Systems & interiors – Page 804
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German operator goes solo
Andrzej Jeziorski/Munich German tour operator Frosch Touristik International (FTI) is to found its own airline. Operations are due to get under way early next year with a fleet of three Airbus A320s. The name of the airline and its home base remain to be announced. According to FTI ...
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Marconi tests head-up display system for 737
Certification flight testing of Marconi's HUD2020 head-up display (HUD) system for the Boeing 737 began on 28 September with a 2h 35min test flight from Mojave, California. The HUD, mounted by Tracor Flight Systems in the flightdeck of a 737-200 "-worked well during the initial flight", says Marconi, which ...
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Facing the future
Emma Kelly/LONDON The in-flight entertainment (IFE) industry has come in for sharp criticism over the last few years, with some well-publicised interactive IFE failures giving it a bad name. To limit the chances of this happening in the future, the World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA) - the IFE industry ...
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Proteus aims to reach new high
Scaled Composites, manufacturer of the Proteus high-altitude long operation aircraft, plans later this month to expand the flight envelope to altitudes above 35,000ft (10,700m) and speeds up to 175kt (320km/h) indicated airspeed (or Mach 0.55) as part of its goal of achieving "loiter" operations at 64,000ft. Proteus, which was ...
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Growing pains
Emma Kelly/LONDONThe in-flight entertainment (IFE) industry is growing up. But it has had to. The IFE industry today is showing the first signs of realism and credibility - much improved characteristics than the over-promises and disappointments that have plagued the industry in recent years. After years of considerable effort, interactive ...
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Proteus market predicted to fly
Guy Norris/MOJAVE Wyman-Gordon is predicting an estimated market for up to 1,000 of the unconventional Proteus high-altitude, long operation (HALO) aircraft being built by its subsidiary Scaled Composites. The US investment company hopes to begin proof-of-concept trials as early as 2000. The prediction, from Wyman-Gordon's chairman and chief ...
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FAA extends checks on ageing airliner fleet
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Federal Aviation Administration has disclosed a series of safety initiatives covering detailed inspection of wiring and other operating systems for older airliners. The phased safety project is similar to the agency's ageing aircraft inspection programme, which covers the structures of vintage commercial transports. ...
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ICAO safety rules meet
Regular compulsory audits by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) of individual states' aviation safety oversight programmes were approved on 2 October at the ICAO Assembly in Montreal, Canada. The ruling becomes effective on 1 January, 1999. Members agreed the audits should not be used for purposes other than safety, ...
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Asians climb out of currency crisis
Two of the flag carriers worst hit by the Asian currency collapse - Philippine Airlines and Indonesia's Garuda - have taken vital steps back from the abyss. PAL has resolved key labour problems while Garuda has renegotiated crippling US-dollar aircraft leases and gained government approval to increase domestic fares. ...
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EC faces tussles over slot sales
As US-UK open skies talks remained scheduled for early October, a clarification of the UK Government's position on the British Airways-American transatlantic alliance was awaited. In deciding how many slots the prospective alliance partners will have to relinquish at London Heathrow and Gatwick airports and whether or not they ...
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playing the Smartcard
A revolution is underway in the world of smart card and tag technology, which airports and airlines are only just beginning to exploit. Dr Peter Harrop argues for the gains to be made As the air transport industry makes its way towards the new millenium, it continues to wrestle with ...
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flexing Muscles
When airline executives dreamed up alliances, some might have imagined that regulatorary approval would be a tough nut to crack, but did they sufficiently weigh up the labour factor? Union cooperation in the formation and development of airline alliances is proving to be crucial. Already, cross-alliance union groups are emerging ...
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SELLING the BRAND
Following the lead of supermarkets and chain stores, major airlines are contemplating the offer of financial market products such as insurance policies and loans. So British Airways is going to offer its customers financial services too . . . When the company announced its intention in March, it joined ...
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Alliances: the next $tep
Can airline alliances take the next step and act like a single commercial business? Frank Berardino and Chris Frankel chart a possible route. Last month, in a report entitled "Keeping the score", USaviation consultancy GRAlaid out the first phase in a strategy for maximising the profits and benefits from an ...
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Bottom line maintenance
The indirect costs of maintaining aircraft and engines need to be attributed in a radical new way to give airlines a clear picture of the real costs involved and support major decisions. Airline maintenance and engineering organisations have struggled, not always with success, to achieve the same kinds of ...
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Hub wars
The big five US interior airports are fighting it out to become the top international gateway in the heart of North America. Patterns of international air service to and from the US are changing. A cluster of airports tucked well inside the continental US are starting to win significant ...
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Cabin trainers
Thomson Training &Simulation has delivered cabin crew trainers to China Southwest Airlines in Chengdhu and THY-Turkish Airlines in Istanbul. China Southwest has four devices including an Airbus A340/Boeing 757 emergency evacuation trainer. Turkish Airlines also has four devices, including an Airbus A310/A340 Boeing 737 emergency evacuation trainer with motion system. ...
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FAA to extend ageing checks
The US Federal Aviation Administration is to unveil in the next few weeks a new safety initiative covering detailed inspection of wiring and other operating systems for older airliners. The probe, with phased implementation, will cover such systems as aircraft wiring, control systems, hydraulics, pneumatics and pumps. The safety ...
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Artemis satellite set to take on navigation role in EGNOS project
The European Tripartite Group (ETG), which represents Eurocontrol, the European Union and the European Space Agency, is to add a third geostationary satellite to provide enhanced coverage for the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS). In addition to the two Inmarsat-3 satellites, the ETG has decided to use the ...
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ICAO moves closer to introducing compulsory safety audits
David Learmount/LONDON The final mandate for the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to carry out compulsory safety audits of any national aviation authority is expected to emerge from the organisation's two-week meeting, which ends in Montreal, Canada, on 2 October. Approved in principle last November, the policies of ...