All Ops & safety articles – Page 1319
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North Korea plans to upgrade its air-traffic-control system
The North Korean Civil Aviation Administration is scheduled to complete an initial upgrade of air-traffic-control equipment by the end of the year, in readiness for the start of international flight trials through the Pyongyang Flight Information Region (FIR) in late February. North Korea is modernising communications equipment at ...
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Finnair opens talks with BA on alliance
Finnair has opened alliance talks with British Airways to compete with the Star Alliance partners SAS and Lufthansa in Scandinavia. The Finnish carrier says that no shareholding is on the table. The talks will cover a range of options stretching from linked frequent flyer programmes and code-sharing to joint marketing ...
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CAA reshuffle
Two board-level executives at the UK Civil Aviation Authority have been replaced. Head of the flight operations department John Mimpriss has resigned. He is succeeded by his former deputy, Doug Akherst. Michael Willett, group director safety regulation, has been replaced by Richard Profit, former director of safety, security and quality ...
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Delta plans HUD choice soon
Delta Air Lines is expected to select a head-up-display (HUD) system for its Boeing Next Generation 737 fleet by early November, as the leading manufacturers scramble to respond to the airline's request for proposals (rfp). Delta is the first of the US majors after Southwest Airlines to opt ...
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Germans despatch inspector to examine Mir components
A German camera-equipped spacecraft called the Inspektor, has been delivered to the Russian Mir 1 space station aboard the Progress M36 tanker. It will fly, remotely controlled by a cosmonaut inside the Mir, to conduct close inspection of various components using a camera. The 70kg Inspektor, ...
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Video interferance
Passenger use of a video camera on a Japan Air System (JAS)Airbus A300 interfered with the aircraft's navigation aids at a critical point, the flightcrew has reported. The aircraft was on a night instument-landing-system (ILS) approach to Tokyo Haneda Airport on 13 March when the crew, alerted by aberrant ILS ...
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Jamaica's Cat 1 rating brings Delta deal nearer
Air Jamaica is moving ahead with plans for a co-operation agreement with Delta Air Lines after the USA upgraded Jamaica's safety-oversight rating to Category 1. The deal with Delta, announced in July, had been on hold until the US Federal Aviation Administration's international aviation-safety assessment team was satisfied ...
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Western Pacific files for Chapter 11 protection
Western Pacific Airlines confirmed the perilous state of the US low-cost carrier market with a filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 6 October. The latest failure comes just weeks after the bankruptcy of Air South and follows a round of heavy losses throughout the low-cost sector, which ...
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Airtours denies plans for A330 but closes on fleet decision
Airtours International is close to deciding on an order for new long-haul aircraft from Airbus or Boeing, but the airline denies that it has any plans to introduce Airbus A330s in 1998. According to Mike Lee, managing director of the Manchester, UK-based charter airline, decisions will be made ...
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Airbus will increase weight and performance of A340-500/600
Airbus Industrie has completed a review of the A340-500/600's baseline specification, resulting in an increase in design weight and boosting range by some 370km (200nm) to meet requirements from potential customers, such as Singapore Airlines. Alan Pardoe, A330/A340 product manager, says that the review was completed in mid-September, ...
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Lufthansa Cargo evaluates 747-400F
Lufthansa Cargo Airlines will more than double the number of widebody freighters in its fleet within the next eight years. The German carrier is evaluating the Boeing 747-400 Freighter to replace its 747-200Fs. Karl Ulrich Garnadt, network vice-president of the wholly owned cargo arm of Lufthansa Group, says ...
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CASA discusses role in Air Jet 70 programme
CASA Aircraft is in talks to join the Aero International (Regional) (AI(R)) Air Jet 70 regional-jet programme, in a move which could lead to the Spanish company becoming a full member of the regional-aircraft group, it emerged at the European Regions Airline Association meeting held in Baveno, Italy, on 9-10 ...
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DoT promises action to help start-ups
The US Department of Transportation (DoT) has pledged to act against anti-competitive behaviour by major network carriers, which the country's low-cost start-ups claim is driving them out of business. The pledge came only days before Western Pacific Airlines became the latest start-up forced to file for bankruptcy protection. ...
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IATA fights airport emission rules
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has issued a legal challenge to the new aircraft-emissions surcharges at Switzerland's Zürich Airport. The action is seen as a key test case for the legality of similar penalties proposed elsewhere in Europe. Zürich became one of the first major airports to ...
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China tackles issue of ATC integration
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is expected to issue a request for proposals (RFP) by the end of the year for the first of three planned area-control centres (ACCs) to provide integrated coverage of the eastern half of the country. Under a national plan drawn up ...
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US overflying charges spark protests
US Government plans to raise $100 million annually from foreign carriers by charging for use of Federal Aviation Administration-controlled oceanic airspace have raised a storm of protest from 20 governments, and most of the 170 carriers which the International Air Transport Association says would be affected. Airlines fear ...
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Fuel-tank safety checks initiated
About 2,000 of 6,000 aircraft operated by 68 airlines worldwide will be inspected over the next three years for the type of fuel-system defects suspected of causing the crash of a Trans World Airlines Boeing 747-100 in July 1996. The Aircraft Fuel Systems Safety Programme will involve checks ...
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Ministers turn down EC open-skies request
Europe's transport ministers have turned down a request from the European Commission (EC) to broaden the remit of its open-skies talks with the USA to include negotiations on traffic rights. EC transport commissioner Neil Kinnock hopes to raise the issue again at the next meeting, in December. Kinnock ...
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Netherlands unbends on Schiphol noise
The Netherlands Government has reached a last-minute compromise which will allow Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport to breach its strict noise regime, which was threatening to cause chaos in operations in the final three months of the year. The airport says that it will still have to rein in its growth in ...
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Siemens tests new parking system
Siemens is testing a new precision-parking system at Munich Airport, Germany, which recognises an aircraft approaching a stand and then gives the pilot parking guidance. Testing of the video-based Siemens Docking Guidance System (SIDOGS) should be completed by the end of the year, says the German company, which ...