Programmes – Page 1073

  • News

    Japan's anti-tank OH-1 study heralds further delay to AH-X

    1999-08-04T00:00:00Z

    Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE The Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force (JGSDF) is studying the use of the OH-1 airframe as a basis for its AH-X future attack helicopter programme, the schedule for which has slipped again. According to Japanese defence sources, the OH-1 could be modified to become a replacement for ...

  • News

    Materiel gains

    1999-08-04T00:00:00Z

    Airbus Industrie Materiel Support has overhauled its image and is embracing the Internet to boost customer service Andrew Doyle/HAMBURG Airbus Industrie Materiel Support plays a key role in European consortium Airbus' growing sales success. As vice-president Peter Kloepfer puts it, the division is "never a deal maker, but we ...

  • News

    NZ signs unlimited deal

    1999-08-01T08:45:00Z

    New Zealand has signed liberal air services agreements with Belgium and Ireland. The former provides for an unlimited capacity and no restrictions on routes offered between the two countries and unrestricted codeshare rights. The Ireland agreement offers the same opportunities but also gives airlines from each side cabotage rights. ...

  • News

    Gearing up for the millennium

    1999-08-01T08:36:00Z

    At the eye of the hurricane it is very calm - at the edges there is a lot of wind. So says KLM, predicting that New Year's day 2000 is likely to be calmer than the frenetic build-up may suggest. There is optimism elsewhere that aviation will indeed be ready ...

  • News

    JetBlue takes on Big Apple

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Carol Shifrin NEW YORK The largest metropolis of the USA - New York City - is about to gain its first low-fare, home-town airline in more than a dozen years. JetBlue Airways, the best-financed of any start-up since US airline deregulation, plans an early 2000 launch from New York's underused ...

  • News

    Start-ups move in after AeroPeru rescue deal fails

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Continental Airlines' decision not to invest in AeroPeru is being viewed as the death knell for the Peruvian flag carrier. The likely winners will be two start-ups - each with foreign ties - together with AeroContinente, Peru's other international carrier. AeroPeru has been grounded since March and its ...

  • News

    SIA inspires Airbus wrath with A340 sale to Boeing

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Singapore Airlines (SIA) sparked a storm of controversy in late June with the surprise announcement that it was not only firming up options on 10 Boeing 777-200IGWs, but trading in its Airbus widebody fleet to do so. While the 777 order was straightforward enough, SIA revealed that Boeing had ...

  • News

    Cool head in a hot seat

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    The glass must always look half full to Fernando Pinto. The first thing that Varig's president and chief executive officer wants to point out is that his airline is in a better position today than it was three years ago. It would be easy to overlook this piece of ...

  • News

    Virgin truce puts Irish operation on hold

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Simon Montlake ATI LONDON Virgin boss Richard Branson has brokered a truce between disgruntled pilots and managers at Virgin Express, the Brussels-based low-cost carrier. But the agreement, signed by Branson and staff representatives, has only put off the day of reckoning for Virgin Express Ireland, the new subsidiary at ...

  • News

    Arkia move sparks Arab backlash

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Peter Bennett VIENNA Israeli group Arkia says it will invest up to $100 million in loss-making flag carrier Balkan Bulgarian after it won the rights to buy a majority stake. But problems with some of Balkan's Arab routes have set in, with some countries objecting to dealing with an Israeli-owned ...

  • News

    Qualiflying seamless service

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    With its new joint sales initiatives, the Qualiflyer grouping could be stealing a march in the alliance stakes. The promise of seamless customer service from the global alliances may seem a little distant, but progress appears to be under way. At the forefront has been a series of announcements from ...

  • News

    Playing it safe at KAL

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Nicholas Ionides SEOUL A big management shake-up at Korean Air has produced a new president and chief executive, Shim Yi-taek. His main task is to improve KAL's safety. Each day at noon, thousands of Korean Air (KAL) employees working at the carrier's Kimpo Airport headquarters building in Seoul make ...

  • News

    50 years ago...

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    As Airbus fine tunes its A3XX design, the world celebrates a half century of jet travel On Wednesday 27 July, 1949, the world's first jet airliner, the de Havilland (DH) 106 Comet, made its first flight from Hatfield airfield, just north of London. That historic half an hour trip marked ...

  • News

    Back to the future

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Capacity is driving Airbus' future large airliner plans but cost will decide how and where it will be built Julian Moxon/TOULOUSEAirbus will know only after a six-month commercial marketing campaign that begins in January whether it has predicted correctly the demand for its A3XX. If enough airlines, with enough geographical ...

  • News

    Pan Pacific plans for Let L-420 flights to small US communities

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Pan Pacific Airways' plans to serve small communities in the north-western USA are back on track after the company agreed to acquire Czech-built Let L-420s. An aircraft arrived in mid-July to enable training to begin. Burlington, Washington-based Pan Pacific hopes to begin operations by year-end. Chairman and ...

  • News

    DHL poised to take British Airways 757s

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON British Airways is in final negotiations with express package specialist DHL for the sale of almost half of the UK airline's Boeing 757s, with a deal expected to be concluded in the coming months. The transaction, valued at around $500 million (including conversions), would give Boeing a launch ...

  • News

    Spoiling tactics

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    When Boeing concluded its recent trade-in deal with Singapore Airlines (SIA) for 10 more 777s in exchange for a guarantee to buy and remarket its entire A340 fleet, the move seemed as capricious as it was masterful. But, with arch rival Airbus Industrie putting the finishing touches to a ...

  • News

    All systems go for Transpac Express Pacific services

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Paul Phelan/CAIRNS Australian cargo start-up Transpac Express has received outline approval to launch cargo services to Pacific islands, using widebody freighters. The draft approval from Australia's International Air Services Commission will allow the Brisbane-based company to operate separate weekly freight services from Brisbane to Nauru, New Caledonia, the ...

  • News

    Cathay Pacific mulls over larger widebody options

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Chris Jasper/HONG KONG Cathay Pacific is studying all of the larger widebody types, including the planned Airbus A3XX, as potential replacements for its 19 Boeing 747-400s. Tony Tyler, corporate development director at Hong Kong based Cathay, says it is evaluating long range Boeing 777s, including the planned General ...

  • News

    MD-10 speeds up as passenger version is studied

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Boeing is talking to potential customers about developing a passenger version of the MD-10, as it considers accelerating the cargo-led programme by up to three months. US express carrier FedEx is so far the only customer for the MD-10 conversion of the DC-10, with orders and options for 120. ...