All air transport news – Page 2248

  • News

    Aerostar teams with Dasa on MiG-29

    1999-11-24T00:00:00Z

    Andrzej Jeziorski/DUBAI Romanian upgrade specialist Aerostar has teamed with Germany's Daimler- Chrysler Aerospace (Dasa) to offer its MiG-29 Sniper upgrade to the Romanian air force. Aerostar's established Israeli partner Elbit is also involved, supplying a similar avionics package to that found in Aerostar's MiG-21 Lancer upgrade. "This upgrade will give ...

  • News

    Boeing selects Raytheon to develop Super Hornet radar

    1999-11-24T00:00:00Z

    Boeing has selected Raytheon to develop an active-array radar for the F/A-18E/F. The companies will begin development at their own risk, as the US Navy is not expected to secure funding for the active electronically scanned array (ASEA) upgrade until 2001. The "advance agreement" to begin development of the ...

  • News

    World Air Forces listing A-B

    1999-11-24T00:00:00Z

    AFGHANISTAN Afghanistan has been wracked by war for decades. The Islamic Taliban controls about two-thirds of the land-locked, mountainous country. Areas in the north are held by an alliance led by General Ahmad Shah Masoud. Fierce fighting frequently breaks out in and around Kabul, in the north-eastern provinces of Takhar, ...

  • News

    Icelandair set to grow in corporate revamp

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    Icelandair has unveiled its new branding on a Boeing 757-200, marking the launch of a wide-ranging corporate revamp. This will include improvements in in-flight service such as entertainment and catering, new staff uniforms and aircraft interiors. The airline, poised for expansion with its current fleet of three Boeing 737-400s and ...

  • News

    CAL ready for launch

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    New Israeli freight carrier CAL (Cargo Air Lines) will start operations on 1 December using a Boeing 747-200 freighter acquired from Atlas Air and taking up extra capacity on other cargo airlines operating to Israel until it introduces a second freighter. Established in the 1970s by Israeli agricultural organisations ...

  • News

    Europeans think radically

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    Julian Moxon/TOULOUSE Airbus Industrie and its partner companies have begun looking at configurations that could lead to the introduction of radical designs for new airliners in the next century. The first of a series of meetings to consider future concepts takes place in Toulouse, France, this week. "We are examining ...

  • News

    LAAS trials show Category 3 accuracy

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    The US Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) has demonstrated the required accuracy for Category 3 approach and landings in the latest in a series of flight trials. The GPS-based LAAS is being developed as a government-industry partnership to replace the existing Cat 1/2/3 instrument landing systems in the USA. ...

  • News

    LTU starts fleet update with A320s

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    Andrew Doyle/MUNICHGerman charter carrier LTU International Airways is acquiring 12 Airbus A320s in the first stage of a fleet restructuring that will lead to the selection of a new widebody type to replace its Boeing 767-300ERs. The company, 49.9%-owned by the SAirGroup, is also considering concluding a sale and leaseback ...

  • News

    USN tests anti-missile laser

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON The US Navy has conducted the first live-fire test of laser missile jamming systems suitable for installation on fast-jet combat aircraft. The UK observed the trials, conducted under the Navy's Tactical Aircraft Directed Infrared Countermeasures (TADIRCM) advanced technology demonstrator programme. Prototype systems developed by Lockheed Martin Sanders ...

  • News

    The Manufacturer's view

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    Max Kingsley-Jones/LUTON Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Roger Lecomte, Airbus Industrie's vice-president of engineering support, says: "The introduction of the A330-200 was like that of the A321 [after the A320] for us. We were able to benefit from the lessons we learned with the introduction of the A330-300 and A340." ...

  • News

    Boeing looks at 757 slowdown

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Falling order backlogs are forcing Boeing to study a production slowdown of the 757 earlier than expected next year. Boeing plans to deliver 53 757s next year, and has been preparing to cut the rate from the present five per month to around 4.5. But now ...

  • News

    Long-range workout

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    How has the latest long-range A330 performed since its entry into service? Andrew Doyle/ZURICH Max Kingsley-Jones/LUTON Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC In its latest market forecast, Airbus Industrie predicts that 210/250-seaters like the A330-200 will make up one-fifth of the 14,800 new aircraft to be delivered over the next 20 years. The ...

  • News

    City Bird moves to short-haul as Branson deal expires

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    Herman De Wulf/BRUSSELS City Bird is undertaking a strategic change in direction early next year when the low-cost, long-haul airline begins short-haul charter operations with a fleet of Boeing 737s. The move was signalled when Brussels-based City Bird signed a lease deal with Boullioun Aviation Services for two Boeing ...

  • News

    Industry is warned over Wall St

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    US Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre has warned that Wall St demands for strong quarterly returns could undermine the long-term health of the defence industry. At the same time, British Aerospace has been elevated to the status of a US company, opening the door to further transatlantic tie-ups. Hamre ...

  • News

    KAL boss arrested on tax evasion charges

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE South Korean police have arrested Korean Air (KAL) chairman Cho Yang-Ho on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement. Cho was arrested on 11 November. Prosecutors have reportedly charged him with evading 62.9 billion won ($54 million)of taxes and embezzling billions of won in company funds. ...

  • News

    EC faces rethink on safety authority

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    David Learmount/RIO DE JANEIRO Julian Moxon/PARIS The creation of a European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) has virtually been put on hold after a European Commission (EC) working party, looking at the issue, uncovered constitutional problems involving individual member states giving up their aviation rulemaking powers. Its findings have resulted ...

  • News

    Tu-334 production set to take off

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    MAPO aims to reach a production rate of 24 Tupolev Tu-334 twinjets a year by 2007, but will need over $300 million to fund the production programme. It plans to utilise cash earned from its military export contracts to fund the production launch. The Moscow-based production plant was recently ...

  • News

    Marketplace

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise has firmed up a commitment for 23 more A320 family aircraft, taking the Singapore Airlines/Boullioun Aviation joint venture's Airbus narrowbody orders to 41. The deal includes 20 A320s and three A321s for delivery between early 2001 and 2008. Engine selections have not been announced. Malaysia Airlines' ...

  • News

    RJ makers outline growth plans

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    Regional Jet manufacturers Embraer, Bombardier and Fairchild Aerospace are pressing on with planned larger 70- to 120-seat programmes, despite uncertainty over industry consolidations, mergers and scope clause limitations in the USA. Embraer plans to start a second phase of subsonic wind tunnel tests on the 70-seat ERJ-170 later this ...

  • News

    Routes

    1999-11-17T00:00:00Z

    British Airways is launching a new three times daily route from London Gatwick to Hanover, operated by franchise partner CityFlyer Express. United Airlines is introducing 20 new daily nonstop flights to key Californian business destinations, including Santa Barbara, Medford, Reno, Palm Springs and San Diego, from its Los Angeles hub. ...