All air transport news – Page 2240
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Spinning a Web
KAREN WALKER WASHINGTON DC A smart and easy-to-use web site may become an airline's most powerful tool for retaining control over the customer. But most carriers have a lot of work ahead of them before their sites meet passenger expectations. Airline managers might want to try an experiment: log on ...
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Cause and effect
The aircraft ghosts in to land, the loudest sound being the squeal of tyres on touchdown. Engine noise, so long the bane of aircraft and airport developers alike, has been banished to the history books. What is more, the only significant emission from this generation of powerplants is completely ...
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Germany shapes engine of the future
Germany is easing the way forward for its aero-engine companies to design cleaner, quieter, more efficient powerplants over the next decade Germany's Engine 3E (E3E) programme was launched to ensure that the country's aeroengine companies, BMW Rolls-Royce (now R-R GmbH) and MTU, are prepared for the demands that will ...
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Satcoms progress
Back in the 20th century, they said people would not want telephones on airliners; that they did not wish to be contactable while they dozed in comfort or ate a fine meal. How times have changed. In the 21st century, passengers slip on virtual reality glasses and join the crew ...
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Flight of fantasy
Airline operations in the 21st century will be conducted in an integrated information environment, linking passengers, cabin and cockpit crew with the ground The airliner passenger cabin and the flightdeck are getting closer technologically. No longer are capabilities exclusively designed for the cockpit, with applications increasingly being found in ...
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Brazil's carriers do battle over frequent flier plans
BRIAN HOMEWOOD RIO DE JANEIRO Last year's deep recession forced Brazil's carriers to abandon their cut throat fares war but BTAM, VASP, Varig and Transbrasil have now all turned to heavy promotion of their frequent flier programmes. Varig says 2.5 million passengers are registered on its Smiles scheme, up from ...
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In the year of the dragon
Asia-Pacific's airline presidents were in more relaxed mood as they gathered for their annual assembly. Kevin O'Toole looks at the brighter figures which are fuelling their optimism. What a difference a year can make. When Asia-Pacific airline presidents met for their annual assembly a year ago in Manila, most were ...
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Partners in IT
KEVIN O'TOOLE LONDON IT suppliers are reworking their relationships with airline customers, looking for long-term partnerships based on measures of business success. SITA is joining the revolution Speak to a supplier of information technology (IT) these days and you are likely to hear some highly untechnical language. Once the talk ...
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Opening the door to space
Propulsion concepts under study may lead to a radical change in the way in which space is accessed In the 1951 science fiction classic When World's Collide, a rocket-powered spaceship hurtles down a ramp loaded with hapless escapees from Earth, gathering speed before making a boosted take-off to escape ...
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My view - Terry Stinson, Chairman and Chief Executive, Bell Helicopter Textron
As we enter the next millennium, it is worth reflecting on just how far the helicopter industry has come. This is truly a field in its infancy. It is only 53 years since the Bell 47 was certificated as the world's first commercial helicopter. With wooden blades and an old ...
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My view - Phil Condit, Chairman and Chief Executive, Boeing
The American people recently selected the three most significant aviation achievements of the 20th century. They chose the Wright brothers' first flight, Charles Lindbergh's crossing of the Atlantic, and the development of the Boeing 747. I think that is pretty good company. The 747 has helped make our world ...
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Clean and lean
Environmental issues and the demands of safety and reliability drive airliner design as much as technology Ever since the first powered machines flew at the start of the 20th century, aviation has been driven by the quest to improve aircraft efficiency. With extraordinary persistence, often surmounting seemingly impossible technical barriers, ...
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The sky's...the limit
UAVs will not be able to fill their potential unless the regulations governing their use in civil airspace change Proponents of the unmanned air vehicle (UAV) are keen to describe a future in which pilotless aircraft deliver mail overnight, monitor political troublespots, patrol borders in search of drug smugglers ...
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Our wacky world
Innovation is alive in Australia but some unusual designs have been confined to the drawing board Australia, the nation which brought you a flying farm-tractor called the Airtruk and a stagger-wing trainer called the Eagle, is at it again. Innovation is alive and well down under, despite market conditions ...
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Custom eyes TriStar conversions
Custom Air Transport is confident it can find customers to allow 10 of the 16 Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 200s it acquired from Saudi Arabian Airlines to be converted into either commercial freighters or military tankers. Custom Air believes it could place some aircraft with passenger airlines. The Fort Lauderdale-based ...
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Marketplace
Air Seychelles has signed a 10-year lease deal with ILFC for a General Electric CF6-80C2-powered Boeing 767-300ER, for delivery in April 2001. Swiss charter carrier Edelweiss Air has agreed to lease a new Airbus A330-200 from CIT Group from the fourth quarter of 2000. The Rolls-Royce Trent 772B-powered A330-200 is ...
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Ibis rolls out Ae270
Ibis Aerospace, the joint venture of Czech company Aero Vodochody and Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC), rolled out its Ae270 single-engined turboprop in Prague on 10 December. The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42A-powered aircraft, the first of five prototypes, will begin flight testing in February, with US and Czech ...
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Chinese cropsprayer faces re-engining for N American market
Canadian Aerospace Group International (CASG) is looking for a new 300-410kW (400-550shp)-class engine to power the single-engined Hongdu N-5A agricultural aircraft, which it has agreed to market in North America for China's Nanchung Aircraft Manufacturing company. The two-seat cropduster was originally powered by the Textron Lycoming IO-720, but production ...
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Wolfsberg-Evektor sets date for prototype Raven first flight
Andrew Doyle/PRAGUE Czech/Belgian joint venture Wolfsberg-Evektor Aircraft aims to fly its prototype eight-passenger Raven in May, in time for the utility aircraft to be exhibited at the Farnborough air show in July. The Raven, powered by two 223kW (300hp) Teledyne Continental IO-550-Ns, is built at Evektor-Aerotechnik's factory in ...