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UPDATE 
Week ending February 1, 1998
+++ Eurofighter orders signed +++ International Space Station agreements signed in Washington +++ Germany grounds Tornados after crash +++ Boeing rolls out 3000th 737 airliner +++ AI(R) delivers 100th Avro Regional Jet +++ Boeing reports loss for 1997 +++ Northwest buys stake in Continental +++ News in Brief +++

Eurofighter orders signed
Aufträge für Eurofighter EF2000 erteilt

On 29. January, Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH and the NETMA government management agency as well as Eurojet GmbH have signed the contracts covering production and support of 620 EF2000 aircraft. The signature by Jack Gordon (Manager NETMA), Brian Phillipson (managing director Eurofighter), and Ken Greenall (managing director Eurojet) brought to a conclusion detailed negotiations on terms, conditions and prices. It follows signature of the inter-government MoUs by the defence ministers last December.
A total of nine documents cover the weapon system including EJ 200 engiens and relevant support. They are valued at over 55 billion DM, shared by Germany, UK, Italy and Spain according to their aircraft orders. These total 620, with 90 more on optioin. According to Eurofighter, over 400 companies acress the continent will be involved in the programme, securing more than 150000 skilled jobs.

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International Space Station agreements signed in Washington
Abkommen zur Internationalen Raumstation unterzeichnet

Senior government representatives from 15 countries met in Washington on Thursday 29 January, 1998, and signed agreements to establish the framework for the cooperation of the partners concerning the design, development, operation, and utilization of the International Space Station. Along with representatives from the USA, Russia, Canada and Japan, eleven European countries, including Germany, which has a leading role in the European part of the program (41 percent), signed the inter-governmental agreements (IGA).
Addtitionally, three separate bilateral memoranda of understandings were signed by Nasa administrator Daniel S. Goldin and his counterparts from three other space agencies: Yuri Koptev, General Director of the Russian Space Agency, Antonio Rodatà, ESA Director General, and William Evans, President of the Canadian Space Agency. According to Nasa, the MoU between Nasa and the government of Japan will be signed at a later date.
The IGA, which reflect changes to the ISS program (one of the reasons being a stronger than originally planned Russian participation) replace previous agreements which were signed by the partners ten years ago.
The first element of the space station is scheduled for launch in June of 1998. Thereafter, the partners will launch and assemble more than 100 components over a period of five years. The assembly phase will require approximately 45 assembly flights.

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Germany grounds Tornados after crash
Flugverbot für Bundeswehr-Tornados

On 26. January, the German Luftwaffe and Marineflieger decided to ground their fleet of Tornado fighter-bombers, pending an inspection of the flight control system. This inspection, the details of which were not revealed, takes around six hours. Early rumours spoke of possible contamination of an actuator. On Wednesday, the first two aircraft were in the air again, returning from an exercise in the Mediterranean.
Thursday though brought another grounding order for all Tornados, as the inspections had to be extended. New facts came to light during the investigation of a Tornado crash on February 20. A Marineflieger aircraft was lost over the North Sea on its way back from a bomb-dropping mission in the Netherlands. The data recorder has been recovered, but much of the airframe and the two pilots are still missing, hampering the investigation. Besides the German Tornados, the Italian aircraft also remained on the ground, but in the UK flying continued as usual.

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Boeing rolls out 3000th 737 airliner
3000. Boeing 737 fertiggestellt

On January 25, Boeing rolled the 3,000th 737 out of the manufacturing facility in Renton, Wash., where the best selling jetliners of all times have been manufactured since 1970. The historic rollout occurs 31 years after Boeing rolled out the first 737-100 on Jan. 17, 1967. That rollout took place at the company's Plant 2 facility in Seattle, the initial site of 737 production.
The 3,000th 737 is a 146-passenger 737-400 model, scheduled for delivery to Alaska Airlines. Last November, the Seattle-based carrier became the launch customer for the 737-900 -- the fourth model in the Next-Generation 737 family -- when it announced an order for 10 737-900s, with 10 options. Airlines and other operators have ordered more than 3,870 737s -- which accounts for almost 40 percent of the more than 9,800 Boeing commercial jets ordered. Currently, more than 280 airline operators in more than 100 countries fly 737s. It is estimated that more than 825 737s are in the air at all times, with one taking off every 6 seconds.
The 737 was launched in February 1965 as a logical short-range airplane to complement the larger 707 and 727 jetliners. The first 737 -- the -100 model -- entered commercial service in Europe with Lufthansa in February 1968. Two months later, the 737 began commercial airline service in the United States with a longer-fuselage 737-200 model operated by United Airlines.
In the 1980s, the advanced technology 737-300/-400/-500 family of jetliners were introduced to replace the earlier -100s and -200s. The newer jets were designed to be among the quietest and most fuel-efficient aircraft in the world. All three benefited from technology introduced on the Boeing 757 and 767 models, including advanced structural materials, new corrosion inhibiting techniques, advanced digital avionics technology, improved aerodynamics, and high-bypass engines. Today, the Next-Generation 737 family -- the 737-600/-700/-800/-900 -- is building on the success of its predecessors. Using a new and larger wing, higher cruise speed, greater range and more powerful engines, the Next-Generation 737s have achieved improvements in noise, fuel burn and thrust that allow them to fly higher, farther, faster and quieter than previous 737 models.

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AI(R) delivers 100th Avro Regional Jet
100. Avro RJ ausgeliefert

On January 30, AI(R) has delivered the 100th Avro RJ jet. The handover ceremony for the RJ85 version to Northwest Airlines took place at the British Aerospace Woodford plant. The aircraft will be used by the Northwest Airlink Partner Mesaba Airlines. Norhtwest is the largest Avro RJ customer with 36 orders. AI(R) is planning to deliver a total of 23 Avro Rjs in 1998.

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Boeing reports loss for 1997
Rote Zahlen für Boeing

Sales of $45.8 billion and a net loss of $178 million for the full year of 1997 were reported by Phil Condit, Boeing chairman and chief executive officer on January 28. The loss for the year was attributable to the special charge in the fourth quarter for commercial aircraft product lines of the former McDonnell Douglas Corporation of $1.4 billion pretax, or $.9 billion after tax, together with the production inefficiencies experienced on other commercial aircraft programs resulting from the rapid increase in production rates. The results reflect the combined operations resulting from the merger with McDonnell Douglas Corporation, which was completed on Aug. 1, 1997. Comparable figures for the same period of 1996 were sales of $35.5 billion and net earnings of $1,818 million.
Earnings for the full year of 1997, excluding the $1.4 billion pretax special charge and $99 million pretax income from ShareValue Trust accounting, were $632 million, compared with $1,905 million for 1996. The reduction in earnings was principally attributable to the commercial aircraft production inefficiencies associated with the significant production rate increases. Additionally, 1997 results included increased research and development spending, merger-related expense of $120 million, and increased debt expense.

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Northwest buys stake in Continental
Northwest beteiligt sich an Continental

On January 27, Northwest Airlines announced that it has agreed to buy a 14% equity stake, and 51% voting stake, in Continental Airlines Holdings Inc. for $519 million under an alliance agreement that will connect the two carriers through code sharing and other cooperation. Northwest will buy the stake from Air Partners LP, a limited partnership, for $311 million cash and newly issued Northwest common stock. Air Partners will eventually hold about 4.6% of Northwest's outstanding stock.
Northwest said the two carriers have no plans to merge and that it has agreed to limitations on its rights as a stockholder in order to guarantee the independence of the Continental board and its management. It said the alliance is expected to generate more than $500 million per year in pretax income by the third year of implementation. Continental expects to receive about 45% of the benefits of the alliance. The deal is subject to review by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Transportation, and some aspects of the alliance will require approval from Northwest's pilots.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

Bodenseewerk Gerätetechnik (BGT) is the first German company which got its FAA maintenance approval prolonged under the German/US bilateral agreement of 1997. this agreement allows the German LBA to check companies for the FAA, which reduces uneccesary bureaucratic action both on the side of the regulatory authorities and on part of the company, which has to prepare documentation only once.
+++
KLM and Northwest Airlines have consolidated their activities in Germany, with the Dutch airline taking the lead and integrating Northwest personnell at its Neu-Insenburg offices near Frankfurt airport. This is a further step in the alliance agreements between the two airlines. At the same time, marketing will be realigned into "leisure sales" and "business sales" departments.
+++
Cologne/Bonn airport reports further brisk growth for 1997. Especially airfreight boomed with a plus of 18,6 per cent to 382000 tons. Passenger numbers were up 1,4 per cent to 5,4 million, and aircraft movements increased 6,7 per cent to 148700. Only the internal German mail services saw a decline of 15,3 per cent, as this business is transferred more to truck operations by the Bundespost.
+++
Eurocopter has started deliveries of its new EC 120B Colibry light single model, handing over a helicopter to Nozaki of Japan. Orders for more than 100 aircraft have been received since marketing started at the beginning of 1997. Plans are to build 30-40 Colibris in Marignane this year with 60 to 100 following in 1999.
+++
The latest Ariane 4 launch was scheduled for 30 January at around 20.30 Kourou time, carrying an Inmarsat 3F5 stallite into gesostationary orbit. This communications satellite is built by Matra marconi Space and will be located at 25 degrees east, over central Africa to provide a fully functional spare and enhanced back-up. Inmarsat 3 also carries a navigation payload which will constitute the first element of GNSS 1 (Global Navigation Satellite System) to complement the existing GPS and Glonass navigation systems. Also abord the Ariane 4 will be the Brasilsat B-3 satellite from Hughes Space and Communications Company (HSC).
+++
On January 29, Bombardier Aerospace announced that the State of North Carolina has become the latest customer to acquire CL-215 SuperScooper. The deal is valued at $4 million US. Prior to this purchase, the state had leased CL-215 aircraft over a five-year period.
+++
Asset Management-Jets (AMJ) - the BAe 146 jet sales and leasing arm of British Aerospace Asset Management, achieved sales and lease transactions valued close to US$290 million (GBP 180 million) in 1997. Of the $290 million total, and in line with its policy of planned and selective disposals of aircraft from the portfolio, AMJ sold a record 12 BAe 146s during the year for just over US$105 million. Existing BAe 146 operators buying aircraft included Air Atlantic of Canada, British Regional Airlines, Eurowings of Germany, Jersey European Airways and Titan Airways. In addition, two aircraft on long-term lease to Qantas were sold to the ANZ Investment Bank and one aircraft was sold for corporate use to Mr W A Moncrief Jr. of Texas.
+++
On January 28, Egyptair has become the latest airline to sign a contract for Airbus Industrie's largest aircraft, the A340- 600, with a firm order for two aircraft and a further two options. It thus becomes one of a select group of airlines to benefit from being a launch customer for the latest member of the A330/A340 family. The contract reaffirms the commitment to the A340-600 announced by Egyptair in November last year, and calls for a first delivery in 2003. Egyptair has been an A340 operator since 1995, currently has three in service, and also has a large fleet of A320s, A321s and A300s. It was one of the first airlines in Middle East to fly Airbus aircraft, and remains the largest customer for them in the region.
+++
The first component of the future International Space Station, the Russian-made functional cargo module (FCM), was shipped by rail from Moscow to the Baikonur cosmodrome on Tuesday, January 27. A special train delivered to the space-launch complex also the Proton booster rocket, with the help of which the FCU will be placed in orbit. It will take five days for the heavily guarded train to reach Baikonur, where preparations will immediately start for the launch scheduled for June 30. The FCU has been being built since 1995 where a contract was signed by the Khrunichev Centre and the Boeing corporation. Boeing is the general contractor of NASA, which paid 190 million dollars for the building of the FCU. The building of the module was completed in November 1996 -- a year before the
initial launching date.
+++
Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, has announced the choice of GE Information Services (GE) as its outsourcing partner to provide an electronic commerce service for the exchange of its invoices and claims with the airlines. The new service, called CRCO EDILINK, will be the first of its kind to be implemented at a pan-European level. This new service will speed up the exchange of commercial documents and eliminate paper copies.
+++
Austrian Airlines will intensify cooperation with TAP - Air Portugal. A MoU was signed on January 28, concerning better coordination of schedules and code-share flights starting in the summer.
+++
Spanish national carrier Iberia has reported a pre-tax profit of 93 million US-Dollars for 1997, five times better than in 1996. Passenger figures have risen 800000 to 15,4 million.
+++
London Heathrow remained the busiest European airport in 1997, with 58,1 million passengers. Frankfurt took second place with 40,3 million, followes by Paris Charles de Gaulle (35,2 million) and Amsterdam Schiphol (32 million). According to the Airports Council International (ACI), overall passenger traffic on European Airports was up 7,8 per cent.
+++
WestLB, a large German bank, has confirmed that it has put up its stake in the LTU charter airline for sale. It is believed that Airtours is one of the interested parties. The sale is necessary because of Cartel Office objections.
+++

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Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen ist nach wie vor abrufbar:

*January 25, 1998 *January 18, 1998 *January 11, 1998

*December 21, 1997 *December 14, 1997 *December 7, 1997

*November 30, 1997 *November 23, 1997 *November 16, 1997 *November 9, 1997 *November 2, 1997

*October 26, 1997 *October 19, 1997 *October 12, 1997 *October 5, 1997

*January to September 1997 *September to December 1996

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