News from FlightGlobal – Page 2348

  • News

    US and Japan keep talking

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Negotiators are pressing to meet a self-imposed deadline of 30 September for a Japan-US bilateral deal. Both sides know a failure to settle their differences could set off a round of sanctions. At presstime, a second round of talks had been scheduled for the end of August - ...

  • News

    Giant leap forward?

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Varig may still be the undisputed giant of the Brazilian airline industry, but will restructuring efforts be enough to keep it ahead of burgeoning competition? Lois Jones reports.When you start off at the top, the danger is that there's only one way to go - and that's down. Five years ...

  • News

    Stretched to the limit

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    Vasp's ambitions spread far and wide, but are its financial resources equally expandable? Lois Jones reports. Vasp chairman and president Wagner Canhedo Azevado is a man who likes to think big and be in control. The chairman likes to consider South America, and not just Brazil, as a single ...

  • News

    Caracas fails to fill vacuum

    1997-09-01T00:00:00Z

    While Caracas prevaricates over how to re-allocate Viasa's international routes, foreign airlines are racing to fill the vacuum left by the flag carrier's demise. This leaves any Venezuelan carrier eventually granted the dormant route authorities with the daunting challenge of having to establish itself in a market dominated chiefly by ...

  • News

    easyJet's complaint

    1997-08-27T11:43:00Z

    The European Commission has opened an enquiry into allegations by UK low-cost airline easyJet of anti-competitive practices by KLM. The action follows a complaint made by easyJet in October 1996 that KLM was lowering its fares artificially on the Amsterdam-London route in order to compete with easyJet's tariffs. ...

  • News

    Cathay will re-engine entire 747-400 fleet

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    Hong Kong Aero Engine Services (HAESL) will ship Cathay Pacific Airway's first hybrid Rolls-Royce RB211-524G/H-T engine to Boeing in early September for flight certification, following agreement to modify the airline's entire fleet of 21 747-400s. HAESL is now modifying the first -524G and plans to run the engine ...

  • News

    Dash 8-400 favourite at SAS

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    Kevin O'Toole/Stockholm An official announcement on the selection of a new 70-seat turboprop for the SAS Commuter fleet is imminent, says the Scandinavian airline, with an order expected for as many as 20 Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-400s, to be used alongside the existing Saab 2000 50-seaters. ...

  • News

    Lockheed tests F-22

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    Lockheed Martin has begun taxi trials in preparation for the first flight of the F-22, possibly by the end of this month, after testing the fighter's 156kN (35,000lb)-thrust Pratt & Whitney F119 powerplants at full afterburner, with the aircraft tied down. A series of minor software problems, including over-sensitive sensors ...

  • News

    Continental is revealed as EVA's US partner

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    Brent Hannon/TAIPEI EVA Airways has agreed an alliance with Continental Airlines of the USA. The deal struck between the two carriers, which is expected to be announced on 26 August, will cover a range of activities which includes a frequent-flyer tie-up (Flight International, 6-12 August). The ...

  • News

    KLM pursues European plans

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    Kevin O'Toole/LONDON KLM says that it will continue to press ahead with plans to increase its presence across Europe, having signed its latest partnership deal with Norway's Braathens SAFE- backed with a 30%equity stake. KLM, which took full control of Air UK earlier this year and ...

  • News

    Olympic will buy 737-800s

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    Julian Moxon/paris Olympic Airways is to acquire a fleet of Next Generation Boeing 737s and Airbus A340s. The airline is close to resolving its long-running dispute with the European Commission (EC), which has held up payment of the last two tranches of its state aid. Resolution of the ...

  • News

    United buys time for regional-jet deal with Atlantic Coast Airlines

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    United Airlines has agreed to reimburse the aircraft-lease and flight-crew costs for Atlantic Coast Airlines' (ACA) Bombardier Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ) until the end of the year, giving the carrier more time to reach an agreement with its pilots . ACA had planned to begin an independent regional-jet ...

  • News

    Volga-Dnepr signs up for Il-96T

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    Ilyushin has signed an agreement with Russian cargo carrier Volga-Dnepr covering the sale of four Il-96T freighters, with two options. The aircraft manufacturer's chief designer Igor Katyrev says the agreement does not constitute a firm contract at this stage, although Volga-Dnepr has scheduled the first delivery for 1999. ...

  • News

    Europe's B-RNAV plans in 'chaotic mess'

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    Julian Moxon/PARIS The attempt to introduce the new basic radio-navigation (B-RNAV) standards into European airspace by January 1998 has been termed a "chaotic mess" by the avionics industry as it faces a last-minute change of speciÌcation from the European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA). B-RNAV avionics will be required to enable ...

  • News

    Tests complete on first 'Block 4' GE90

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    Boeing has completed flight and performance tests of the first 777-200IGW (increased gross weight) powered by the "Block 4" variant of the General Electric GE90-90B turbofan. The aircraft is being refurbished at the company's Everett site in Washington before delivery to Lauda Air in late September. ...

  • News

    Marketplace

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    ++ Virgin has confirmed that it will add two new Airbus A340-300s in 1998 (Flight International, 13-19 August ) but that one of the aircraft will be acquired on a four-year operating lease from International Lease Finance (ILFC). The aircraft will be delivered in March 1998, and will be joined ...

  • News

    Mesa Air regional-jet operation experiences a sluggish start

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    Mesa Air Group says that its Texas-based regional-jet operation, started in May with two Bombardier Canadair Regional Jets (CRJs), is growing more slowly than anticipated. Marketing of the initial Fort Worth-Houston service is being intensified, and Fort Worth-San Antonio flights will be added in September, with a San Antonio-Colorado Springs ...

  • News

    NavCanada softens user-fee proposal

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    Canada's privatised air-traffic-services provider NavCanada has modified and deferred planned user fees after consultation with aircraft operators. The changes will delay the transition from an air-transportation tax to full cost-recovery by user fees to 1 November, 1998. NavCanada says that the revised proposal will give airlines more time ...

  • News

    Japanese consortium prepares plans to launch regional airline

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    An Okinawa-based Japanese business consortium is drawing up plans to launch an airline within three years, to operate domestic routes and, possibly, international services in the longer term. A group of 32 island investors led by Okinawa Electric Power has established a new company called Southern Cross to ...

  • News

    Canada's Royal takes over CanAir cargo

    1997-08-27T00:00:00Z

    Montreal-based Royal Aviation has acquired the assets of CanAir Cargo, and added the Ontario-based overnight-freight carrier's six leased Boeing 737-200 freighters to its fleet. Royal plans to maintain CanAir's coast-to-coast cargo network, which produced revenues of C$49 million in 1996, and will convert at least three additional 737s ...