News from FlightGlobal – Page 2175
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UK takes private air traffic control route
David Learmount/LONDON The UK Government is seeking an established company to take a 46% stake in National Air Traffic Services (NATS) after confirming plans to sell 51% of stock for around £500 million ($800 million) within the next two years. UK electricity distributor National Grid and France's Thomson-CSF are known ...
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717 emerges as favourite for BA requirement
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON British Airways could be poised to boost the Boeing 717's flagging sales fortunes, with the twinjet emerging as front runner for a requirement to purchase up to 40 of the 100-seaters. A request for proposals (RFP), covering 20 firm orders, plus up to 20 options, has ...
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NATS privatisation hits Scottish ATCC
The UK National Air Traffic Services' (NATS) has abandoned plans to build its New Scottish Centre (NSC) as a private finance initiative project with the Lockheed Martin-led Sky Solution consortium in the wake of a government announcement that the air traffic control provider is to be partially privatised. The ...
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KLM-Alitalia seal 'unprecedented' deal
Chris Jasper/LONDON KLM and Alitalia have agreed details of their alliance, to be launched on 1 November, claiming it "represents a new industrial model for air transport in Europe". In an Alliance Settlement Agreement signed last week, the pair defined an earnings-sharing formula according to which they will divide ...
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CityBird prepares for 747Fs
Herman de Wulf/BRUSSELS CityBird is finalising its planned order for Boeing 747-400 freighters, as it introduces its first Airbus A300 freighters. Brussels-based CityBird last year revealed plans to set up a cargo operation, placing orders for two whitetail General Electric CF6-powered A300-600 freighters originally destined for Kuwait Airways. ...
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Continental Express prepares for 200 jets as turboprops go
Paul Lewis/SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS Continental Express plans to double the size of its regional jet fleet to 200 aircraft as the carrier begins to accelerate the disposal of turboprops and transition to an all-jet operation. "We think we're about half-way there in terms of placing our firm orders with ...
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Marketplace
International Aircraft Investors is acquiring an Airbus A320 leased to Caledonian Airways until April 2002, a Boeing 737-400 leased to GB Airways until April 2001 and a Boeing 757 leased to Canada 3000 until May 2002. GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) has purchased three Rolls-Royce Trent 890-powered Boeing 777-200ERs ...
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Southern aims for September restart
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Start-up cargo carrier Southern Air hopes to begin Boeing 747 freighter operations in September, using routes and assets acquired from bankrupt Southern Air Transport (SAT). The Columbus, Ohio-based company plans to offer aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) wet-lease services initially, using an 18-year-old General ...
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Pilots 'need real-time weather data' in cockpit
Real-time weather information is needed in the cockpit to deal with conditions such as those that played a role in the 2 June crash of an American Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-82 in Little Rock, Arkansas, says the US Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). ALPA's Paul McCarthy told a Congressional ...
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ETOPS refusal wrecks Airtours A330 introduction
The introduction of the Airbus A330-200 by charter airline Airtours International has been severely disrupted after the UK Civil Aviation Authority unexpectedly refused to clear it to operate its new twinjets on 180min extended range twin engined operations (ETOPS) flights. UK-based Airtours introduced two 360-seat Rolls-Royce Trent 772B-powered A330-200s ...
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Chautauqua tackles cost and pilot problems
US Airways Express operator Chautauqua Airlines is moving to overcome spiralling costs and pilot defections, while trying to mould operations around partner US Airways' requirements. The operator's new chief executive Bryan Bedford says "the last year has not been very good for Chautauqua-escalating costs and high pilot attrition are ...
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Routes
US freight forwarder BAX Global has launched twice-weekly all-cargo charter services between its Toledo, Ohio, hub and Sao Paulo, Brazil, using an Atlas Air Boeing 747-200 operated in partnership with Aerofloral, a Florida-based company specialising in transporting flowers between the USA and South America. BAX also offers northbound services from ...
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USA/Russia argue over Il-96 Exim Bank deal
The delivery of 20 Ilyushin Il-96M/Ts to Aeroflot Russian International Airlines is being held up by a US/Russian wrangle over import duties on new Boeing aircraft for the Russian national carrier. The US Government is believed to have linked the release of $1 billion in Exim Bank funding for ...
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BA-American revise alliance plans
British Airways and American Airlines are resigned to the rejection of their transatlantic alliance plans by US regulators, but say they will press ahead with ties not requiring anti-trust immunity. The two are "looking at codesharing" in Europe and North America, the UK flag carrier says. The US Department ...
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CRJ-700 nets UK customer Maersk
British Airways franchise carrier Maersk Air has confirmed plans to operate the 70-seat Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ), as flight testing of the Series 700 gets in to its stride. The Birmingham, UK-based subsidiary of Denmark's Maersk Air has placed orders for three CRJ-700s for delivery in 2001/2002, and taken ...
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Serving Africa
For East African airlines it is cheaper to send for spares from Europe than keep them in stock Michael Wakabi/KAMPALA What Links Europe to a small scheduled operator in East Africa? A lot, according to Dick Turinawe, Uganda Airlines' general manager. Fleet size and configuration, capital constraints, frequencies and ...
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Poor performance
As Europe tackles another summer of air traffic delays, an independent report of last year's performance points to future relief Emma Kelly/BRUSSELS With air traffic and flight delays in Europe this summer topping those of the crisis proportions reached last year, 1999 looks set to break more records. ...
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Giving over control
It may be time for governments to shed the burden of air traffic control Emma Kelly/LONDON David Learmount/LONDON Private provision of air traffic services (ATS) may prove to be the way of the future. Canada's ATS is already privatised - but as a trust. The UK has just launched ...
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Ariane 4/5 to restart launches
Thwarted by late deliveries of payloads, Arianespace has amended its launch schedule and payload manifest so it can resume operations after a hiatus which has lasted since 2 April. Flight V118, aboard an Ariane 42P, will carry Indonesia's Telkom 1 on 4 August on the third Ariane mission of ...
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Materiel gains
Airbus Industrie Materiel Support has overhauled its image and is embracing the Internet to boost customer service Andrew Doyle/HAMBURG Airbus Industrie Materiel Support plays a key role in European consortium Airbus' growing sales success. As vice-president Peter Kloepfer puts it, the division is "never a deal maker, but we ...