News from FlightGlobal – Page 2469

  • News

    Saab discusses South Pacific venture

    1997-04-16T00:00:00Z

    Saab Aircraft is discussing the setting up of a new South Pacific airline operation, in response to what it believes are unfounded complaints over the unreliability of the Saab 2000 being operated by state-owned Air Marshall Islands (AMI). Saab blames the AMI problems on inadequate spares support and ...

  • News

    Atlas closes on freighter order decision-

    1997-04-16T00:00:00Z

    Atlas Air, the world's largest Boeing 747 freighter operator, is close to deciding whether to order an unspecified number of 747-400 freighters. According to Michael Chowdry, chairman and chief executive officer, the 747-400F is seen as "the next step" for the US contract cargo operator. Atlas Air is ...

  • News

    Order boom forces Boeing to raise production rates

    1997-04-16T00:00:00Z

    Boeing is planning another increase in production rates as it prepares to keep pace with a surging orderbook and growing delivery backlog, now moving towards 1,500 aircraft. New urgency was injected into the company's continuous assessment of production rates by the Delta Air Lines order in March for ...

  • News

    Chinese airlines lease more Airbuses

    1997-04-16T00:00:00Z

    General Electric Capital Aviation (GECAS) has signed lease agreements with two Chinese airlines to supply additional Airbus Industrie A320s, to supplement the large number ordered by China in 1996. China Northwest Airlines and Zhejiang Airlines have each signed letters of intent with GECAS for two more A320s. The ...

  • News

    Finnair signs fresh pacts to strengthen Stockholm hub

    1997-04-16T00:00:00Z

    Finnish flag-carrier Finnair has signed co-operative deals with Braathens Safe, Transwede and Maersk Air, as part of plans to strengthen its presence at Stockholm, Scandinavia's main hub, in neighbouring Sweden. The deals, which include increased codesharing and links on frequent-flier programmes, follow signs of weakening in Finnair's long-standing ...

  • News

    PIA prepares for $1 billion fleet renewal

    1997-04-16T00:00:00Z

    Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is gearing up to order $1 billion worth of new aircraft, as part of plans to replace 21 ageing widebody and turboprop aircraft in its fleet by 2000. The move comes as the carrier enters the throes of a major restructuring, with the Pakistan ...

  • News

    SIA is first to order FANS-A upgrade for Airbus A340s

    1997-04-16T00:00:00Z

    Singapore Airlines (SIA)has become the first customer for the Airbus future-air-navigation system-A (FANS-A), with a commitment to install it on its fleet of long-haul A340-300s. Airbus aims to gain certification of FANS-A equipment on the A330/340 in April 1998, with ßight trials using its A340 testbed due to ...

  • News

    Virgin Executive Aviation takes off

    1997-04-16T00:00:00Z

    The Virgin Group has joined forces with the McCarthy leisure-investment group to form Virgin Executive Aviation, a corporate-jet and helicopter charter company aimed at exploiting European business and leisure-travel markets. The new company also plans to offer feeder services into London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports for Virgin Atlantic's ...

  • News

    R-R, Boeing to draw up -524HT test plans

    1997-04-16T00:00:00Z

    Rolls-Royce has signed a memorandum of understanding with Boeing covering the formulation of a flight-test schedule for the RB.211-524HT "hybrid" turbofan, although the timing of the programme remains uncertain as the UK manufacturer works to locate a suitable testbed aircraft. The -524HT, which uses the core of the ...

  • News

    Jersey European may add larger aircraft to cope with expansion

    1997-04-16T00:00:00Z

    JERSEY EUROPEAN Airways is considering options for the expansion of its fleet, which could see the airline introduce new larger aircraft in 1998. The regional airline, which flies 12 British Aerospace 146s, four Fokker F27s and two Shorts 360s, has experienced 25% annual growth over the past six ...

  • News

    Crossair modifies LF507s on Avro RJ85s and RJ100s

    1997-04-16T00:00:00Z

    Crossair is now half way through the process of making the engine modifications needed to improve unsatisfactory dispatch reliability on its AI(R) AvroRJ85/RJ100 fleet in a bid to (Flight International, 16-22 October, 1996). President Moritz Suter confirms that the Swiss regional airline has had "serious problems" with the ...

  • News

    Two weeks of RVSM confirms pilot fears over TCAS alerts

    1997-04-16T00:00:00Z

    Airline pilots have reported frequent, long-duration, "nuisance" traffic advisories (TAs) from their traffic-alert and collision-avoidance (TCAS) systems in North Atlantic air space during the two weeks since the implementation of reduced vertical-separation minima (RVSM) in the area. RVSM is a procedure for operating with vertical separations of 1,000ft ...

  • News

    USA signs Singapore in open-skies push

    1997-04-16T00:00:00Z

    The USA has continued its push for new open-skies deals with the signing of its new aviation agreement with Singapore, which is the first fully liberalised pact within the key Asia Pacific region. "The signing of this agreement-represents an important step toward ending restrictions on aviation services in ...

  • News

    BGTlooks to pilot low-cost fly-by-wire for Tu-204

    1997-04-09T00:00:00Z

    German systems house Bodenseewerk Gerätetech-nik (BGT)has launched a feasibility study with Tupolev over fitting future versions of the Tu-204 twinjet with its low-cost, advanced, digital fly-by-wire (FBW)flight-control-system (FCS) technology. The contract with Tupolev comes as BGT steps up efforts to secure applications for its FBW technology, which it plans to ...

  • News

    Ill fated ambitions

    1997-04-09T00:00:00Z

    The Romaero Rombac BAC One-Eleven programme is rooted in former Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu's ambitions to make Romania independent of the Soviet Union. As a maverick among the former Communist Bloc leaders, Ceausescu had refused to take part in the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and later exploited initially good ...

  • News

    International Space Base

    1997-04-09T00:00:00Z

    The name Kourou has become synonymous with that of Arianespace, but the European launcher organisation is only a user of the launch site. The CSG is operated by the French space agency CNES but was developed with funds from the member states of the European Space Agency (ESA). ...

  • News

    Supplying a total system

    1997-04-09T00:00:00Z

    DEVELOPING SUPPORT and training systems concurrently with the aircraft and engine has allowed designers to take advantage of the capabilities of the F-22's integrated avionics. The aircraft has extensive onboard diagnostics, required for sensor fusion and fault tolerance, which can be used to eliminate ground-support equipment, while the flight software ...

  • News

    FAA demands an inspection of...

    1997-04-09T00:00:00Z

    Following in-flight separation of a large section of a Delta Air Lines Boeing 767 wing-flap, more than 200 of the type worldwide have to undergo emergency inspection. The event occurred on a 27 March approach to Dallas/Forth Worth (DFW) Airport, Texas, and the pilots reported no problems countering the resulting ...

  • News

    Boeing chases Paris launch for 777-200/300X

    1997-04-09T00:00:00Z

    Boeing has presented 777-200X/300X proposals to four major US and Asian airlines in an effort to launch the planned long-range twin derivatives in time for the Paris air show in June. At the same time Rolls-Royce (R-R) has become the second powerplant manufacturer to sign an agreement to offer a ...

  • News

    Delta selects Trent to power Boeing 777s

    1997-04-09T00:00:00Z

    Rolls-Royce has secured its first US airline customer for the Trent 800, with the selection by Delta Air Lines of the Trent 892 to power its ten optioned Boeing 777-200s. The US carrier has placed a $500 million contract with General Electric to power the Boeing 767 component of the ...