All aerospace news – Page 1764
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Airports
Caracas Maiquetia Airport is undergoing the first phase of a $100 million upgrade project, dubbed "Maiquetia 2000". This will see the airport's main passenger terminal reconstructed within a two-level departure/arrival layout, due to open in 2001. The airport's runway is also undergoing major repairs. Work has begun at Knoxville's McGhee ...
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Revamped AVICs aim to update regional turboprop programmes
Andrzej Jeziorski/BEIJING The recently formed aerospace groups China Aviation Industry I (AVIC I) and China Aviation Industry II (AVIC II) are each developing upgraded versions of their dated turboprop transports to boost civil sales. AVIC I manufacturing plant Xian Aircraft (XAC) is developing the latest improvement to its ...
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Workshop
Avborne Heavy Maintenance has signed a co-operative agreement with British Aerospace Aviation Services to give heavy maintenance support to North and South American operators of BAe-converted Airbus A300B4 freighters. Avborne is expanding its presence at Miami International airport, where it has two hangars, with a newly purchased facility. Aeroflot and ...
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MRO merger talks fade amid legal suits
Chris Jasper/LONDON BFGoodrich and US aircraft maintenance specialist Aviation Sales have held talks about a possible merger, say industry sources, adding that negotiations have petered out as Aviation Sales faces a possible court action over claims that it issued misleading statements on demand for its services and likely earnings. ...
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Atlantic Excellence ends after leaders split
Chris Jasper/LONDON Hilka Birns/CAPE TOWN The Atlantic Excellence Alliance has been wound up, formalising the split between the group's leaders, Delta Air Lines and Swissair, which emerged following the US giant's bilateral agreement with Air France. The alliance was formed in June 1996, bringing together Swissair, Austrian Airlines, Belgium's ...
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Wiring snags delay ISS module
Tim Furniss/LONDON The Proton launch of the Russian Zvezda service module to the International Space Station (ISS), planned for 12 November, has been put back to between 26 December and 16 January, with more delays possible. Although Russian launch site testing of the module has been slower than intended, the ...
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Lockheed Martin poised for VentureStar review
A critical design review of the proposed VentureStar reusable launch vehicle, based on the Lockheed Martin X-33 advanced technology demonstrator, will take place this month. Work on the X-33 has convinced Lockheed Martin that the VentureStar will use an external payload bay, says Jerry Rising, Lockheed Martin's X-33 and ...
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NASA panels to probe loss of Mars Orbiter
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA has established three investigation panels to look into the failure of the Mars Climate Orbiter (MCO) on 23 September. NASA's $125 million craft was lost 5min after the firing of its orbital-insertion engine burn. The Orbiter was flying at up to 80-90km too low because the ...
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Telescope launch
Integral, the European Space Agency's (ESA) International Gamma Ray Astrophysics Laboratory will be launched on a Russian Proton booster in 2001. The spacecraft will be placed into a highly elliptical Earth orbit. Meanwhile, the ESA's X-Ray Multi Mirror telescope has arrived at Kourou in preparation for its launch aboard the ...
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MD Helicopters will cut link with Boeing
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON MD Helicopters plans to sever its manufacturing ties with Boeing when the contract to build parts for the five-strong civil helicopter line is fulfilled in early 2001. "As part of the deal to buy Boeing civil helicopters, we signed a binding manufacturing agreement," says MD Helicopters chief executive ...
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WAAS appeal
The US Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has called on the US Federal Aviation Administration to "move forward aggressively" to implement its Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) satellite navigation system. "It is time for the FAA to eliminate the paralysis of analysis," says AOPA. WAAS is due to go ...
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Samsung gets more SB427 orders from Chinese companies
South Korea's Samsung Aerospace has racked up five new Chinese orders for the Samsung Bell SB427 helicopter during the Aviation Expo China show in Beijing. The new orders bring total Chinese sales of the helicopter to six, while the worldwide orderbook stands at "about 90" aircraft, says Samsung. ...
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Squabble over Iberia resolved
Spanish flag carrier Iberia is to be privatised on 22 November following the resolution of a dispute between prospective shareholder British Airways and another investor over how much voting control should be granted to the UK major. Although BA is due to take a 9% stake in Iberia, with ...
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Cabin standards hinge on new authority
Emma Kelly/SALT LAKE CITY The boards of the World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA) and ARINC are expected to consider by the end of this month a proposal for the formation of a new body to develop cabin standards. The new standardisation authority, the International Airlines Cabin Committee, should be established ...
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China maintenance market attracts joint ventures
New Chinese maintenance company Shandong TAECO Aircraft Engineering (STAECO) plans to expand its capabilities and customer base by mid-2000. The move is part of a wide-ranging expansion of maintenance capacity in China as established companies increase facilities and new entrants join the fray. STAECO carries out maintenance below D checks ...
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Boeing launches turnkey initiative with DHL freighter conversion contract
Max Kingsley-Jones/SEATTLE Boeing has raised its interest in aircraft remarketing and support to a new level following the launch of a far-reaching package of services covering DHL International's acquisition of converted 757 freighters. The "turnkey" deal is a departure for US manufacturer Boeing and is expected to be followed ...
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X-34 completes tests
The Orbital Sciences (OSC) A-1 X-34 test vehicle completed its final captive test flight last month, under the belly of an OSC Lockheed TriStar, from the Dryden Research Centre in California. The A-1 vehicle will be upgraded and used next year for 120km/h tow tests on a runway, and ...
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Socata may find new home with Latécoère
Julian Moxon/PARISLatécoère is interested in taking over Aerospatiale Matra's general aviation and aerostructures business, Socata. The subsidiary's future seems to be in doubt following newly merged French giant Aerospatiale Matra's declaration that it is studying "all options" as part of a bid to double operating margins, to 8%, by 2003. ...
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US sets Honeywell merger rules
Emma Kelly/LONDON Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES AlliedSignal and Honeywell must shed large parts of their avionics businesses as the price for US regulatory approval of their planned merger, although only in areas of product overlap. While approving the merger in principle, the US Department of Justice says Honeywell must give ...
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Cape Canaveral gets backing for more sounding missions
Spaceport Florida Authority (SFA) is backing plans to allow Cape Canaveral to support major suborbital sounding rocket research missions with the addition of Terrier and Orion sounding rockets to its inventory. At present, SFA operates small Loki sounding rockets. The research missions can be flown for individual experiments, to ...