All aerospace news – Page 1951
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News
IPTN focuses on higher capacity for N2130 regional family
IPTN has dropped plans to develop a shortened, 80-seat, version of the planned N2130 short-haul jet-airliner and instead opted for a larger-aircraft family with six-abreast seating for between 104 and 132 passengers. The Indonesian manufacturer had intended building three different sizes of N2130, seating 80, 100 and 130 ...
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Space Station will be delayed eight months
NASA administrator Daniel Goldin has admitted that the first launches to assemble the International Space Station (ISS) will be delayed by eight months, to June 1998. The admission confirmed a unilateral Russian Space Agency (RSA) announcement of the delay. RSA director Yuri Koptev says that it "-is entirely ...
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Galilean gallery
NASA celebrated THE Galileo spacecraft's first year in orbit around the giant planet Jupiter on 7 December, 1996. The highlights among its hundreds of images have not been of the planet itself, however, but of its four giant moons, Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa. These are called the Galilean moons, ...
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Next Hubble service mission will also repair insulation blankets
The next planned Space Shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit, in December 1999, will involve repairs to damaged insulation blankets over the telescope's central equipment bays. The damage was probably caused by ultraviolet radiation and atomic oxygen. The damage to the area of the ...
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NTSB urges accelerated 737 rudder programme
The Boeing 737 series no longer complies with the "intent of the [original US Federal Aviation Administration] certification requirements", the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has alleged in a recommendation to the FAA. The Board urges acceleration of a rudder-system modification programme now under way on the aircraft following ...
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Lufthansa passes EU eco-audit scrutiny
Lufthansa Technik (LHT) has become the first aircraft maintenance and overhaul firm to win certification under the European Union's (EU) ecology-audit regulations. Certification is voluntary, but LHT says that it differentiates the firm from its competitors, and provides "a systematic view of the environmental impact of our activities". ...
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Cyprus Police acquires another Bell 412
The National Police Force of Cyprus has ordered a second Bell 412EP for delivery in May. The first 412 has been in service in Cyprus for eight years, and the police force will use the new machine for search-and-rescue and other law-enforcement activities. The helicopter will be customised with a ...
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AlliedSignal reveals new Chinese ventures
AlliedSignal is exploring at least eight new joint ventures in China as part of a $200 million company-wide investment to ensure a long-term strategic stake in Asia and aid selection of its systems for the AE-100 regional-aircraft project. "What we're doing is establishing a footprint for the business ...
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Workshop
++ Pemco World Air Services of Copenhagen, Denmark, is to undertake ad hoc line maintenance on Icelandair's Boeing 757-200s when they are flown to the Danish capital's airport. ++ Shannon Aircraft Motor Works has been approved by the Irish Aviation Authority as a certified design organisation. Shannon has developed its ...
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US Air Force launches its first Titan 4B from Cape Canaveral
The first uprated Titan 4 booster was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 22 February, carrying a US Air Force Defense Space programme missile early-warning satellite into geostationary orbit (GEO). The $200 million, TRW-built DSP was boosted into its final orbit by the Boeing IUS upper stage. The ...
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Asia-Pacific safety infrastructure is scheduled for overhaul in June
Asia-Pacific's commercial air-transport safety infrastructure needs a major overhaul, according to the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) group's air-safety experts. Poor safety oversight by some civil-aviation authorities (CAAs) and a growing potential for air-traffic conflicts were identified as two of the vital issues. A plan for regional action to improve safety ...
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Puel revamps Aerospatiale's loss-making maintenance arm
Henri-Paul Puel, the new president of Sogerma has set about a major re-organisation of the loss-making maintenance arm of Aerospatiale, partly blaming poor recent performance on a series of misjudged deals struck before his arrival. The action follows a disappointing year for Sogerma, which saw its net losses ...
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Why the customer must still be king
Survival is key for airlines but their main focus should be on the passenger. British Airways' chief executive Bob Ayling was recently asked what he would do to change the aeronautical world were he given the power to do so. His answer went along these lines: 'It's flattering to be ...
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El Al tackles weekend trip
The Israeli government is coming under fierce pressure to lift the ban on flag carrier El Al's operations on the Sabbath. The limitation of a six-day operation is blamed for $50 million of the airline's $120 million loss in 1996 and contributed to last year's shelving of its planned privatisation. ...
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Exim weighs up Brazil aid
US Eximbank is evaluating how to respond to a request to support US-made components and avionics slated for installation in Brazilian-built EMB.145s. If it decides to proceed, this will be the first time Eximbank has supported the export of US-made aircraft parts separate from export of an aircraft. ...
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Euro agents' work cut out
European travel agents need to start convincing airlines of their worth. The decisions by alliance partners Lufthansa and SAS, as well as KLM, to slash their agents' commissions are expected to trigger Europe-wide cuts, following the trend set by US carriers. KLM plans to lower domestic commissions from ...
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United target on legal front
Low-fare carriers in the US are avidly watching how a predatory pricing complaint against United Airlines by one of their number, Frontier Airlines, pans out. A win for the minnow could encourage other no-frills operators to follow suit. Denver-based Frontier has asked the Department of Justice to investigate ...
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Surviving the customer
Innovation has always been difficult in the airline business. The basic airline product is uniform throughout the industry, and any incremental change by one carrier is usually taken up by its competitors quickly - if it is successful. To survive and stay ahead of their competitors, airlines are constantly looking ...
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Alitalia in for a rough ride
The European Commission has asked Alitalia to reassess its proposed restructuring plan and even then looks set to rule that the carrier's planned injection is state aid. It will also be looking at Alitalia's linkup with Air France, while both carriers suffer further industrial unrest. The revelation that ...
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Weber pens strike plea
Chairman Jürgen Weber is attempting to stir up an internal debate at Lufthansa in a bid to persuade the pilot-dominated DAG union to pull back from strike action. In an unprecedented move Weber sent a letter to all Lufthansa employees in late January outlining the threats to Lufthansa ...