All news – Page 6863
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Routes
-San Juan-based Sun Airways, a charter air carrier, has initiated services between Puerto Rico and Orlando and Fort Lauderdale with one Boeing 727-200. -Sabena has begun daily direct flights from Brussels to Catania (Sicily) and four weekly flights to Palma de Mallorca (Spain) and Faro (Portugal) from 18 December. -Virgin ...
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Economic crisis hits Russia's commercial traffic
Russia's Federal Aviation Service (FAS) expects its 1998 passenger traffic levels to be about 10% down because of the country's economic crisis. FAS director Gennady Zaitsev says results for the first 10 months of 1998 show a 10% drop in passenger and 20% in cargo air traffic. To combat ...
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SIA forges alliance with Air Canada
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Air Canada to form a strategic partnership, possibly bringing SIA closer to Star Alliance membership. SIA has been named by Lufthansa as being likely to join Star in 1999, alongside Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, United Airlines, Varig and ...
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SilkAir probe 'may prove inconclusive'
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE Twelve months after the crash of a SilkAir Boeing 737-300 on 19 December 1997, officials investigating the accident admit that "human factors" are the only avenue of investigation which remains open. But they add that it is difficult to assess accurately the state of mind of ...
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Cathay seeks higher productivity in costs drive
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE Cathay Pacific Airways has agreed on productivity increases with ground staff as it negotiates with cabin crew and begins early talks with pilots' unions, as part of its drive to improve efficiency and cut costs. According to the airline, the productivity gains are being rewarded with ...
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Crossair predicts big profit for 1998 but warns on ATC delays
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Swiss carrier Crossair is forecasting bumper results for 1998 on the back of a 26% surge in scheduled passenger traffic. But the SAirGroup regional subsidiary complains that European air traffic control (ATC) delays reached their worst ever level last year - a situation it describes as ...
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Vickers acquires MC
Aeroquip-Vickers has acquired Michigan-based MC Aerospace, which makes hydraulic and pneumatic components for aircraft and military vehicles. Source: Flight International
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Next-X ?
From the highs of the X-15's flights at over six times the speed of sound to the lows of the early-1990s' cancellation of the over-ambitious X-30 single-stage-to-orbit aerospace plane, the USA's "X-" series of experimental vehicles has exemplified the country's drive for dominance in the aeronautical and space technology arenas. ...
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AMRAAM purchase complete RAAF missile upgrade
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA The Australian Department of Defence has concluded separate deals with Matra BAe Dynamics and Raytheon Company for the acquisition of ASRAAM and AIM-120B AMRAAM missiles for carriage by the RAAF's F/A-18s. The two deals total more than A$130 million (U$S80 million). The ASRAAM deal will ...
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AV-8B tries out OSCAR commercial software upgrade
The US aerospace industry and military are studying the success of the Boeing AV-8B Open System Core Avionic Requirement (OSCAR), with a mind to the wider application of commercial computer software in other fighter aircraft programmes. The adoption of commercial software is set to expand with future enhancements to ...
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USAF ponders C-130 options
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC The US Air Force is expected to solicit industry proposals in the next few weeks for a Lockheed Martin C-130X Avionics Modernisation Programme (AMP) to upgrade its entire fleet of C-130Hs, older E models and special operations versions to a new common standard. A draft ...
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Production CN-295 makes first flight
The first flight of a series production CASA C-295 light tactical transport was due as Flight International went to press. The C-295 is a stretched version of the CN-235. This is the second C-295 to fly, the original prototype taking to the air in November 1997, just months after ...
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Brimstone first flight
Marconi Electronic Systems' Brimstone anti-armour missile made its first clearance and handling flight on a UK Ministry of Defence Panavia Tornado in December. The Tornado carried 12 Brimstones on its shoulder pylons. The integration of the missile is the first new weapon clearance in the Tornado GR4 mid-life upgrade, which ...
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Hindustan puts HJT-36 trainer mock-up on show
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has shown a mock-up of the HJT-36 trainer for the first time - at the Aero India 98 show in Bangalore last month (Flight International, 16-22 December). The company hopes to develop the aircraft to replace the locally built Kiran 2 some time after 2005. Possible armament ...
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Osprey takes to the water after design review
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft will begin US Navy sea trials at the end of this month, as engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) nears completion and final design of the air force's CV-22 special operations version is frozen. Aircraft 10, the fourth and final EMD vehicle, will ...
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USA clears Singapore for Longbow attack radar
The US Department of Defense (DoD) is preparing to release the Northrop Grumman/Lockheed Martin Longbow millimetre-wave radar to Singapore, clearing the way for the first sale of the Boeing AH-64D Longbow Apache attack helicopter to a South-East Asian nation. It is understood from US defence sources that a supplementary ...
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UK MoD moves goalposts on strategic transport lease bid
Howard Gethin/LONDON The UK Ministry of Defence has been forced to waive a number of requirements to lease a short-term strategic airlifter for the Royal Air Force in order to generate more interest in the competition. Some potential bidders have criticised the original requirement as being weighted in favour ...
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Ethiopian deal sees new skies open up for Sukhoi Su-27
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW Ethiopia has taken delivery of about 10 Sukhoi Su-27 fighters, becoming only the third non-CIS nation after China and Vietnam to operate the aircraft. The ex-Russian air force aircraft were delivered by An-22 transport aircraft from Krasnodar. One of the Su-27s is thought to be at ...
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So near, so far
Tim Furniss/LONDON The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft has been thwarted in its attempt to make interplanetary history on 10 January by becoming the first craft to enter orbit around an asteroid. The NEAR, the first craft in the NASA Discovery programme to be launched - on ...
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X directory
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC X is for experimental, and the USA's famous X-planes have played a key role in advancing aerospace technology over the more than 50 years since the Bell X-1 first flew. The nature of the X-series is changing, however. There is greater emphasis on ...