All articles by David Kaminski-Morrow – Page 179
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NewsVallair A321s to undergo freighter conversion in China
Airbus A321 converted freighter pioneer Vallair has disclosed that nine of the type will undergo modification in China, at the ST Engineering facility in Guangzhou. The initial aircraft to be converted will be MSN1017, a CFM International CFM56-powered twinjet which was originally delivered to First Choice Airways in 1999. Vallair ...
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NewsThird Libyan charged with Pan Am 747 bombing after 32 years
Precisely 32 years after a bomb explosion destroyed a Pan Am Boeing 747-100 over Scotland, the US government has formally charged a third person with the attack on the aircraft. US attorney general William Barr states that the government has filed criminal charges against Abu Agela Masud Kheir Al-Marimi for ...
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NewsRival Israir bidders each lay claim to be declared victor
Sale of the Israeli leisure carrier Israir is continuing to generate controversy among the contending parties, with investor YH Dimri insisting it should be considered the successful bidder. The trustee for the sale issued a position statement on 20 December which said that the YH Dimri offer “cannot be approved”, ...
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NewsSeveral EU governments join Dutch ban on flights from UK
German, Austrian and Belgian authorities are among those which have joined the Dutch government in imposing a ban on flights from the UK following the emergence of a new coronavirus strain. The German federal transport ministry is banning services from the UK, with the exception of flights to repatriate aircraft ...
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InterviewSenate probe: 737 Max test pilots ‘coached’ to fit assumptions on MCAS reaction time
US Senate committee investigators believe Boeing and the US FAA tried to re-affirm controversial assumptions over pilot response times during 737 Max recertification, by pre-determining the outcome of tests on crew reactions to a runaway stabiliser. The Senate committee on commerce, science and transportation has found that Boeing “inappropriately coached” ...
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NewsAeroflot approves transfer of over 40 Superjets to Rossiya
Aeroflot has approved plans to transfer over 40 Sukhoi Superjet 100s from its fleet to sister carrier Rossiya, as part of a restructuring of its short-haul network operations. Over the course of December this year to August 2021 it intends to shift 17 aircraft leased from Sberbank, another 20 from ...
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NewsAeroflot Group to divest eastern carrier Aurora
Aeroflot Group is to withdraw from the ownership of eastern Russian carrier Aurora Airlines, by selling its majority stake in the company. Aurora Airlines serves a route network from Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Vladivostok. It operates a fleet of 10 Airbus A319s as well as about a dozen turboprops, mainly Bombardier ...
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NewsBondholders back Dimri bid for Israir but rival bemoans shifting deadline
Bondholders of Israir parent IDB have backed the late bid by investor YH Dimri, but the sale process has sparked irritation from a rival bidder. The trustee for the sale, in an update on the bondholder voting, states that the Dimri offer was strongly supported with 97% in favour. Offers ...
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NewsUK pilots seek post-Brexit rethink of flight-duty limitations
UK cockpit representatives are intending to press for a rethink on flight-duty times for pilots once the UK withdraws completely from the European Union. Flight-duty regulations were established by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. After the UK left the EU on 31 January, and entered a transition period, it ...
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NewsFinal 737 departs Air Baltic fleet
Latvian carrier Air Baltic has withdrawn the last Boeing 737 from its fleet, delivering the aircraft to maintenance and asset-management firm Magnetic MRO.
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NewsTitan A321LR is first with Airbus’s line-fit wireless IFE system
Airbus has delivered its first aircraft, an A321LR to Titan Airways, fitted with a line-fit in-flight entertainment system based on wireless communications architecture. The system features embedded servers and routers, wi-fi access points, and a software platform. Airbus says the open-software architecture provides airlines with the flexibility to source their ...
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NewsIl-114-300’s first lift-off marks second Russian maiden flight in two days
United Aircraft’s modernised Ilyushin Il-114-300 has carried out its maiden flight, a day after the first flight of the Russian-powered version of the Irkut MC-21. The twin-engined Il-114-300 lifted off from Moscow’s Zhukovsky airfield on 16 December, says state technology firm Rostec. Three crew members – two pilots and a ...
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NewsAirbus explores self-contained fuel-cell propulsors for zero-emission aircraft
Airbus is preparing a patent application for a distributed pod-based configuration for a hydrogen fuel-cell powerplants, which it is exploring as a possibility to overcome the problems of scaling up the technology to large transport aircraft. While smaller propeller-driven aircraft, up to around 20 seats, can take advantage of standard ...
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NewsFinnish government prepares possible €400m loan for Finnair
Finland’s government is preparing to provide a loan of up to €400 million ($486 million) to flag-carrier Finnair, to support the airline’s liquidity. The facility is intended to allow Finnair to access the funds should its cash or equity position fall below certain limits. This planned support – in the ...
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NewsFormer presidential candidate Buttigieg nominated to head US DOT
US president-elect Joe Biden has nominated former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg as his choice for secretary of transportation. Buttigieg was the mayor of the Indiana city of South Bend and former intelligence officer in the US Navy Reserve. He entered the race for the presidency last year but ultimately dropped ...
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NewsUral unveils crisis-driven losses for first nine months
Ural Airlines has revealed a pre-tax loss of RB4.5 billion ($61 million) for the first nine months of the year, as Russian air transport embarks on its recovery from the pandemic crisis. The figure, to 30 September, contrasts sharply with the previous year’s Rb3.4 billion profit for the same period. ...
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NewsMC-21 with Russian-built PD-14 engines carries out maiden flight
Irkut has carried out the maiden flight of the MC-21-310, the version of the twinjet powered by Russian-built Aviadvigatel PD-14 engines. The flight – with aircraft number 73055 – took place from Irkutsk aviation plant’s airfield on 15 December and lasted about 1h 25min. It was crewed by two test ...
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NewsCroatia Airlines to receive Kn600m through capital injection and loan
Participants in a Croatia Airlines extraordinary assembly have approved an increase in the airline’s share capital through the issue of new shares to the Croatian government. The decision was made during the assembly on 14 December. Under the measure 35 million ordinary shares will be issued, with a nominal value ...
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NewsAirAsia X plans stock issue to raise funds while cutting share capital
Long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X is planning to broaden the extent of a planned capital reduction, and raise additional funding through a new share issue. AirAsia X aims to raise RM300 million from current shareholders plus another RM200 million from new investors – a total of RM500 million ($123 million). ...
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NewsAzores’ SATA faces extensive restructuring as financial aid ruled illegal
Azorean carrier SATA Air Acores is facing the prospect of substantial restructuring after European regulators declared that a previous government’s capital injections to the company amounted to illegal state aid. The Portuguese archipelago’s secretary for finance, Joaquim Bastos e Silva, has disclosed during a legislative assembly that nearly €73 million ...