All air transport news – Page 2424
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Highest-thrust 777 has maiden flight
The first Boeing 777-300 powered by the 436kN (98,000lb)-thrust Pratt & Whitney PW4098 engine had its maiden flight from the company's Everett site on 4 February. The engine is the most powerful yet developed for the 777, although it will initially be operated in the tests at a derated ...
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US Airways' MetroJet will launch in June
US Airways will launch its new low cost airline, dubbed MetroJet, on 1 June, with service from Baltimore, Maryland, to four cities in the eastern USA. MetroJet, which had been known as US2, will initially connect the Baltimore hub to Cleveland, Ohio, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Manchester, New Hampshire and ...
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Japan-USA aviation pact opens way to codeshares
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Andrew Mollet/TOKYO The aviation pact between Japan and the USA is expected to spur additional global airline alliances, with a key provision of the air services agreement allowing for codesharing for the first time in the lucrative Japanese-US market. Under the bilateral aviation pact ...
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BAe wins launch aid for Airbus A340-500/600
British Aerospace has been granted launch aid for the Airbus A340-500/600 programme by the UK Government, with the victory attributed to a "battling" performance by trade and industry secretary Margaret Beckett against apparent Treasury scepticism. A decision on the £123 million ($200 million) repayable loan, which represents around one-third of ...
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Moving goalposts
The UK Government's decision to give British Aerospace £123 million ($200 million) launch aid for development work on the wing of the Airbus A340 500/600 airliner may give a much-needed morale boost to the UK aerospace industry, but it may also do little to bolster (and may even harm) the ...
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Light twin, right price
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC When Bell introduced the Model 407 light single-turbine helicopter it was essentially competing with itself, or rather with the longevity of its popular Model 206 JetRanger/LongRanger family. With the new Model 427 light twin, the company is breaking new ground, and competing with helicopters from established manufacturers. ...
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Italy breaks waterbomber sales drought
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Bombardier anticipates additional orders for its CL-415 waterbomber this year, after breaking a year-long sales drought with the follow-on purchase of two aircraft by Italy's civil protection department. The company is confident that it will find customers for most of the 21 aircraft remaining from the first ...
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Cirrus begins SR20 certification
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Cirrus Design hopes to begin deliveries of its SR20 light aircraft early in the second half of 1998, about six months behind schedule. The company flew the first production prototype on 28 January and is aiming for certification by mid-year. The exact certification schedule will be established ...
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Fairchild Dornier wins corporate 328JET orders
Fairchild Dornier has won six orders from four customers for its 328JET in executive jet and air ambulance configurations. Tyrolean Jet Service of Innsbruck, Austria, has become the launch customer, with an order for one aircraft in its corporate version, plus one for an air ambulance, to be delivered ...
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Raytheon hands back MU-2 to Mitsubishi
Raytheon Aircraft has handed over product support for its MU-2 twin-engined turboprop to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America (MHIA), so that it can concentrate on new product lines. The MU-2 production line was halted in 1986, after more than 30 years, when US manufacturer Mitsubishi Aircraft International was dissolved. Raytheon ...
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Vantage power deal
VisionAire has signed a five-year agreement with Pratt & Whitney Canada, valued at $175 million, covering delivery of JT15D-5 turbofans for its Vantage single-engined business jet. The first Vantage test aircraft VT-1 is scheduled to be flown in December. Source: Flight International
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New stretch of 747 defined
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has revised its future 747 growth studies to include a 500-passenger stretch version with a larger wingspan, known as the -400Y Stretch, while dropping another long range variant dubbed the -400ERY. The company stresses that the only new version of the 747 being formally ...
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Airbus puts back entry into service of A3XX
Julian Moxon/PARIS Airbus Industrie is to delay the entry into service of its planned 555-seat A3XX by at least nine months, to the third quarter of 2004. The consortium claims that the delay is "minor" and says that the current economic chaos in key Asian markets is not responsible ...
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Dash 8-400 flies
The Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-400 had its maiden flight on 31 January from de Havilland's plant in Downsview, Toronto, under the command of de Havilland chief engineering test pilot Wally Warner and engineering test pilot Barry Hubbard. During the 3h flight, a speed of 200kt (370km/h) was achieved ...
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CFMI reveals new technology initiative
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES CFM International (CFMI) is starting a series of multimillion dollar technology studies to support the development of a new baseline engine in the 89-178kN (20,000-40,000lb)-thrust range early next century. The drive is aimed at maintaining the current market dominance of the joint General Electric/Snecma company, ...
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Iberia picks Airbus A320 family for short haul fleet
Iberia is to standardise on Airbus Industrie aircraft for its short haul fleet, following a decision to place orders for up 76 A320 family aircraft. The airline is to add 16 additional Boeing 757s for its short term needs, however. The Spanish flag carrier has signed a memorandum of ...
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Boeing nears 737-700 European approval
Boeing is hoping that last minute flight demonstrations of "small system changes" on a 737-800 test aircraft will clear the way for European certification of the -700, after a four to five month delay. Boeing hopes to have certification in time to start deliveries to European launch customer Maersk Air ...
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Spotlight falls on SilkAir recorder 'failure'
The investigation into the crash on 19 December, 1997, of the SilkAir Boeing 737-300 is raising questions about why the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) both stopped operating in quick succession just before the aircraft entered its steep, fatal descent. Analysis of the CVR ...
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Loral hit by crises in Asian economies
Space Systems/Loral has eliminated up to 300 jobs and suspended work on three communications satellites for Asian customers because of the region's economic crisis. Loral has been building the L Star 1 and 2 satellites for Asia Broadcasting and Communications network of Bangkok and the M2A for P T ...
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Regional revolution
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Regional aircraft manufacturers must, by now, be getting used to living in a perpetual state of revolution, and 1997 was no disappointment. The year began with Fokker delivering its last few aircraft and ended with the loss of another famous name, as Saab Aircraft announced its retreat ...