All news – Page 6356
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Sky surfing rocked by Swissair shock
Steve Nichols/DUBAI The availability of in-flight internet access could take a dramatic turn after Swissair's shock decision to remove satcom-based in-seat telephones from its narrow-body Airbus fleet. The company blames reliability problems and lack of customer demand. The decision doesn't bode well for in-flight internet access which is likely to ...
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End in sight to Pacific region slump
A new ICAO survey released this week shows that the downturn in business on trans-Pacific routes could soon end. The number of passengers on Pacific routes is expected to rise from 26 million in 1998 to 72 million in 2014, and those on intra-Asia/Pacific routes from 67 million to 145 ...
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Sikorsky pleased with Helibus progress
Paul Derby/DUBAI Sikorsky is remaining tight lipped about exactly when it will launch full-scale production of the S-92 Helibus, but says the third development aircraft has now made its maiden flight. Jim Williams from the S-92 business development team says aircraft number three has completed five flights totalling 5.5 hours. ...
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Airports
An Italian Government decree is set to ban all night flights between 23:00 and 06:00 at Italian airports from early next year. Airports have six months to adapt to the new regulations, after which only special flights (government or emergency/medical flights) will be allowed during the banned period. There will ...
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Boeing faces shield delays
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has suspended deliveries of all widebodies and the 757 until it can reach agreement with the US Federal Aviation Administration over corrective actions. The work is to modify flightdeck drip shields that were incorrectly put together at the company's Spokane site in Washington. The 747, ...
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Boeing 737-800 readied for China Southwest
The first of three Boeing 737-800s for China Southwest Airlines is being prepared for delivery at Boeing's plant in Seattle, Washington. Sichuan-based China Southwest, which will be the third Chinese carrier to take delivery of a 737-800, will operate the 168-seaters on services connecting Chongqing to other Chinese cities including ...
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American Eagle 'a strong prospect' for ERJ-140
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Embraer hopes to secure its first airline order for the ERJ-140 before the end of the year as the Brazilian manufacturer embarks on a fast track development of the new 44-seat regional jet derivative. The company is chasing incremental orders and conversions of airline orders, ...
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Go focuses on 737-700 or A319 for long-term fleet plans
UK low-fare airline Go expects to finalise its long-term fleet plans early next year. This will enable it to begin introducing a new fleet of Airbus A319s or Boeing 737-700s in 2001. The airline was set up in May last year by British Airways as a low-cost short-haul subsidiary ...
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Guam crash: crew blamed
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has blamed the flight crew for the crash of a Korean Air Boeing 747-300 in Guam, in which 229 of the 254 people on board were killed. But the board says actions by Korean Air, the Korean Civil Aviation ...
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A330s or 767s on menu as Hainan Airlines plans international flights
Andrew Doyle/MUNICHHainan Airlines is seeking approval from the Chinese Government to launch international flights to points in Asia, Australia and Europe. The Chinese short-haul airline also plans to open discussions with Airbus and Boeing on acquiring a fleet of widebodies. "We expect approval in principle from the Civil Aviation Administration ...
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HKIA upgrades weather alerts
Improved weather detection systems at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) are being examined in the wake of the China Airlines Boeing MD-11 crash at the airport in August. The Hong Kong Observatory is studying 162 windshear reports from pilots landing at HKIA since it opened in mid-1998, most of ...
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Rockwell Collins heads for I²S first
Rockwell Collins and Lufthansa affiliate Condor expect to receive German certification of the Integrated Information System (I2S) by mid-November. Certification, which follows a successful test flight on a Condor A320 in September, will pave the way for the launch of a year-long operational trial of the advanced information management system ...
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SpaceDev wins spacecraft deal
SpaceDev, the commercial space exploration and development company, has been selected by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley to design, build and operate a micro-spacecraft. The vehicle will conduct a one-year astronomy mission in low earth orbit. The spacecraft, the Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma ...
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ILS contract boost for Astrotech
Spacehab subsidiary, Astrotech, has been awarded a six-year extension to its payload processing contract by International Launch Services (ILS). Astrotech will support Atlas fleet launches, including the new Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle, at Cape Canaveral, Florida and at Vandenberg AFB in California. The inaugural ILS launch from ...
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Beagle 2 to face ESA
The UK's Open University-led Beagle 2 Mars lander project goes before the European Space Agency's (ESA) Science Programme Committee on 10 November. It is bidding to take a piggyback ride aboard the ESA Mars Express orbiter in 2003. The 60kg (130lb) Beagle 2 is not yet fully funded but ...
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Ball completes Bird
Ball Aerospace has completed the building of the spacecraft bus for the QuickBird 1 high resolution commercial remote sensing satellite. It is scheduled for launch from Plesetsk next year. The spacecraft is based on Ball's Commercial Platform 2000 bus which was first used for the QuickScat project. Source: Flight International
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ISS suffers further delays
Tim Furniss/LONDON The International Space Station (ISS) project has been dealt a new blow with the delay of the next Space Shuttle assembly mission, STS101 Atlantis. NASA has moved it from February next year to no earlier than 16 March. This comes after the Russian Proton launch failure ...
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Intelsat deadline
Intelsat's target date for completing privatisation is April 2001, following formal ratification of its member countries. The satellite communications organisation intends an initial public offering within a year after. It will continue to provide a global service rather than fragmenting into national entities. Source: Flight International
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Task force
Mitsubishi Electric has entered the world league in full-scale satellite manufacturing and testing with the completion of a new six-floor, 23m (75ft)-high, 2,483m² (26,700ft²) plant at Kamakura. Incorporating full-scale design, manufacturing and testing facilities under one roof, it includes a space vacuum chamber. Source: Flight International
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External payload
Lockheed Martin has confirmed a new configuration of its proposed VentureStar single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicle (Flight International, 13-19 October). The craft will carry an external payload bay up to 19m (60ft) long and 10m wide to provide greater fuel efficiency and greater mission flexibility. With the external payload bay removed, ...