All Systems & interiors articles – Page 767

  • News

    A330s set to wing their way to Iran

    1999-11-03T00:00:00Z

    Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Iran has reached agreement with France over its planned purchase of four Airbus A330-300s for operation by flag carrier Iran Air, with deliveries of the aircraft to begin in 2001. Iranian transport minister Mohammed Hojjati told the country's official news agency, IRNA, that the $480 million deal was ...

  • News

    Dragonair hunts A320 customers

    1999-11-03T00:00:00Z

    Andrzej Jeziorski/HONG KONGHong Kong-based Dragonair expects to sign the first contracts with customers for its new Airbus A320 flight training centre in January. General manager Felix Hart says the centre should become operational next June. The company is in talks with A320 operators in the Asia-Pacific region, with possible customers ...

  • News

    Ibis targets December for roll-out of Ae270

    1999-11-03T00:00:00Z

    Ibis Aerospace, the Aero Vodochody/AIDC joint venture, expects to roll out the single-turboprop Ae270 multimission aircraft on 10 December. The first production prototype will be an Ae270P variant, powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42A. The aircraft is pressurised, with retractable landing gear. The non-pressurised Ae207W, which has a ...

  • News

    F-22 test milestones completed

    1999-11-03T00:00:00Z

    Lockheed Martin and Boeing have completed all F-22 test milestones originally established for this year. These include engine runs of the third development aircraft. Updated software has been delivered for the Boeing 757 avionics flying testbed. The milestones had been established as prerequisites for a US Department of Defense decision ...

  • News

    Freeing up the skies

    1999-11-01T00:00:00Z

    PETER BENNET VIENNA Free flight promises to solve chronic capacity problems and, although it is 15 years away, Europe's aviation industry is moving ahead with creating the infrastructure. "Free flight is a misunderstood concept," says Lars Lindberg, president of AvTech aviation technology consultants in Sweden. "Some people think it is ...

  • News

    A year to forget

    1999-11-01T00:00:00Z

    PETER CONWAY LONDON It took a while for the Asian downturn to affect the air cargo industry, but last year the bad news really hit home. There is little hiding from the fact that 1998 was a dismal year for the air cargo industry. And final figures from the ...

  • News

    Travelocity merger with Preview stirs on-line fight

    1999-11-01T00:00:00Z

    JANE LEVERE NEW YORK Global distribution system company Sabre has merged its Travelocity unit with Preview Travel in a step-up in the battle for the growing on-line travel market. The new company, Travelocity.com, will have projected sales this year of more than $1 billion. Travelocity was already top-ranked in ...

  • News

    Expanded horizons

    1999-11-01T00:00:00Z

    NICHOLAS IONIDES SINGAPORE Singapore Airlines emerged relatively unscathed from Asia's economic turmoil. Now the group's executive team, led by Dr Cheong, aim to ensure that growth gets back on track, with alliances which will increase the carrier's reach around the world. The executive team at Singapore Airlines (SIA) would seem ...

  • News

    A lesson in low cost

    1999-11-01T00:00:00Z

    Debonair's demise has provided a salutary lesson to other of Europe's low-fares carriers not to stray too far from the low-cost formula. Conventional wisdom may be much maligned, but it is not always wrong. Almost from the day that Franco Mancasola sketched out his plans to launch a ...

  • News

    More to come says Star, as it welcomes new members

    1999-11-01T00:00:00Z

    BEN MCMILLAN/ATI TOKYO Singapore Airlines (SIA) took centre stage at the inauguration of Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) into the Star Alliance in Tokyo in October by confirming its widely anticipated entrance into the multilateral airline grouping from spring next year. ANA was to join Star on 31 ...

  • News

    Births, deaths and marriages

    1999-11-01T00:00:00Z

    Sifting the sands of global alliance networks is quickly becoming an art. Over the next year to 18 months this skill will be tested to the limits as exposed "independent" carriers seek shelter in global alliances. These are interesting times for alliance watchers everywhere. Swissair's long-running Atlantic Excellence alliance ...

  • News

    Free for all

    1999-11-01T00:00:00Z

    KAREN WALKER WASHINGTON DC US plans for a modernised air traffic control system have undergone a sharp change in direction, making them evolutionary rather than revolutionary and putting the emphasis on government-industry collaboration. Such a programme is more likely to win Congressional support and become a reality. "Ask 10 controllers ...

  • News

    Air Canada's allies prepare rescue bid

    1999-11-01T00:00:00Z

    DAVID KNIBB SEATTLE A showdown is expected by 8 November on the bid by Onex to acquire Air Canada and merge it with Canadian Airlines. With high stakes for the Star and oneworld alliances, United and Lufthansa Airlines appear ready to intervene on Air Canada's behalf. Onex ...

  • News

    Travel agents outraged by commission reductions

    1999-11-01T00:00:00Z

    KAREN WALKER WASHINGTON DC Taking their lead from United Airlines, most major US carriers have slashed travel agent commission rates from 8% to 5%. The cuts have provoked outcry from travel agent groups, already reeling from efforts by the airlines to steer customers towards Internet bookings. Within days of ...

  • News

    Intrepid Explorer

    1999-10-27T00:00:00Z

    Flying the MD 902 Explorer proved it to be vice-free - as befits a helicopter with a design dictated by pilots and operators Peter Gray/REDHILL The MD Explorer should be the perfect helicopter. The design was conceived in the early 1990s when McDonnell Douglas asked owners round the world what ...

  • News

    Destination unknown

    1999-10-27T00:00:00Z

    Replacing its current fleet could be the least complicated issue facing Canadian Regional Airlines as an airline takeover battle looms Paul Seidenman/CALGARY As Air Canada and Canadian Airlines (CAI) face up to each other in what is becoming one of the hardest-fought airline takeover battles in recent years, shock waves ...

  • News

    TWA and Delta expand hub feed

    1999-10-27T00:00:00Z

    Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Trans World Airlines is to launch a regional jet operation as part of an expansion of its feeder service. Another US carrier, Delta Air Lines, has moved to further strengthen its Connection network by acquiring partner airline Comair. TWA plans to have eight 50-seat regional ...

  • News

    Galileo partners set up consortium

    1999-10-27T00:00:00Z

    The industrial partners in the European Galileo navigation satellite programme have established a joint venture consortium with headquarters in Brussels. DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, Dornier Satellitinen-systeme, Alenia Aerospazio and Matra Marconi Space are working on the definition phase of the Galileo system funded by the European Community and the European Space Agency. ...

  • News

    Boeing set to launch cockpit upgrades for 'classic' airliners

    1999-10-27T00:00:00Z

    Andrew Doyle/BRUSSELS Boeing plans to launch major cockpit upgrade programmes for the 737 Classic, MD-80 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9 as airlines begin to address the problem of how to comply with future air navigation requirements. The initiative is being driven by industry moves to establish a "free flight" regime in ...

  • News

    Marconi secures 737 HUD approval from FAA

    1999-10-27T00:00:00Z

    American Airlines is set to receive its first Boeing 737-800 equipped with a Marconi HUD 2020 Visual Guidance System (VGS) this month, following US Federal Aviation Administration certification of the head-up display (HUD). The aircraft is the first of at least 103 737-800s due to be fitted with the VGS, ...