DTN News - BOEING NEWS / AIRLINE NEWS: Boeing, Cathay Pacific Announce Order For 12 777s

DTN News - BOEING NEWS / AIRLINE NEWS: Boeing, Cathay Pacific Announce Order For 12 777s

**777 Freighter celebrates new customer Cathay Pacific's total 777-300ER commitment reaches 50

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Boeing

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada / Hong Kong - August 12, 2011: Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Cathay Pacific Airways today announced the Hong Kong-based carrier has ordered eight Boeing 777 Freighters and four 777-300ER (extended range) airplanes. The order is valued at $3.3 billion at list prices. With this announcement, Cathay Pacific becomes the 15th customer to order the 777 Freighter and increases its Boeing 777-300ER fleet to 50.

"We are very pleased to announce this latest Boeing order, which highlights our commitment to operating a modern and efficient fleet together with a deep commitment to our home city, Hong Kong," said John Slosar, Cathay Pacific Chief Executive. "The Boeing 777-300ER is a superb aircraft that has already given a significant boost to our long-haul passenger operations, while the Boeing 777 Freighter will improve our freighter operations by delivering improved payload range capability at competitive operating costs." "The Boeing 777 Freighter, together with the other new aircraft types, will provide us with exactly the right balance in our fleet portfolio through to the end of the decade along with a more efficient and environmentally friendly operation," Slosar added. "We thank Cathay Pacific for its continued confidence in the 777-300ER and for its selection of the 777 Freighter," said Marlin Dailey, vice president of Sales & Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We look forward to working with Cathay to introduce the 777 Freighter into its cargo operations, and are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Cathay as it continues to build upon its success as a global long-haul carrier." Including this order, Cathay Pacific has 36 777s in backlog, and already operates 35 777s direct from Boeing. The 777-300ER is the world's largest long-range twin-engine jetliner, capable of carrying 365 passengers up to 7,930 nautical miles (14,685 kilometers). To date 34 customers around the world have ordered more than 500 777-300ERs. The 777 Freighter will position Cathay Pacific Airways to take advantage of the high air cargo traffic growth projected for Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific region. The airplane is the world's longest range twin-engine freighter. Providing cargo capacity normally associated with larger airplanes, the 777 freighter can fly 4,900 nautical miles (9,070 kilometers) with a full payload of 225,200 pounds (102 metric tons). Contact: Wang Yukui Boeing China +86 10 5925 5588 yukui.wang@boeing.com Photo and caption are available here: http://boeing.mediaroom.com/ Boeing Related News;

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*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Boeing

*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News

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DTN News - CHINA NEWS: China Recalls Bullet Trains In New Blow To Technology

DTN News - CHINA NEWS: China Recalls Bullet Trains In New Blow To Technology

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Fayen Wong and Chris Buckley - Reuters

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada / SHANGHAI/BEIJING, China - August 12, 2011:

China's second-biggest train maker will recall 54 bullet trains used on the new showcase Beijing-Shanghai line for safety reasons, the firm said on Friday, dealing a fresh blow to the nation's scandal-plagued rail system.

The recall of the trains by China CNR Corp Ltd comes three weeks after 40 people were killed in a high-speed rail crash, which triggered public fury, unusually bold media coverage and a freeze on approvals for new railway projects.

China's high-speed rail drive was until recently held up by senior government officials as a trophy of the nation's technological prowess. Now it has become a political albatross, drawing scorn from many citizens long frustrated with the hulking railways ministry.

China's fast-growing microblog websites have served to amplify that public anger, and the recall drew more catcalls on Sina's popular Weibo site (weibo.com).

"Wasn't this locomotive the most advanced type, and put into use only after many tests? So how come the problems were discovered after they were put into operation? What a miracle," wrote one Weibo user.

"Can we also recall the Ministry of Railways?," asked another.

Officials blamed July's crash first on a lightning strike and then on faulty signals technology. But on Friday, Chinese media quoted a senior investigator as saying the crash also exposed management failings and could have been avoided.

"There were serious flaws in the system design that led to an equipment failure," said Luo Lin, the minister of China's State Administration of Work Safety, who is leading the probe.

"At the same time, this exposed problems in emergency response and safety management after the failure occurred," the Beijing Times cited Luo as saying.

"This was a major accident involving culpability that could have been totally avoided," he said.

Industry analyst Lu Zhou said the recalls added to signs that China's high-speed railway boom faced bleak times.

"The government is putting a sudden brake on China's high-speed railway story, and we must wait for the bad days to pass over," said Lu, an analyst with Everbright Securities in Shanghai who follows China's high-speed railway train makers.

"A Great Leap Forward-style movement in China's high-speed railway is changing abruptly to a period of silence, and that could last a few years," he said.

The Great Leap Forward was Mao Zedong's disastrous effort in the late 1950s to catapult China into communist prosperity.

But China could not afford to curtail train investment in the longer-term, said Luo.

"After all, China's railway system can't go back to the old days of shabby green cars," he said.

RECALL COULD HIT STEEL, CEMENT DEMAND

The recall and a decision to cut the top speeds of bullet trains nonetheless reflected a rethink by government leaders jolted into considering the risks of high-speed rail growth, said Zhao Jian, an expert on rail at Beijing Jiaotong University who has long criticized the bullet train expansion.

China has been working for years to develop a high-speed rail network to rival Japan's famed bullet trains, and last year investment on the sector hit a record high of 749.5 billion yuan ($117.2 billion).

Japanese bullet trains have not had any accidents involving injuries or deaths since they started running in 1964, according to a Transport Ministry official in Tokyo.

Even before last month's crash and resulting furor, China's railways sector was under a cloud. The railways minister, Liu Zhijun, a key figure behind the boom in the sector, was dismissed in February over corruption charges that have not yet been tried in court.

As well as the embarrassment for the ruling Communist Party, the slowdown in high-speed rail building could bite into demand for steel, said UOB Kay Hian commodities analyst Helen Lau.

Passengers waiting to board bullet trains from Beijing to Shanghai said they were not worried by news of the recall.

"The risk of an accident is definitely greater on these fast trains, but flying isn't any safer," said Zhang Kelong, a building materials salesman who said he was taking the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed service for the first time.

The government is stepping up safety demands, he noted.

"So the likelihood of another accident happening is small," he said. "Let's just say I would have to be very unlucky for that to happen."

Train maker CNR's President Cui Dianguo said the CRH380B-trains had "experienced a number of quality failings," and the recall would lead to a cut in services on the 1,318 kilometer (820 mille) Beijing-Shanghai route, which takes about 5 hours.

In an earlier statement, the state-owned company said it found faults in signaling systems, sensors and communications components on the trains, which it blamed for delays in service.

Cui did not say how many services would be cut. But the rail ministry said it would reduce the number of trains using the high-speed line by a quarter, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

CNR's rival, China South Locomotive, built both of the trains involved in the crash last month.

The worries over high-speed rail are likely to force central government leaders to drastically reform the Ministry of Railways, possibly merging it into a transport super-ministry, said Zhao, the Beijing professor.

The ministry thwarted an effort to do that a few years ago.

"Now, it's going to happen sooner or later," said Zhao, referring to the merger. "That's the whole direction of reform, and it won't change. But I don't know when it will happen."

(Additional reporting by Zhou Xin, Sally Huang, Michael Martina and Chris Buckley in Beijing; Editing by Ken Wills and John Chalmers)

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources

By Fayen Wong and Chris Buckley - Reuters

*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News

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