News from FlightGlobal – Page 2504
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Saudia focuses on regional selection
Saudi Arabian Airlines is focusing attention on the long-awaited selection of a new 50- to 70-seat regional aircraft, following the finalisation of its $6 billion purchase of larger-capacity US-built jet airliners. The national carrier has a total requirement for up to 30 aircraft, but is expected initially to ...
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BWIA International goes for Airbus mix
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON BWI International Airlines (BWIA) has settled on a mix of Airbus aircraft including three A340s for its fleet replacement, overturning an earlier announcement that it had selected Boeing types. President Ed Wegel says that the first two A340s will arrive in a year's ...
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Laker sets a date for new venture
SIR FREDDIE LAKER plans to start his new "Regency Service" across the North Atlantic on 29 March 1996, using McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30s. The emotive "Skytrain" title, used on his collapsed 1980s' operation, will not be revived, nor will the image of cheap travel. This time around, Laker is ...
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Battle of the big twins
Airbus and Boeing plan strategies for the next round of combat. Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Julian Moxon/PARIS Paul Lewis/DUBAI WITH THE SINGAPORE Airlines decision now announced, the first round in the battle of the big twins is drawing to a close. There are still a couple of ...
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Slot limits may scupper Virgin's domestic plans
VIRGIN ATLANTIC'S planned move into the domestic market is being hampered by slot restrictions imposed at London Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Richard Branson's airline has re-activated Cityair (Chester), a dormant Virgin Holdings company which has applied to the Civil Aviation Authority for a scheduled operating licence. ...
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SIA goes for 777 with Rolls-Royce powerplants
SINGAPORE AIRLINES (SIA) has placed an order for 34 Boeing 777s, with options on an additional 43 aircraft. Deliveries will run from 1997 to 2004. The $12.7 billion deal includes spares and the selection of Rolls-Royce Trent 800-series engines. The selection of R-R was the biggest surprise - the ...
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The big fan fight
ARGUABLY, THE bloodiest competitions in the big-twin fight have come not from the airframe selection, but over the engine choice. Three engine manufacturers and a relative scarcity of orders was a sure recipe for a life-or-death struggle. In the event, the first wave of competitions ends with Pratt ...
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Air New Zealand signs up to buy a stake in Ansett
Paul Phelan/CAIRNS Air New Zealand (ANZ) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with TNT to acquire an initial 25% interest in Ansett Holdings for A$200 million ($151 million). ANZ chairman Bob Matthew says, that a formal agreement on the two-stage A$425 million purchase, is ...
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Harris may start 'no-frills' airline
AIR CANADA CHAIRMAN Hollis Harris may invest in an US-based "no-frills" airline, which could be in operation as early as June 1996. Harris confirms in an interview with the Canadian Financial Post that at least four "core" investors are already examining whether to take a stake in the ...
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Northwest fumes at KLM activities
NORTHWEST AIRLINES has effectively accused its Dutch partner, KLM, of attempting to gain control of the company, as boardroom friction between the two airlines heads towards legal action. The accusation comes in a letter to Northwest employees, explaining the board's decision to put a "poison pill" in place ...
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Formosa will take 328-110 in February
DAIMLER-BENZ Aerospace (DASA) expects to deliver its first improved-performance Dornier 328-110 turboprop to Taiwan's Formosa Airlines in late February 1996. Delivery of the five aircraft ordered by Formosa has been delayed by the need to develop and certificate short take-off and landing improvements to the 328-100 for flights ...
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Iberia on brink of selling Argentinas
IBERIA IS POISED to sell off its stake in Aerolineas Argentinas and other South American airline holdings, in an effort to raise badly needed cash. Spain's industry minister Juan Manuel Eguiagaray confirmed on 14 November that the bulk of Iberia's 85% holding in the Aerolineas would be transferred ...
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Employee doubts played part in United decision on USAir
UNITED AIRLINES chairman Gerald Greenwald suggests that "significant doubts" among the group's employee owners contributed to the decision to drop its pursuit of a merger with USAir. United finally announced on 13 November that it would no longer press ahead with its talks. American Airlines, which has ...
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Air Macau starts
Air Macau has started commercial operations, launching its first services to Beijing and Shanghai on 9 November. The new carrier has taken delivery of its first Airbus Industrie A321 and is due to receive its second 178-seat aircraft at the end of November, under a lease agreement with International Lease ...
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Crandall attacks liberalisation progress
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON IN ANOTHER FIERCE attack on the lack of progress being made in UK-US liberalisation, American Airlines chairman Bob Crandall says that he is against any deal which falls short of giving the carrier an equal footing to that of British Airways at London Heathrow. ...
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Inconsistency in BALPA policy
Sir - The Independent Pilots Association (IPA) commends the letter from Chris Darke, general secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) on licence validations within the European Union (EU) (Flight International, 11-17 October, P49). The IPA is also concerned that licence validations have been issued to non-EU ...
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Air-traffic-controller strikes blamed for European delays
Julian Moxon/PARIS STRIKES BY AIR-TRAFFIC controllers and the shortage of airport and airspace capacity are being blamed for a serious increase in departure delays in Europe during the July-September period. The Association of European Airlines (AEA) describes as "appalling" the figures for the three months, in ...
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Munich on defensive as Asian airlines pull out
INDONESIAN CARRIER Garuda and Japan Airlines (JAL) have withdrawn from services to Munich Airport, leaving the airport management company, Flughafen Munchen (FMG), defending its growth record. According to the airport authorities, JAL pulled out over a question of traffic rights, while Garuda's decision was part of an overall ...
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Room for expansion at Air Seychelles
AIR SEYCHELLES has unveiled plans for new routes and aircraft, to enable the airline to grow with the development of tourist traffic - which has the scope to double to at least around 250,000 people a year. Executive chairman Freddie Karkaria says that he is considering opportunities to ...
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Turkish order maintains Douglas recovery
Turkish charter operator Onur Air has ordered five McDonnell Douglas MD-88s and taken options on five more, continuing the fourth quarter turn-around in the fortunes of Douglas Aircraft. Up to the end of September, Douglas had taken orders for just 11 twinjets during the whole of 1995. The ...