All MRO articles – Page 545
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Temporary solutions
THE SOCIETY OF BRITISH Aerospace Companies (SBAC) recently launched an initiative to attract more young people into the aerospace industry, citing as one of the reasons for doing so a widespread concern that the industry could be facing skills shortages in the future. One of the most obvious manifestations of ...
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Passengers on the rack
If airlines and aircraft manufacturers were to characterise just one physical property of aeroplanes as the ultimate enemy, it would be weight. Weight increases drag and fuel consumption and reduces payload, so carriers and builders fight all the time to reduce it without sacrificing friendly properties such as strength, durability ...
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SIA flies to Star position
Singapore Airlines (SIA) is to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on bilateral co-operation shortly with Lufthansa, as an initial step to becoming a full member of the rapidly expanding Star Alliance. According to industry sources, the two airlines could sign an MoU on 24 November, although this could ...
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Fiji International is prepared for January launch
Start-up carrier Fiji International Airways has reached agreement with London Stansted Airport to begin scheduled flights from Nadi, in Fiji, Mumbai, in India, and Singapore from early January 1998. The airline will operate Boeing 747-300s. The carrier originally intended to launch services to Manchester in the UK, but ...
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CityLine ponders Avro RJ future
Lufthansa CityLine is to make a decision by the middle of 1998 on whether to keep its fleet of Avro RJ85s in service after buying new 70-seat regional jets. The company says that fuel and maintenance costs for the Avros are high because of their four engines, and ...
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Gemini buys LTU MD-11s
Gemini Air Cargo is to purchase LTU's four Boeing MD-11s for conversion to freighters, to operate alongside its growing fleet of McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30s. The US-based all-cargo supplemental carrier has signed a letter of intent to purchase the four aircraft from LTU, with deliveries beginning at the end ...
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Workshop
++ Aeronavali has been selected by Ten Forty to convert 20 ex-Japan Air Lines McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40s to cargo, for delivery between 1998 to 2005. ++ Amarillo, Texas-based Leading Edge Aviation Services has opened its fifth paint hangar, becoming the first independent commercial-aircraft painting centre in the USA able to ...
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Timeout in Asia
The AE31X programme is beginning to face its first real challenges, six months after China, Europe and Singapore inked a framework agreement to co-develop a new 100-seater family of jet airliners. Negotiators at the tripartite talks are wrestling with a series of critical issues which must be resolved shortly for ...
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FAA orders skin-panel inspection for old 737s
As part of its continuing ageing-aircraft initiative, the US Federal Aviation Administration has ordered new inspections or modifications of fuselage skin-panel lap joints on 33 US-registered Boeing 737-100/200s with more than 60,000 flights. A further 34 737s owned by foreign airlines are affected by the airworthiness directive (AD), ...
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Boeing offers Sabena 737 maintenance venture
Boeing demonstrated the 737-700 to Sabena at Brussels in October and is discussing a maintenance joint venture with the Belgian airline as it seeks to beat Airbus Industrie to an order from the Belgian airline. Workers at Sabena Technics are concerned about their future should Airbus succeed with ...
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Nigeria near to collapse
Africa's largest domestic airline market is close to total collapse, with just 10 aircraft left operating to serve Nigeria's 90 million population. The explosion of private operators, which filled the vacuum left by Nigeria Airways as it struggled to define its role in a confused political environment during ...
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China list gets longer
China's two internationally quoted airlines are looking closer to home for further equity and consolidation, as the China National Aviation Corporation's initial public offering moves a step closer to reality. China Eastern and China Southern Airlines both plan to tap the emerging domestic capital markets following their successful ...
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Airline news
Air France has new franchise agreements with French regional Proteus Airlines, for three daily services from Paris/Orly to Chambéry, and with Gill Airways for twice daily Newcastle-Paris/Charles de Gaulle services. Air France was also due to suspend services to Brazzaville and Cancun, from 26 October. American Airlines is ...
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France requires diesel testing
Julian Moxon/PARIS The first flight of the four-cylinder MR250 diesel engine, under development by Socata and Renault Sport, has been delayed until the beginning of December to allow time for an endurance test demanded by the French certification authorities. Trials of the engine in various configurations ...
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Saab ready to close regional-aircraft lines as orders dry up
Julian Moxon/PARIS Saab Aircraft will shut down production of its 340 and 2000 turboprops in 1998 and leave the regional-airliner market altogether, unless new orders can be secured by the end of 1997. In a statement, Saab warns that the decision could come as soon as ...
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Born-again trainer
The Phoenix Fanjet could provide ab initio to ATP training in one aircraft Dave Higdon/Lakeland Canadian John McIntee and his American ally, Ray Johnson, believe that they have an aeroplane for which the time has come, a special-purpose aircraft for a special mission: training airline pilots - ab ...
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Boeing and Executive Jet set up fractional-ownership venture
Ramon Lopez/NEW YORK Executive Jet Aviation (EJA) and Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) have formed a joint venture which will introduce Boeing's $34 million corporate aircraft into EJA's pioneering NetJets fractional-ownership programme. Acquiring the BBJ, which combines the fuselage of the Boeing 737-700 with the strengthened wing ...
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BMW R-R makes a start on MTU test co-operation
BMW Rolls-Royce has started conducting final tests on series-produced BR710 turbofans at MTU Ludwigsfelde, marking the start of new co-operation between Germany's two aero-engine manufacturers. The companies signed the test contract in November 1996, and have now collectively invested DM8.4 million ($5 million) in modernising and upgrading MTU's ...
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Hamburg Airlines to fold after partner talks fail
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Hamburg Airlines managing director Udo Klien confirms that the carrier will fold at the end of the year, after the failure of partnership talks with regional carrier Augsburg Airways. Augsburg is now planning instead to extend its Hamburg operations within its existing Team Lufthansa ...
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777 suffers new engine troubles
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Pratt & Whitney and General Electric are inspecting their respective PW4090 and GE90 engines for the Boeing 777, after a new series of problems with powerplants on British Airways and United Airlines aircraft. The GE90 suffered a crack in a rotating seal on ...