All Systems & interiors articles – Page 829
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Carriers free private parts
Doug Cameron Belgium-based City Bird's rocky initial public offering suggests that the recent spate of successful IPOs by European airlines may be over. Last year, low-cost European airline stocks benefited from a surge in interest from US investors who moved heavily into Ryanair and Virgin Express. However, the ...
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No more red China blues?
Tom Ballantyne China's airlines are getting their first taste of capitalism as the country's carriers drastically slash their air fares and liberalisation hits the region. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has given its 27 CAAC-approved airlines the go-ahead to cut prices by up to 40 per cent ...
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Islands apart
A grand plan for Air Jamaica to be the focus of closer cooperation in the Caribbean region has failed to materialise, and instead would-be partners like BWIA continue to pursue their own separate strategies. Karen Walker reports. According to a joke that circulates in the Caribbean, St Peter allows newly ...
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Ultimate mobility
Tim Furniss/LONDON Making a mobile telephone call to and from anywhere in the world is about to become reality. Motorola's Iridium satellite system should be declared operational this year. Market studies indicate, however, that satellite services may not make as great an impact as first thought. The sixth Boeing Delta ...
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The generation gap
Douglas Barrie/LONDON Fifth-generation fighter, second- generation cockpit - what's the point? So goes the succinct view of no less than Col Gen Anatoly Sitnov, Russian defence ministry acquisition chief, in considering Russia's future combat-aircraft programmes. Sitnov's barbed comment was directed at the Sukhoi S-37 forward-swept-wing multi-role fighter prototype, but it ...
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Fair enough ?
What is a slot, and why does the European Commission (EC) want so desperately to become involved in its future? A slot is not a physical entity, it is merely a permission for a particular airline to land an aircraft, or have that aircraft take off, at a particular time ...
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Rekkof seeks way back for Fokker production
Efforts are under way to restart production of the Fokker 70 and 100 airliners. The initiative is being led by Jaap Rozen Jacobson, chairman of Belgian airline VLM. A new Dutch company, Rekkof (Fokker spelled backwards) Restart, is seeking funds and negotiating with potential suppliers. In a bid to ...
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Carriers attack EC competition policy
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Europe's major carriers have led an attack on the airline-competition policy coming from the European Commission (EC) - which is studying a series of global alliances - with claims that new entrants are being unfairly promoted at their expense. The attack came during a meeting on ...
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AI(R) partnership teeters as ATR looks to break with BAe
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Andrea Spinelli/GENOA ATR is on the verge of extracting its sales and marketing from Aero International (Regional) (AI(R)) and may move to abandon its two-year-old venture with British Aerospace. The partners are to hold an initial meeting by 30 January to review the future of AI(R) following the ...
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Agusta power
Peter Gray/CASCINA COSTA DE SAMARATE Although it has been said before, the statement that "if it looks good, it flies good" certainly applies to the Agusta A109 - and particularly to the Power version. The outside shell has changed little since the first-prototype days of 1971, but as I ...
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Work on turbulence detection device advances in Europe
Ian Sheppard/LONDON A new detection device which could allow civil pilots using head-up displays to "see" invisible atmospheric hazards such as wake vortices, windshear and clear-air turbulence (CAT)at long range is being developed by a European consortium led by Sextant Avionique of France. The European Commission (EC)-backed Multifunction ...
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Air China agrees deal to acquire 737-800s
Air China has signed a purchase agreement with Boeing for five 737-800s and taken options on another 15 as part of China Aviation Supplies' (CASC) recently announced order for 50 widebodies and narrowbodies. The five 167-seat aircraft are the first Next Generation 737s to be officially purchased by a ...
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NTSB calls for software rethink after A300 lost speed in descent
Software redesign following investigation of an in-flight upset to an American Airlines Airbus Industrie A300-600R has been recommended by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The aircraft's airspeed was allowed to decrease dangerously when it levelled out at 16,000ft (4,900m) during descent, before the stall-warning sounded and the aircraft ...
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Blue Sky prepares for launch as PAL 737-300s are secured
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON British Airways has secured a fleet of eight Boeing 737-300s to launch its low-fare subsidiary at London Stansted Airport. The airline, known as Operation Blue Sky, has also applied for its operating licence. The airline, which is believed to be aiming for a launch in April, has filed ...
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Order boom peaks
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON If the latest round of year-end order announcements from Airbus and Boeing seemed to lack some of the high drama of previous years, perhaps it comes as recognition that there may be some tougher times ahead. Quite apart from the internal restructuring issues that pre-occupy both manufacturers, the ...
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Sextant, Dassault sign avionics deal
Julian Moxon/PARIS Sextant Avionique and Dassault Electronique are to form a commercial alliance under which their avionics products will be jointly marketed to airlines. Talks on the deal have been under way for more than a year, and are unconnected with last year's decision to incorporate Dassault Electronique ...
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Asia-Pacific pathfinders
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE The Asia-Pacific region has been at the forefront of promoting the new communications, navigation and surveillance/air-traffic-management (CNS/ ATM) system since the concept emerged in 1983. These efforts will begin to bear fruit in 1998, with the planned opening and start of trials on key new routes between Asia, ...
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CSC to run trial of airport smartcard
Ian Sheppard/LONDON Computer Sciences (CSC) is close to launching a trial with a major European airport operator, based on a prototype "contactless" smartcard for airline passengers, which, for the first time, will act as a re-usable boarding pass, electronic-ticket and multiple-airline loyalty-scheme card. Paul Seaton of the company's ...
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Dakota Aero backs Orenda
Rockwell Twin Commanders are to be re-engined with Orenda piston engines by a new company in North Dakota. Dakota Aero Manufacturers has teamed with Dick MacCoon, the engine's original developer, to offer the re-engined aircraft, to be called the Dakota Commander. MacCoon's company, MRRPM, is developing a supplemental type-certificate ...
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US airport introduces firefighting advances
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Connecticut's Bradley International has fielded the "Snozzle", a firefighting device manufactured by Crash Rescue Equipment Service of Dallas, Texas, and mounted on one of the airport's two new fire trucks . The Snozzle's adjustable boom can apply fire retardants on hard-to-reach aircraft areas, concentrating firefighting ...