All news – Page 7023
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MDC creates Asian leasing joint venture to boost sales
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE McDonnell Douglas (MDC) is hoping to revive flagging sales of its narrowbody-aircraft range, with the planned establishment of a joint-venture leasing company in partnership with Taiwanese interests. Under a letter of intent signed with Taiwan-based Central Leasing, the US manufacturer plans to take a ...
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Air Namibia ponders 747SP replacements
Air Namibia is seeking to acquire a more modern aircraft to replace its Boeing 747SP, a move which it considers vital to its cost-cutting drive to achieve profit. The carrier says that the types under consideration include the Boeing 777 and 747-400, Airbus A340, or "even the McDonnell ...
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BA faces unrest
British Airways faces the threat of strikes by two groups of workers who have been separately balloted on industrial action. The 6,000-strong British Airline Stewards and Stewardesses Association has voted for a strike over alleged lack of consultation on a pay deal already accepted by a rival union, Cabin Crew ...
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Malaysia skies
Malaysia skies Malaysia has become the latest Asia-Pacific country to sign an open-skies bilateral air-services agreement with the USA. It follows similar agreements to liberalise air services between the USA and New Zealand and Singapore. The US Government is pushing for open-skies arrangements with Brunei, Taiwan and, possibly, ...
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Lufthansa VLM links
German national carrier Lufthansa has signed an alliance with VLM which will see the Belgian airline begin codeshare flights between Antwerp, Rotterdam, London City and Monchengladbach (Düsseldorf) from 1 July, and gain access to Lufthansa's frequent-flier programme. In addition, VLM will start a twice-daily service on 1 September, linking Antwerp ...
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SAS Commuter set for turboprop order
SAS Commuter expects to finalise its selection of new turboprop aircraft by early September, to enable it to place orders for up to 30 aircraft. Airline chief executive Ole Pedersen says that the competition is between the Aero International (Regional)(AI(R)) ATR 42/72 and Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8 ...
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Sun-Air takes ATPs as step to jet power
Sun-Air of Scandinavia, the Danish regional-turboprop operator and British Airways franchise airline, is to purchase two ex-Seoul Air International British Aerospace ATPs from BAe Asset Management-Turboprops (AMT). The move comes as a result of increasing load factors on the airline's twice-daily Manchester-Billund service, and as part of a long-term fleet ...
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Major European carriers make losses again
Europe's major international carriers swung back into the red during 1996, having had only one profitable year out of the last seven, say preliminary estimates from the Association of European Airlines (AEA). In its annual review, the AEA says that the early evidence points to a pre-tax loss ...
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Hopes of Alitalia profit rise with March figures
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON A strong improvement in Alitalia's performance is fuelling optimism that the group could be back in profit this year and that the upturn will ease the way for European Commission (EC) approval for recapitalisation Unofficial figures show that the airline group made a profit ...
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Debonair seeks public listing and own licence
Debonair, one of the new wave of European low-fare carriers, is preparing to raise new capital through an international share sale, and also reveals that it is close to obtaining its own airline operator's licences. The carrier plans to become one of the first UK-based companies to seek ...
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Proposed Lockheed Martin alliance angers IAI workers
Workers at Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI)have reacted angrily to Lockheed Martin's discussions over taking a share in the Israeli company, if and when it is privatised. IAI chairman Yanuch Ben-Gal reveals that a high-level meeting between executives from the two companies took place at the start of the ...
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Jospin pledges industry review
Julian Moxon/PARIS French prime minister Lionel Jospin has promised a "profound" review of the aeronautical industry, but in his speech at the close of the Paris Air Show on 22 June, he stopped short of confirming the privatisations of Thomson-CSF and Aerospatiale. "I know what is ...
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Japan plans to cut regional-airport construction budget
Expansion plans for around ten Japanese regional airports could suffer delays following moves within Japan's transport ministry to spin out its spending on airport construction beyond the year 2000. Sources within the ministry say that that the aim is to extend the existing five-year 1996-2000 airport build-up plan ...
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AlliedSignal purchase
AlliedSignal has agreed to buy Grimes Aerospace, a US manufacturer of aircraft lighting, cockpit displays and other equipment, from New York investment firm Forstmann Little, owner of Gulfstream Aerospace, for an undisclosed sum. Grimes has annual sales of around $230 million and employs 1,400 people. Source: Flight International
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Swiss World aims for long-haul start-up in November
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Swiss World Airways, the new carrier being set up in the wake of Swissair's removal of long-haul services at Geneva, has announced plans to start flying to North America by November. The airline aims to begin services from Geneva with two leased Boeing 767s, ...
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Own goal
The most eagerly awaited statement on the future of the aerospace industry is the one which new French prime minister Lionel Jospin did not make at the end of the Paris air show. Jospin, like the US Government will with the Boeing/McDonnell Douglas merger, is going to have to decide ...
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F-22 757 testbed arrives at Seattle
The Boeing 757 flying testbed for the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor has been delivered to Seattle, where the aircraft will be based. The Raptor will be fitted with the Northrop Grumman APG-77 phased-array radar later this year. It will also be fitted with a sensor wing on the crown of ...
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SAAF will decide on A-Darter by year 2000
The South African Air Force (SAAF) will decide on whether to proceed with the Kentron Agile-Darter high-agility imaging-infra-red (IIR) guided missile by the end of 1999. Concept development of the A-Darter, unveiled at the Paris air show, began in the mid-1980s, according to Kentron, and testing of the ...
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US lawyers question Army plans
US lawmakers have raised doubts on the future of the US Army's Tactical Missile System (ATACMS). The Army has requested about $100 million to acquire an additional 153 ATACMS missiles in fiscal year 1998, but the House National Security Committee (HNSC) says that the service is to hold ...
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Netherlands picks pods for F-16 mid-life update
GEC-Marconi's Atlantic navigation pod and Lockheed Martin's Sharpshooter targeting pod have been selected by the Royal Netherlands Air Force as part of its Lockheed Martin F-16 mid-life upgrade. The Air Force has ordered 60 Atlantic forward-looking infra- red pods and ten Sharpshoooters worth a total of $90 million. Israel's Rafael ...