All air transport news – Page 2476
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News
Lufthansa Technik warns against maintenance monopoly dangers
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH LUFTHANSA TECHNIK (LHT) chairman Wolfgang Mayrhuber has criticised manufacturers which offer their own maintenance packages for aircraft and aero engines. LHT says that aircraft and engine manufacturers are increasingly attempting to "-elbow their way" into the maintenance and overhaul market and restrict current ...
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PW4090 flight-test programme starts on first Boeing 777
PRATT & Whitney's 400kN (90,000lb)-thrust PW4090 engine has entered a five-month flight-test programme on the first Boeing 777 aircraft, WA001. The engine will power 777-200IGW versions on order from Korean Air and United Airlines, the first of which will enter service in March 1997. The engine is an ...
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Delta launches low-cost Express from Florida base
Karen Walker/ATLANTA DELTA AIRLINES has entered the low-fare market with the launch of Delta Express, a single-class service providing non-stop flights between Florida and cities in the mid-western and north-eastern USA. Services, using a dedicated fleet of 25 Boeing 737-200s, will begin on 1 October ...
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Engines should be treated separately
Sir - Recent news suggests that civil organisations do not seem to share their safety-related views. I was amazed to find that an airline could conduct the same maintenance task, simultaneously, on both engines of a twin without a test before flight. Surely, if there is a need, for example, ...
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Farnborough '96 Preview
Aerospace is flooded with air shows, but the Farnborough '96 organiser promises an "essential"event this September Compiled by Kate Sarsfield/LONDON WITH THE AEROSPACE calendar awash with air shows, Farnborough '96 show organiser The Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) is keen to promote its biennial show as ...
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Civil and military helicopter directory
Douglas Barrie, Max Kingsley-Jones and Jennifer Pite/LONDON DESPITE THE recent gloom in the civil-helicopter business, the manufacturers are now more confident that a recovery is within sight, and have been bullishly developing new models. In 1995, US-manufactured new civil helicopter shipments totalled 314, a slight improvement ...
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Oxford gives operators a Neu-SIGHT into corrosion
Andrew Doyle/LONDON AN INSPECTION tool using neutron radiography will allow non-destructive testing for corrosion in aircraft structures to be carried out more quickly and effectively than with X-ray or ultrasonic techniques, according to developer Oxford Instruments. The tool, called the Neu-SIGHT, uses a high-intensity beam ...
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DHL eyes widebody freighters for European operations
DHL AIRWAYS is targeting late 1997 or early 1998 to introduce widebodied freighters on to its European network, as it seeks to modernise and upgrade its fleet. The US-based package carrier operates some 50 aircraft on its European cross-border network, including 24 Stage 3 Boeing 727-100/200 freighters. Two more -200Fs ...
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FAA moves ahead with local-area GPS teams
FOUR TEAMS HAVE received contracts to support US Federal Aviation Administration development of the local-area augmentation system (LAAS) which is needed to provide Category II/III precision-approach capability using the global-positioning system (GPS). The delayed contracts awarded to Harris, PRC, Raytheon and Wilcox pre-qualify the teams to bid on task orders ...
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NTSB urges increase in inspections of JT8D fan-hubs
INCREASED inspection of Pratt & Whitney JT8D-200-series fan hubs has been urged by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), following July's uncontained failure of an engine on a Delta Air Lines McDonnell Douglas MD-88. Two passengers were killed and four injured when the left-engine hub disintegrated, sending debris ...
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Asiana to take its first Boeing 767 Freighter
ASIANA, THE LAUNCH CUSTOMER for Boeing's 767-300 General Market Freighter, will take the first of two aircraft this month. Based on the 767-300F package freighter developed for UPS, the General Market Freighter has cargo-handling systems on both main and lower decks, and incorporates environmental-control-system changes to enable live animals and ...
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Dornier signs up to develop Envisat instruments
Dornier Satellite Systeme (DSS) has signed a DM1.5 billion ($1 billion) contract with the European Space Agency to develop the instrument payload for the Envisat 1 polar-orbiting environmental satellite, which is scheduled to be launched by an Arianespace Ariane 5 in 1999. The 8,000kg spacecraft - being built ...
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Jordan signs F-16 lease with USAF
JORDAN HAS signed an agreement to lease 16 ex-US Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs from the USA, which will pay for the bulk of the $220 million deal. Most of the funds will go towards structural and engine upgrades for the aircraft, which have 25% of their 4,000h lives remaining. ...
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US airlines exploit the boom
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON THE MAJOR US AIRLINES have followed up their latest round of record profits with predictions that their spectacular performances will continue into the second half of the year. The airlines turned in their best-ever net profit - of more than $1.5 billion - ...
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PAL will make regional-jet decision soon
Paul Lewis/MANILA PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) wants to finalise the selection of a new regional jet by the end of the year, as a replacement for its fleet of loss-making Fokker 50 turboprops. Domestic fares on routes operated by turbprops are limited, but the introduction of ...
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Delta orders Nordam hushkits for 737s
DELTA AIR LINES has finalised its Boeing 737 hushkit plans, placing an order with Nordam for Stage 3 sets for up to 55 aircraft, which will enable its entire 737-200 fleet to be equipped. The airline has placed a firm contract with Nordam for 25 hushkit sets, plus ...
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SAS ends Saab 2000 order drought
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDONRamon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC SAS COMMUTER has ordered up to six Saab 2000s, which ends the aircraft's two-year new-customer drought. This comes as Saab concludes a three-week sales tour of the aircraft in the USA, where it is still seeking its first airline customer for the 50-seat ...
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Lufthansa introduces the A319
LUFTHANSA HAS PUT THE FIRST of 20 Airbus A319-100s on to its European network, making it the third operator of all three Airbus single-aisle models. The 126-seat aircraft is mainly being operated on scheduled services from Frankfurt to Vienna and Istanbul, and on domestic routes. The new type, which will ...
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Boeing settles baseline for 747-500X/600X designs-
Andrew Doyle/LONDON BOEING HAS INCREASED the range of its 747-600X and reduced the size of the -500X following consultations with its airline working group. The revised configurations are now being offered as the baseline aircraft to potential customers. The move follows the US manufacturer's recent ...
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Merpati leases A310s for use on services to Australia
MERPATI NUSANTARA Airlines is to introduce its first widebodied aircraft, on services to Australia. The Jakarta-based airline is adding three Airbus A310-300s on lease, as part of its network expansion to new destinations in Asia and Australia. The first A310, believed to be an ex-Kuwait Airways aircraft, is ...