Systems & interiors – Page 758
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News
SIA/Virgin work out fine print
Chris Jasper/LONDON Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Virgin Atlantic are hammering out the details of their recently agreed deal. Under it, the Asian giant takes a 49% stake in the UK holding company, which owns Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Holidays, Virgin Sun and cargo operation Virgin Aviation Services. The £600 ...
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Mergers
The UK's Smiths Industries has agreed to buy the US aerospace arm of UK industrial group Invensys, formed last year from the merger of engineering groups BTR and Seibe. The $175 million deal strengthens Smiths' position in supplying integrated systems for civil and military aircraft, and includes environmental control systems ...
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USMC holds fire on joint rotorcraft
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC The US Marine Corps is reserving judgement on participating in the US Army-led Joint Transport Rotorcraft (JTR) programme until the joint staff's critical Overarching Rotorcraft Capabilities Assessment (ORCA) is completed. Meanwhile, the USMC is drawing up plans to extend the service life of its Sikorsky CH-53E helicopters. ...
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BA studies CityFlyer transfer in Gatwick route shake-up
Chris Jasper/LONDON Andrew Doyle/MUNICH British Airways is considering a radical restructuring of its London Gatwick-based operations that would see all routes of less than 800km (430nm) - or around 35% of services - transferred to its CityFlyer subsidiary. The move, among several under consideration, aims to exploit the lower ...
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Satcoms progress
Back in the 20th century, they said people would not want telephones on airliners; that they did not wish to be contactable while they dozed in comfort or ate a fine meal. How times have changed. In the 21st century, passengers slip on virtual reality glasses and join the crew ...
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A satnav world
The early years of the 21st century will see the start of advanced satellite navigation systems mapping the world. From the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) in North America, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) and later, Galileo, and the Multi-function Transport Satellite (MTSAT) system in the Asia-Pacific ...
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Flight of fantasy
Airline operations in the 21st century will be conducted in an integrated information environment, linking passengers, cabin and cockpit crew with the ground The airliner passenger cabin and the flightdeck are getting closer technologically. No longer are capabilities exclusively designed for the cockpit, with applications increasingly being found in ...
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Brazil's carriers do battle over frequent flier plans
BRIAN HOMEWOOD RIO DE JANEIRO Last year's deep recession forced Brazil's carriers to abandon their cut throat fares war but BTAM, VASP, Varig and Transbrasil have now all turned to heavy promotion of their frequent flier programmes. Varig says 2.5 million passengers are registered on its Smiles scheme, up from ...
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Buying Power
KEVIN O'TOOLE & TOM GILL LONDON The global alliances are only just starting to use their combined buying power. Airline analysts are not alone in anxiously awaiting signs of how the global alliances may change the industry's landscape. There are hopes and fears among service providers too over how the ...
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Intelligent hope
Intelligent spacecraft are still a few years away, but robots and automated systems can meanwhile play a large part in extending space exploration The spaceflight industry has just one year year left to emulate Arthur C Clarke's HAL, the spacecraft computer that became too intelligent in 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...
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Clean and lean
Environmental issues and the demands of safety and reliability drive airliner design as much as technology Ever since the first powered machines flew at the start of the 20th century, aviation has been driven by the quest to improve aircraft efficiency. With extraordinary persistence, often surmounting seemingly impossible technical barriers, ...
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End of an era?
The traditional look for commercial aircraft may be ending. This century's airliners could look radically different Airbus Industrie's planned A3XX will be the ultimate expression of the classic airliner configuration, representing the end of the road for the layout of cylindrical fuselage, swept wing and podded engines so familiar ...
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Virgin moves on Australia
DAVID KNIBB SEATTLE Richard Branson's decision to launch a low-cost domestic Australian airline is the biggest threat yet to the Qantas-Ansett duopoly During a whirlwind tour of Australia, Richard Branson announced that Virgin Australia would start mid-year with five Boeing 737s that could quickly grow. Focusing initially on the busy ...
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Investors emerge for Ansett New Zealand
News Corporation's efforts to sell Ansett New Zealand may have better luck with a new group of New Zealand investors than it has had over the past 12 years with Qantas Airways. News Corp and Qantas were unable to agree on a price, and there is no assurance the ...
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Catering - serving in the fast lane
Fast food may not be on the in-flight menu, but as consolidation takes hold of the airline catering business, speed appears to be of the essence. Last year saw a flurry of activity in the in-flight catering industry, including a host of joint ventures and two major acquisition deals. ...
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Mexico's smaller players struggle to compete
DAVID KNIBB SEATTLE Mexico's third and fourth largest airlines have both experienced problems that harm their ability to compete against the duopoly of Aeromexico and Mexicana. Taesa, Mexico's number three carrier, remains grounded for safety reasons following a fatal crash on 9 November. Mexico's communications and transport ministry says inspectors ...
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A sense of balance
CHRIS TARRY COMMERZBANK IN LONDON The traffic forecasting model developed by Commerzbank and Airline Business highlights the extent to which capacity ran ahead of demand in 1999. But the coming year could bring markets back to balance. If further evidence was needed over the pain that excess seat capacity can ...
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Canberra considers Sydney public float
DAVID KNIBB SEATTLE The Australian Government is considering a public float of Sydney Airports Corporation (SACL), departing from its previous privatisation policy. Australia's finance minister, John Fahey, says the government is considering offering SACL shares publicly rather than through trade sales as it did with the country's 17 other airports. ...
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Cargo shapes up for rapid shake up
PETER CONWAY LONDON The year ahead looks likely to see dramatic changes in air cargo, with more and more carriers offering time-definite services, and the old wholesale-retail relationships between airline and forwarder becoming more flexible. Wilhelm Althen, retiring chairman of Lufthansa Cargo, which introduced time-definite services and a programme of ...
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Ramp Up
TOM GILL LONDON Deregulation in Europe's ground handling market is improving prices - but not necessarily service levels This year will be a busy one for European ground handling. By January 2001, most of the region's airports must have opened their doors to competition, ushering in a new era of ...