More Predator Bs for US border patrol
Surveillance US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has awarded General Atomics a follow-on contract worth $33.9 million to deliver another two Predator B unmanned air vehicle systems in late 2007. Each will comprise one Predator B UAV carrying an electro-optical/infrared sensor and Lynx synthetic-aperture radar payload, plus a ground control station and support equipment. The CBP will resume Predator B operations later this month using a second UAV delivered late last month. Its first Predator B crashed last April.
Airbus to ramp up A320 output
Production Airbus will increase output of the A320 family to 34 aircraft a month by the end of next year. The manufacturer's current production rate for the single-aisle aircraft across its two assembly lines in Hamburg and Toulouse is 30 a month, set to rise to 32 a month early next year, Airbus says. This rate will increase further to 34 A320s a month at the end of 2007 to keep up with "unprecedented demand" for the aircraft, says Airbus.
Thales Australia boosts ADI stake
Acquisition Thales Australia has received approval from the Australian government to purchase from Transfield Holdings the 50% of Australian defence company ADI that it does not already own, for A$170 million ($126 million). The government says it has no objections to the deal under Australia's Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act. Former government defence company ADI was sold to a joint venture between Transfield and Thomson CSF (now Thales) in 1999. Transfield has been seeking to dispose of its share in the company for some time.
BA director resigns over cartel probe
Investigation British Airways commercial director Martin George resigned last week, four months after taking leave of absence in the wake of a regulatory investigation into long-haul fuel surcharges. BA has named director of planning Robert Boyle as its new commercial director. US and UK regulators revealed in June that they were investigating alleged cartel activity involving BA and other airlines, centred on the adoption of fuel surcharges and the pricing of passenger air transport. In a letter to BA chairman Martin Broughton, George says: "I now recognise that within my department there may have been inappropriate conversations in violation of company policy in relation to long-haul fuel surcharges." The airline's head of communications, Iain Burns, has also resigned.
Russia proposes air transport shake-up
Restructuring The Russian government has proposed setting up a joint aviation board to co-ordinate the activities of state bodies involved in civil aviation, and is looking at shifting responsibility for activities relating to aviation, in a wide-ranging review. Russian transport minister Igor Levitin has proposed a broadening of his ministry's powers controlling civil aviation matters and a corresponding diminution of other agencies, including the hitherto independent Federal Air Navigation Service. According to defence minister Sergei Ivanov, who was appointed to head up a commission on civil aviation safety in September, the government is considering setting up a joint aviation board. The shake-up is part of an overall government examination of civil aviation matters in Russia, in a year in which over 300 people have died in a number of major air disasters.
Lockheed Martin sells launcher stake
Launch services Lockheed Martin has completed the sale of its interests in Lockheed Khrunichev Energia International and ILS International Launch Services to the British Virgin Islands-registered Space Transport. This means Lockheed is no longer involved in the marketing and mission management of Russia's Proton rockets, but its Commercial Launch Services arm will still market the Atlas rocket.
Source: Flight International
