All news – Page 6810
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Portuguese flag carrier to join SAirGroup stable
TAP Air Portugal will become the latest European carrier to come under the partial ownership of SAir Group if plans for the Swiss company to acquire a 20% stake in the Portuguese state-owned flag-carrier are approved by the European Commission. SAir Group says it hopes to complete the purchase ...
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Turbofan chosen for unmanned air vehicle
AlliedSignal's F124turbofan will power Boeing's unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV), which is to be flight tested under a US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency technology demonstration contract (Flight International, 31 March-6 April). The unreheated turbofan was chosen over the Rolls-Royce Turboméca Adour to power the UCAV. The F124 is ...
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Ryanair introduces first 737-800 to expand European network
Ryanair has taken delivery of the first of 25 Boeing 737-800s ordered last year to expand its European network. Ryanair, which operates 21 Boeing 737-200s, including seven Stage 3 hushkitted machines, also has options for 20 737-800s. The airline 33 routes from London Stansted to Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Norway, ...
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ESA signs first Mars Express contract with Matra Marconi
Julian Moxon/PARIS The first contract for the European Space Agency's (ESA) 150 million euro ($161 million) Mars Express programme has been signed with prime contractor Matra Marconi Space. The 60 million euro contract was awarded despite the programme awaiting full approval, expected at the ESA ministerial meeting in ...
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Investors give ultimatum on Iridium performance
Iridium has been given a two-month deadline by its lenders to prove that it can meet revenue and subscriber targets. The Motorola-owned company has been told that it must have $4 million cash revenues, $30 million in accrued revenues and at least 52,000 customers by 31 May. Iridium had 3,000 ...
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Spaceway investment
Hughes Electronics will invest $1.4 billion in the multimedia Spaceway satellite system for North America. Two satellites will be launched by 2002. Hughes is planning an international Spaceway system with international partners. Source: Flight International
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Sea Launch set for first commercial launch
Tim Furniss/LONDON The first commercial lift-off from Sea Launch offshore platform Odyssey is scheduled for August following the maiden flight of a Zenit 3SL from the floating launch site. The booster placed a demonstration payload into geostationary-transfer orbit on 28 March. The commercial Zenit 3SL booster will carry a Hughes ...
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Airbus aims to trim A3XX weight
Julian Moxon/PARIS The take-off weight of the Airbus Industrie A3XX will be reduced by 2-3t through the use of a new, high-pressure hydraulic system, if tests being carried out by Aerospatiale at Toulouse prove it to be economically and technically viable. "We have decided to go for a system ...
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Making a mark
Max Kingsley-Jones/DOHA Qatar Airways has restructured from a low-cost operator to a high-quality international carrier The Qatar government recognised that action was needed to ensure that its capital, Doha, was not isolated as the country's economy grew during the early 1990s. While the nation's shared flag carrier, Gulf ...
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Emirates' global vision
Max Kingsley-Jones/DUBAI Emirates had a handful of routes and aircraft when it began in 1985 - now it is a major force and is eyeing the A3XX The Past 14 years have been an exciting ride for Emirates. The airline has topped the growth tables for national carriers ...
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Emerging power
Max Kingsley-Jones/MUSCAT Oman Air is embarked on a programme of expansion and restructuring OMAN, on the Gulf's eastern side, rests in the shadows cast by the cosmopolitan regions to its west, such as Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dubai. The country has chosen not to follow its neighbours ...
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Rising forces
Rapid growth in Gulf air transport has spawned new carriers and put pressure on others. Max Kingsley-Jones reports. The developing air transport market in the Gulf has been one of the 1990s' most fascinating stories as well as one of the most difficult to unravel - for observers outside the ...
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Gulf bites back
Max Kingsley-Jones/BAHRAIN Gulf Air is fighting back from financial crisis with a clear strategy for the future Gulf Air has been through considerable pain over the past four years. Losses mounted to over $130 million and debts rose to $1.5 billion during two financially disastrous years in the ...
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Spar shareholders stir rebellion
Canadian aerospace manufacturer Spar is facing a shareholder mutiny following an attempted hostile takeover by IMP Group, also of Canada. At a meeting scheduled for 13 May, investors controlling some 58% of Toronto-based Spar's stock are expected to oust seven of the company's 12-member board, with an eighth director ...
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Deregulated Greek market spawns another start up
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Julian Moxon/PARIS The launch of Greek scheduled carrier Axon Airlines is the latest in a string of developments in the country's air transport market, following the recent introduction of deregulation. The growing band of Greek independent carriers is taking advantage of last year's lapse of the ...
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EC delays hushkit rules as US talks go on
Julian Moxon/PARIS The European Commission (EC) has agreed to delay by four weeks the introduction of tough rules on hushkitted aircraft while negotiations with the USA continue on a compromise deal. The move follows US objections to the ruling, which would ban hushkitted aircraft after 2002 and prohibit ...
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Mars test
NASA engineers at Houston's Johnson Space Center in Texas have tested equipment capable of extracting oxygen from the carbon-dioxide Martian atmosphere in preparation for the flight of the Mars In-Situ Propellant Production Precursor, which will fly on the Mars Surveyor 2001 lander. Source: Flight International
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New missions
The European Space Agency has approved two new scientific missions. The Far Infrared and Submillimeter Telescope and the Planck cosmic microwave background explorer will be launched together on an Ariane 5 in 2007 and will operate from the L2 Earth-Sun Langrange point. Source: Flight International
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Mir deadline
Russia has set a deadline of 30 April to secure private funding to continue operations of the Mir space station. If private funding is not secured, the space base will be taken out of orbit in September. Source: Flight International
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On track
NASA has started full-engine hot-fire testing of the low-cost Fastrac rocket engine at its Marshall Space Flight Center at Huntsville, Alabama, with a 20s full-power test to demonstrate the operation of the complete engine system. Up to 84 engine test firings are planned this year. The 210,000lb-thrust (935kN) Fastrac will ...