Fleets – Page 947
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Boeing's long stretch
Guy Norris/SEATTLE BOEING'S stretched 777-300 carries a list of superlatives almost as long as the aircraft itself. The latest member of the Boeing family is the largest twin-engined aircraft ever built, the world's fastest widebody twin, the longest airliner ever made and the first transport big enough to replace the ...
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Asia's economic haze
Brent Hannon/KUALA LUMPUR Concerns over the state of the once-unstoppable Asia-Pacific airline market were underlined again as the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) met in Kuala Lumpur in mid-November for the 41st assembly of presidents. The latest figures show a 25% drop in collective operating profits over ...
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Boeing slows 777-200X/300X product-development work
Boeing has switched the emphasis of product-development work on the proposed 777-200X/300X ultra-long-haul and stretch derivatives for at least three months. The 300 staff working on the two planned variants are understood to have been switched from new-product development to focusing on reducing programme costs. Sources in Seattle say ...
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CASA joins in negotiations on European regional restructure
Julian Moxon/PARIS CASA of Spain has joined the negotiations on the future of Europe's regional-aircraft industry as a launch decision on the planned Aero International (Regional) (AI(R))Airjet regional jet seems likely to be delayed beyond the original end-of-year deadline. Talks between AI(R) president Patrick Gavin and new CASA ...
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BA prepares for massive tender
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON British Airways is preparing to issue a tender to Airbus and Boeing early in the new year for up to 160 narrow- and widebodied aircraft as it gears up for its long-term fleet-renewal programme. The airline is understood to be finalising an outline of its requirements ...
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Air France 'must spend more money' on new aircraft
Julian Moxon/PARIS Air France must invest at least Fr40 billion ($6 billion) on new aircraft over the next five years if it is to remain competitive, the airline's new president Jean-Cyril Spinetta told a French Senate committee on 20 November. Aircraft-renewal plans centre on the need to replace ...
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Third MD-95 comes together
Boeing has begun final assembly of the third MD-95 test airframe, called the T-3, with the fuselage barrel mated to the wing on 24 November. The first MD-95 is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, with a first flight due to take place in early 1998. ...
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SAS Commuter looks to Dash 8-300X to replace Saab 2000s
Ramon Lopez/TORONTO SAS Commuter underlined plans to standardise on the Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8 family for its regional-fleet needs at the unveiling ceremony of the new 70-seat Series 400, when it revealed that it will dispose of its 50-seat Saab 2000s when their leases expire early in the ...
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The wall comes tumbling down?
Lois Jones The Great Wall of China runs slap bang through Air China's offices. Or so it seems to the uninformed outsider. Over the years, the state-controlled Civil Aviation Administration of China has constructed a wall of resistance designed to keep outside influences and potential friends and foes away ...
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Hub fever
In many industries, concentration forces have led to a few large mass producers with a global reach, each striving to achieve the lowest unit costs through increased efficiencies and higher production volumes. In the airline industry, global alliances are being created to achieve similar goals. However, the individual airline operators ...
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Boeing hits bottleneck
Boeing is trying hard to swallow a bitter pill of late delivery charges and costs linked to production delays and to get back on top of its aircraft production rate buildup. Boeing's decision to shut down its B747 and B737 production lines for a month follows a frenzy of ...
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China cries out for more
The announcement of a $50 billion order by China for Boeing aircraft coincides with an unseemly scrap for the Airbus aircraft ordered four years ago. Some carriers are set to miss out on their request for Airbus A320s and A321s as demand outstrips the 30 aircraft ordered by China ...
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Shanghai shangrila
Lois Jones Any visitor to Shanghai is easily charmed by its bewildering mix of old and new. Neon lights bejewel 1920s façades, and rickshaws vie for space with resplendent new Volkswagens in the city's ever-widening roads. It's fitting that as the main carrier serving China's eastern gateway, China ...
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Southern belle
Lois Jones Chairman Mao would not have approved. If, as Mao alleged, western-style commercialism and capitalism are corrupt, then China Southern Airlines is rotten to the core. As China closes the book on socialist economic dogma and emancipates its state-owned enterprises, China Southern is one of the first ...
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Nine cry foul over Milan
The complaint by nine major operators at Milan/Linate airport to the European Commission about next year's transfer to the new Malpensa airport reflects their concern over the threat that Malpensa poses to their own hubs. While Alitalia could not develop Malpensa into a hub alone, the Italian flag carrier ...
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Conquering TAP's markets
Portugalia has cemented its position as the first and, so far, the only home-grown challenger to TAP since its launch in 1990. The carrier is one of the best examples of the gradual impact of deregulation in Europe. It has followed an opportunistic path from the domestic market through limited ...
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Easy does it
Easy come, easy go. Hopefully EasyJet's use of this slogan to depict its ticketless booking and rapid check-in and boarding procedures will never apply to its presence in the European airline industry. Few think it will. The airline's charismatic chairman, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has made sure his startup uses technology ...
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Aircraft News
Turkish Airlines has confirmed its firm order for 26 Boeing 737-800s, plus 23 options. It has still to confirm its expected Airbus order. Qantas has ordered three B747-400s, for delivery in 1999 and 2000. Tunisair has ordered four B737-600s, with options on three more B737s. Eastwind Airlines has ordered two ...
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737-700 undergoes preparation for last JAA test
Boeing is preparing the Next Generation 737-700 for its final test for the European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA), with certification now anticipated by the end of December. The aircraft has also had a boost from a major deal with Argentina's LAPA. Boeing says that the aircraft passed the ...
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Boeing begins hybrid Trent tests on 747
Boeing has begun flight tests of the Rolls-Royce RB.211-524G/H-T engine on a new British Airways 747-400. The engine, a hybrid combination of the Trent 700 high-pressure O4 module and the existing -524G/H low-pressure system, has been ordered by Cathay Pacific and South African Airways (SAA). R-R is using ...