All air transport news – Page 2599
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Regional repercussions
Regional jets headline this year's US Regional Airline Association show, with the debut of Embraer's EMB-145 and the debate on turboprop safety. Graham Warwick/ATLANTA MORE THAN 18 months after an American Eagle ATR 72 crashed near Roselawn, Indiana killing all 68 people on board, repercussions of the accident ...
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Boeing schedules September delivery for first F-22 wing
Guy Norris/SEATTLE BOEING IS ON schedule to deliver large sub-assemblies for the first pre-production F-22 air-superiority fighter to its partner Lockheed Martin in September, amid rising confidence that the first flight will take place on time in late May 1997. Boeing's two biggest sections of ...
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Leisure International selects Airbus A321
UK CHARTER CARRIER Leisure International Airways (formerly Air UK Leisure) has selected the Airbus A321-200 rather than the Boeing 737-800 for its future fleet needs. LIA declines to comment on the selection, although it confirms that an announcement "is imminent". The airline has replaced its fleet ...
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ANZ plans twice-weekly Australia-Shanghai flights
AIR NEW ZEALAND (ANZ), plans to use up its remaining Australian fifth-freedom rights, by flying twice weekly between Australia and Shanghai. The carrier says that it will "probably" operate the services from Sydney, but has not ruled out using its Brisbane hub. General manager sales and marketing international ...
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Uprated Proton is postponed
PLANS TO DEVELOP THE up-rated Proton M geostationary-orbit (GEO) satellite-launch vehicle have been delayed to at least the year 2000 by budget cuts. The Proton M was to have entered the commercial market in 1997, capable of placing 4,500kg into GEO, equipped with improved first-stage engines and the KVD-1 cryogenic ...
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Aviall continues disposals in quest for core profits
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON AVIALL IS TO sell its aerospace-fastener operation, in another step towards its ambition of stripping the group back to its profitable aircraft-parts distribution business. An agreement was signed at the end of April to sell the fasteners-distribution unit to a new company formed ...
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BWIA drops EMB-145 plans, renegotiates A340 order
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON BWIA HAS ABANDONED its intentions to operate up to ten Embraer EMB-145s and is rethinking its plans for an Airbus long-haul fleet. The airline, however, discounts rumours that it is talking to Boeing again. The Caribbean-based carrier, which signed a letter of intent ...
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El Al profits boost
EL AL TURNED IN net profits of $15 million in 1995 and expects to improve on the performance this year, helped by rising traffic between the USA and Israel. The Israeli flag carrier says that it expects to make gains from its improved access to US gateways and ...
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Leaving on a high
Allan Winn/LONDON SIR CHRISTOPHER Chataway retires from the chairmanship of the UK Civil Aviation Authority at the end of this month. In his five years as chairman, he has overseen a dramatic improvement in efficiency and productivity in an organisation, which, he acknowledges, may in the past have ...
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Regional and utility aircraft directory
Fokker's demise is the most dramatic in a series of upheavals taking place throughout the regional-aircraft industry Compiled by Andrew Doyle and Jennifer Pite/LONDON Graham Warwick/ATLANTA FOKKER IS DOWN, the count almost over, but the winner is far from clear: not the customers left with unfulfilled orders for ...
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Ilyushin sells first production Il-103
ILYUSHIN HAS SOLD the first production version of the five-seat Il-103 to an undisclosed customer. The aircraft, is believed to have been sold to a South African client who undertook demonstration flights in April. The Il-103 is produced at the Lukhovitsy plant near Moscow, which is a member of MAPO ...
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Zimbabwe Government loses patience with Fokkers
THE ZIMBABWE Government has told Air Zimbabwe to terminate its leases on two Fokker 50 turboprops, following concerns about their performance and their adverse effect on the country's tourist industry. After a parliamentary committee concluded that the aircraft were not suitable for operations from hot-and-high airports during the ...
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FAA icing rules change
MOST US REGIONAL-airline operators of turboprop-powered aircraft will face minor operational restrictions rather than costly modifications, according to the finalised Federal Aviation Administration rules about flight in icing conditions (Flight International, 7-13 February). Major anti-icing system design changes like those demanded for the ATR 42 have not been required. ...
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GE and P&W join forces on 747X
Paul Lewis and Guy Norris/SEATTLE GENERAL ELECTRIC and Pratt & Whitney have agreed to joint development of an engine to power Boeing's new-generation 747 models, the 747-500/600X. Meanwhile, Boeing is expecting to be complete definition of the new models by mid-year. The surprise teaming of ...
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Boeing sets decision date for new versions of 777
Guy Norris and Paul Lewis/SEATTLE BOEING IS targeting September for a decision on development of either the 777-100X "shrink" or higher gross weight -200X derivative as its new ultra-long range passenger aircraft. A continuing product development study of the two new proposed 777 family members ...
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NTSB criticises FAA on 737 FDR
NATIONAL Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), chairman Jim Hall has criticised the US Federal Aviation Administration, for rejecting the Boards call for an immediate upgrade, of Boeing 737 flight data recorders (FDRs). Proposed new rules about the retrofit of modern FDRs on commercial passenger-carrying aircraft will soon be issued ...
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UPS may package passengers
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA UPS Airlines is considering operating weekend passenger-charter services using otherwise-idle cargo aircraft. As a first move, quick-change conversion kits for five Boeing 727-100 freighters are being considered as a way to increase aircraft utilisation. The results of a study into the feasibility of offering passenger-charter services to tour ...
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DASA prepares 328 cryoplane
DAIMLER-BENZ Aerospace (DASA) is to go ahead with a programme to convert a Dornier 328 turboprop to a hydrogen-fuelled testbed late this year. "The aim is to use the knowhow gained with the Dornier 328...for Airbus applications at a later date," says DASA. The project, now in ...
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Power Pool
THE COMMERCIAL-ENGINES business is among the biggest of big-risk businesses, and the risk is seldom bigger than when a new engine is required for an as-yet-unproven large airliner. So it should come as no surprise that two engine manufacturers should pool resources to minimise the risk of participating in such ...
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Carib Express ceases operations
CARIB EXPRESS, the Caribbean regional in which British Airways held a 20% stake, has been wound up and its aircraft returned to British Aerospace. The airline started operations in February 1995 with three BAe 146-100s leased from BAe's Asset Management Organisation (AMO), operating regional services from Barbados. ...