News from FlightGlobal – Page 2506
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Airbus is close to concluding A3XX powerplant agreements
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Airbus Industrie is working to conclude agreements with the General Electric-Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance and Rolls-Royce, so it can formally offer airlines a choice of power plants for its planned A3XX ultra-high-capacity airliner. The engine manufacturers are expected soon to sign memoranda of ...
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Aviastar Asia ties up deal for 20 Tu-204s
Paul Duffy/SHANNON Aviastar Asia (AAC), the new joint venture set up in Taipei to market the Tupolev Tu-204 outside Russia, has now signed a contract for 20 aircraft, which is expected to be announced officially at Airshow China '96 at Zhuhai in November. Singapore-registered AAC brings ...
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BA ditches plans for British Mediterranean franchise
British Airways has abandoned proposals to operate its services to the Levant under a franchise agreement with British Mediterranean Airways (BMed), and both carriers say that they will continue to serve the Middle Eastern region independently. The two airlines struck a deal to operate joint services to Amman, ...
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US extends deadline for bag-match test
The US Aviation Safety and Security Commission, which was set up to improve airline security procedures in the wake of the crash of TWA Flight 800, has extended the 60-day deadline for testing a full domestic bag-match programme. US carriers have been able to convince the Clinton Administration ...
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CAAC holds up Chinese airliner approvals
Paul Lewis/BEIJING Chinese airlines are facing a growing backlog of pending aircraft orders and leases waiting for final approval from the country's civil aviation authority and Government. All Chinese aircraft orders and lease agreements of longer then one year are required to be submitted to ...
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IFALPA is set to act on African airspace 'risks'
Chris Yates/LONDON An urgent safety bulletin spelling out the growing danger of flying in African airspace is expected to be issued soon by the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA). Capt Tony van Heerden, president of the South African Airline Pilots Association says, that ...
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Cargolux accelerates
Cargolux of Luxembourg has reached an agreement with Boeing to accelerate the delivery of its fourth 747-400 freighter from September 1998 to August 1997. Cargolux, which was the first operator of the freight version of the 747-400, will then operate four 747-400Fs and four 747-200Fs on its international cargo network. ...
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Sabena links with Virgin Express for Heathrow route
Herman De Wulf/BRUSSELS Virgin Express is launching scheduled services between Brussels and London Heathrow, in a code-share deal with Sabena under which it will replace the Belgian flag carrier on the route. The low-cost Brussels-based airline launched services on 27 October with nine daily return ...
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Westpac orders 737s and takes options on -700
Western Pacific Airlines (Westpac) has finalised its expected order for new Boeing 737s, with an agreement for up to 12 aircraft, including options on the next-generation -700. The fast-growing, low-cost start-up, which has been in negotiations with Boeing for some months, has now placed a firm contract for ...
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Japan seeks GPS
Japan is expected to issue a request for proposals in November for a system to improve the accuracy, avail- ability and integrity of the global-positioning system (GPS). The system, dubbed MSAS, is Japan's equivalent of the US wide-area augmentation system. It will be operational by the end of 1998, providing ...
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Iberia emerges fighting as profits come into view
Iberia is gearing up to fight increasing competition on its international and domestic routes, with "a new aggressive commercial policy" says, chairman Xabier de Irala. "A lot of things are going to change-We will defend our leadership with all the weapons available," he pledges. Iberia has waded into ...
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BA moves closer to control of Air Liberte
Julian Moxon/Paris British Airways appears to have come a step closer in its bid to take over ailing French independent carrier Air Liberte after the unexpected withdrawal of a competing offer from a consortium led by French travel group Nouvelle Frontieres. One of the consortium members, the Banque ...
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White knight rides in for Kiwi
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Kiwi International Airlines, facing permanent shutdown of scheduled passenger services after filing for bankruptcy-court protection, has been rescued by Wasatach International, a Florida-based investment concern. The low-fare US carrier, which filed for Chapter 11, on 30 September and forced to suspend, scheduled ...
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The tangled web
As free flight comes closer to reality, all parties involved in the concept find the final details difficult to agree. Julian Moxon and Kevin O'Toole/AMSTERDAM Few concepts have caught the aviation industry's collective imagination as strongly as that of "free flight". The prospect of aircrews being able ...
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CNS/ATM programmes in Europe
PROGRAMME FOR HARMONISED AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT RESEARCH IN EURO-CONTROL (PHARE) Aimed at demonstrating the feasibility and merits of a future air-to-ground integrated air-traffic-management system in all phases of flight. Now part of Euro-control's European Air Traffic Management System initiative. The last of three demonstrations in 1998 will include ...
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EC believes there is 'room for improvement' in open skies
Julian Moxon/PARIS Europe's air-transport liberalisation has resulted in cheaper fares, new airlines and more routes, but "-there is still room for improvement", says the European Commission (EC) in a report anticipating full liberalisation in April 1997. The EC says that it remains concerned about "excessive" ...
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MDC board approves MD-XX for airlines
McDonnell Douglas (MDC) is understood to have given board-level approval to its civil-aircraft arm to start offering the MD-XX tri-jet family to airlines. A final board decision was due to be made at a meeting held at St Louis, Missouri, on 25 October attended by MDC president and ...
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Asiana engine bidders await decision
Competing power plant manufacturers are hoping for a decision from Asiana Airlines in November on the selection of engines for its planned fleet of 20 Boeing 777-200/300 and 28 Airbus A330-200/300 wide-body aircraft. According to local sources, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce are now into the ...
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US NTSB hearing on ValuJet DC-9 crash
The 11 May crash of the ValuJet McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 into the Florida Everglades will be the subject of a US National Transportation Safety Board five-day public hearing, scheduled to begin on 18 November in Miami. The DC-9 was operating a flight from Miami to Atlanta, and crashed ...
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Feel free
The end-of-term report on air-transport liberalisation, for the period 1993-6 from the European transport commissioner Neil Kinnock is full of praise for, and pride in, achievements and future plans. Liberalisation, it says, has worked well, with few major upsets, but, to be completed successfully, needs a little more effort in ...