All aerospace news – Page 1873
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Open skies hostility
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON The tussle between the European Commission (EC) and the member states over who has the right to negotiate transatlantic air agreements has just become more interesting. In the words of one Brussels insider, it is shaping up as one of Europe's "big political games". Legal threats are ...
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Space lifeboat aims for space test
An unmanned scale model of the X-38 Crew Emergency Return Vehicle "space lifeboat" for the International Space Station will be deployed from the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2000 to conduct an automatic re-entry and landing. The first demonstrator glide test was on 12 March at 23,000ft (7,010m). Tests from ...
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Loral selects Long March booster
Loral Space and Communications signed an agreement with China Great Wall Industry on 16 March for five launches by 2002 of company-built satellites on the Long March 3B. The LM3B, the most powerful booster in China's fleet, with a geostationary transfer orbit capability of 5,000kg, clocked up two successful ...
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Comets raised
Japan's National Space Development Agency has raised the perigee of the orbit of the Comets communications technology satellite stranded by an H2 launch mishap on 21 February, from 248km to 390km. The 1,884km apogee remains unchanged. A further series of firings of the satellite's engine is hoped to place the ...
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Radarsat contract
Orbital Sciences' Vancouver subsidiary MacDonald Dettwiler has won the $225 million contract from the Canadian Space Agency to develop and manage the Radarsat 2 commercial radar imaging satellite system, due to be launched in 2001. Source: Flight International
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Cause of failure
Japan's National Space Development Agency says that the failure of the H2 launcher to place the Comets satellite into the correct orbit on 21 February was likely caused by gas leaking from the combustion chamber of the LE-5 second stage. This caused the engine parts to overheat and damaged the ...
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Bell sale
Air Methods has sold a Bell 407 aeromedical helicopter to Arizona's Flagstaff Medical Center, which it will continue to operate under a long-term contract, alongside a Bell 206L-3. The company is to transfer a EurocopterBK117 to its Mercy Air Services subsidiary on completion of a long running contract with Stanford ...
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Pilots voice concern over BA's plans for AML 777 flights
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON British Airways' plans to use its low cost Airline Management (AML)affiliate to take over new long haul services from London Gatwick next year using Boeing 777s is raising concerns at the British Air Lines Pilots Association (BALPA). AML began flights early in 1997 using BA crews and a ...
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Marketplace
-American Eagle has taken delivery of the first of 42 Embraer RJ-145s, and plans to begin regional jet services from Chicago O'Hare in May. The airline will receive the 50-seat ERJ-145s at a rate of two a month until mid-1999. -TAM's component of the massive Latin American Airbus order ...
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Boeing beats Airbus to clinch large Ryanair order
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Pricing and commonality issues were behind Ryanair's selection of the Boeing 737-800 over the Airbus A320, in a deal which will see the the Irish low fare airline taking up to 45 of the Next Generation 737 models. Deliveries start next year. The airline, which operates ...
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Workshop
-SR Technics, the Swissair affiliate, has secured a contract with Boeing to install the two crew Honeywell Advanced Common Flightdeck on DC-10s being converted to MD-10 specification for US freight carrier FedEx. The deal involves 10 firm orders and 15 options. In a related deal, Singapore Technologies' Alabama, Georgia based ...
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Alitalia talks to the EC about release of state-aid restrictions
Alitalia has taken initial soundings from the European Commission (EC) over the prospect of releasing its state-aid restrictions if the Italian carrier moves towards privatisation, possibly within the next year. Chairman Fausto Cereti is understood to have raised the issue in Brussels during talks over the airline's compliance with ...
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BBA adds H+S to aviation services business
Engineering and transport group BBA has taken a further step in building up its regional aviation services business by buying UK aero engine overhaul operation H+S Aviation. Last year, H+S says, it repaired more than 700 engines and 800 propellers, largely for the regional and general aviation markets. Its ...
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West to escape Asian slump
US credit rating agency Moody's has added its voice to concerns over the impact of the Asian crisis on the airline industry. It argues, however, that US and European carriers may escape the slump relatively unscathed. Those carriers most heavily dependent on intra-Asian traffic are due to face the ...
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Trade links increase
Almost every week, it appears, a US airline announces a new service to Latin America. Almost every month, it seems, a new codeshare agreement is forged between carriers in North and South America. Every year, it is evident, traffic between the two regions continues to grow. Increasing trade is the ...
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Boeing 717 price emerges but fails to meet early hopes
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Kevin O'Toole/LONDON As Boeing prepares to reveal an official price for the 717, there are already indications that the 100-seat aircraft will sell for closer to $25 million, deflating hopes among airlines that it could be offered below $20 million. When the aircraft was ...
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Kinnock raises stake over US open skies
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON European Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock has renewed his legal battle to win rights to negotiate a direct air agreement with the USA. If this is successful it could pave the way for all of the region's air bilaterals to come under a European Union (EU)banner. Kinnock ...
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Scale model of Space Station lifeboat prototype flies
NASA's X-38 unmanned scale model of a seven-person emergency crew return vehicle lifeboat for the International Space Station (ISS) made its first glide flight over the Mojave Desert, California on 12 March. The prototype lifting body was dropped from a B-52 deployed from Edwards AFB, California, at 23,000ft (7,000m ). ...
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GE unveils new CF6 growth study
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES General Electric is studying a new growth variant of the CF6-80C engine which will be aimed at the planned 747-400X stretch, as well as increased gross weight variants of the 767-400ER. The new study variant, known as the CF6-80CG2, will have a baseline thrust capability ...
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American and BA head talks on alliance to challenge Star group
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Talks are under way which could lead to the creation of a worldwide airline alliance grouping involving British Airways, American Airlines, Japan Airlines (JAL) and Cathay Pacific Airways. If the deal is cemented it would rival that of the Lufthansa/United Airlines-led Star Alliance. JAL, which recently ...