News from FlightGlobal – Page 2507
-
News
Maersk begins overhaul of Estonian Air
Max Kingsley-Jones/BILLUND MAERSK AIR has set about ploughing its airline expertise into Estonian Air, following ratification of its agreement to take a 49% stake in the privatised Baltic carrier. In May, the Danish airline, in partnership with investment consortium Baltic Creco, was chosen by the ...
-
News
Manufacturers' forecasts chart bright future for cargo aircraft
BOEING AND McDonnell Douglas (MDC) are forecasting strong growth in the air-cargo market, with the world's freighter fleet expected to double over the next 20 years. MDC's predictions are slightly more optimistic than Boeing's, with an annual growth rate in air cargo of 7.9%, compared with Boeing's assessment ...
-
News
Maersk ponders Fokker options
MAERSK AIR is examining various options for the renewal of its 50-seat Fokker 50 turboprops, which include the acquisition of a regional-jet type. The Copenhagen, Denmark-based airline, a division of one of world's largest shipping companies AP Moller, operates seven leased Fokker 50s alongside its fleet of Boeing ...
-
News
Bidders line up to rescue Air Liberté
Julian Moxon/PARIS BRITISH AIRWAYS and Virgin Express have emerged among the bidders for Air Liberté, the embattled French independent carrier which has been given six months to secure its future. British Airways made its offer through its French subsidiary TAT. Together, the two airlines would give BA a major slice ...
-
News
TAM 'aid' comes under fire-
Brian Homewood/RIO de JANIERO BRAZIL'S THREE national airlines, Varig, Vasp and Transbrasil, have asked the Government to abolish a tax which they say effectively forces them to subsidise one of their main rivals. The airlines pay 3% of the value of each ticket sold into ...
-
News
TABA cuts fleet as its routes are pruned
BRAZIL'S CIVIL aviation authority (DAC) has begun re-distributing among other carriers 12 routes no longer operated by troubled regional airline TABA. TABA reportedly owes $3.5 million to some 700 employees who were made redundant two years ago, and it has reduced its fleet from eight Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirantes ...
-
News
'Outrageous' ATC charges anger European regionals
Julian Moxon/HANOVER THE EUROPEAN Regional Airlines Association (ERA) is complaining bitterly about the "outrageous" air-traffic-control (ATC) charges being imposed on its members. At its annual general meeting in Hanover, Germany, earlier in October, ERA director-general Mike Ambrose said that landing and navigation charges account for ...
-
News
Virgin evaluates widebodies to replace ageing 747 Classics
Andrew Doyle/LONDON VIRGIN ATLANTIC Air-ways has outlined plans to phase out its fleet of six ageing Boeing 747 Classics by 2000, with the acquisition of a fresh batch of widebodied aircraft for delivery from mid-1998. The UK carrier is looking to "-bring in aircraft over a ...
-
News
African Fokkers
Ethiopian Airlines received its first of five Fokker 50s on 2 October. The aircraft were ordered in 1995, to replace ATR 42s. Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM) has leased an ex-Royal Swazi Airways Fokker 100. LAM will use the aircraft to increase frequencies on its domestic and regional services. ...
-
News
European/Chinese regional-aircraft deal hits hurdles
Paul Lewis/BEIJING Chinese and European aerospace negotiators have still to clear major obstacles before any final agreement can be reached for joint development of a new 90- to 140-seat regional aircraft. One of the most critical issues yet to be resolved by the two sides is ...
-
News
ANA searches for more international passengers-
ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS (ANA) plans to expand further its international network and frequencies, in an effort to boost revenues and reduce its heavy dependence on the Japanese domestic market. The airline is aiming for an 18% increase in its international capacity by the end of the financial ...
-
News
US airlines voice concern despite records
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON LATEST RESULTS coming in from the major US airlines point towards another round of record profits in the third quarter, but beneath the headline figures there is growing concern in the industry over how much longer the boom will last. Continental led off the ...
-
News
Flight Safety acquired by investment giant Buffet
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA FLIGHT SAFETY International (FSI) is to be acquired by US financier Warren Buffet, after the aviation-training company accepted a surprise take-over offer from his investment firm, Berkshire Hathaway. The cash and/or stock offer values the US-based company at $1.5 billion. New York-based FSI ...
-
News
MD-90 receives European certification
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES THE McDONNELL Douglas (MDC) MD-90 was certificated by the European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) on 16 October, as Scandinavian carrier SAS took delivery of its first aircraft. Type certification was formally presented by the JAA to MDC just before the SAS delivery ceremony. ...
-
News
FAA uses Cessna in 'free-flight'
DEMONSTRATIONS of "free flight" for general-aviation aircraft are now under way as part of a larger evaluation of the USA's future air-traffic-management concept. The trials involve a Cessna 401, equipped with avionics supplied by Magellan Systems and Arinc, and a ground-based free-flight evaluation system which was developed ...
-
News
Aviastar seeks state guarantees for Tu-204 sales
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW STRUGGLING RUSSIAN aircraft manufacturer Aviastar is pushing for $30 million in Government guarantees in an attempt to keep alive the deal with Egyptian company Kato Group for the delivery of five Tupolev Tu-204 airliners. The Ulyanovsk-based manufacturing plant, which is responsible for production ...
-
News
Air France signs US pacts
Julian Moxon/PARIS AIR FRANCE HAS ended its long-running search for transatlantic partners with the signing of commercial pacts with both Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines. The French flag carrier also hints that an Asian partner could be signed up in the first half of 1997. ...
-
News
. . . as newcomers target local Japan market
TWO PRIVATE Japanese companies have announced plans to launch new domestic airlines. This move follows recent initiatives by the transport ministry to liberalise parts of the country's over-regulated airline industry, which carries 75 million passengers annually, and is the second-largest domestic market in the world. Cut-rate Japanese ...
-
News
Deutsche BA undergoes major revamp
DEUTSCHE BA HAS announced a major restructuring, which will see the fast- growing, but loss-making, British Airways subsidiary withdraw from unprofitable international routes and expand its domestic network. The move follows the carrier's decision to sell its turboprop operation to France's Regional Airlines, dispose of its five Fokker ...
-
News
Kiwi International forced to suspend operations
KIWI International suspended flight operations on 15 October after failing to gain a cash infusion from investors. The US airline had filed for bankruptcy protection two weeks before, and cut services, blaming high debts and the fall-out on other low-cost start-ups from the ValuJet crash. Kiwi has struggled ...