All Systems & interiors articles – Page 842
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EC promises review after attack on EGNOS
Julian Moxon/PARIS The European Commission (EC)has promised a complete review of the region's plans for global-navigation-satellite systems (GNSS)by the end of the year, following complaints from airlines that the existing programme should be halted. The Association of European Airlines (AEA) raised the issue early in October ...
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Hamburg Airlines to fold after partner talks fail
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Hamburg Airlines managing director Udo Klien confirms that the carrier will fold at the end of the year, after the failure of partnership talks with regional carrier Augsburg Airways. Augsburg is now planning instead to extend its Hamburg operations within its existing Team Lufthansa ...
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Airbus supplement: Pioneer to pace-setter
Airbus Industrie's ultimate greatest impact will be on the shape of the European industry, but for much of its history so far the biggest headlines have been about its technology. The driver of much of that headline-grabbing technology has been Bernard Ziegler, who recently retired as senior vice president engineering. ...
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Airbus supplement: Restructuring
Wherever aerospace executives gather to discuss consolidation of Europe's aerospace industry, it will not be long before the talk turns to Airbus Industrie and its anxiously awaited restructuring. Whatever other pitfalls may yet befall Europe on the way towards the holy grail of consolidation, it has become an ...
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Varig entry boosts number of Star Alliance destinations
Brazil's Varig Airlines has joined the growing list of Star Alliance members, with Lufthansa's president Jürgen Weber promising further signatures from "at least one" Asian carrier before the end of the year. The entry of Varig, which flies to every major South American destination, is initially restricted to ...
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AZZURRA/Debonair want pan-European alliances
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Start-up carriers AZZURRA Air and Debonair have formed a regional alliance on services between the UK and Italy, which they hope to expand into a pan-European link-up. AZZURRA will begin a new service under a codeshare arrangement between its base in Bergamo, near Milan, ...
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France requires diesel testing
Julian Moxon/PARIS The first flight of the four-cylinder MR250 diesel engine, under development by Socata and Renault Sport, has been delayed until the beginning of December to allow time for an endurance test demanded by the French certification authorities. Trials of the engine in various configurations ...
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Pilots warned of software glitch
Flight manuals for the Airbus A320 family are being amended to alert pilots to a "software anomaly" which can cause the aircraft to adopt "an unintended flight path". The US Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness directive (AD), to take effect on 3 November, is sufficiently urgent for the FAA to have ...
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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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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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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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'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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 ...