MRO – Page 520
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News
Snecma snaps up stake in Sabena company
Sabena is to spin off the engine repair and maintenance business of Sabena Technics into an independent business and sell a 50% stake to French engine builder Snecma. The new operation will be based at the Zaventem, Brussels, engine facilities run by the Belgian airline. The partners plan to ...
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Australian reforms
Paul Phelan/CAIRNS "It is an uncertain market, because there are various people at different levels of desperation as a consequence of their position," warned Qantas managing director James Strong, explaining the impact of the Asian downturn even on carriers indirectly affected. The comment, made in August at the same conference ...
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ANA becomes the ninth Star Alliance member
All Nippon Airways (ANA) has finally thrown its hat into the Star Alliance ring to become the ninth full member, adding further pressure to flag carrier Japan Airlines (JAL) to commit to the rival oneworld partnership. Airline president Kichisaburo Nomura announced ANA's intention to join Star during a gathering ...
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FSI agreement
FlightSafety International and Executive Jet have agreed to build a new maintenance and crew training centre at the latter's operational headquarters at Port Columbus International in New Jersey. The $25 million centre will house up to three simulators, including a Cessna Citation V Ultra training system. The centre is scheduled ...
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Pilots' share deal paves way for the privatisation of Air France
Julian Moxon/PARIS Air France's management and pilot unions have finally struck a deal which should end years of dispute and allow the airline to proceed to partial privatisation next year. The agreement, a refined version of the one that ended the crippling pilots' strike in June, is regarded ...
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Government forces KAL to cut routes and start safety overhaul
Korean Air (KAL) has launched a rolling full-scale inspection of its 112-strong fleet. The action is part of a wider $114 million package of safety improvements announced in response to a punitive 15% cut in domestic services ordered by the government. The South Korean national carrier has been forced ...
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US Airways selects 'hybrid' PW4000 for A330
US Airways has become the first airline to select Pratt & Whitney's "hybrid" PW4000 turbofan. The US airline has ordered the 73,000lb-thrust (324kN) PW4173 to power some of the 30 Airbus A330-300s it has on order and option. The airline, which has firm orders for seven A330s and options ...
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FAA examines insulation rules after MD-11 crash
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Within six months, the US Federal Aviation Administration is to produce a tougher burn test specification for aircraft internal insulation blankets. The action results partly from investigations into the 2 September crash of a Swissair Boeing MD-11 off Nova Scotia. Although the cause of the fatal ...
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Russia develops satellite link recorder system
Paul Duffy/MOSCOW A Russian research institute has developed a system to download flight data recorder (FDR) information instantly via a communication satellite. The system, developed by the NTTs institute, has been tested on a Sukhoi Su-27, and is to be installed on two new Ilyushin Il-62Ms on order from ...
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Russia and USA sign to commit to safety
Russia and the USA have signed two agreements aimed at improving aviation safety relations between the two countries. The deals were signed last month by US State Secretary Madeleine Albright and her Russian counterpart, Yevgeni Primakov (who has subsequently become prime minister). The main part of the first ...
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SIA closes in on Star status
Singapore Airlines (SIA) is about to take a step closer to becoming a full member of the Star Alliance by concluding a bilateral partnership with SAS, as part of a wider move by the group's five members to consolidate coverage of the Asia-Pacific region. Founding Star airline SAS is ...
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'Intranet in the sky' is planned
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Two European airlines are leading the drive to link aircraft on the ground and in the air with the airline's "intranet" information technology systems. Lufthansa charter affiliate Condor and Swissair plan demonstrations of systems to allow Internet-style exchanges of information with aircraft using low-power datalinks ...
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R-R plans joint European repair venture
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Rolls-Royce is in discussions with Swissair and Lufthansa to form a new tripartite engine repair and overhaul facility in Europe as plans to establish a similar joint venture with Singapore Airlines (SIA) have slowed in the face of Asia's economic crisis. The UK engine manufacturer is understood to ...
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Australia throws challenge to flailing Air Niugini
Brisbane-based Flight West Airlines has expanded plans for new services between northern Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG), further challenging embattled Air Niugini on one of its prime revenue earning routes. The Australian regional carrier now plans to add two direct flights weekly between Cairns and PNG's second city, Lae, ...
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Airports
-Saudi Arabia's Presidency of Civil Aviation has invited bids from Saudi Arabian companies and Saudi Arabian foreign joint ventures for the operation and maintenance of 24 domestic airports. The tender covers all airports except Riyadh and Jeddah. -Lufthansa's supervisory board has cleared plans for the airline to take a stake ...
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MTU/Snecma sign Asia deals
MTU and Snecma Services have signed separate initial agreements with China Southern Airlines and China Southwest Airlines respectively, to establish engine overhaul and maintenance joint ventures in Asia. Under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between MTU of Germany and Guangzhou-based China Southern, a feasibility study is to be conducted ...
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EVA pursues options to fill business void
Brent Hannon/TAIPEI EVA Airways has been talking to oneworld and the Star Alliance and hopes to join one of the alliances as soon as it decides which is most suitable, says president and vice-chairman Frank Hsu. Meanwhile, the airline is boosting its cargo business to fill the void left ...
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Garuda system reliability queried
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE A US lawsuit filed against Sundstrand has called into question the reliability and effectiveness of the company's Mk2 ground proximity warning system (GPWS), following the fatal crash of a Garuda Indonesia Airbus A300B4 in Sumatra a year ago. The Chicago-based Nolan Law Group, representing the family ...
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Southern Air ceases operations
Financially troubled US cargo carrier Southern Air Transport (SAT), which has been up for sale for some time, ceased operations on 25 September. The airline plans to liquidate assets as it contemplates filing for bankruptcy protection from creditors. The end came after first Fine Air Services, and then Kitty ...
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AMR searches for a buyer for its fixed-base operations chain
American Airlines' parent company AMR has put its AMR Combs fixed-base operation (FBO) network up for sale along with its AMR Services and TeleService Resources units. The company says it wants to focus on its core airline and Sabre computer reservations businesses. AMR acquired the Combs Gates network of ...