All news – Page 6856
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Swisscargo drops spin-off proposal
Swissair's cargo division, Swisscargo, has ditched proposals to spin off its own freight airline and will instead expand its existing strategy of wet-lease and block space agreements. The tentative plan to set up the cargo airline was studied in 1997, when an initial three of five Boeing 747-300 passenger ...
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Surat Thani crash brings Thai aviation reform a step closer
Thai transport minister Suthep Thaugsuban has promised to reform the country's aviation bodies following the fatal crash of a Thai Airways International Airbus A310 at Surat Thani 11 December. Suthep, whose sister was among the 101 dead out of 146 people on board, says the results of the crash ...
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Milan City proposes Rome Airport tie-up
The city government of Milan has called for a halt in the planned sale of the Italian Government's stake in the Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) and instead move to integrate the company into a joint company with the Milan airport operator SEA. The sale of the 54.2% stake held ...
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Government bank plans CAL bid
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE The Taiwanese Government-owned China Development Bank (CDB)has declared an interest in buying a 35.5% stake in China Airlines (CAL), days after Singapore Airlines (SIA) dropped its bid. CDB is an investment arm of Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party and owns about 2% of CAL together with another ...
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Election confuses El Al privatisation
Privatisation plans at El Al have been thrown into confusion following a decision by the Israeli Government to call a general election in May. Teams of El Al executives are continuing to work on the airline's prospectus document in the face of uncertainty on whether the process will be ...
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Indonesia claims unexpected operating profit for Garuda
The Indonesian Government has painted a rosy picture of its national airline's financial performance in 1998, claiming an operating profit for Garuda Indonesia resulting from a fourth-quarter boost in load factors. The figures, claiming a profit of Rp905 billion ($109 million) up to 31 December, 1998, come from the ...
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Whither Russia's Air Force?
Little wonder that few Westerners understand Russia. In the month that its air force finally reveals the closest thing it has to a fifth-generation fighter aircraft (MAPO's Article 1.44), and hints at grandiose plans for new fighters, missiles and long-range bombers, it also announces swingeing manpower cuts that include some ...
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Israel's BVR unveils training system
Israeli avionics firm BVR has developed an advanced training avionics suite system (ATAS) that will allow low cost basic trainers to emulate the characteristics of more advanced combat aircraft during the training of fighter pilots. The ATAS is based on a cockpit upgrade with the installation of multifunction displays ...
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F119 powers up for F-22 production standard
Pratt & Whitney plans to deliver its first full production standard F119 engine for the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 fighter test programme in November. The powerplant, the 18th of 26 flight test engines the company will deliver by the end of 2000, will form P&W's production endurance demonstration engine. "It ...
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Indian AEW project set back by fatal crash
India's project to develop an indigenous airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft has been dealt a severe blow with the crash on 11 January of a British Aerospace 748 Airborne Surveillance Platform, about 50km (27nm) from Chennai (Madras), which killed all four crew and four scientists on board. The loss ...
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US KC-135 crash
A US Air National Guard Boeing KC-135 tanker crashed near Geilenkirchen, Germany, on 13 January, killing all four crew members. The aircraft was returning to base after refuelling a NATO Boeing E-3 and had made a go-around. The aircraft, with 18,000 litres (4,750USgal) of fuel, exploded on impact and burned ...
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India reveals light helicopter project
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has unveiled details of a study for a light observation helicopter (LOH) design under way for the Indian forces. The 3t-class aircraft, which will have a maximum payload of 1,500kg (3,300lb) and a design ceiling of around 19,000ft (5,800m), will be in a similar class to the ...
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RAF Nimrod upgrade falls behind schedule
The Royal Air Force is unlikely to receive its first upgraded Nimrod MR4 maritime patrol aircraft until 2002, as a result of delays to the £2 billion ($3.3 billion) modification programme. The programme is thought to be up to eight months behind schedule, the first aircraft having been delivered ...
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UK eyes new Phoenix partners
Tim Ripley/LONDON The British Army is reassessing its operational requirements for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), including enhancements to the Marconi Phoenix and a possible purchase of new unmanned systems, after its first Phoenix exercises in Canada. The army is carrying out an operational requirements study for two additional UAV ...
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Northrop Grumman ships first rebuilt Prowlers to US Navy
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Northrop Grumman has delivered to the US Navy the first of 20 rebuilt and upgraded EA-6B Prowlers, planned to equip five new expeditionary squadrons, as part of a wider programme of rolling improvements to sustain its fleet of electronic warfare aircraft. The EA-6s are being ...
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RAH-66 Comanche team sticks with Longbow radar
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Boeing Sikorsky, the prime integrator for the US Army's RAH-66 Comanche armed reconnaissance/attack helicopter, is to retain the Lockheed Martin/ Northrop Grumman Longbow millimetre-wave radar after failing to find a viable alternative. The search for another fire control radar solution for the RAH-66 was directed ...
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Russian air force chief calls for major overhaul programme
Lyubov Pronina/MOSCOW The Russian air force is in need of overhaul this year to improve its combat effectiveness, with a substantial equipment modernisation programme, the development of new tactics and armaments and a revised staff structure heading the list of requirements, says air force chief Col Gen Anatoly Kornukov. ...
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Su-27 crash
One of the 10 Su-27 fighters recently delivered to Ethiopia crashed on 6 January near the capital Addis Abbaba. The aircraft was on a demonstration flight piloted by a Russian, who ejected safely. Source: Flight International
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Thai Spectralink
The Thai air force has selected the Tadiran Spectralink airborne search and rescue system, and will install the ARS-700 control and display unit in an undisclosed number of its helicopters. Tadiran will also instruct Thai crews in use of the system. Source: Flight International
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F/A-18E/F: Going for Growth
During the 16 years it has been in US Navy service, the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet has, on average, "grown" by more than a kilogramme a week. Most of that growth has been through improvements - new systems and capabilities - but there have been performance penalties to pay. By ...