News from FlightGlobal – Page 2230
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Where to build
Vital decisions have yet to be made on A3XX assembly Andrew Doyle/HAMBURG Julian Moxon/TOULOUSE The location for final assembly of the A3XX remains the only major technical decision for the consortium following the 8 December decision to go ahead with a limited commercial offer to the airlines. The original ...
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Settling in
The problems that have plagued Hong Kong's new Chek Lap Kok Airport are being resolved Andrzej Jeziorski/HONG KONGThe new Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has been surrounded by controversy from the outset. A disastrous opening period, high airport charges, slow traffic growth and simmering worries about weather phenomena have threatened ...
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Family rivalry
For decades, Cathay Pacific has dominated the skies over Hong Kong, unchallenged by local airline competition. That could soon change Andrzej Jeziorski/HONG KONG Hong Kong's skies are still clearly divided as far as the region's indigenous airlines are concerned and are dominated by well-established long-haul giant Cathay Pacific Airways. Cathay ...
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Forecasts for 2000 - Airframers
Ultra-large aircraft and regional jets to move ahead, but production to slow Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Although 1999 promised some dramatic airliner developments, few came to fruition. But the stage has been set for key activities over the next 12 months - most notably in the ultra-large aircraft and regional-jet sectors. ...
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Boeing's big question
Is now the right time for the Seattle manufacturer to go ahead with a larger, heavily modified 747 family? Guy Norris/SEATTLE Decision time is looming again in Seattle. The future of the 747 and, with it, Boeing's dominance of the high-capacity long-range market, rests on whether the company commits ...
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Qantas ultra-long-haul request sets up fresh Airbus-Boeing challenge
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Qantas Airways has issued a fresh request for proposals (RFP) reviving its long-standing requirement for a family of long-range, ultra-long-haul 300-seat aircraft to expand capacity and begin replacing Boeing 747SP/-200/-300s and 767-200ERs. The Australian carrier is using the RFP to determine whether the economics are ...
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Airbus and Boeing set to hit output records
Airbus and Boeing are on course to deliver a record 915 aircraft between them in 1999, but their combined output is set to decline from 2000. Airbus has warned that some deliveries will be delayed in 2000 because of a production problem. Airbus will end 1999 with 295 deliveries - ...
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SAS board approves A330/A340 purchase
The SAS board has finally approved the Scandinavian flag carrier's long-awaited purchase of four A330-300s and six A340-300s to replace Boeing 767-300ERs on long-haul routes. The airline's selection of the Airbus types over the rival 777-200ER was revealed by Flight International in January, although the order was delayed until internal ...
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Forecasts for 2000 - Airlines
Global alliance-forming is nearing its endgame Chris Jasper/LONDON The dominant trend in the airline industry in 1999 was the continuing expansion of global alliances, taking place against a background of varying financial performance: the USA faring well, Asia beginning to recover from its slump, but Europe suffering a ...
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Atlanta becomes all-widebody and sets its sights on 767s
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Air Atlanta Icelandic is phasing out its narrowbodies and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar fleet and focusing on an all-widebody fleet of Boeing 747s and 767s. The Reykjavik, Iceland-based wet-lease specialist recently signed agreements to take five more 747s on lease, bringing its 747 fleet to 11 aircraft. ...
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Routes
Virgin Atlantic has signed a codeshare agreement with Air India that will see the UK airline operating three frequencies a week between London Heathrow and New Delhi from next summer, using Boeing 747s. Virgin will take up Air India's unused frequency rights, and intends to double flights to six a ...
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Airline investors finalise Iberia shareholding
Investors, including British Airways and American Airlines, have finalised accords for taking stakes in Iberia after agreeing a value for the airline with the Spanish Government, clearing the way for its privatisation. The deal, signed on 15 December, followed several months of negotiations between the core investors and state holding ...
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Japan Airlines sells 20% stake in DHL
Japan Airlines (JAL) has sold a 20% stake in DHL Worldwide Express as it aims to cut its long-term debt by ¥350 billion ($3.5 billion) by March 2002. The move paves the way for DHL to float 23% of its equity via an initial public offering in the next few ...
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High spirits
Australian low-cost start-up Spirit Airlines aims to start operations by June on the Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane triangle with two Boeing 737-400s and plans to add Perth, Darwin, Townsville and Cairns services later. Source: Flight International
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Airbus flying-wing studies
Alongside immediate plans on the A3XX, Airbus Industrie and its partners are looking at configurations that could lead to the introduction of radical airliner designs further into the 21st Century. The first of a series of meetings to consider future concepts took place in November at Airbus Toulouse headquarters. Airbus ...
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Aeroflot agrees to lease six Ilyushin Il-96-300s
Aeroflot Russian International Airlines has signed an agreement with Ilyushin's finance arm to take delivery of six Ilyushin Il-96-300s on lease. Production of the 240-seat Il-96-300, powered by the Aviadvigatel PS-90A, has been running at a trickle at the VASO Voronezh plant, where unfinished aircraft have been stockpiled. ...
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German leasing new entrant to acquire A320/737 portfolio
Deutsche Operating Leasing (DOL) expects to order a mix of 18 Airbus A320 family aircraft and Boeing Next Generation 737s early next year and to bolster its fledgling regional jet portfolio with a series of airline sale and lease-back deals. The company, set up by Germany's BfG Bank in ...
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JetBlue ready as first A320
New York-based low-fare startup JetBlue Airways has taken delivery of the first of at least 32 International Aero Engines V2500-powered Airbus A320s. The airline has received one of seven aircraft to be taken on operating lease - two from Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise and five from International Lease Finance - ...
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Crossair gears up for ATM-2000+
Andrew Doyle/SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS Crossair aims to become the first regional airline to have aircraft compliant with Europe's future communications, navigation and surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) operating environment when it begins taking delivery of a fleet of 15 Embraer ERJ-145s in February. The carrier says it decided ...
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Europe may go it alone on environment
David Learmount/LONDON The European Commission (EC) has threatened to enforce its own environmental standards for the aviation industry if the international community fails to agree action. The new EC document Air Transport and the Environment was released almost unnoticed on 1 December by Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio and ...