All news – Page 6808
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B-SAT contract
Orbital Sciences (OSC) has finalised and signed the contract to build two B-SAT spacecraft for Broadcasting Satellite System of Japan. The satellites will be launched by Ariane boosters in 2000 and 2001. OSC was selected to negotiate the contract in November 1998. Source: Flight International
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Metric range
Metric Systems is to lease rangeless air combat training systems to the US Air Force for use with Boeing F-15 and Lockheed Martin F-16 units in Europe. The contract, potentially worth $40 million, includes Metric's global positioning system rangeless instrumentation pod. Source: Flight International
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Phantom Works wins UCAV contract
Boeing's Phantom Works has won the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract to demonstrate an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) designed for strike and defence-suppression missions. The company has received a 42-month, $131 million cost-sharing contract to build and test a UCAV demonstrator system. Two tail-less, stealthy ...
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Routes
United Express carrier Atlantic Coast Airlines will begin twice daily services between Savannah, Georgia, and Chicago O'Hare in May, and four-times daily service between Columbia, South Carolina, and Washington Dulles on 25 May, using 50-seat Bombardier Canadair Regional Jets. United Airlines is introducing the Boeing 747-400 on to transatlantic ...
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Bomber roadshow
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC The USAF is pushing its bombers to the forefront of the expeditionary air force concept. But how long can they last? Deployment side by side of Northrop Grumman B-2s and Boeing B-52s is set to become commonplace as the US Air Force seeks to ...
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Meet the family
Herman De Wulf/BRUSSELS Sabena of Belgium has begun its transition to an all-Airbus fleet, and is coming to grips with new procedures With the delivery of its first Airbus Industrie A321 on 2 March, Sabena began its conversion to an all-Airbus airline - the biggest re-equipment programme in ...
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Globalstar constellation grows
Four more Globalstar worldwide mobile communications satellites are in orbit following their launch aboard the second Starsem Soyuz-Ikar booster from Baikonur on 15 March. Starsem is a consortium involving Samara of Russia, Arianespace and Aerospatiale of France. The flight followed the first Starsem Soyuz launch on 9 February ...
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Air Anatolia aims to phase out A300s to reduce costs
Air Anatolia plans to phase out its fleet of Airbus A300s by next year and replace them with a mix of smaller types to reduce operating costs. The Turkish charter airline's deputy chief executive, Ahmet Karaman, says it wants to phase out its four 19- to 22-year-old A300B2/ B4s ...
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Airports
An Ogden-led consortium has been awarded a 20-year privatisation licence covering the international airports serving Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata, Samana and Barahona in the Dominican Republic. The consortium, which includes Vancouver Airport Services of Canada and Italian construction company Impregilo, says it will spend $400 million on improving the airports. ...
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Boeing's Renton production rate goes up to 32 a month
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing's production recovery plan appears to be on track following the roll-out at Renton on 9 March of the first two Next Generation 737s, built at the record production rate of 24 a month. Added to the company's five-a-month rate for the 757 and the dwindling ...
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Bombardier aims for mid-2000 launch of BRJ-X regional jet
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Bombardier Aerospace expects to make a management decision to continue with the BRJ-X regional jet project on schedule at the end of 1999, but has slipped the full launch decision to the second quarter of 2000. The company had planned on a launch verdict around October ...
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GE starts flight tests of CF34-8C1 turbofan
The first flight tests of General Electric's CF34-8C1 turbofan for Bombardier's CRJ-700 regional jet began on 10 March, when the engine flew beneath the wing of the company's Boeing 747 flying testbed. The 90min flight from Mojave, California, evaluated baseline engine performance and marked the start of a 129h, ...
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Tour operator mergers spark charter consolidation
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON The European Commission's decision to approve the tour operator merger of Thomas Cook and the Carlson Leisure Group is likely to result in further consolidation of the UK charter market in the next 18 months. Another major charter airline link-up could follow the merger of Air 2000's ...
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Deutsche BA ready to decide on changeover to Airbus fleet
Andrew Doyle/BERLINDeutsche BA will decide on its long-term fleet strategy by mid-year, possibly replacing its 18 Boeing 737-300s (above) with Airbus narrowbodies that are held on option by 100% owner British Airways. The German carrier is preparing to relaunch international flights, having built a 40% market share on seven domestic ...
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Loran-C reprieved as USA sets timetable for move to sole GPS
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC It will take at least 10 years for the USA to complete its transition from ground-based navigation aids to the satellite-based global positioning system (GPS) for "sole means" navigation, according to US aviation officials. Meanwhile, Loran-C, which is operated by the US Coast Guard for en ...
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ICAO figures show improvements in safety
There were 22 accidents involving passenger fatalities on scheduled airlines in 1998 according to figures released by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). This compares with 27 fatal accidents in the same category during 1997. Passenger fatalities last year were 909, against 930 in 1997, but ICAO points out ...
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Northrop offers partnership in pitch for Wedgetail
Northrop Grumman plans to create an Australian subsidiary, which will be known as Hawkeye Mission Systems Australia. The new company would form part of its joint bid with Lockheed Martin for the Royal Australian Air Force's Project Wedgetail airborne early warning and control requirement. The new subsidiary would ...
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Elegant stretch
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES This month, Condor took delivery of the first 757-300, the longest single-aisle aircraft ever built by Boeing in Renton It has been a long time coming, but the stretched 757 is here. An astonishing gap of 18 years separated the launch of the baseline aircraft and that ...
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Aeroflot and BA sign co-operation deal
Aeroflot and British Airways have signed an outline agreement to co-operate. Aeroflot confirms the agreement, but has not released any further details. It is believed to outline terms of co-operation for the London-Moscow route, on which Aeroflot is facing growing competition from Transaero. A second UK carrier, British Midland, is ...
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Bombardier adds more names to Continental as launch nears
Bombardier has named further risk-sharing partners for its Continental business jet programme. Launch of the "super mid-size" Continental is expected by the time of the Paris air show. France's Intertechnique will provide the fuel system, and ECE - a Group Intertechnique company - will supply the electrical system. AlliedSignal ...