All news – Page 7105

  • News

    US user fees rock Canada

    1997-05-01T00:00:00Z

    Canadian government has requested an urgent meeting with the US Federal Aviation Administration over proposed new overflight fees that Ottawa sees as 'highly discriminatory'. From 19 May, the FAA will begin charging fees for aircraft which fly through US airspace, but do not take off or land in ...

  • News

    GEC-Marconi unveils smart-bomb wing kit

    1997-04-30T17:12:00Z

    GEC-MARCONI Dynamics wants to interest McDonnell Douglas (MDC)in a wing kit to expand the footprint of the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM). The company has already worked with MDC on windtunnel testing of its Diamond Back wing kit under the US Air Force's Small Smart Bomb (SSB) programme. ...

  • News

    Hughes unveils plans for long-range Maverick

    1997-04-30T17:11:00Z

    HUGHES HAS DETAILED study plans to increase the range of its AGM-65 Maverick missile by up to 30%, or about 13km (7nm), using a combination of enhanced rocket motors and wings. Hughes has asked rocket-motor makers Alliant, ARC and Thiokol to evaluate potential improvements, ranging from higher-energy propellants to "stretched ...

  • News

    'Prudent' Canadian Airlines defers ten A320 deliveries

    1997-04-30T17:01:00Z

    CANADIAN AIRLINES International is delaying the delivery of ten new aircraft which it had planned to acquire from Airbus Industrie by 1999. The Calgary-based airline is negotiating with Airbus to reschedule delivery of the A320s, which would have required $394 million in cash or new financing over the ...

  • News

    TAM seeks widebodies for new Miami route

    1997-04-30T17:00:00Z

    BRAZIL'S TAM Group is negotiating to acquire between two and four widebodied aircraft for a Sao Paulo-Miami, Florida, route which it hopes to begin operating by early 1998. Talks are under way with Airbus and Boeing. TAM says that 1997 will be a "year of consolidation". In 1996, ...

  • News

    IAE aims to reduce costs of maintaining V2500-A1

    1997-04-30T16:59:00Z

    International Aero Engines (IAE) aims to reduce maintenance costs for the out-of-production V2500-A1 turbofan by up to 25% by the end of 1998 through initiatives ranging from improved repair techniques and use of advanced materials to new part-exchange schemes and shorter turn-around times. "We've identified a broad range ...

  • News

    Malaysian open-skies

    1997-04-30T16:58:00Z

    Malaysia and the USA have reached an open-skies agreement. Malaysian transport minister Ling Liong Sik says that it is hoped that the agreement will be implemented later this year. The USA has already signed a similar accord with Singapore and is targeting other Asian countries.   Source: ...

  • News

    Improved safety

    1997-04-30T16:57:00Z

    Taiwan's civil-aviation safety-oversight system has been upgraded to Category 1 under the US Federal Aviation Administration's International Aviation Safety Assessment programme, signifying that it is fully compliant with International Civil Aviation Organisation's standards. Under its Category 2 assessment, flights to the USA had been subjected to extra FAA surveillance. ...

  • News

    Low cost boom

    1997-04-30T16:56:00Z

    Passenger numbers on low-cost airlines Debonair and easyJet soared at their London Luton Airport base in the year to 31 March, pushing the airport's scheduled service figures up by 129%. Luton's overall passenger-growth was 40%, says airport chief executive Frank Pullman. "We have been successful in attracting airlines like easyJet ...

  • News

    Transbrasil aims to profit from radical restructure

    1997-04-30T16:28:00Z

    BRAZILIAN CARRIER Transbrasil, which lost 7% of its domestic market in 1996, is planning a major shake-up to increase revenues and cut expenses. The airline, which is owned by its president and founder Omar Fontana, says that it is looking for partners to inject cash. The carrier plans ...

  • News

    Dragonair starts to assert its independence

    1997-04-30T16:26:00Z

    Dragonair of Hong Kong has begun to signal its growing independence from former sister carrier Cathay Pacific Airways, by assuming control of more of its own operations and opening new routes into China. Mainland Chinese interests, led by China National Aviation (CNAC), assumed full majority control of Dragonair ...

  • News

    Volga-Dnepr considers propfan for An-124

    1997-04-30T16:24:00Z

    Volga-Dnepr is considering re-engineing its seven Antonov An-124-100 Ruslan heavy freighters with Kuznetsov NK-93 ducted-propfan engines. Volga-Dnepr president Alexei Isaikin says that company technical specialists have visited engine- maker Dvigateli NK of Samara to evaluate the status of NK-93 development and the feasibility of the re-engineing programme. ...

  • News

    Kansai nears saturation after only three years

    1997-04-30T16:23:00Z

    Japan's new Kansai International Airport is already near maximum capacity, less than three years after opening, but the construction of second runway and passenger terminal cannot be completed until 2007 at the earliest. The $13 billion airport, built 5km (3nm) offshore on reclaimed land in Osaka Bay, is ...

  • News

    Aurigny searches for successor to Trislander

    1997-04-30T16:21:00Z

    Aurigny Air Services, the UK Channel Islands-based regional airline, is seeking bids for a replacement within the next few years for its ageing fleet of nine Pilatus Britten-Norman BN2A-III Trislanders. The airline wants a new, rugged, 19-passenger aircraft able to cruise at around 160kt (300km/h), offer a range ...

  • News

    Sextant courts China with AVIC proposal

    1997-04-30T16:19:00Z

    France's biggest avionics manufacturer, Sextant Avionique, has made an unprecedented offer for an "across-the-board" alliance with Aviation Industries of China (AVIC) for local development and manufacture of avionics for civil aircraft and helicopters. The offer, which comes a month before French president Jacques Chirac visits China, parallels overtures ...

  • News

    Extended engagement

    1997-04-30T16:19:00Z

    The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has not awarded two 12-month Future Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (FMRAAM) risk reduction studies, as suggested in Flight International (30 April-6May). The MoD was working towards awarding two risk-reduction study contracts in March, but has delayed any decison. It is not known whether risk ...

  • News

    El Al fights plans for new regional airline

    1997-04-30T16:16:00Z

    EL AL Israel Airlines is attempting to foil an Israeli Government decision to create a new regional airline which will operate scheduled flights to destinations in the Middle East. The decision to create the carrier, made more than two years ago, but not implemented, was revitalised recently by ...

  • News

    ARIA's Irish freedom

    1997-04-30T16:15:00Z

    Aeroflot Russian International Airlines (ARIA) has been given limited fifth-freedom rights to carry passengers from Shannon to New York, adding to existing approval to carry passengers originating in Ireland and the USA on routes between Shannon and Washington DC, Miami, Florida, and Chicago, Illinois. ARIA can carry a maximum of ...

  • News

    Merpati Nusantara ATP crash kills 15 people

    1997-04-30T16:13:00Z

    A British Aerospace ATP turboprop operated by Merpati Nusantara Airlines crashed on 17 April on the Indonesian island of Belitung, killing 15 of the 53 passengers and crew. It is the first major accident to the aircraft type in ten years of service. The aircraft (PK-MTX) was on ...

  • News

    Raytheon shelves plans for 1900D successor

    1997-04-30T16:12:00Z

    RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT has shelved plans to develop a new regional airliner to supersede or supplement its Beech 1900D 19-seat turboprop. Chairman Art Wegner reveals that the company has studied a 30-seat regional jet, but decided "about a year ago" not to proceed with the project. He dismisses rumours ...