Fleets – Page 989
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Airtours International closes on order for A330-200
Airtours International is believed to have selected the Airbus A330-200 for its long-haul fleet needs, and is in negotiations on an order for up to three aircraft. The UK charter airline, based in Manchester, has been evaluating the Airbus long-haul twinjet, along with the Boeing 777-200IGW (increased gross weight), ...
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Asiana defers 777-200/300 deliveries
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Asiana Airlines is to defer delivery of its first Boeing 777 on order because of South Korea's worsening economic difficulties, and will instead acquire additional 767-300ERs and 747-400 freighters. The airline is planning to push back deliveries of its first 777-200/300s by up to two years, ...
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Parts shortages are now 'under control', according to Boeing
Boeing says that parts shortages on its 747 and Next Generation (NG) 737 assembly lines are "approaching manageable levels", and the company plans to proceed with production-rate increases on both aircraft. Full production of the 737NG and 747 has resumed after assembly lines were halted to bring out-of-sequence work ...
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Regionals add CRJs
Two major US regionals have boosted their Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) orderbooks. Atlantic Coast Airlines has converted 12 of its 36 options to fuel growth at Washington's Dulles Airport, for delivery between late 1998 and mid-1999. Comair's CRJ fleet will grow to 80 with the firming-up of 12 conditional ...
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Bombardier enters the frame to replace Horizon Air's F28s
Ramon Lopez/TORONTO Horizon Air has revealed that it is evaluating the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) family, as well as the de Havilland Dash 8-400, as possible long-term replacements for its fleet of Fokker F28s. The airline is already a major customer for the 37-seat Dash 8-100/200, with ...
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Japan authority may rethink Saab 2000 inspecton order
Andrew Mollet/TOKYO The Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) is reviewing plans to order additional Saab 2000 flight-inspection aircraft, in the wake of the Swedish firm's announcement that it is considering ceasing production of civil turboprops. Japan has already ordered two Saab 2000s for delivery in late 1998 and ...
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Easyjet looks to HUDS
EasyJet is considering fitting the 12 Boeing 737-300s it has on order with head-up displays (HUDs), which would allow them to be operated in Category IIIa conditions from runways equipped only for Category I. The aircraft will be equipped with enhanced ground-proximity warning systems and will probably have Airborne Communications-Addressing ...
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Frontier bids for WestPac
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC A US bankruptcy-court judge will make a decision on 3 December between rival bids for Western Pacific Airlines. Frontier Airlines, which called off plans to merge with WestPac earlier this year, has switched tack and is bidding to take over its bankrupt would-be partner. WestPac ...
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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 ...