MRO – Page 520
-
News
Europe and USA start Galileo connection talks
Europe and the USA have started discussions to ensure Europe's Galileo global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is interoperable with the US global positioning system (GPS). In February, the European Commission (EC) announced plans to develop Galileo as an open, global satellite navigation system independent from the GPS. Although the USA ...
-
News
SIA buys into Ansett Australia
Paul Phelan/MELBOURNE Singapore Airlines (SIA) is to share ownership of Melbourne-based domestic carrier Ansett Australia with Air New Zealand after agreeing to buy out the 50% stake in Ansett Holdings held by the News Limited media group. The deal means that the two flag carriers will also hold equal stakes ...
-
News
Workshop
Alsalam Aircraft has signed a deal with Saudi Arabian Airlines to undertake heavy maintenance and overhaul on six of its Boeing 747s. Work will be performed at Alsalam's facility at King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh. Alsalam, 25% owned by Saudi Arabian, undertakes a range of civil and military maintenance ...
-
News
Good business
Air Namibia plans to make its fortune by cutting costs, increasing income and building partnerships Stewart Penney/WINDHOEKA new managing director at Air Namibia is determined to reverse the carrier's flagging fortunes and prepare it for privatisation by aggressively attacking costs while increasing income and creating a series of alliances. The ...
-
News
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 ...
-
News
Eaglet approval set back to later this year
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON EURO-ENAER has pushed back certification of its two-seat single-engined Eaglet trainer to the second half of the year. The manufacturer blames delays in the flight testing programme caused by "poor weather" and teething problems with European Joint Aviation Requirement (JAR) 23 certification procedures. "We were planning to certificate ...
-
News
Boeing bids for more modification work
Boeing is seeking to take a larger share of the market for modification of its airliners. It is forming a business unit to provide conversion, upgrade and engineering services to airlines and maintenance centres. The new Boeing Airplane Services unit is built around the company's Wichita, Kansas-based 747 passenger-to-freighter conversion ...
-
News
First MD-10 is rolled out at Long Beach
The first McDonnell Douglas DC-10 converted to MD-10 specification for the FedEx conversion programme was rolled out at Boeing's Long Beach site in California on 19 March. The ex-United DC-10-10, dubbed "T-1", is the first of three test aircraft to be fitted with the advanced two-crew digital flightdeck at ...
-
News
Engine tie-up
SIA Engineering has signed a deal with Rolls-Royce and Hong Kong Aero Engine Services (HAESL) to set up a repair and overhaul centre for the Trent in Singapore. The company, known as Singapore Aero Engine Services, is due to begin operations in 2002 at a site near Changi Airport. The ...
-
News
CFM prepares advanced fan for new tests
CFM International plans to begin crosswind tests of its experimental swept fan blade design in June, as it approaches the half-way point of its three-year Tech56 advanced technology development effort. Tech56 is aimed at improving the CFM56 engine family across the full 20,000-35,000lb thrust (89-156kN) range, as well as ...
-
News
Turnaround target
Turboméca says overhaul and repair turnaround times on its Arriel 1 turboshaft - averaging 89 days last year against a target of 28 days - are reducing as it increases capacity and overcomes parts shortages. The company was shipping at least 20 engines a month by the end of last ...
-
News
SR Technics targets Thai joint venture
SR Technics of Switzerland is talking to Thai Airways International about creating an aircraft maintenance joint venture, and hopes to wrap up a deal by the end of the year. This would be a major step towards globalising SAirGroup's overhaul business, following similar moves by its rivals, including Lufthansa ...
-
News
FAA rules out 737 rudder malfunction crash link
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Recent Boeing 737 rudder malfunctions are not being linked to rudder control unit failures suspected of causing fatal 737 crashes in 1991 and 1994, senior US Federal Aviation Administration officials say (Flight International, 3-9 March, P13). Preliminary rulings refer to a MetroJet Boeing 737-200 incident on ...
-
News
PIA turns to Cathay Pacific for 747-300 lease
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has signed a letter of intent with Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways for the lease of five Boeing 747-300s as interim replacements from mid-April for the carrier's six 747-200Bs. PIA has long been planning a 747-200 replacement programme, examining the Boeing 747-400 and 777 and Airbus ...
-
News
AMR Combs and Signature talk about combining FBO chains
Teams from AMR Combs and Signature Flight Support have started talks on combining their fixed-base operation (FBO) chains after Signature parent company BBA Group completed its $170 million acquisition of the former AMR subsidiary. A decision on how the combined chain will be branded is expected by the end ...
-
News
KLM completes testing of 747 cockpit upgrade
KLM Engineering & Maintenance and Canadian Marconi have completed flight tests of a Boeing 747 Classic cockpit upgrade, and have achieved supplemental type certification. The upgrade will extend the life of KLM's fleet of 13 747-200/300s beyond 2010. The cockpit upgrade is built around three Canadian Marconi CMA-900 flight management ...
-
News
PW4000 operators face surge inspection
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Operators of more than 560 Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered Airbus A300/ A310s, Boeing 747s, 767s and MD-11s are starting inspections for potential surge problems. The problems are restricted only to 2.37m (94in)-diameter fan versions of the PW4000. The move follows a suspected double surge event ...
-
News
SEC clears PAL to resume 737 payments
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the resumption of payments by debt-ridden Philippine Airlines (PAL) on four leased Boeing 737-300s. Monthly payments of $220,000 for each aircraft will restart to Airplanes Finance, GE Capital Aviation Services and the GPA Group. The go-ahead staves off ...
-
News
SAA chief receives death threat following corruption clean-up
Hilka Birns/CAPE TOWN Dave Birch/LONDON Efforts by South African Airways' recently appointed chief executive Coleman Andrews to wipe out corruption in the airline could lead to a violent backlash. Meanwhile, SAA has dismissed concerns that corruption within its maintenance division is affecting safety. Andrews and his cargo manager ...
-
News
CHC takes 25% stake in Norway's HSG
Canada's CHC Helicopter has acquired a 25% stake in Norwegian operator Helicopter Services Group (HSG). Stavanger-based HSG is the parent company of North Sea operators Helikopter Service and Bond Helicopters, Australia's Lloyd Helicopter Service and South Africa's Court Air Holdings. It also owns stakes in Germany's Wiking Helikopter Services ...