All news – Page 7485
-
News
Indian Airlines spawns domestic subsidiary
STATE-OWNED Indian Airlines is setting up a low-cost regional subsidiary to feed traffic into its major hubs and compete against India's clutch of privately owned start-up carriers. Airline Allied Services is expected to begin operations in March, initially flying four 119-seat Boeing 737-200s, linking regional points with Delhi ...
-
News
France shakes up aerospace
Julian Moxon and Gilbert Sedbon/PARIS THE FRENCH Government has taken its first steps towards pushing through sweeping changes in the structure of the aerospace and defence industries, including the merger of Aerospatiale and Dassault Aviation. The moves, many of them announced by President Jacques Chirac ...
-
News
LOT looks to purchase jets for speedy regional boost
Andrzej Jeziorski/WARSAW LOT POLISH AIRLINES is planning to acquire a fleet of 50- to 70-seat regional jets, and spin off its regional operations into a separate company, according to vice-president Andrzej Slodownik. The regional-jet purchase is part of a company fleet-strategy plan being drawn up to ...
-
News
SAS profits as restructuring pays dividends
LONG-RUNNING restructuring efforts at Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) began to pay dividends in 1995 as the carrier's profits soared, also helped by a rise in European business traffic. The Scandinavian carrier ended the year with a profit of more than SKr2.5 billion ($360 million), up from only SKr388 ...
-
News
Proton in doubt after Raduga failure
ILS INTERNATIONAL Launch Services' first commercial Russian Proton launch of the Astra 1F satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 28 March is in doubt after the failure of a similar booster to place a Russian communications satellite into the correct orbit after its 19 February launch. The Raduga ...
-
News
Poles freeze Iryda orders after crash
Andrzej Jeziorski/WARSAW THE POLISH AIR FORCE has grounded its PZL-Mielec I-22 and M-93 Irydas, following the accident-investigation report into a fatal crash on 24 January. It is refusing to place further Iryda orders until design improvements are implemented. Manufacturer PZL-Mielec says that it is complying ...
-
News
Bell and Samsung to launch twin
BELL HELICOPTER Textron and South Korea's Samsung Aerospace are planning joint development of a new light twin-turbine helicopter, tentatively designated the Model 427. Certification is scheduled for late 1998. The 427 is intended to be a rival for the Eurocopter EC 135 and McDonnell Douglas MD Explorer, says Bell chairman ...
-
News
Bell Boeing moves closer to civil tilt-rotor decision
Bell Boeing will make a decision on launching development of a nine-passenger civil tilt-rotor, dubbed the D600, "later this year", says Bell Helicopter Textron president Webb Joiner. Bell and Boeing Helicopters are conducting pre-design studies into the market for a 6,350kg-class tilt-rotor, he says. A cabin mock-up has ...
-
News
Eurocopter expects sales to stay flat
EUROCOPTER SAYS that 1995 was a "horrible year" for civil-helicopter sales, and the company is projecting flat sales for 1996. The Franco-German manufacturer's market outlook differs markedly from those of competing helicopter-makers, and is influenced by Eurocopter's reduced sales in North America in 1995. Worldwide, Eurocopter says, some ...
-
News
Military-surplus rules bring mixed news to civil firms
ALMOST 400 MILITARY surplus helicopters, were supplied to US operators, by the US Department of Defense (DoD) in 1995, contributing to a decline in new turbine-helicopter sales, says the Helicopter Association International (HAI). Despite calls for a moratorium, further disposals are scheduled for 1996 under a DoD programme to hand ...
-
News
Omniflight order is tonic for Agusta
OMNIFLIGHT Helicopters, a Dallas, Texas-based air- medical operator, has ordered 12 Agusta helicopters, including six single-engined A.119 Koalas, marking the first announced sale of the aircraft. The Omniflight order, valued at around $29 million, is the largest single commercial-helicopter deal secured in the USA by the Italian manufacturer. ...
-
News
Helipro flies shortened S-61
HELIPRO, a Washington-based helicopter repair-and-support company, has flown a shortened version of the Sikorsky S-61, dubbed the "Shortsky". The modification involves the removal of a 1.3m section from the fuselage forward of the engine intakes and aft of the cockpit. The reduced structural weight increases the helicopter's ...
-
News
Latest Allison report predicts trading uplift
ALLISON ENGINE'S annually issued ten-year turbine-helicopter forecast for the period to 2005 reveals considerably more optimism than the previous forecast unveiled at Heli-Expo '95. Overall sales are 46% higher than last year's estimates. The company predicts that 6,105 civil turbine-helicopters will be required over the period, more ...
-
News
Eurocopter and MDHS in noisy row
EUROCOPTER AND McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (MDHS) have become embroiled in a row over, which of their products - the EC 135 and the MD900 Explorer - is quieter. Noise is one of the most competitive marketing issues among the new generation of helicopters. Eurocopter says that ...
-
News
AlliedSignal puts investment in LT101 turbine
ALLIEDSIGNAL IS planning a four-year revitalisation programme of the LT101 turbine engine, representing an investment of more than $15 million. The programme concentrates on improving reliability and cutting cost. "We know things haven't been good. We know there are a lot of things we'd like to change, and ...
-
News
Lockheed Martin pushes Orion 2000 to US Navy
LOCKHEED MARTIN is lobbying the US Navy to commit to the Orion 2000 as its replacement for its Orion P-3Cs before the UK Ministry of Defence chooses its next-generation maritime patrol aircraft in July. The US manufacturer has teamed with GEC-Marconi and Hunting to compete with British Aerospace/Boeing ...
-
News
Italian Government backs fresh Alitalia union talks
ALITALIA HAS opened new talks with its unions, to be overseen by the Italian Government and based on a more conciliatory, four-point, restructuring plan. Chairman Renato Riverso says that the new plan, which has been approved by the airline's parent, state-holding company IRI, will include a renewed ...
-
News
French risk FLA coup de grace
FRANCE HAS PLUNGED the European Future Large Aircraft (FLA) project into chaos by deciding not to provide funds for the project in its national draft defence budget for 1996. In a move which sources close to the FLA programme admit is "very dangerous", French defence minister Charles ...
-
News
Mavericks hit the targets
THREE SUCCESSFUL LIVE FIRINGS OF HUGHES AGM-56 Maverick missiles were conducted from a Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite at the US Army's Yuma, Arizona, proving grounds on 14-15 February. The firings were conducted to document the SH-2G's air-to-ground missile capability in support of Kaman's international marketing efforts. Attending the demonstration were ...
-
News
Taiwan to produce MD-95 empennage
AERO INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT CENTRE (AIDC) of Taiwan has been selected to develop and manufacture the McDonnell Douglas (MDC) MD-95 empennage. AIDC is eager to take on more commercial work, to reduce its reliance on Taiwan's Indigenous Defence Fighter (IDF) programme, which is expected to be wound down by 1998. Meanwhile, ...