All Ops & safety articles – Page 1245
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Spanair is first to order heavy A321 as it opts for Airbus fleet
Andrew Doyle/LONDONSpanair plans to launch a new high gross weight version of the Airbus A321 as part of its commitment for up to 45 Airbus narrowbodies to replace its ageing Boeing MD-80 fleet.The carrier - Spain's second largest after Iberia - has signed a memorandum of understanding covering 21 firm ...
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Eurocontrol pushes users on 8.33kHz
Emma Kelly/PALMA Eurocontrol is stressing that no further delay is possible in the implementation of 8.33kHz channel-spacing in European airspace, despite concerns over the low level of equipment installation by operators. The introduction of 8.33kHz channel-spacing, which will free additional radio frequencies to meet increasing air traffic management ...
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Airbus and Messier-Dowty test fix for A330/A340 landing gear
Airbus Industrie and Messier Dowty are testing a fix for the main landing gear of the A340 long-range airliner, which, if successful, will enable the removal of operating restrictions on all A330s and A340s. The work follows the incident involving a Sabena A340 in August in which the right ...
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R-R tackles Trent 700 surge/vibration issues
Andrew Doyle/ZURICH Early operators of Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines powering the Airbus Industrie A330 twin are working with the manufacturer to eliminate surge, vibration and turbine disk corrosion problems. These have led to a higher than expected number of engine removals recently. R-R has developed solutions for the surge and ...
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FAA seeks clarification on NTSB 737 rudder recommendations
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended that the US Federal Aviation Administration require all Boeing 737s to have a "reliably redundant" rudder system, following its investigation of the September 1994 fatal crash of a US Airways Boeing 737-300 near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The ...
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Honeywell ready to sign LAAS development agreement
Honeywell will sign an agreement in early April with the US Federal Aviation Administration to begin development of the local area augmentation system (LAAS), which will allow the global positioning system (GPS) to be used as the sole source of navigation information. Honeywell has assembled a team which includes ...
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Devaluation forces Varig aircraft and route cuts
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON Brian Homewood/RIO DE JANEIRO Varig Brazil has announced cuts in international services to the USA and Europe and plans to withdraw its fleet of McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 passenger aircraft by the end of the year as a massive Brazilian currency devaluation begins to affect airline traffic. ...
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Alitalia responds to BA's Italian strategy
Chris Jasper/LONDONAlitalia has begun a feasibility study into the launch of a regional carrier serving southern Italy in a move which counters British Airways plans to establish a franchise airline based on Rome and Palermo. The Italian flag carrier's study - which is to be completed by June - aims ...
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Pan American eyes grounded Kiwi International
Charter specialist Pan American has moved to acquire US domestic carrier Kiwi International Airlines, which has been grounded by the US Federal Aviation Administration for "numerous" safety violations. Kiwi's three Boeing 727s were taken out of service a day after the US Department of Transportation (DoT) threatened to revoke ...
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Asian lows
Asia's economic woes continue to trouble the region's airlines Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPOREAsia's airlines are wallowing in the depths of the region's economic crisis, with traffic and yields down and little evidence of any imminent recovery. The depth of the crisis was highlighted by Cathay Pacific Airways' recent revelation that it fell ...
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BA gives Sheffield a boost
Andrew Doyle/SHEFFIELD Newly established Sheffield City airport in the UK has received a major boost with the decision by British Airways franchisee British Regional Airlines (BRAL)to launch a hub operation there later this year. The only scheduled flights at the airport, which opened in February 1998, are operated by KLM ...
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Europe and USA start Galileo connection talks
Europe and the USA have started discussions to ensure Europe's Galileo global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is interoperable with the US global positioning system (GPS). In February, the European Commission (EC) announced plans to develop Galileo as an open, global satellite navigation system independent from the GPS. Although the USA ...
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Proposed US-EU dialogue may ease tensions
Alan George/BRUSSELS The European Union and the US Government have discussed the establishment of a 'structured dialogue' aimed at defusing aviation tensions between the two sides. The talks, between EC Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock and US Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, took place in Brussels last week. Slater went to ...
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Mergers
The UK's Dowty Group has bought GE Aircraft Engines subsidiary Tri-Manufacturing for $58 million. The Indiana-based aero-engine components fabricator will be incorporated into TI Group member Dowty's Turbine Engine Components (D-TEC) business. HeavyLift Cargo Airlines, the world's largest outsized-freight operator, has been acquired in a management buyout which values its ...
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Meet the family
Herman De Wulf/BRUSSELS Sabena of Belgium has begun its transition to an all-Airbus fleet, and is coming to grips with new procedures With the delivery of its first Airbus Industrie A321 on 2 March, Sabena began its conversion to an all-Airbus airline - the biggest re-equipment programme in ...
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Sibir bounces back with turnover up 10%
Paul Duffy/MOSCOW Former Aeroflot carrier Sibir is showing signs of rebounding from the Russian economic collapse, with traffic and financial figures showing improvement during 1998. The Novosibirsk-based airline carried 620,000 passengers last year, up 3% on 1997, while cargo volumes were up by 5%, to 5,800t. Sibir's success is all ...
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Heathrow T5 inquiry
A public inquiry into plans to construct London Heathrow's Terminal 5 (T5) has finished after four years of taking evidence. The inquiry inspector is not expected to file a report for two years, with another six to 12 months before the UK Government gives its verdict. If it goes ahead, ...
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Ab initio pilots just the job for Horizon
Seattle, USA-based regional carrier Horizon Air has arranged a supply of ab initio trained pilots, flying in the face of the US tradition of paying more heed to the number of log-book hours than to the type of training. Horizon has developed a "direct relationship" with the University of ...
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Bombardier adds more names to Continental as launch nears
Bombardier has named further risk-sharing partners for its Continental business jet programme. Launch of the "super mid-size" Continental is expected by the time of the Paris air show. France's Intertechnique will provide the fuel system, and ECE - a Group Intertechnique company - will supply the electrical system. AlliedSignal ...
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CFM prepares advanced fan for new tests
CFM International plans to begin crosswind tests of its experimental swept fan blade design in June, as it approaches the half-way point of its three-year Tech56 advanced technology development effort. Tech56 is aimed at improving the CFM56 engine family across the full 20,000-35,000lb thrust (89-156kN) range, as well as ...