Networks – Page 1223

  • News

    CSC to run trial of airport smartcard

    1998-01-21T00:00:00Z

    Ian Sheppard/LONDON Computer Sciences (CSC) is close to launching a trial with a major European airport operator, based on a prototype "contactless" smartcard for airline passengers, which, for the first time, will act as a re-usable boarding pass, electronic-ticket and multiple-airline loyalty-scheme card. Paul Seaton of the company's ...

  • News

    Order boom peaks

    1998-01-21T00:00:00Z

    Kevin O'Toole/LONDON If the latest round of year-end order announcements from Airbus and Boeing seemed to lack some of the high drama of previous years, perhaps it comes as recognition that there may be some tougher times ahead. Quite apart from the internal restructuring issues that pre-occupy both manufacturers, the ...

  • News

    Safety perceptions

    1998-01-21T00:00:00Z

    David Learmount/LONDONThe past year has provided confirmation of society's readiness to believe that air travel is inherently dangerous. Media interest in aviation, often used to advantage by the industry, proves to be a double-edged sword when a series of accidents occurs close together, as happened at the end of 1997. ...

  • News

    Asia-Pacific pathfinders

    1998-01-21T00:00:00Z

    Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE The Asia-Pacific region has been at the forefront of promoting the new communications, navigation and surveillance/air-traffic-management (CNS/ ATM) system since the concept emerged in 1983. These efforts will begin to bear fruit in 1998, with the planned opening and start of trials on key new routes between Asia, ...

  • News

    Italy sees charter airline boom

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    Marco Messalla/Rome Two new airlines are preparing to launch charter operations from Italy later this year, one on European routes and the other to long haul destinations. Volare will be ready to start operations from Bergamo, Milan Malpensa and Verona airports early in the second quarter of this ...

  • News

    Insurers warn on 1997

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Aviation insurers are again warning that they face a serious shortfall for 1997 following estimates which have put the cost of losses at close to $1.4 billion, despite a relatively encouraging year for air safety. The preliminary year-end figures from the UK Airclaims consultancy, widely used ...

  • News

    Another new airline enters Bangladeshi regional market

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    The newly deregulated airline industry in Bangladesh has seen a second new airline entering the regional market. Air Parabat has been set up by Bangladeshi industrial group Karim, with funding provided by Bangladeshi private bank IFCB. The airline launched operations from Dhaka at the end of December 1997, using ...

  • News

    Vietnam's new clothes

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    Vietnam Airlines has revamped its image, unveiling a new corporate identity on one of its Boeing 767-300s. The logo will eventually be applied across its entire fleet. The airline operates 767s, Airbus A320s, Fokker 70s and Aero International (Regional) ATR 72s on its network of regional and international services. During ...

  • News

    Britannia will rule carrier Blue Scandinavia after take-over

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    Andrew Chuter/LONDON CONTROL of Swedish charter operator Blue Scandinavia is to pass to Britannia Airways following the acquisition by Britannia's sister organisation, Thomson International, of Swedish tour operator Fritidsresor. The UK airline is also expanding its new charter operation in Germany. Thomson International, part of the Canadian-owned Thomson ...

  • News

    Cathay plans lay-offs as fortunes plummet

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    Cathay Pacific Airways plans to begin laying off about 800 of its ground staff towards the end of this month, as the airline's fortunes continue to nose dive and the Hong Kong-based carrier faces the possibility of recording a first-half loss in 1998. The planned 800 redundancies will affect ...

  • News

    El Al takes MD-11 on short-term lease

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    El Al will boost its long- haul fleet later this year, with the lease of a Boeing MD-11 from World Airways. The MD-11ER will be introduced in June on an aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance lease from World. The aircraft will be operated for El Al through to October ...

  • News

    JAS will cut domestic routes to reduce losses

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

     In a move reflecting the gradual deregulation of the country's air-travel industry, financially troubled Japan Air System (JAS) is to scale back domestic operations this year. An airline source says that JAS is putting the finishing touches to a plan likely to reduce service on 40 to 50 routes by ...

  • News

    S Korean carriers drop routes

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    South Korea's two national carriers are making sweeping cutbacks in international services, as the country's economic difficulties increase. Air New Zealand (ANZ), Ansett International and Qantas have suspended all flights from Australia to Seoul. Asiana Airlines has announced a complete halt to services from Seoul to Europe until at ...

  • News

    Pan Am revamps strategy with Boeing 737 focus

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    Pan American World Airways is looking to build on its fleet of Boeing 737s now that it has grounded most of its Airbus A300B4s, and suspended its New York-Los Angeles flights so that it can concentrate on a north-south route network. Pan Am found that the widebody 250-seat A300s ...

  • News

    SAA prepares to rethink 777 purchase

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    Kevin O'Toole/LONDON South African Airways (SAA) has widened the brief of the task force set up to re-evaluate its fleet plan to include new Airbus A330/A340 types. This confirms that the long-delayed order for Boeing 777-200s could be revised. The airline says that it will include a smaller ...

  • News

    Workshop

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    ++ AMR Eagle's Regional Aircraft Maintenance Center, located at the former K I Sawyer AFB, Michigan, will perform C checks on 12 Aero International (Regional) (AI(R)) ATR 72s turboprops operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines. The work began in early December 1997, and each aircraft visit will last for between five ...

  • News

    Air France profits roll but alliances come under EC scrutiny

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    Air France's transatlantic alliances have become the latest to come under scrutiny by the European Commission (EC), although the French flag carrier is pressing ahead with its expansion, buoyed by its recent financial turnaround and the prospect of a private cash injection. Regardless of the EC inquiry, Air France ...

  • News

    Swissair 'back in profit' in 1997

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH The SAir Group says that its core Swissair airline operations are due to show a profit for the first time in eight years when the 1997 results are revealed. The airline points to soaring load factors, which have climbed to 70% from just above 60%, as ...

  • News

    Airbus and Boeing take course for record production figures

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Airbus and Boeing are on course for record production levels in 1998, with the two manufacturers gearing up for a combined output of 785 aircraft. If achieved, production would improve on the peak of the last boom in 1991, when, along with McDonnell Douglas, the ...

  • News

    MD-95 re-emerges as Boeing 717

    1998-01-14T00:00:00Z

    Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has finally committed to the future development of the 100-seat MD-95, renaming the twinjet as the 717, to bring it within the expanded Boeing airliner family. The "birth" of the 717 follows an extended phase of the post-merger strategy review of McDonnell Douglas (MDC) products, during ...