All air transport news – Page 2350
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Solid succeeds Icelandair service
New Luxembourg airline Solid'air is to plug the gap which will be left by the planned withdrawal next January of Icelandair's long-standing operations out of the Grand Duchy. Solid'air is working towards a 12 December start, putting together a regular schedule to destinations in Florida and the Caribbean. ...
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Southern crosses out plans for Japan launch but stays afloat
Andrew Mollet/TOKYO Southern Cross has scrapped plans to launch a new airline in Japan, becoming the latest casualty in the country's attempt to open up domestic competition to start-up carriers. The airline was set up in August 1997 with joint investment by 32 major firms in Okinawa province. ...
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SIA closes in on Star status
Singapore Airlines (SIA) is about to take a step closer to becoming a full member of the Star Alliance by concluding a bilateral partnership with SAS, as part of a wider move by the group's five members to consolidate coverage of the Asia-Pacific region. Founding Star airline SAS is ...
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Virgin to grow single-aisle fleet
Günter Endres/LONDON Virgin Atlantic is to boost its Airbus A320 fleet in the next few months to accommodate the expansion of its European scheduled and charter flights. Initial expansion is expected later this year, with the opening of the London Heathrow-Moscow service, followed by the start of the new ...
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'Intranet in the sky' is planned
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Two European airlines are leading the drive to link aircraft on the ground and in the air with the airline's "intranet" information technology systems. Lufthansa charter affiliate Condor and Swissair plan demonstrations of systems to allow Internet-style exchanges of information with aircraft using low-power datalinks ...
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Southern African airlines struggle to survive as profits plunge
By Hilka Birns/CAPE TOWN Dangerously low profit margins are threatening the future of airlines in Southern Africa as low yields from domestic services and excessive levies imposed by government-owned monopolies take their toll, according to the Airline Association of Southern Africa (AASA). Airlines in the region are reporting ...
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Finmeccanica first half losses slashed
Finmeccanica has slashed its losses in the first six months of the year and is hoping for further improvements during the remainder of 1998 as it lowers operating costs and undertakes heavy restructuring of its business. The Italian aerospace and defence giant reported a loss of L568 billion ($351 ...
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Boeing completes reshuffle
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has made sweeping changes to its management in the wake of the structural changes announced in early September providing for three new Commercial Airplane business units. Under newly appointed Boeing Commercial Airplane Group president Alan Mulally, the company is divided into three main units. ...
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US Army saves the Outrider as Navy VTOL UAV
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Department of Defense Joint Requirements Oversight Council has agreed to let the US Navy and the US Marine Corps switch to a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicle (UAV), while allowing the US Army to procure the Alliant Techsystems Outrider UAV. ...
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Space rescue
Tim Furniss/LONDON On 26 September, 92 days after being lost in deep space, the European Space Agency (ESA)/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) began sending back images of the sun again. The spacecraft's remarkable rescue owes much of its success to the initial location work completed by the large radio ...
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Boeing nears ILFC 717 deal
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing and International Lease Finance (ILFC) are close to agreeing a contract for orders involving up to 100 717-200s. Boeing hopes the deal will provide the programme with its long-awaited sales breakthrough for the type since the similarly sized initial launch order from AirTran Airlines in ...
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GE90-powered Continental 777 hits ETOPS proving flight hitch
This new General Electric GE90-powered Continental Airlines Boeing 777 had to carry out a precautionary diversion following a starboard engine low oil-quantity alert during a transpacific extended range twin engine operations (ETOPS) proving flight for the airline. The aircraft, en route on a nonstop New York-Tokyo flight on 7 October, ...
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PAL seeks foreign capital as resumption nears
Philippine Airlines (PAL) is due to resume skeleton international flights from 15 October, following the restart of domestic services with a much reduced fleet of aircraft. It is now seeking to attract new foreign investors, with efforts focused on Cathay Pacific Airways and Northwest Airlines. International operations will begin ...
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R-R plans joint European repair venture
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Rolls-Royce is in discussions with Swissair and Lufthansa to form a new tripartite engine repair and overhaul facility in Europe as plans to establish a similar joint venture with Singapore Airlines (SIA) have slowed in the face of Asia's economic crisis. The UK engine manufacturer is understood to ...
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Airbus/Boeing poser faces Air France
Julian Moxon/PARIS Air France is considering the purchase of an initial 15 Airbus A330-200s or Boeing 767-300ER/400ERs to satisfy part of its future long-haul requirement and has asked General Electric, Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney to come up with offers for both types. Selection is being held up ...
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EC and Italy reach last-gasp airports agreement
The European Commission and the Italian Government have reached a last-minute agreement on a traffic distribution system between Milan's two airports at Linate and Malpensa, where a new hub is to open on 25 October. The deal, agreed in principle, followed a day of intense negotiations on 8 October ...
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Sabena turbine failure
A Sabena Boeing 737-200 with 104 people on board suffered an uncontained starboard engine failure just after take off from Brussels Zaventem for Lisbon, Portugal, on 26 September. Upwind from runway 25R, engine parts from the Pratt & Whitney JT8D-15 rained on the village of Diegem, damaging cars and houses. ...
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Australia throws challenge to flailing Air Niugini
Brisbane-based Flight West Airlines has expanded plans for new services between northern Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG), further challenging embattled Air Niugini on one of its prime revenue earning routes. The Australian regional carrier now plans to add two direct flights weekly between Cairns and PNG's second city, Lae, ...
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MD-82 overrun at Ulsan adds to Korean Air's catalogue of woe
Korean Air's (KAL) battered safety record suffered another blow on 30 September when a Boeing MD-82 landing in wet weather at Ulsan Airport overran the runway by 150m (470ft), less than two months after another major incident at Seoul involving a KAL Boeing 747-400. According to the airline, three ...
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BA 777 order leads to launch of Trent 895
Rolls-Royce has launched the 95,000lb (423kN)-thrust Trent 895 engine on the back of an order to power up to 32 Boeing 777-200ERs ordered by British Airways (Flight International, 30 September-6 October). The 895 is identical to the current Trent 800, but has increased thrust because of higher temperature margins. ...