming an overcrowded market. The Brazilian ...
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GECAS signs $3.2 billion Airbus/Boeing contracts
General Electric Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) has placed orders worth an estimated $3.2 billion with Airbus Industrie and Boeing for up 52 aircraft. The deal with Airbus, for 30 A320 family aircraft plus options on a further 10, takes the US leasing company's orders for the twinjet to 82 ...
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Oman Air adds ATRs to aid regional expansion
The Muscat-based partially privately owned airline has placed firm orders for two ATR 42-500s with options on four more, which can be taken as the larger ATR 72-500. The two firmly ordered aircraft will be delivered later this year, with the options due in 1999. Oman Air general manager ...
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GE overhaul network continues to expand
General Electric is continuing the aggressive expansion of its engine overhaul and maintenance network by forming GE Varig Engine Services, a new joint company to be located at the Brazilian airline's Galeao International Airport overhaul site in Rio de Janeiro. The company is being formed through its recently acquired ...
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Surrey Satellite signs for Dnepr mini lauch
Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) has signed a contract with the Russian ISC Kosmotras company to launch its new Uosat 12 minisatellite aboard a modified SS-18 missile, renamed the Dnepr. The launch will be from Baikonur in 1999. Kosmotras, a Russian/Ukrainian venture, is converting the SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile into ...
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Heat damage hints show up in recovered MD-11 wreckage
David Learmount/LONDON Signs of "heating" damage have been detected in parts recovered from the cockpit of the Swissair Boeing MD-11 which crashed off Nova Scotia on 2 September, says chief accident investigator Vic Gerden. Gerden, of the Canadian Transportation Safety Board (CASB) would not be more precise or offer ...
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Airbus confirms UPS A300 freighter deal
Airbus Industrie has confirmed its long-awaited deal with United Parcel Service (UPS) for up to 60 new A300-600 freighters. The estimated value of the contract is around $5 billion. The order, revealed exclusively in Flight International earlier this year, follows a bid battle involving new and used aircraft from ...
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$85m RJ deal boosts Avro
Mike Martin British Aerospace Regional Aircraft announced the sale of three Avro RJ100 aircraft at Farnborough '98 yesterday. The $80 million deal was with Swissair Group leasing arm Flightlease and the aircraft will be delivered in July, September and October, 1999. The order may have a deeper significance ...
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Cost scuppers CFM's 'green' engine design
CFM International (CFMI) has decided to abandon its environmentally-friendly double annular combustor (DAC) technology in future powerplant designs because it is too expensive to make. The company is looking at ways of reducing emissions using a conventional combustor instead, as part of a wide-ranging study aimed at cutting the ...
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Marconi radar mooted for updated MiG-29
Alan Dron MAPO is looking at installing an air-to-air radar from the UK's Marconi Electronic Systems in its updated MiG-29SMT and two-seater UBT multi-role fighter aircraft, the Russian company said yesterday. General designer Mikhail Korzhuyev also revealed that the UBT, derived from the UB two-seat conversion trainer but ...
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UK firms tipped for major global expansion
Alan Dron A new 'British Empire' is on the horizon as two of the nation's largest defence and aerospace companies gear up for major expansions of their worldwide activities, says a report issued yesterday. British Aerospace (BAe) and GEC are tipped by analysts of US publication Defence Mergers ...
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Airlines choose the new FMS
Seven major airlines have chosen the new Flight Management System (FMS), produced jointly by Sextant Avionique and Smiths Industries, for their Airbus fleets. Air France, America West, Asiana, China Northwest, China Southwest, US Airways and one other undisclosed US major, have bought the system for both retrofit use and ...
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Lockheed and Woodward in engine controls joint venture
Lockheed Martin Control Systems and Woodward Governor have formed a limited-liability joint venture to provide aero-engine control systems design, integration, manufacturing and product support. The companies say that the new venture, called Aesys, is a further step in the strategic partnership that they first announced at the Farnborough Air ...