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UPDATE 
Week ending September 27, 1998
+++ Dr. Lammert receives Aerospace Trophy +++ Five leading airlines link-up for oneworld +++ Hochtief wins Berlin airport construction contest +++ Ariane 503 launch now scheduled for 20 October +++ Boeing finishes upgrade on Shuttle "Atlantis" +++ News in Brief +++

Dr. Lammert receives Aerospace Trophy
Aerospace-Trophäe für Staatssekretär Dr. Lammert

Dr. Norbert Lammert, until the electons on Sunday a state secretary in the German transport ministry and responsible for coordinating the governments policy regarding the aerospace industry, is the recipient of this years Aerospace Trophy. The trophy is awarded by leading German aerospace publications FLUG REVUE and aerokurier, both published by the Motor-Presse Stuttgart group. According to publisher Peter-Paul Pietsch, Dr. Lammert has great merits in pushing the industry towards European restructuring, to secure worldwide competitiveness and an equal footing when cooperations deals are done with the large US groups. Also, Dr. Lammers has not overlooket the small and medium enterprises in Germany's General Aviation sector. A handover ceremony will be heldd on December 3 in Bonn.

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Five leading airlines link-up for oneworld
Oneworld: Die neue Luftverkehrs-Allianz

On September 21,five of the world's leading airlines -- American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Qantas Airways -- announced a new global alliance, named oneworld. Beginning early next year, the five airlines will together phase in a wide range of initiatives designed to provide greater customer benefits, including more information and support, greater value and increased opportunities for rewards and recognition. Oneworld will enable each carrier to offer customers services and products that it cannot provide by itself, responding to changes in the global airline marketplace.
Further details on all aspects of the oneworld customer benefits will be unveiled in the coming months. The shared oneworld brand augments existing relationships between American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Qantas Airways. While it does not specifically apply to their cargo activities, the airlines involved are working on a series of initiatives to enable them to offer improved services to their freight and mail customers. The announcement is the culmination of months of planning by teams from the five airlines, built on their established relationships and based on research conducted among travelers on all six continents.

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Hochtief wins Berlin airport construction contest
Hochtief soll Großflughafen Berlin bauen

A consortium led by construction group Hochtief (53,6 per cent) has been selected for the detailed negotiation on the construction of Berlins new mega-airport at the Schönefeld site. It beat the IVG Holding AG and will now go on to sign a memorandum of understanding on the framework of the dealings with the currently state-owned Berlin Brandenburg Flughafen Holding GmbH. Besides Hochtief, Flughafen Frankfurt (23,8 %), ABB Calor Schaltanlagen AG (12,6 per cent) and Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG (10 per cent) are members of the consortium. It is planned to have the new airport facilities ready by 2007.

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Ariane 503 launch now scheduled for 20 October
Nächste Ariane 5 soll im Oktober starten

On Monday, 21 September 1998 ESA and CNES held the Launcher qualification Review in Evry, France. The review concluded that Ariane 503 launcher design justification files were progressing correctly. It also noted that modifications and testing at Kourou had been taken into account. The launch campaign, which is being conducted by Arianespace, was resumed on 7 September and has been proceeding without incident. The next major step is transfer of the vehicle from the launcher integration building to the final assembly building, currently planned for 3 October. The target launch date is now Tuesday, 20 October 1998, with a window opening at 01:00 PM local time (12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time USA, 04:00 PM GMT or 6:00 PM Central European Time). Flight 503 is the final qualification flight, carried out under ESA responsibility. The launcher is the first unit of a production batch ordered by Arianespace from European industry.

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Boeing finishes upgrade on Shuttle "Atlantis"
Space Shuttle "Atlantis" wieder einsatzbereit

Fresh from a 10-month tune-up at the Boeing Reusable Space Systems Palmdale facility, Space Shuttle Atlantis emerged from a cavernous hanger in the desert as a new bird, both inside and out. 68 million US-Dollars have been expended on the Atlantis orbiter major modification (OMM) project. "The Atlantis modifications represent a major milestone for NASA, United Space Alliance and Boeing that will help ensure the Shuttle remains a versatile, reliable and safe workhorse for human spaceflight well into the next century." United Space Alliance (USA) President and Chief Executive Officer Russ Turner said. Boeing conducted the Atlantis work under contract to USA, the prime contractor for NASA's Shuttle program.
During this most extensive OMM ever performed, Atlantis received a comprehensive structural inspection and more than 100 major modifications aimed at better, safer and more efficient vehicle performance and expanded mission capabilities. The structural inspection entailed literally disassembling and then reassembling many of the vehicle's 2,000,000 components. Inspectors scoured every inch of the 13-1/2 year-old ship using the latest technologies to search for possible fatigue, corrosion, or broken rivets or welds. The highlight of this OMM-Atlantis second-was the Shuttle fleet's first installation of a $9 million "glass cockpit" called the Multifunction Electronic Display Subsystem (MEDS). Technicians literally gutted Atlantis' cockpit to replace four existing cathode ray tube screens and numerous mechanical gauges and instruments with full-color flat-panel displays. Developed by Honeywell Space Systems, Phoenix, Ariz., MEDS is a space-qualified adaptation of the display technology used on the Boeing 777. Atlantis was also equipped to become the first orbiter to be guided by satellite-based navigation. The current TACAN navigation system was removed and replaced with a triply-redundant system that operates through signals from the Boeing-built Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, the world's most accurate navigation system.
An additional series of modifications has enabled Atlantis to join sister ships Discovery and Endeavour in supporting ISS construction, which begins this fall. The docking system Atlantis has used for seven missions to Russia's Mir space station was modified to become a fully functional airlock complete with spacesuit services and crew communications capabilities.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

Sichuan Airlines has taken delivery of its first A321 at a ceremony in Hamburg where the aircraft is assembled. This is the first of two A321s and two A320s the airline has purchased directly from Airbus Industrie. The aircraft will join Sichuan Airlines' existing Airbus fleet of three leased A320s. The handover also marks the beginning of the A321's entry into the Chinese market. China placed a repeat order for 30 A320 family aircraft -- which includes A321s -- in May 1997, building on its successful operation of the A320s.
+++
Iberia of Spain has announced its intention to acquire up to 11 additional A340-300s, renewing its confidence in the four-engine, ultra long-range aircraft produced by Airbus Industrie. The announcement was made by Xabier de Irala, President of Iberia, and Nöel Forgeard, Airbus Industrie Chief Executive Officer. The Memorandum of Understanding includes six firm aircraft and five options. Delivery of the newly ordered aircraft will start in November 1999. The newly ordered A340-300s will feature a spacious 249-seat layout, offering accommodation for five passengers in first class, 42 in business and 202 in economy, and equipped with the very latest in passenger entertainment and communications. Iberia currently operates a fleet of eight CFM56-5-powered A340s, mainly from Madrid to several U.S. and Latin American destinations as well as to South Africa.
+++
On September 18, Boeing delivered its first Next-Generation 737-600 to launch customer Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS). The 737-600, marked in SAS' new livery, is scheduled to enter service Oct. 25, flying from Stockholm, Sweden to Paris. The airline currently has 55 Next-Generation 737s on order with options for 40 more.
+++
Due to the current turmoil in the financial markets, Austrian Airlines has decided to postpone a planned capital rise. In May, the shareholders had authorised the management to rise the capital of 2600 million Shilling by another 1300 million Shilling until 2003. A first tranche of 800 million Shilling was to have been offered this autumn.
+++
The boards of directors of Lockheed Martin Corporation and COMSAT Corporation (NYSE:CQ) have jointly announced their two companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement providing for the combination of COMSAT with Lockheed Martin in a two-phase transaction valued at approximately $2.7 billion. Upon completion of the transaction, COMSAT will become an integral element of Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications, a wholly owned subsidiary recently formed to provide satellite network-based solutions and develop terrestrial networking technologies for corporate and government customers worldwide.
+++
Air Engiadina has flown its 500000th passenger. The ceremony was held at London City Airport, the first international destination of the Swiss regional airline.
+++
Turkey's Defense Ministry has contracted the Israel Aircraft Industries to upgrade F-5 fighters. A spokesman for the Israel Aircraft Industries says the $70 million deal calls for refitting 48 planes so that they would serve as trainers for pilots slated to fly Turkey's F-16s. The 3-year contract provides the IAI, with Israel's Elbit and Singapore Aerospace as sub-contractors, will change the F-5's cockpits, and install new avionics systems. The work will be done in Turkey's plant at Eskisehir with local air force personnel.
+++
Air Dolomiti has been awarded the "Airline of the Year" trophy by the European Regional Airlines Association. It was handed over on September 24 at the associations general assembly in Hannover. Air Dolomiti is a partner of Lufthansa.
+++
Russia has put off for two weeks the launch of a Progress M-40 cargo ship which was to bring New Year gifts to the crew of the Mir station, said Russian Space Agency manned mission programme chief Mikhail Sinelshchikov. He said the launch, originally scheduled for October 15, was postponed because of the "most banal" reason -- short funds. Sinelshchikov said the RSA's financial straits had prevented it from buying a Soyuz-U booster rocket from Samara's Progress factory, the maker of Soyuzes. He said he hoped the problem would be resolved soon. As for the Progress cargo ship, it is complete and staying at the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan.
+++
Willi Hermsen, director of the Munich airport, has been elected as chairman of the ADV (German Airports Association) for 1999.
+++
Looking for creative new ways to help pay for the exploding cost of the International Space Station, now estimated at $24 billion, NASA has cooked up a public broadcasting-like scheme of corporate sponsorship. As part of a congressionally mandated report to be delivered to Administrator Daniel S. Goldin later this month, the space agency will propose selling the rights to display corporate names and logos during NASA media events such as press briefings given by space shuttle astronauts, according to Science & Government Report, a newsletter published by Technical Insights. As for cashing in on the entertainment market, NASA sees movies being made on ISS, once it is built, and the agency could begin selling video footage of space events, such as an asteroid fly-by, instead of giving it away as it now does. And the completed station could also double as a platform for commercial communications and a hotel, presumably for guests with Bill Gates-sized wallets.
+++
Boeing has confirmed the Lufthansa Cargo order for six Boeing MD-11 trijet freighters. Lufthansa Cargo is exercising three options from a previous order and placing a firm order for three additional airplanes. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2000 and continue through 2001. The airline has ordered 14 MD-11 freighters since 1996. Delivery of Lufthansa Cargo's first four airplanes this year marked the airline's start of its comprehensive fleet renewal program, aimed at equipping the company to meet the future challenges of global, integrated air-cargo service.
+++

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Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen sind weiter abrufbar:

*September 20, 1998 *September 13, 1998 *September 6, 1998

*August 30, 1998 *August 23, 1998 *August 16, 1998 *August 9, 1998 *August 2, 1998

*July 26, 1998 *July 19, 1998 *July 12, 1998

*January to June 1998 *January to December 1997 *September to December 1996

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Last updated September 25, 1998
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