News from FlightGlobal – Page 2211
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China cuts levy on loss-making domestic airlines
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has cut an annual infrastructure levy on domestic airlines, in a move to help the carriers back into profit. Until now, airlines have had to pay 8% of their domestic turnover into the CAAC's Domestic Infrastructure Construction Fund, which finances airport improvements. ...
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Good business
Air Namibia plans to make its fortune by cutting costs, increasing income and building partnerships Stewart Penney/WINDHOEKA new managing director at Air Namibia is determined to reverse the carrier's flagging fortunes and prepare it for privatisation by aggressively attacking costs while increasing income and creating a series of alliances. The ...
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Asian lows
Asia's economic woes continue to trouble the region's airlines Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPOREAsia's airlines are wallowing in the depths of the region's economic crisis, with traffic and yields down and little evidence of any imminent recovery. The depth of the crisis was highlighted by Cathay Pacific Airways' recent revelation that it fell ...
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Spanair is first to order heavy A321 as it opts for Airbus fleet
Andrew Doyle/LONDONSpanair plans to launch a new high gross weight version of the Airbus A321 as part of its commitment for up to 45 Airbus narrowbodies to replace its ageing Boeing MD-80 fleet.The carrier - Spain's second largest after Iberia - has signed a memorandum of understanding covering 21 firm ...
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Routes
United Express carrier Atlantic Coast Airlines will begin twice daily services between Savannah, Georgia, and Chicago O'Hare in May, and four-times daily service between Columbia, South Carolina, and Washington Dulles on 25 May, using 50-seat Bombardier Canadair Regional Jets. United Airlines is introducing the Boeing 747-400 on to transatlantic ...
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Meet the family
Herman De Wulf/BRUSSELS Sabena of Belgium has begun its transition to an all-Airbus fleet, and is coming to grips with new procedures With the delivery of its first Airbus Industrie A321 on 2 March, Sabena began its conversion to an all-Airbus airline - the biggest re-equipment programme in ...
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Globalstar constellation grows
Four more Globalstar worldwide mobile communications satellites are in orbit following their launch aboard the second Starsem Soyuz-Ikar booster from Baikonur on 15 March. Starsem is a consortium involving Samara of Russia, Arianespace and Aerospatiale of France. The flight followed the first Starsem Soyuz launch on 9 February ...
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Air Anatolia aims to phase out A300s to reduce costs
Air Anatolia plans to phase out its fleet of Airbus A300s by next year and replace them with a mix of smaller types to reduce operating costs. The Turkish charter airline's deputy chief executive, Ahmet Karaman, says it wants to phase out its four 19- to 22-year-old A300B2/ B4s ...
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Boeing's Renton production rate goes up to 32 a month
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing's production recovery plan appears to be on track following the roll-out at Renton on 9 March of the first two Next Generation 737s, built at the record production rate of 24 a month. Added to the company's five-a-month rate for the 757 and the dwindling ...
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Bombardier aims for mid-2000 launch of BRJ-X regional jet
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Bombardier Aerospace expects to make a management decision to continue with the BRJ-X regional jet project on schedule at the end of 1999, but has slipped the full launch decision to the second quarter of 2000. The company had planned on a launch verdict around October ...
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Tour operator mergers spark charter consolidation
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON The European Commission's decision to approve the tour operator merger of Thomas Cook and the Carlson Leisure Group is likely to result in further consolidation of the UK charter market in the next 18 months. Another major charter airline link-up could follow the merger of Air 2000's ...
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Deutsche BA ready to decide on changeover to Airbus fleet
Andrew Doyle/BERLINDeutsche BA will decide on its long-term fleet strategy by mid-year, possibly replacing its 18 Boeing 737-300s (above) with Airbus narrowbodies that are held on option by 100% owner British Airways. The German carrier is preparing to relaunch international flights, having built a 40% market share on seven domestic ...
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ICAO figures show improvements in safety
There were 22 accidents involving passenger fatalities on scheduled airlines in 1998 according to figures released by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). This compares with 27 fatal accidents in the same category during 1997. Passenger fatalities last year were 909, against 930 in 1997, but ICAO points out ...
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Elegant stretch
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES This month, Condor took delivery of the first 757-300, the longest single-aisle aircraft ever built by Boeing in Renton It has been a long time coming, but the stretched 757 is here. An astonishing gap of 18 years separated the launch of the baseline aircraft and that ...
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Aeroflot and BA sign co-operation deal
Aeroflot and British Airways have signed an outline agreement to co-operate. Aeroflot confirms the agreement, but has not released any further details. It is believed to outline terms of co-operation for the London-Moscow route, on which Aeroflot is facing growing competition from Transaero. A second UK carrier, British Midland, is ...
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Netjets prepares to add Hawker 800XPs to Europe fleet
Netjets Europe will take delivery of the first customer-owned Raytheon Hawker 800XP by the end of the month. The first core fleet aircraft was delivered at the end of February. "We hope to add four [of the 24 Hawker 800XPs] to the European fleet this year. The next will ...
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Boeing confirms new large aircraft study
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing says it is still studying all-new large aircraft concepts, dubbed the Large Airplane Product Development (LAPD), despite its deliberate focus on 747 derivatives and opposition to more costly all-new concepts such as the the proposed Airbus A3XX. "Boeing is studying a large aircraft," says the ...
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EC resignations delay new rules
Alan George/BRUSSELS New European aviation initiatives have been put on hold following the mass resignation of top officials at the European Commission (EC) in the wake of a damning report into fraud and cronyism at the Brussels headquarters of the European Union. Despite the chaos caused by the resignations ...
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A340 reduced stability flight tests set to cut A3XX weight
Julian Moxon/PARIS Airbus Industrie is about to begin flight testing a specially equipped A340 to show that the new A3XX can fly with less static and dynamic stability than its current fly-by-wire aircraft. Engineering and product vice-president Robert Lafontan says the consortium is also considering a fly-by-wire flight ...
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KAL faces new penalties after two new incidents
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE Korean Air (KAL) is facing fresh sanctions and possible fines after suffering a Boeing MD-83 crash and an aborted landing by an Airbus A300-600 just three days later. Airline analysts say the latest incidents could raise doubts about KAL's joint safety drive with Delta Air Lines, a ...