All air transport news – Page 2373

  • News

    United deal will boost Airbus fleet to 133

    1998-08-05T00:00:00Z

     United Airlines (UAL) has placed its second major follow-on order this year for Airbus narrowbodies, which will boost its fleet of A319s and A320s to 133. The airline has converted options for 10 A319s and 12 A320s for delivery between 2000 and 2001, and pushes UAL's order tally up ...

  • News

    Northrop Grumman sets sights on GTE as shareholders attack

    1998-08-05T00:00:00Z

    As angry shareholders launched a lawsuit against Northrop Grumman executives in the wake of the failed merger with Lockheed Martin, speculation is growing that the group is preparing to bid for the defence arm of GTE if it comes on the market as part of the US telecommunications giant's own ...

  • News

    Schiphol introduces graded landing charges for Chapter 3 aircraft types

    1998-08-05T00:00:00Z

    Herman de Wulf/BRUSSELS Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has imposed a new sliding scale of landing fees for Chapter 3 aircraft from 1 August, as well as a 20% surcharge on night-time operations. The new fees for Chapter 3-compliant types are broken into three categories, varying according to the level ...

  • News

    Lockheed Martin drives down costs

    1998-08-05T00:00:00Z

    Lockheed Martin has completed evaluation of a new production process under its Advanced Affordability Initiative. The process replaces airframe subassemblies with aluminium investment castings, which do not require finishing (sawing, forming, machining or drilling). Although the technique has been developed for the Joint Strike Fighter, it has been demonstrated on ...

  • News

    R-R prepares combustor for low-emissions test

    1998-08-05T00:00:00Z

    Rolls-Royce is completing certification work on a new low-emissions combustor for the RB211-535E4 engine to be introduced into service on Condor's first Boeing 757-300 in January 1999. The Phase Five combustor is based on the low-emissions design of the larger Trent powerplant, and scaled to fit the -535, says ...

  • News

    Rotary Rocket starts construction of the first Roton parts

    1998-08-05T00:00:00Z

    Construction of the first parts of Rotary Rocket's Roton commercial space vehicle is under way, kicking off an ambitious development schedule aimed at achieving initial flight tests by the middle of 1999. The first elements of the Roton, an unpiloted, unmanned, re-useable single stage to orbit (SSTO) launch vehicle, are ...

  • News

    Parachute training, 1947--and kite-ballon-popping, 10th...

    1998-08-05T00:00:00Z

    Parachute training, 1947--and kite-ballon-popping, 10th RAF Display, Hendon, 1929 French delegation with Tom Sopwith, Brooklands, 1932 Yuckspeak Series of 1,000,000 "Your expected future contribution may not advance the strategic interests of the company" = Goodbye It may be too late already (sorry about the absence, Nephews and Nieces), but British ...

  • News

    Aircraft News

    1998-08-01T11:12:00Z

    Korean Air has ordered 11 Boeing 737-800s and 22 737-900s, plus five options for a mix of these aircraft types. Deliveries are scheduled to commence August 2000 through to July 2005. China Aviation Supplies has ordered 10 737s. Condor Flugdienst has ordered one 757-300 for delivery in the last quarter ...

  • News

    And now for something . . . completely different

    1998-08-01T00:00:00Z

    The term 'survivor' may be sorely overused in the airline industry, but it remains the most appropriate description for AirTran Airlines, the product of a merger with the ill-fated ValuJet whose once-bright future ended abruptly in 1996 with a controversial crash in a Florida swamp. Not that there is ...

  • News

    No dumb deals

    1998-08-01T00:00:00Z

    American Airlines' new chairman and chief executive officer, Don Carty, is keen to stress that it's business as usual since the smooth handover from the high-profile Robert Crandall to his heir apparent. But business as usual for American, of course, includes a slow struggle to put in place its proposed ...

  • News

    Asia cuts its capacity

    1998-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Asian airlines are continuing to downsize their existing fleets and defer new aircraft deliveries in a bid to bring capacity in line with shrinking demand. But deliveries of new aircraft for the next five years will still produce a net increase in the size of Asia's overall fleet. Carriers ...

  • News

    Avensa wins court battle

    1998-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Venezuela's Supreme Court has ruled that Avensa has the right to European routes awarded 11 years ago, even though it did not fly those routes over most of that time. General Moises Orozco, the recently dismissed minister of transport, tried to revoke Avensa's 1987 award of routes to Lisbon, ...

  • News

    Wall St frets over Boeing

    1998-08-01T00:00:00Z

    With Boeing back on track to deliver 550 aircraft this year as planned, chairman Phil Condit is using the word 'turnaround', but some feel such confidence is premature. Boeing delivered 148 aircraft in the second quarter, prompting Condit to declare the production recovery programme a success. 'It's on the ...

  • News

    CLK charges unchanged

    1998-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Despite the current focus on resolving the initial hiccups, the long-term success of Hong Kong's new Chek Lap Kok (CLK) airport lies in keeping charges down. Since its inauguration on 6 June, technical and logistical problems have caused long delays for passengers and freight forwarders. But while these ...

  • News

    Rocky relations

    1998-08-01T00:00:00Z

    It's a brave new world out there for the global distribution systems. Competition - from traditional rivals to online new entrants - is swirling about them; government rules that regulate them are being rewritten; and in some cases their relationships with their two most important customers - airlines and travel ...

  • News

    Airline revolution gathers pace

    1998-08-01T00:00:00Z

    When we launched Airline Business magazine 13 years ago, Carl Icahn had just taken over TWA; People Express was looking at acquisitions; Japan Airlines was losing its international monopoly; British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines were about to be privatised; Britain and France had signed a new air services ...

  • News

    A one-horse race

    1998-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Though dulled by drink, the American business class passenger was able to stab a finger towards the aircraft window as it taxied into Frankfurt airport. 'Emirates. That's a good little airline,' he slurred, pointing at a parked Airbus 310. Therein lies the Dubai flag carrier's problem. Despite its well-deserved reputation ...

  • News

    Indonesians ally together

    1998-08-01T00:00:00Z

    The domestic Indonesian aviation market will receive a much-needed shot in the arm if proposals for an alliance between five struggling airlines go ahead. Garuda Indonesia, Merpati Nusantara Airlines, Bouraq Indonesia Airlines, Mandala Airlines and Sempati Air are the prospective members of the alliance. The grouping could provide a ...

  • News

    Rising confidence

    1998-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Isao Kaneko became president of Japan Airlines the same day its shareholders approved a US$894 million write-off against capital reserves - the largest in Japan's corporate history. Kaneko succeeded Akira Kondo, who resigned as president to take responsibility for the unprecedented loss. It hardly seemed the occasion for the new ...

  • News

    Indians halt fleet plans

    1998-08-01T00:00:00Z

    The decision by the G8 nations to impose economic sanctions after India's detonation of nuclear devices, and the downgrading of its sovereign debt by a credit rating agency, have cast clouds over the fleet expansion plans of several Indian carriers. As part of the sanctions, the US has directed its ...