All Systems & Interiors news – Page 750
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News
Japan's BK117 C-2 prototype flies at Gifu
Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has successfully flown the first Japanese-built prototype BK117 C-2 medium-twin-turbine helicopter at its Gifu plant. First flight was on 15 March, for about 1h, says Masato Furusawa, KHI's senior manager of helicopter project engineering. The prototype hovered and demonstrated forward, reverse and sideways flight and ...
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Aviation industry unites on frequency protection issue
Emma Kelly/LONDON The aviation industry has developed a unanimous position on the protection of its radio frequencies, says John White, director of the Infrastructure Support Group at the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The decision precedes May's International Telecommunication Union World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC). IATA and the International Civil ...
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Nav Canada aims for North Atlantic ADS datalink trials
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Nav Canada hopes to begin full operational trials with automatic dependence surveillance (ADS) over the North Atlantic in early May, followed by controller-pilot datalink communications (CPDLC), with the upgrade of its Gander Automated Air Traffic Control System. "We are targeting being operational on 7 May. ...
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777-200ER takes polar route to Asia
American Airlines has flown a Boeing 777-200ER twinjet over the North Pole from North America to Asia for the first time, demonstrating wider applications for the new route and strengthening its bid for services to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The American flight from Chicago to Hong Kong was ...
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Slow service take-up hits Globalstar/Iridium
Loral Space and Communications is considering selling all or part of its 45% stake in the Globalstar worldwide mobile-communications satellite system following slower than expected sales of the telephone service. Meanwhile, Iridium prime investor Motorola has notified customers of its worldwide satellite mobile-telephone and paging services that it will ...
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People
Gareth Kirkwood, managing director (MD) of British Airways subsidiary Brymon Airways, has been appointed MD of British Airways World Cargo. Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems sector has appointed four new vice-presidents (VPs): Donald Wilhelm - airspace management systems, George Perkins - space systems, James Armitage - engineering, Baltimore operations ...
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Smiths identifies purchases as way ahead for expansion
Chris Jasper/LONDON Smiths Industries says limited opportunities for mergers in the avionics sector mean the growth of its aerospace business is likely to be achieved by expanding its burgeoning control systems interests through more bolt-on acquisitions funded by a £750 million ($1.2 billion) war chest. The UK company says ...
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Frequency wars
At last, the aviation industry has woken up to the fact that it no longer has a birthright to all of the radio frequencies it had assumed belonged to it forever. Radio frequencies are valuable commodities, especially to mobile satellite service (MSS) companies, keen to expand their services and profits ...
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Airbus begins A3XX proposal process
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Julian Moxon/PARIS Chris Jasper/LONDON Airbus Industrie has begun submitting proposals to airlines it regards as key potential customers for the A3XX as it bids to rack up sufficient commitments for the 480-660 seat family to be launched later this year. Unofficial agreement has been reached on assembly ...
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Mergers
Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications expects to complete its merger with Comsat early in the third quarter, after the US Congress approved satellite communications reform legislation that clears the way for the privatisation of the Intelsat and Inmarsat satellite networks. The legislation allows US customers to bypass Comsat, which controls access ...
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FANS-A datalink tested on A340-300
Airbus Industrie's A340-300 testbed has demonstrated datalink communications between pilot and air traffic controllers as part of round-the-world trials of Airbus' FANS-A (future air navigation system) avionics (Flight International, 8-14 September, 1999). The aircraft features an air traffic services unit manufactured by Aerospatiale Matra Aerospace Airbus, Smiths Industries' digital ...
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Aeronavali looks beyond MDC and targets 767s and ATRs for conversion
Andy Nativi/GENOA Aeronavali is expanding its freighter conversion business beyond the McDonnell Douglas (MDC) DC-10, with plans to add the Boeing 767 widebody and ATR turboprop to its portfolio. The company, a division of Italian aerospace giant Alenia Aerospazio/Finmeccanica, had long-term links with MDC and holds exclusive original equipment ...
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Rockwell venture makes News
Emma Kelly/LONDON Rockwell Collins has formed a joint venture with media giant News Corporation in the latest stage of the avionics manufacturer's continuing move towards providing equipment and services for the passenger cabin. The partners' In Flight Network (IFN) joint venture is designed to provide airline passengers with the latest ...
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News
Russian airline passenger numbers continue to slip
Russia's 323 airlines carried 21.46 million passengers last year, says the Federal Service of Air Transport - a 3.9% drop compared with the previous year, and the tenth successive fall since 1990's high of 90.7 million passengers (for Russia alone). Passenger load factors rose by an average 3.5 points, ...
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Frequency protection
An industry-wide group comprising airlines, airports, pilots, air traffic controllers and regulatory bodies has formed a coalition and finalised an industry position designed to protect aviation's essential radio frequencies, in preparation for the International Telecommunication Union World Radiocommunication Conference in May. Meeting in London on 9-10 March, industry associations, including ...
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In the dark
Kawasaki is puzzled by Eurocopter's reluctance to promote the BK117/EC145 Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) plans to lift the veil on its BK117C-2/EC145 helicopter programme, developed jointly with Eurocopter, at Tokyo Aerospace 2000 (TA2000). It faces an unusual problem, however, in its Franco-German partner's reluctance to ...
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Enaer targets South America for Eaglet
Enaer is trying to interest South American government agencies in Argentina, Chile and Columbia in its new two-seat side-by-side Eaglet light utility aircraft. The Mexican police had shown interest in the composite aircraft for observation work. The company delivered the first new prototype airframe to its Dutch joint venture ...
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Ayling bails out as British Airways slump takes its toll
Emma Kelly/LONDON British Airways chairman Lord Marshall took over the running of the airline on 10 March with the resignation of chief executive Bob Ayling. Marshall will take on the role of chief executive while a successor is sought. Ayling leaves BA after four years as chief executive and ...
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American expands DVD programme
American Airlines has extended the use of personal digital versatile/video disk (DVD) players on its flights and will introduce the new in-flight entertainment (IFE) technology to additional services in July. American became the first carrier to offer passengers individual DVD players on regular scheduled services last September (Flight International, 22-28 ...
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JAL to entertain with Total system
Japan Airlines (JAL) has put into passenger service its first Boeing 747-400 equipped with the Rockwell Collins Total Entertainment System (TES). It will have to wait until the third quarter of the year to activate audio-and video-on-demand (A/VOD) services, however. The aircraft, which has the TES fitted to every ...