All air transport news – Page 2426
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PZL-Swidnik upgrades SW-4 prototype with flight-control system
Polish helicopter manufacturer PZL-Swidnik is fitting a hydraulic flight-control system from French manufacturer SAMM to its third SW-4 light-helicopter prototype. The four/five-seat helicopter, powered by a single 335kW (450shp) Allison 250-C20R/2 turboshaft has undergone 70h of flight testing since it was first flown on 26 October, 1996, and is ...
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Airbus urges AE31X speed-up to compete with Boeing 717
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Airbus Industrie and its Chinese and Singapore partners are discussing speeding up development of the proposed smaller AE316 member of the planned AE31X family of regional aircraft, in response to Boeing's relaunch of the former MD-95 twinjet as the 717-200. It is understood that Airbus Industrie Asia (AIA) ...
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British Airways is ready to Go with no-frills contender
British Airways is to launch its London Stansted based "no-frills" division under the name Go. The launch is set for early in the second quarter of 1998. Go's chief executive Barbara Cassani denies that the new airline's remit is to eliminate new low-cost entrants such as easyJet, but warns that ...
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Latin carriers link for A320 deal
Three major Latin American carriers, TAM of Brazil, TACA Group of El Salvador and LanChile, are in final negotiations with Airbus Industrie to place a joint order for up to 130 A320-family aircraft. The deal should be concluded by March. LanChile confirms that it has already signed a letter ...
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Wexford agrees to acquire US regional
US Airways Express carrier Chautauqua Airlines is to be acquired by US investment firm Wexford Aviation, which plans to place some of its recently ordered Embraer RJ-135 and RJ-145 regional jets with the Indianapolis-based airline. Greenwich, Connecticut-based Wexford has agreed to acquire 100% of privately held Chautauqua, which had ...
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American chooses GEC HUD
Ian Sheppard/LONDON American Airlines has selected GEC-Marconi Avionics to supply its HUD 2022 head-up-display (HUDs) system for 75 new Boeing 737-800s the carrier has on order. The contract secures the UK company's place as a leading supplier of civil HUD systems for the Next Generation 737 family alongside ...
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AVIC will make Boeing composite parts in China
Boeing is to team with aerospace-materials specialist Hexcel and Aviation Industries of China (AVIC) to establish a joint-venture composite-parts factory in the city of Tianjin, 120km (75 miles) south-east of Beijing. The three companies are reported to have spent the past two years considering the move, which will create ...
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Regional brinkmanship
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Brazil and Canada have been brought to the brink of a trade war by a dispute between Bombardier and Embraer over alleged Government subsidies for regional-jet development and sales. Now, representatives of the two countries have until the end of February to resolve the dispute, which threatens ...
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Aircraft News
Virgin Atlantic has ordered eight Airbus A340-600s with eight options, while Lufthansa has ordered 10 A340-600s. Swissair has ordered six A330-200s and one A321 for delivery in 1999 and 2000. Leisure International Airways has ordered two A330-200s. Olympic Airways has ordered two A340-300s, plus two options, for ...
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French stick over partner
Doug Cameron Investment bankers are sharply split over Air France's ability to secure a strategic airline investor and Air France's advisers have retreated from supporting a trade sale after the collapse of its planned Alitalia agreement. Air France plans an equity issue of FFr18 billion (US$2.9 billion) in ...
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Eye of the tiger
National flag carrier Air India is being readied for a merger with its domestic partner Indian Airlines and at least partial privatisation. But once again political change threatens to scupper the progress made so far. Tom Ballantyne reports from Mumbai. If anyone had doubts that Mumbai-based flag carrier Air-India was ...
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Brazil cracks the fare nut
Brian Homewood Brazil, a country with some of the highest internal air fares in the world, has taken the first tentative steps towards deregulation by allowing unrestricted charter flights. The Civil Aviation Department (DAC) has given the go-ahead for any nationally-owned company to operate charters on any route ...
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Islands apart
A grand plan for Air Jamaica to be the focus of closer cooperation in the Caribbean region has failed to materialise, and instead would-be partners like BWIA continue to pursue their own separate strategies. Karen Walker reports. According to a joke that circulates in the Caribbean, St Peter allows newly ...
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No more red China blues?
Tom Ballantyne China's airlines are getting their first taste of capitalism as the country's carriers drastically slash their air fares and liberalisation hits the region. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has given its 27 CAAC-approved airlines the go-ahead to cut prices by up to 40 per cent ...
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Carriers free private parts
Doug Cameron Belgium-based City Bird's rocky initial public offering suggests that the recent spate of successful IPOs by European airlines may be over. Last year, low-cost European airline stocks benefited from a surge in interest from US investors who moved heavily into Ryanair and Virgin Express. However, the ...
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Deflation alarm bells ring again
Deflation is not an economic term which has tripped off the tongue in the last three decades. Far from it. A series of political crises in the Middle East, starting with the six-day war in 1967, triggered 30 years of almost continuous inflation, fuelled by surging oil and commodity prices ...
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Higher US fares are hitting home
As US domestic fares continue to rise, more business travellers are making concessions in order to obtain lower fares, or are switching to low-cost carriers. Report by Karen Walker. The New Year had barely been rung in when both American Express and the US Department of Transportation confirmed what most ...
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Asia's new era
Asia's economic turmoil is going to accelerate long-term structural change as the carriers in the region respond to the challenges. Doug Cameron looks at the impact on aircraft renewal, funding, alliances and liberalisation. Asian executives must be wondering what other calamities fate can possibly have in store for them. ...
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Garuda in dire straits
Tom Ballantyne Reeling from a freefall in its local currency which has blown up debt, Jakarta's state-owned flag carrier Garuda Indonesia may face bankruptcy unless it auctions off assets. The country's economic collapse, coupled with a string of accidents including a major crash last September in which 300 ...
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Iberia faces inquisition?
Doug Cameron Iberia is courting trouble with the Spanish competition authorities after reaching agreement for a franchise deal with its main domestic competitor, Palma-based Air Europa. Iberia suffered capacity shortages during 1997 and was forced to wet lease a variety of aircraft, resulting in a fall in service ...