News from FlightGlobal – Page 2318
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British Midland expects to make record profits for 1997
British Midland (BM) expects to return record profits for 1997, after having successfully fended off growing competition from low-fare airlines, and benefited from the industrial dispute at British Airways. The news comes as the airline reveals plans for head-on competition with BAon the London-Manchester route. BM expects to ...
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PIA chairman begins mission to restore 'financial discipline'
New Pakistan International Airlines(PIA) chairman Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has set about a clean sweep of the carrier's finances, taking heavy write-offs in the latest 1996/7 accounts and pledging to "restore operational and financial discipline". The accounts, which show a heavy Rs4.8 billion ($110 million)net loss in the year to ...
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Thai privatisation is in prospect for 1998
The long-awaited partial privatisation of Thai Airways International finally looks set to proceed in 1998, spurred by a major Government financial shake-up and the urgent need to raise new capital for the debt-ridden carrier's planned fleet renewal. Thai invited a pre-selected group of finance brokers to a company briefing ...
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Hidden turmoil
There is something vaguely ironic about Boeing outlining continuing production delays and, in the same breath, of the need to shed production staff. The irony is, however, a reflection of the underlying turmoil in the civil airframe industry - a turmoil which has to some extent been hidden by the ...
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747-400IGW gets go-ahead
Guy Norris/SEATTLE The Boeing board has given its civil-aircraft sales team authority to offer a growth version of the 747-400 with a maximum take-off weight of 413,140kg and a range of up to 14,245km (7,700nm). The decision is the first significant growth step for the aircraft since the ...
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Alitalia confirms KLM alliance
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Alitalia plans to start its alliance with KLM from November 1998, shortly after the opening of the Italian carrier's new Milan hub at Malpensa Airport, which is seen by both carriers as a cornerstone of their partnership. Alitalia's choice of European alliance partner on 17 December ...
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737 production recovery disappoints Boeing
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Boeing "is not seeing the improvement anticipated" for its production-recovery programme on the Next Generation 737, admits Commercial Airplanes Group president Ron Woodard. The number of jobs behind schedule have stayed essentially static since October, despite Boeing's efforts to "rebalance" the 737 production line. Woodard ...
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Guarantee allows Garuda to receive 737s at last
Garuda Indonesia will finally begin taking delivery of six completed Boeing 737-300/500s parked in the USA, following a long-awaited guarantee from the Indonesian finance ministry on lease financing. Delivery of the aircraft has been on hold since August after demands from the US Eximbank for a guarantor to agree ...
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P&W considers new rival for CFM56
Guy Norris/EAST HARTFORD Pratt & Whitney has begun studies of an advanced-technology geared-fan engine in an initiative to re-enter the narrowbody market and challenge the dominance of CFM International. The study outlines an initial series of engines for the 107-156kN (24,000-35,000lb)-thrust range, and is based around the use ...
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Saab decides to terminate turboprop products
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Saab is to discontinue manufacture of the Saab 340 and 2000 turboprops by mid-1999, shifting the focus of its civil-aircraft operation to support and finance of existing fleets, and to contracting for other manufacturers. The Swedish company is continuing discussions about the possible move of the production ...
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Psychiatrists have too big a say in the selection of pilots
What is the best way to decide who should sit in the flightd Sir - I greatly agree with Mr Julian Ticehurst's letter (Flight International, 26 November -2 December) about "Fliers who lose their way" (Flight International, 5-11 November), but have something to add. The scenario depicted by the US ...
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BA pioneers global monitoring
Ian Sheppard/LONDON British Airways is using an aircraft visual-tracking system which allows it to monitor the position of aircraft and immediately react to unforeseen events which cause flights to be diverted. Previously a diversion decision by a flightcrew would require "a call to tech-dispatch and manual calculation of ...
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Lynton snaps up GEC's Magec
GEC has sold Magec Aviation to UK corporate- aircraft charter and management company Lynton Group, ending more than five months of speculation over the fixed-based operator's future. Completion is expected within 30 days. The UK defence-electronics and power-engineering company began looking for buyers for Magec in July, following its ...
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Passenger boom
UK airport owner Regional Airports (RAL) plans to quintuple passenger throughput at London Biggin Hill Airport by 2000, following the opening of its new £500,000 ($850,000) terminal in November. Passenger numbers are expected to increase from 20,000 to 100,000 a year. RAL is holding discussions with several undisclosed airlines over ...
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ST Aero purchases Dalfort maintenance
Singapore Technologies Aerospace (ST Aero) has acquired Dalfort Aviation's maintenance site in Dallas and is planning to expand its Mobile Aero- space Engineering (MAe) subsidiary in a move to increase capacity in the USA. The Singapore company has agreed with Astraea to purchase the leasehold, assets and inventory of ...
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Spar goes shopping
Spar Aerospace has agreed to acquire Canadian maintenance company CAE Aviation for about $62 million. The company, which specialises in servicing and upgrading Lockheed Martin C-130 transports, was put up for sale in August by parent company CAE, following a decision to focus on its advanced-technology businesses, such as simulation. ...
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Austrian double
Austrian Airlines has doubled its participation in regional carrier Tyrolean Airways, with the purchase of 42.85% of its shares, bringing its total stake to 85.7%. The remaining capital is held by Leipnik Lundenburger Industrie. Austrian bought its initial stake in Tyrolean in 1994, and the purchase contributed significantly, says the ...
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EC allows France to subsidise Sextant Airbus system
The European Commission (EC) has given the go-ahead for a Fr140 million ($23.3 million) re-imbursable French Government subsidy to Sextant Avionique to help develop a flight-management system (FMS) for new Airbus aircraft. Sextant plans to develop the FMS with Smiths Industries under a memorandum of understanding signed earlier in ...
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LTU dismisses managers as 767 cracks show poor maintenance
AndrzejJeziorski/MUNICH German charter operator LTU has sacked three senior managers after the discovery of a series of maintenance deficiencies in the fleet of Munich-based sister airline LTU Süd. LTU says that it is unable to name the managers concerned for legal reasons, but they included one of two ...
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CCAir concludes roll-over agreement to upgrade Jetstream fleet
CCAir has concluded an agreement with British Aerospace Asset Management Turboprops (AMT) to replace its BAe Jetstream 31s with upgraded Jetstream 32EPs. The deal will also enable Charlotte, North Carolina-based US Airways Express to replace its ageing Shorts 360s. CCAir has signed an agreement with BAe AMT to take ...