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Week ending May 3, 1998
+++ Lufthansa posts record profits +++ AI(R) partners agree on dissolution +++ Eurocopter reveals EC 635 at Aviation Africa +++ Arianespace flight 108 succesfully launched +++ Still no NATO decision an Alliance Ground Surveilance +++ Lufthansa restarts pilot training +++ Russia to bring Mir down +++ Four Big U.S. Airlines to Form Two Alliances +++ Hughes goes to Moon to salvage satellite +++ Construction of Space Station faces further delays +++ NATO marks five years of combined operations over Balkans +++ News in brief +++
Lufthansa posts record Profits
Rekordgewinn für Lufthansa
German airline Lufthansa on April 29 announced that its first-quarter operating profit soared six-fold from the same period of last year to 125 million marks (69.8 million U.S. dollars). The strong increase came on top of a record-setting 1997 when Lufthansa's pre-tax profits increased to 1.65 billion DM (920 million dollars), up 140 percent from the level of the previous year. Lufthansa chief Jürgen Weber attributed the sharp gains in earnings mainly to the company's successful restructuring and cost-cutting programs as well as its strategic alliances with other airlines. Thanks to the strong performance last year, the company had also completely eliminated its external debts, Weber said, adding that Lufthansa was now in "best shape". Key figures for 1997 include:- turnover: 24,149 billion DM (+11 per cent)
- employees: 58250 (+ 0,4 per cent)
- cash-flow: 3,607 billion DM (after 2440 billion in 1996)
- pre-tax profits: 1,649 billion DM (after 686 million)
- investments: 2,383 billion DM (after 5,353 billion in 1996)
- dividends per share: 0,9 DM (after 0,5 DM in 1996)
AI(R) partners agree on dissolution
Auflösung von AI(R) beschlossen
Now its official: at a meeting of the AI(R) board of directors on April 24, Aerospatiale, Alenia and British Aerospace have reached "all necessary agreements regarding the dissolution of AI(R) and the ongoing working relationship between ATR and BAe Regional Aircraft. The legal agreement will be drawn up for signature in the next twoo weeks and the product focus implemented progressively and completed by end of June 1998. ATR and BAE Regional Aircraft will continue to operate from Toulouse and Washington by sharing accomodation. This organizational change concentrates focus on ATR and BAe Regional Aircraft respective product line, and represents a positive response to the competitive challenges of our marketplace", a statement read. Thus a three-year attempt to produce a powerful European regional aircraft company comes to an end, as it proved impossible to launch a new, common programme for a 70seater jet.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Eurocopter reveals EC 635 at Aviation Africa
EC 635-Hubschrauber auf südafrikanischer Luftfahrtmesse vorgestellt
Based on the concept of the EC 135 light twin-engined helicopter, of which more than 100 units have already been sold, Eurocopter offers a utility variant, designated EC 635, for military and para-military operations. Utilising the aircraft's inherent multi-role capability, the EC 635 will be suitable for SAR ( search-and-rescue ), troop transport, reconnaissance/observation, training, utility, and all kinds of military missions. Additionally, the EC 635 is particularly well suited to fulfil disaster relief missions as well as humanitarian aid for the population, i.e. transport of goods, medicaments and food. The helicopter's mission spectrum is further enlarged for various maritime applications such as coastguard and maritime survey missions. A mock-up of the new helicopter was revealed for the first time at Aviation Africa near Pretoria, because South Africa is the prime target market for the moment. According to Eurocopter, the EC 635 meets all the South African Air Force requirements.
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Arianespace flight 108 succesfully launched
Arianespace Flug 108 erfolgreich gestartet
During the night of April 28 to 29 (10:53 GMT), Arianespace successfully launched Egypt's first telecommunication satellite Nilsat 101 and the Japanese satellite BSAT-1b. Flight 108 was carried out by an Ariane 44P, the European launcher's version with four solid-propellant strap-on boosters. Flight 108 used the 78th out of 116 Ariane 4 launchers ordered to date from the European space industry. Nilesat 101 is the first satellite launched for a country on the African continent. The direct TV broadcast satellite (DBS) was designed and built for the Egyptian company Nilesat by Matra Marconi Space (France) under a tumkey contract. BSAT-1b, the second satellite in the new BSAT series, was built and delivered by Hughes Space & Communications. BSAT-1b will enable B-SAT to consolidate its coverage area and its service offerings. The next Ariane launch (109) is scheduled for late June. Following flight 108, Arianespace has 39 satellites to be launched.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Still no NATO decision an Alliance Ground Surveilance
Studien über NATO-Aufklärer gehen in die nächste Runde
On April 27, NATO armaments directors decided to study potential Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) solutions for another year. This is probably the best compromise they could get, because though there is agreement on the military requirement for AGS some extremely complicated questions of technology, force mix and especially finance are as elusive as ever. The Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD) which met in Brussels, was attended by Pentagon acquisition chief Jacques Gansler and his 15 alliance counterparts.The CNAD has repeatedly delayed making a decision on AGS, which originally was to have gotten underway in November 1996. Under the AGS program, NATO wants to acquire both wide-area and tactical airborne surveillance systems to support peacekeeping and wartime operations without relying on national systems and personnel. The options that NATO is now scrutinizing were submitted over the past six months after the CNAD last November rejected a U.S. proposal that the alliance rapidly procure the Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS). The United States has been pressuring NATO to adopt a fast-track acquisition approach to AGS--with an in-service date of around 2003-- that would have favored the Joint STARS.
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Lufthansa restarts pilot training
Wieder Pilotenausbildung für die Lufthansa
After a two-year break, Lufthansa has restarted training ab-initio pilots for its own needs at the Bremen Lufthansa Flight Training school. The first course got under way on April 28 with 28 participants, using a new syllabus. Pilots moving on to Lufthansa will have cost 120000 DM to train to the exacting standards of the company, which includes subjects like crew coordintion. Flying during the 22 month course is conducted both at Bremen and at Phoenix in Arizona. Lufthansa claims that job opportunities are better than for a long time, as it plans a fleet expansion in the next few years. Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Russia to bring Mir down
Mir-Orbit wird niedriger
According to President of the space-rocket corporation Energiya Yuri Semyonov. the space station Mir's orbit will be made lower and closer to the dense layers of the atmosphere as early as this May. The end of Mir will mark an end to Russia's world leadership in space exploration in orbit, that has lasted for decades. Russia will henceforth be able to perform only supporting roles in the space exploration saga that began in the second half of this century, Semyonov said. A Progress space ferry will be launched on May 15 to take a supply of extra fuel to Mir, which, Semyonov said, will be used for the first, "small lowering" of its orbit. Every next supply ship will deliver more fuel to bring Mir even lower in orbit from its present 400-kilometer to a 150-kilometre altitude by December 1999. Thereafter Mir will get an additional push from its rocket motors to send it plunging into the ocean. Mir will not plummet however but go down slowly as the 120-tonne station is not easy to speed up. Besides, it will remain habitable and able to earn foreign currency within its remaining eighteen months in orbit with French and Slovak astronauts visiting and the Russian-US Mir-Shuttle programme being brought to completion.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Four Big U.S. Airlines to Form Two Alliances
Weitere Konzentration in der US-Airline-Branche
Four of the U.S. largest airlines may form two huge domestic alliances that will bring great impact for the transportation industry which has been undertaking hot consolidation process in recent years. United Airlines said it has suspended talks with Delta Air Lines about a pact that would include sharing frequent-flier deals and allowing passengers to transfer easily between airlines. Though the two sides were very close to an agreement, they would not disclose why talks were halted. United said they may not resume. The news came following the American Airlines and US Airways announced a similar alliance. Northwest Airlines, the fourth largest carrier, has already announced it would buy a 519 million U.S. dollars stake in the sixth largest Continental Airlines in a deal that would link their route systems. To form operational alliance between airliners has become a global trend in the industry. because the alliances are important cost-reducing way for airlines concerned about filling empty seats. In the American-US Airways alliance, the companies said they will let passengers use frequent-flier miles on either airline and may eventually code-share their flights, meaning they will allow transfers between their planes.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Hughes goes to Moon to salvage satellite
Rettungsmanöver für Asiasat 3
Hughes engineers are completing a first-of-its-kind experimental mission that will swing a communications satellite around the moon in an attempt to reposition it to provide service on Earth. The spacecraft, originally called AsiaSat 3, has been stranded in a lower-than-planned orbit since its failed launch on Christmas Day of last year. During the last several weeks, Hughes controllers have fired the satellite's onboard rocket motor -- called the liquid apogee motor -- several times to raise it out of its elliptical orbit of 350 kilometers by 36,000 kilometers (217 miles by 22,300 miles). The final firing, on May 7, will send it on a 9-day round trip to the moon. If successful, the satellite is expected back in a circular orbit over the equator by the end of May. The satellite's orbital slot and new name are to be
determined. At present, it is informally referred to as HGS-1. The untried maneuver involves sending the spacecraft into a three-dimensional, figure-8 orbit around the moon, using lunar gravity to fling the satellite back into a usable Earth orbit.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Construction of Space Station faces further delays
Weitere Verzögerungen für Raumstation
Specialists from the project member-countries of the ISS have proposed to launch the first element of the station in November-December 1998 instead of June 30, it was revealed in Moscow. The final decision will likely be taken in May when heads of the space agencies of Russia, the United States, Europe and Japan gather in in the Russian capital. The delay is caused by problems of two participants in the project -- Russia, which lacks money to finalize the third segment of the station, and the United States, which does not have enough time to supply the station's fourth element with software, it is said. Thus, there is no sense to launch the first segment -- the Russian functional cargo unit -- in June. The unit was ready for the launch several months ago and the last examinations underway in Baikonur.Specialists hope to solve problems with the station segments in the six months. It is planned to launch the third segment -- the Russian service module -- in April 1999. The module carries all life-sustenance systems and the first crew will be able to go to the station as soon as the module is launched. General Director of the Russian Space Agency Yuri Koptev said in March that he had government guarantees for the sufficient financing of the work on the service module.
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NATO marks five years of combined operations over Balkans
Jubiläum für gemeinsame NATO-Operationen über Ex-Jugoslawien
NATO recently marked the fifth anniversary of ist Combined Air Operations Center, or CAOC, at Vicenza, Italy, the alliance's first organization to engage combat air power in an active theater of operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina. For five years, the center has directed the most lethal and proven combination of air power in NATO's 49-year history. NATO activated the CAOC April 15, 1993 as a NATO-unique agency tasked with managing 50 aircraft enforcing a no-fly zone over Bosnia. Located between the Italian Alps and the canals of Venice, today the center directs more than 75 aircraft in missions over Bosnia. Nearly 450 airmen -- representing 14 allied nations -- plan missions, develop strategies and create air tasking orders designed to enforce compliance with the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords.In a small, darkened room at the heart of the CAOC, allied officers sit side-by-side keeping a 24-hour watch on computer readouts and wall-size displays that provide air traffic, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information. From this room, the CAOC director governs the daily engagement of NATO aircraft over specified targets in the Balkans. "During the past five years, this center has provided protective air cover for United Nations, NATO, and coalition forces, such as the Russian brigade," said Brig. Gen. Scott P. Van Cleef, CAOC director and 16th Air Force deputy commander.
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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN
Sagem SA has successfully completed a series of flight demostration of ist Sperwer unmanned air vehicle (UAV) it Kemijarvi in Finnish Lapland. According to the company, the trials have demonstrated the operational capabilities of the Sperwer system, including real time acquisition and localisation of moving targets. Sperwer is in service with the French Army and in production for the Royal Netherlands and Swedeish armies.+++
Air France will operate a Concorde charter flight from Hahn airport on September 5. At prices of around 2000 DM, passengers can experience a supersonic cruise segment over the North Sea on the way to Paris.
+++
Germany's Thomson-CSF Raumfahrt Dienstleistungen GmbH (TRD) has recently concluded two acquisition operations in Germany designed to increase the company's space ground systems activities. The first acquisition involved SOS (Satellite Operational Services) which is specialized in field services, such as satellite control and telemetry tracking and which is now a wholly owned TRD subsidiary. TRD's second acquisition involved purchasing the supply and support space operations business from Elektronik and Luftfahrtgeräte GmbH (Elkeluft).
+++
The Xi'an Aircraft Industry (Group) Co. Ltd. In northwest China's Shaanxi Province has signed contracts involving outer wings for 110 ATR42 planes. It previously manufactured 44 similar panels.
+++
On April 29, Akjuit Aerospace Incorporated launched its first rocket at 7:10 a.m. from the SpacePort Canada sounding rocket complex, located near Churchill, Manitoba. A Black Brant 9 carried a Canadian Space Agency space physics payload approximately 400 kilometres above the earth to conduct a number of scientific experiments. This important mission, named "ACTIVE", supported two of Canada's most ambitious space science projects - the TPA Mars Probe, Canada's first mission to Mars, and OSIRIS, widely considered to be the world's most advanced ozone measuring instrument.
+++
THY Turkish Airlines has placed a firm order with Airbus Industrie for the purchase of two more A340-300s, re-ordering the European four-engined ultra-long range aircraft, which it became one of the first to operate in June 1993. This new deal brings to seven the A340s ordered by the carrier. The two additional aircraft, which will be powered by four CFM56-5C4 engines from CFM International, are scheduled for delivery in spring 1999 and 2000. The A340 has enabled THY to open many non-stop routes from Istanbul, such as New York, Chicago, Bangkok, Tokyo and Osaka, Beijing, Johannesburg and Cape Town.
+++
On April 27, Airbus Industrie became the first manufacturer of large aircraft to commit to include on all its aircraft a safety system from AlliedSignal that shows pilots a display of nearby terrain and sounds an alert a full minute before encountering terrain. "AlliedSignal's Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning system (EGPWS) will be standard equipment on every aircraft we make after 1999," said Alain Garcia, Airbus vice president of engineering. Airbus manufactures approximately 300 aircraft per year. "Although the Federal Aviation Administration has announced it will make EGPWS mandatory on flights in airspace it controls, Airbus' forward-thinking action will help assure passengers all over the world that they have the most advanced protection against flight into terrain," said Frank Daly, vice president and general manager of AlliedSignal's Air Transport & Regional business.
+++
Three leading Latin American airlines have combined to provide International Aero Engines (IAE) with the biggest single order in the consortium's history. Grupo Taca, LanChile and TAM Brazil have selected the V2500 to power 88 firm and 87 option Airbus Industrie A319 and A320 aircraft in a deal potentially worth around $2.3 billion. Deliveries begin next year. Describing the victory as "a landmark deal," IAE's President and CEO Barry Eccleston said: "The industry has long recognized Latin America as an area of great potential growth. This is a significant development which turns that into a reality. As well as broadening our relationship with Grupo Taca we are delighted to add two such prestigious airlines as LanChile and TAM to our growing family of customers in the region."
+++
Tunisian airline Nouvelair has become a new Airbus customer with the order for an A320, plus an option on two other aircraft. It will replace leased MD-80 of the company, which operates between Tunisian holiday resorts and European destinations.
+++
Debate on the Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopter procurement by the defence budget approvals committee of the Bundestag (German parliament) has been pushed back into early May. According to parliamentary sources, the 160 helicopters (80 of them for France) will cost a total of 6,549 billion DM. Includng tax and some ancillary contracts, Germany will have to spend just over five billion, giving a staggering 63 million DM price tag per Tiger.
+++
Airbus Industrie has delivered its first A330-200 widebody long-range airliner. The machine was handed over to Canada 3000 on April 30 at Toulouse, but is actually owned by International Lease Finance. It will be used on the worldwide route network of the Canadian charter carrier.
+++
In a press preview on the ILA '98 airshow, which will take place from May 18 at Berlin-Schönefeld airport, the organisers have claimed an overwhelming success, with 773 exhibitors, a jump of 34 per cent compared with the 1996 event. A new hall has been added and the ramp space doubled to 4200 sq m. Despite all this, ILA will once again not cover its costs of 12 million DM and continues to depend on subsidies from Berlin and Brandenburg of at least two million DM. Also, the German government comes in with an unspecified sum to cover the special "Berlin Airlift 50th Anniversary" part of the show.
+++
Basle-Mulhouse airport has announced plans to invest 1,5 billion French Francs over the coming seven years in an effort to cope with the expected doubling of traffic. Two thirds of the money will go towards extending the terminal buidlings so that five million passengers can be handled. Contributions to the investments will come from the airport itself, from France and Switzerland and from Crossair, which has its home base at Basle-Mulhouse.
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Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen ist nach wie vor abrufbar:
April 26, 1998
April 19, 1998
April 5, 1998
March 29, 1998
March 22, 1998
March 15, 1998
March 8, 1998
February 22, 1998
February 15, 1998
February 8, 1998
February 1, 1998
January 25, 1998
January 18, 1998
January 11, 1998
January to December 1997
September to December 1996
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Last updated April 30, 1998
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