Airframers – Page 1537
-
News
Air Malta strategy rethink leads to Avro RJ disposal
Air Malta has abandoned the hub strategy pursued by its previous chairman, and is undertaking a fleet shake-up which will see its Aero International (Regional) Avro RJ70s transferred to Italian subsidiary AZZURRAair, replacing RJ85s. In 1994, under the leadership of the then chief executive Joe Tabone, Air Malta ...
-
News
Alitalia brings A320s into Airbus contract
Marco Massela/ROMEJulian Moxon/PARIS Alitalia is negotiating with Airbus Industrie for the conversion of its 23 outstanding A321 orders to include some smaller A320s, which would be the Italian carrier's first order for the 150-seat member of the Airbus narrowbodied family. The airline is also examining its longer-term strategy ...
-
News
Smog causes air chaos in Asia
Dense smoke from massive forest fires in Borneo and Sumatra is severely disrupting air transport across much of South-East Asia, forcing the closure of some smaller airports and the cancellation or delay of many domestic and regional flights. A thick haze generated by the fires has blanketed Brunei, ...
-
News
Condor prepares for low-cost subsidiary
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Condor Flugdienst, the charter subsidiary of Lufthansa, is expected to found a Berlin-based subsidiary airline within weeks. According to Condor, plans are being finalised for a low-cost airline, to be called Condor Berlin, which will compete against rivals such as Aero Lloyd and Air ...
-
News
Fairchild advances preliminary design work for stretched 528JET
Fairchild Dornier is close to completing the preliminary design of its stretched 50-seat 528JET derivative, with the outstanding issue of engine selection expected to be resolved soon. Earl Robinson, Fairchild Dornier's senior vice-president for product development, says that the company hopes to select a powerplant by early December. ...
-
News
BA waits on Russian approval for FANS go-ahead
British Airways is ready to equip up to 40 Boeing 747-400s with Future Air Navigation System (FANS) avionics to take advantage of new cost-saving routes across Russia - but may walk away from the project if there is no sign of funding for ground infrastructure by the end of this ...
-
News
Air Liberte signs allies in major consolidation
Julian Moxon/Deauville France's second-largest airline, Air Liberté, has signed deals with American Airlines, Regional Airlines and three smaller French regionals in what company president Marc Rochet describes as the "first steps" in a major consolidation aimed at "strengthening our position in an extremely tough operating environment". ...
-
News
Garuda is forced to defer 737 deliveries
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Garuda Indonesia has been forced to postpone taking initial deliveries of 17 new Boeing 737-300/500 passenger jets on order, because of continuing problems in raising lease finance. The Indonesian carrier had been due to take delivery of the first 737 in August, but the ...
-
News
AECMA uses figures to urge European shake-up
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON The European Association of Aerospace Industries (AECMA), making its debut as official provider of Europe's aerospace statistics, has added its weight to growing efforts to accelerate restructuring in the region. AECMA was relaunched and retitled in 1996 in an attempt to give European industry ...
-
News
Lauda prepares to introduce its first Boeing 777
Niki Lauda, chief executive of Austrian carrier Lauda Air, took delivery of the airline's first Boeing 777-200 on 25 September. The aircraft, which is the first of four 777-200IGWs (increased gross weight) to be delivered to Lauda, is equipped with General Electric GE90 engines. The cabin is fitted with a ...
-
News
Garuda Indonesia A300 crashes in hill smog
A Garuda Indonesia Airbus Industrie A300B4 carrying 222 passengers and 14 crew has crashed on its approach to Medan Airport, northern Sumatra, in bad visibility. There are no reports of any survivors. Flight 152 is reported to have crashed about 45km (25nm) south of the airport at around ...
-
News
Boeing hints at MD-95 family commitment
Boeing has hinted strongly that it is committed to continuing with the former McDonnell Douglas MD-95 and is likely to introduce derivatives of the 100-seat aircraft. The news comes as ValuJet - the only MD-95 customer so far, with 50 on firm order - says that it expects to exercise ...
-
News
Northwest Airlines confirms Airbus A319 order
Northwest Airlines has confirmed the commitment it signed in June with Airbus Industrie at the Paris air show for its A319, with a firm order for 50 aircraft, plus options for a further 100 A319s and A320s. The 124-seat A319s will be used for growth, rather than to ...
-
News
BFGoodrich emerges as buyer in on-and-off Rohr take-over
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC The mystery of Rohr's "on-again, off-again" merger talks was resolved in late September when BFGoodrich agreed to acquire the nacelle specialist for $792 million in stock and $424 million in assumed debt. The deal, expected to be completed early in 1998, will almost ...
-
News
Concorde versus Boeing 747
Sir-The figures given in your data tables for large airliners (Flight International, 3-9 September) provide an interesting comparison between these two aircraft. While the Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde can carry its maximum payload of 11,340kg a distance of 3,800km, the Boeing 747-400 carries 59,650kg for 13,180km - a performance 18 ...
-
News
Airbus and Boeing begin tussle for corporate-jet supremacy
Airbus Industrie has signed the first customers for its A319CJ (corporate jet) as orders for the rival Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) continue to swell. Boeing announced at the show that it holds 25 orders for its aircraft, which combines the fuselage of the 737-700 with the strengthened wing ...
-
News
Bombardier ponders super mid-size launch
Bombardier will decide within a year whether to launch development of a "super mid-size" business jet to fill the gap between the mid-sized Learjet 60 and large Canadair Challenger 604, says business-aircraft division president Michael Graff. Market research and engineering analysis are "well advanced", he adds. If Bombardier ...
-
News
Saab sets its jet deadline
Saab's days as a turboprop manufacturer are numbered, with the Swedish company working to an early 1998 deadline to join one of two regional jet programmes. Gert Schyborger, Saab Aircraft's president, confirms that the struggling 2000 programme will be the company's last turboprop venture and says he will ...
-
News
Cargo flux?
The dedicated freight operator Cargolux is banking on an all-B747-400F fleet and alliances to put it on a firmer footing in this notoriously unstable sector. MarkOdell reports from Luxembourg on the carrier's chances. Look beyond the seemingly perpetual decline in yields and the overcapacity that plagues the cargo industry and ...
-
News
Shanghai set for overseas
Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines is finally to face homegrown international competition from local rival Shanghai Airlines, just as the first example emerges of close cooperation among a group of provincial Chinese carriers. After years of lobbying Shanghai Airlines has won approval from Beijing to launch international flights and ...