All air transport news – Page 2634
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Hughes signs official ICO launch deal
ICO GLOBAL Communications, an affiliate company of Inmarsat, has officially signed a $925 million contract with Hughes Space Communications International to supply and manage launch services for 12 ICO satellites to provide worldwide, hand-held telephone, mobile-communications services. Hughes is ICO's first strategic partner and owns a $94 million investment share. ...
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Pilots pave way for Delta low-cost plan
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA DELTA AIRLINES has reached a tentative agreement with its pilots' union, which would enable it to establish a low-cost, short-haul, operation to compete with carriers such as ValuJet Airlines. The accord is contingent on the pilots signing a wider agreement designed to reduce Delta's overall costs, ...
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AI(R) and DASA agree on Asian project
Andrew Chuter/TOULOUSE THE TWO European bidders in the competition to join China and South Korea in developing a new 100-seat regional jet have reached an informal agreement to join forces should either be selected by the Asian partners to take around a 25% stake in their Air express ...
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Vietnam Airlines nears 767 leasing deal with GECAS
VIETNAM AIRLINES is close to concluding a leasing deal with General Electric Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) for three additional Boeing 767-300ERs, as replacements for wet-leased aircraft. The Vietnamese national airline wants to take delivery of the three aircraft in early 1996. The ex-Continental Airlines 767s are to be ...
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JAA group will define tests for evacuations
JAA group will define tests for evacuations NEW CRITERIA for cabin emergency-evacuation tests are to be defined by the European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) to enable the safety of a greater variety of exit configurations to be accurately assessed, according to JAA secretary-general Klaus Koplin. After a 12 ...
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Airtours phases out MD-83s
UK CHARTER AIRLINE Airtours International has begun phasing out its fleet of seven McDonnell Douglas MD-83s, in favour of the Airbus A320. The first two aircraft have already been returned to the lessor for onward lease to Taiwanese carrier Far Eastern Air Transport. One aircraft will leave the ...
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Single incident claims three Russian air force Su-27s in Vietnam
THREE RUSSIAN Air Force Sukhoi Su-27 Flankers of the Russian Knights aerobatic team crashed near Kamran air base, Vietnam, on 12 December, after apparently hitting high ground. The four pilots - one of the aircraft was a two-seat Su-27B - are missing, presumed dead. The accident happened as ...
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Cobham acquires
Cobham, the acquisitive UK aerospace group, has continued its growth with an agreement to buy Westwind Air Bearings for £75 million ($116 million). Westwind, based in Poole, Dorset, has been growing strongly and is forecasting operating profits of £8 million on rising sales of £25.8 million for 1995. Cobham, formally ...
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United hushkits to extend service lives
Kieran Daly/LONDON UNITED AIRLINES has decided to hush-kit its Boeing 727 fleet and some of its 737-200s, allowing the aircraft to remain in service into the next century. The carrier, which earlier cancelled its options on a second batch of 50 Airbus A320s, is also ...
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Air China will take A340s
AIR CHINA IS TO TAKE delivery of three Airbus Industrie A340s, previously ordered by China Aviation Supplies (CASC). Airline sources say that the aircraft will replace four Boeing 747SPs used for long-haul passenger flights and Government VIP missions. The three A340s will be in addition to Air China's ...
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Boeing regroups as strike ends
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES BOEING IS WORKING flat out to catch up on delayed airliner deliveries and resume production after 32,000 machinist-union workers voted overwhelmingly on 13 December to return to work . The 68-day strike stopped deliveries of more than 30 airliners and suspended production ...
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GE90 power surge hits 777 ETOPS progress
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES PLANS TO BEGIN extended-range twinjet-operations (ETOPS) tests of the General Electric GE90-powered Boeing 777 have been hit by an incident in which a British Airways aircraft suffered an engine surge during pre-delivery flight tests. Although the engine recovered automatically from the surge, ...
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Double or quits
The Spacehab venture has been assured of a future by its involvement in the Shuttle-Mir missions. Tim Furniss/CRYSTAL CITY, ARLINGTON THE ARLINGTON-BASED Spacehab Company, which leases the Space Shuttle-based Space Research Laboratory of the same name, has raised $100 million in international private financing. This is the ...
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Boeing defines plans for a 'simple' 777-300 stretch
Guy Norris/SEATTLE DETAILED PLANNING for the design of the stretched Boeing 777-300 is to be completed by mid-February 1996. Half of the design will be released to manufacturing by September, and major assembly is due to begin in late March 1997. Boeing is keeping the ...
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Qantas will fly to India again
QANTAS HAS made sweeping schedule changes, which will include the carrier resuming services to Bombay via Singapore from next July, ending a six-year absence from India. A direct Boeing 747-400 flight from Melbourne to Johannesburg will be the first from Australia's East Coast. The three existing flights depart ...
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Demand drives Short Brothers to expand composites business
SHORT Brothers HAS unveiled ambitious plans to expand its aerospace-composites business in an effort to keep pace with demand for the engine nacelles and the other aircraft components it manufactures. The Belfast, UK-based company, part of Bombardier, is investing £5.1 million ($7.81 million) in a new autoclave and ...
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IPTN begins second phase of N250 flight tests
Paul Lewis/BANDUNG INDONESIA'S INDUSTRI Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) has begun a second phase of expanded flight-testing of its prototype N250. The twin turboprop has undergone 39 flights to date, totaling 40h, since its maiden flight on 10 August. The lead prototype has been flown to ...
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Dowty leads wing- technology study
Andrew Doyle/LONDON DOWTY AEROSPACE is leading a 30-month research programme aimed at developing advanced wing technologies for possible incorporation in Airbus aircraft. The £1.5 million ($2.3 million) "advanced high-lift programme" consists of 16 separate projects and is being partially funded by the UK Department of ...
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America West lays off 500 maintenance workers
AMERICA WEST Airlines has sacked 500 maintenance workers at its Phoenix, Arizona, headquarters as the prelude to switching heavy maintenance on its fleet of predominantly Boeing 737s to a third-party support company. The airline, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1994, will contract out "C" and "D" ...
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Taking shape
Boeing began major assembly of the first 777-200 increased-gross-weight (IGW) version on 20 February. The aircraft will be rolled out in the middle of this year, before delivery to British Airways in early 1997. The 777-200IGW has a take-off weight of 286,900kg and a range of 13,400km (7,230nm), compared with ...