All air transport news – Page 2393
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News
New Embraer figures confirm recovery
Embraer has reported its third successive profitable quarter, confirming its recovery after eight years of losses. The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer saw a $19.9 million profit on sales of $230 million. "This shows that our recovery is definitely here to stay," says president Mauricio Botelho. Losses were $330 million in ...
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New business and investments help to raise Lufthansa Technik profits
Lufthansa maintenance subsidiary Lufthansa Technik (LHT)boosted its profits by 53%during 1997, achieving DM94.1 million ($52.2 million) on sales of DM3.03 billion. According to executive board member George Gallus, the figure is attributable to a huge influx of new business from outside the Lufthansa Group, with 50 new contracts signed ...
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SIA warns of harder times to come as growth creeps up
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Singapore Airlines (SIA) has warned of a tougher year ahead in the face of falling passenger loads and anticipated erosion of yields, after announcing only a marginal growth of net profit for the 12 months ending 31 March. The airline turned in a net profit of S$1.03 billion ...
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Family planning
The early successes of regional jet upstart Fairchild Dornier are undoubtedly spurring a surge in excitement among the more established regional players. But perhaps before everyone rushes headlong into launching a raft of new aircraft in response to the market upswing, considerable thought needs to be given to the factors ...
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Single-aisle bonanza
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES CFM International (CFMI) and arch rival International Aero Engines (IAE) are again heading for the record books. After an astonishingly successful year for both in 1997, the orders have continued and, by mid-1998, look as if they might already surpass significantly those of the previous year. ...
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Woomera is reborn
Tim Furniss/LONDON Australia is to join the international space-launch industry by establishing a commercial launch site at Woomera, South Australia, to support flight operations by the US Kistler Aerospace K-1 reusable satellite launch vehicle fleet. Test flights are expected later this year. A capital investment of A$50 million ...
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Orenda Recip receives FAA certification for Vee-8 OE-600
Orenda Recip has been awarded US Federal Aviation Administration certification for its OE-600 piston engine, four years after the Ontario, Canada-based manufacturer acquired the Dick McCoon "Thunder" engine programme. The company has orders for 150 engines and options on a further 30 to date, which includes re-engineing de Havilland ...
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Boeing refines 777-200X design to tempt launch customers
Paul Lewis/SEATTLE Boeing has reaffirmed its commitment to launching the planned 777-200X/300X derivatives and is undertaking a fresh examination of a range of payload/range performance enhancements to the design. "The programme is still proceeding and there are some opportunities to make improvements to the 777-200X/300X that we are ...
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ATR forecasts revival in turboprop market
ATR is predicting a revival in regional turboprop sales within the next few years, as aircraft come up for replacement. "There is no way all the 30-seaters will be replaced with jets," believes Antoine Bouissou, president of the US arm, ATR Marketing. He calculates that some 450 30-seat turboprops ...
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Cathay takes first 777-300
Cathay Pacific received the first 777-300 on 21 May, one of seven Rolls-Royce Trent 892-powered aircraft it has on order. The 777 has been awarded 180min extended twin-engine operations by the US Federal Aviation Administration. European clearance is due in August. Delivery of the first of six Thai Airways ...
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Westland prepares compound helicopter demonstrator
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC GKN Westland hopes to launch an advanced compound helicopter (ACH) technology demonstration programme by the end of the year. The aircraft, based on a Westland Lynx, will be equipped with wings and modified Rolls-Royce Turboméca RTM322 engines to demonstrate lift and thrust compounding. A compound helicopter uses ...
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A319M5 takes on 717 in tussle for Northwest 100-seat deal
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Airbus Industrie is pitching its proposed A319M5 head-on against the Boeing 717 in the campaign to sell Northwest Airlines up to 100 of the 100-seaters to replace its McDonnell Douglas DC-9s. The US carrier, which is also planning a 30-seater order, could purchase a total of ...
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Dassault details supersonic jet
Julian Moxon/PARIS Dassault Aviation has revealed key details of its planned supersonic business jet (SSBJ), which it says could be flying "by 2004". The manufacturer is still hesitant about the size of the potential market for SSBJs, but Dassault Aviation vice-president Bruno Revellin Falcoz insisted when a model of the ...
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Airbus plans laminar flow tests in bid to bring down fuel costs
Max Kingsley-Jones/TOULOUSE Airbus Industrie will launch a laminar flow technology flight test later this year as part of its probe into the potential cost and emission reductions resulting from a lessening in aircraft skin drag. The consortium is modifying the tailfin of the prototype A320-100 for tests due to begin ...
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Sfim uses GPS to calibrate aircraft approach paths
Julian Moxon/PARIS French avionics specialist Sfim has developed a new low cost system to replace the optical equipment used for tracking aircraft flying runway approaches when calibrating runway landing equipment. Its Traki trajectography kit uses the satellite global positioning system (GPS) instead of a ground- based theodolite to ...
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Fairchild Dornier launches 728JET
US-German regional aircraft manufacturer Fairchild Dornier scored the show's most significant coup with the launch of its 528/728/928JET family and the confirmation of conditional orders for 165 aircraft. The announcement came alongside the launch of the 42/44-seat 428JETstretched version of the company's 328JET. Apart from confirmation by Lufthansa CityLine ...
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BMW Rolls-Royce finds cure for compressor blade cracks
BMW Rolls-Royce has resolved a compressor blade cracking problem in the BR715 engine. The problem has delayed the start of flight testing of the Boeing 717 regional airliner for several weeks. According to research and development director Günter Kappler, the cracks arose during altitude chamber tests to determine the ...
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Eurojet aims EJ200 variant at thrust vectored Gripen
Eurojet, the Eurofighter powerplant manufacturer, is offering an uprated version of its EJ200 engine to power a thrust-vectored Saab/British Aerospace Gripen demonstrator. The company says that a 700h flight test programme is being planned to explore thrust vectoring on a standard Gripen airframe for the export market. Eurojet has ...
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MIG MAPO reveals MiG-29SMT upgrade details
MIG MAPO has released more details of its MiG-29SMT upgrade for the basic Fulcrum A. These include the potential to fit the aircraft with improved air-to-air and air-to-surface weaponry as well as an upgraded variant of the Klimov RD-33 engine, the RD-43, capable of thrust vectoring. MIG MAPO unveiled ...
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Brazil and Canada plan subsidy accord for regional aircraft
Mediation of the regional aircraft subsidy dispute between Brazil and Canada has left both sides claiming victory. Special envoys appointed by the two governments have recommended means for resolving the dispute, but have not ruled on whether support provided to Bombardier and Embraer breaks international guidelines on subsidies. The trade ...