News from FlightGlobal – Page 2298

  • News

    Boeing's Renton production rate goes up to 32 a month

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Bombardier aims for mid-2000 launch of BRJ-X regional jet

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Tour operator mergers spark charter consolidation

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Deutsche BA ready to decide on changeover to Airbus fleet

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    ICAO figures show improvements in safety

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Elegant stretch

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Aeroflot and BA sign co-operation deal

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Netjets prepares to add Hawker 800XPs to Europe fleet

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    Netjets Europe will take delivery of the first customer-owned Raytheon Hawker 800XP by the end of the month. The first core fleet aircraft was delivered at the end of February. "We hope to add four [of the 24 Hawker 800XPs] to the European fleet this year. The next will ...

  • News

    Boeing confirms new large aircraft study

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing says it is still studying all-new large aircraft concepts, dubbed the Large Airplane Product Development (LAPD), despite its deliberate focus on 747 derivatives and opposition to more costly all-new concepts such as the the proposed Airbus A3XX. "Boeing is studying a large aircraft," says the ...

  • News

    EC resignations delay new rules

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    Alan George/BRUSSELS New European aviation initiatives have been put on hold following the mass resignation of top officials at the European Commission (EC) in the wake of a damning report into fraud and cronyism at the Brussels headquarters of the European Union. Despite the chaos caused by the resignations ...

  • News

    A340 reduced stability flight tests set to cut A3XX weight

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    Julian Moxon/PARIS Airbus Industrie is about to begin flight testing a specially equipped A340 to show that the new A3XX can fly with less static and dynamic stability than its current fly-by-wire aircraft. Engineering and product vice-president Robert Lafontan says the consortium is also considering a fly-by-wire flight ...

  • News

    KAL faces new penalties after two new incidents

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE Korean Air (KAL) is facing fresh sanctions and possible fines after suffering a Boeing MD-83 crash and an aborted landing by an Airbus A300-600 just three days later. Airline analysts say the latest incidents could raise doubts about KAL's joint safety drive with Delta Air Lines, a ...

  • News

    Flightsafety secures long-term deals for regional jet training

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC FlightSafety International (FSI) has signed long-term training agreements with three regional airlines to build and operate regional jet simulators. Under a 15-year deal with American Eagle, FSI will build its first simulator for the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) Series 700. The machine will be ...

  • News

    UPS contract leads Thomson to Windows NT

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    Thomson Training &Simulation (TTS) has launched a Windows NT-based full flight simulator with an order from United Parcel Service. TTS says the simulator, for the Airbus A300-600R, will be the world's first to feature a PC-based real-time computing architecture using the Windows NT operating system. Presently, the company uses ...

  • News

    Bombardier wins and loses in trade battle with Embraer

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    Bombardier and the Canadian Government are claiming victory in their long battle with Embraer and the Brazilian Government over the subsidising of regional aircraft exports. The Canadian manufacturer believes that a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling against Brazil's Proex export finance programme will give its de Havilland Dash 8 turboprop ...

  • News

    Sibir bounces back with turnover up 10%

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    Paul Duffy/MOSCOW Former Aeroflot carrier Sibir is showing signs of rebounding from the Russian economic collapse, with traffic and financial figures showing improvement during 1998. The Novosibirsk-based airline carried 620,000 passengers last year, up 3% on 1997, while cargo volumes were up by 5%, to 5,800t. Sibir's success is all ...

  • News

    Rivals to bid for stake in Thai

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    The rival oneworld and Star alliances look set to submit bids for an equity stake in Star member Thai Airways International, which is due to be partly privatised later this year. Australia's Qantas Airways, a oneworld founder, has confirmed its interest in securing a holding, while Lufthansa executive vice ...

  • News

    Cargo Air takes to Israel's open skies

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    Israeli freight specialist Cargo Air Lines (CAL) is preparing to launch independent services in December, after receiving Israeli Government licences to operate scheduled cargo flights. CAL was set up by Israeli agricultural growers' organisations in 1977 to serve as a broker agency, leasing cargo aircraft capacity from Israeli national ...

  • News

    JEA moves focus to 100-seat study

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    Jersey European Airways (JEA) is turning its attention to 100-seater requirements after sealing a $250 million deal with Bombardier for up to 15 Dash 8Qs and Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ). JEA chief executive Barry Perrott says the airline has been viewing its options for a new large aircraft to ...

  • News

    Mandarin plans fleet revamp

    1999-03-24T00:00:00Z

    Brent Hannon/TAIPEI China Airlines (CAL) subsidiary Mandarin Airlines plans to acquire at least four Next Generation Boeing 737s when the merger with Formosa Airlines is completed later this year. The CAL board approved the Mandarin/Formosa merger this month and plans to complete the changes by the end of the third ...