All Systems & interiors articles – Page 838
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Airbus supplement: A319 flighttest
Peter Henley/HAMBURG The 124-seat A319 is the smallest of the Airbus Industrie family of airliners, featuring the same basic flightdeck and similar handling characteristics to all the other Airbus fly-by-wire (FBW)aircraft. A "shrink" derivative of the 150-seat A320, the A319 is offered with the same engines ...
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Airbus supplement: A300 A310
When Airbus Industrie rolled out its first A300 at Toulouse in September 1972, the aircraft received perhaps less attention from the assembled crowd than it deserved. Parked opposite was one of the prototype Concordes, which was still grabbing headlines around the world. Yet, while the sleek supersonic airliner may have ...
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Airbus supplement: A3XX
When it enters service in 2003, the A3XX will be the world's biggest civil aircraft. Perhaps more significantly, at least from the commercial point of view, the European giant will complete the Airbus range and remove at a stroke Boeing's long-held monopoly in extra-large people carriers. For three ...
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Free flight-who pays?
Billed as the "Path to Free Flight", the US Federal Aviation Administration's Flight 2000 programme could prove a rocky road for planners of this ambitious demonstration of the future US air-traffic-management system. While agreeing that a large-scale rehearsal of the Free Flight concept is a good idea, lawmakers, operators and ...
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'Intelligent seat' maximises comfort for the passenger
Aerospatiale subsidiary Sogerma has revealed an "intelligent" seat for first-class passengers, which adapts automatically to body shape for maximum comfort. Maintaining a comfortable seating position for a long time can be difficult, so the Intelligent Seat provides active support, distributing pressure at the interfaces between the seat and ...
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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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Unions side with Boeing in Sabena order battle
Unions at Sabena have intervened in the fight between Boeing and Airbus to secure a contract to replace the carrier's Boeing 737-200 with a threat of industrial action if the airline decides in favour of the Airbus A319. The Belgian flag carrier is due to make a decision ...
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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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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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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 ...
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Operators offered RVSM help
Operators of out-of-production business jets are being offered help in gaining reduced vertical-separation minima (RVSM) approval for their aircraft. Everett, Washington-based AeroMech has joined forces with flight-test specialist Kohlman Systems Research to gain RVSM approval for aircraft types for which manufacturer support is no longer available. ...
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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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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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American Eagle fits its fleet with EGPWS
American Eagle is to equip its regional aircraft with AlliedSignal's enhanced ground-proximity warning system (EGPWS), beginning with the Embraer EMB-145 regional jet. The EMB-145s will be delivered with the EGPWS installed, with the first of 42 aircraft on order due to arrive in February 1998. American Eagle will ...
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Thai denies making U-turn on withdrawal from Star Alliance
Thai Airways International is denying that it is contemplating pulling out of the recently established Star Alliance, and says that the company welcomes moves to expand the membership to include other Asia-Pacific carriers. The airline issued the denial statement in response to local reports that it was facing ...
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US Congress opens Dallas Love Field to Legend Airlines
Texas-based start-up carrier Legend Airlines hopes to select an aircraft type and apply for an operating certificate before the end of October, after the US Congress eased restrictions on services from Dallas Love Field. Legend's plans are dependent upon gaining approval to operate 56-seat, all-business-class, Boeing 737-200s or ...
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Midway boosts CRJ as Dash 8 production is slowed down
Bombardier is to step up production of the Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ), but cut back on output of its de Havilland Dash 8 regional turboprop. The decision to increase CRJ production from five to six a month in 1998 came as Midway Airlines ordered ten aircraft, taking Bombardier's ...
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Fairchild Dornier bypasses 50-seat market
Fairchild Dornier is planning to develop a 70-seat regional jet and has abandoned a scheme to compete in the already-crowded 50-seat market sector with a stretched derivative of its 328JET. The US-German manufacturer will roll out the prototype of its Dornier 328 turboprop-derived 32-seat, Pratt & Whitney Canada ...
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Bell plans to fly 427 for first time in December
Bell plans to fly its Model 427 light twin-turbine helicopter early in December. The first of two prototypes is in the final stages of assembly at Bell's Mirabel, Canada, commercial-helicopter plant. The company has orders for more than 65 aircraft, with US certification planned for December 1998 and ...
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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 ...