FLEET / ROUTES - CORENDON DUTCH ADDS LEASED CANADA JETLINES A320-200 / G-GJLQ IN NS24

Photo:Bjorn Van der Velpen

Corendon Dutch Airlines in Northern summer 2024 season is leasing Airbus A320 aircraft from Canada Jetlines, mainly operating on following routes throughout the season from 19APR24.

Amsterdam – Burgas
Maastricht – Antalya
Maastricht – Burgas
Maastricht – Irakleion
Maastricht – Palma de Mallorca
Maastricht – Malaga
Maastricht – Zakynthos
Rotterdam – Al Hoceima
Rotterdam – Antalyta
Rotterdam – Izmir
Rotterdam – Kayseri

AIRPORT - Los Angeles International Airport - 03/ 2024

K.C.Wong
 

AIRPORT - EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg - 05/2024

Paul Bannwarth

 

AIRLINE - Riyadh Air (Saudi Arabia) plans to expand its fleet with additional aircraft orders, including a large narrowbody order, on top of the 2023 order for 39 B787-9 jets, with options for 33 more.

 

M Jets Air (Malaysia) has entered into an aircraft charter agreement with Teleport Everywhere (Singapore).

MJets will provide an aircraft on charter for Teleport as per the agreed flight program from 09 May 2024.

NEW AIRLINE - Fly Phoenix (UK), a 100% Zimbabwean-owned business venture, plans to launch non-stop operations from London to Harare by June 2024 with a chartered A330-200.

 

FLEET - Croatia Airlines is set to take delivery of the first of 15 A220 in just over a month. The first jet will arrive in June and the second in November 2024.

Photo: Croatia
 

FLEET - Hong Kong Airlines plans to introduce eight new aircraft in 2024, including A320, A321 and A330, and plans to add 10 additional aircraft every year in the future to meet operational needs

Photo: Hong Kong

FLEET - AlphaSky (Kazakhstan) took delivery of one B747-400F, serial 27914, on lease and powered by CFM56-3C1 engines.

 

REBRANDS - Asia Atlantic Airlines rebrands to Air Thailand

Asia Atlantic Airlines (Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) has rebranded to AirThailand (Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) and according to its website intends to start operations in August 2024 with either A330-200 or A330-300 stock.

After briefly operating passenger charter flights to Japan and China on behalf of its parent, the Japanese travel company HIS Group, as well as some domestic operations, Asia Atlantic Airlines ceased operations in mid-2018, putting its two B767-300ERs into storage. Despite reports of a restart, it has never managed to do so.

Late last year, ch-aviation reported that an entity called Asia Atlantic Airlines Co. Ltd was planning to start scheduled flight operations in 2024. The entity said it had received a five-year operating licence (OL) in August 2023 and had applied to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) for an air operator's certificate (AOC). The CAAT's latest AOC status data, published on April 11, 2024, lists the pending Asia Atlantic Airlines Co. Ltd application. The original AOC, issued in 2017, lapsed in December 2022.

Air Thailand's website says it will connect Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Tokyo Narita four times per week using Airbus widebodies. The still-valid OL authorised the company to acquire three A330 types. "This transition [to Air Thailand] builds on our longstanding legacy of high customer satisfaction and a steadfast commitment to quality, service, and excellence," the website reads.

The company also lists its recent key achievements as diplomatic engagement with the Thai Consulate in Dubai regarding the start of Dubai International-Phuket and Dubai-Bangkok flights; the signing of a memorandum of understanding with ALTA United Arab Emirates concerning Hajj and Umrah charters; "strategic discussions" with Airbus at the recent Singapore Air Show; and discussions with AMECO Beijing about maintenance services for the A330s.

ch-aviation has contacted Air Thailand for comment.

SPECIAL SCHEME - German Airways (Adler c_s) EMB190 / D-AJHW

Ton Jochems - AMS
 

FLEET - JetBlue to give older A320s second life

JetBlue Airways (B6, New York JFK) has committed to purchasing twelve A320-200s, which were set to be returned to lessors, and return them to service in order to cope with near-term growth constraints stemming from the Pratt & Whitney engine recalls.

US journalist Seth Miller reported that N503JB (msn 1123) is set to be one of the airframes that will return to JetBlue’s fleet, following a retrofit into a new 162-seat configuration and updated inflight entertainment as with the rest of the hybrid carrier's fleet. The plane was ferried to Marana on August 2023, FlightRadar24 ADS-B data shows, and has not operated since.

ch-aviation’s research has revealed that two other stored JetBlue A320s, N509JB (msn 1270) and N510JB (msn 1280), were recently moved from Marana to México City International, where they may be undergoing maintenance with Mexicana MRO Services.

The ch-aviation fleets module shows eleven A320-200s in JetBlue’s fleet still with the older 150-seat configuration (108 in economy and 42 in economy plus) namely: N503JB, N504JB (msn 1156), N505JB (msn 1173), N506JB (msn 1235), N516JB (msn 1302), N517JB (msn 1327), N519JB (msn 1398), N520JB (msn 1446), N521JB (msn 1452), N523JB (msn 1506), and N524JB (msn 1528).

JetBlue was not immediately available for comment.

It recently confirmed it is working towards reaching a compensation agreement with Pratt & Whitney but did not disclose the amount. The carrier expects an average of 11 aircraft (between A321-200NX and A220-300s) to be out of service for the remainder of the year due to the GTF issue. The groundings will peak “in the low teens” in the late second to early third quarter.

The US carrier has further optionality and could extend the life of approximately thirty A320s in total, representing about 10% of its fleet, Ursula Hurley, chief financial officer, said.

The ch-aviation fleets module shows JetBlue’s fleet comprises 304 aircraft, including twenty-nine A220-300s, 130 A320-200s, sixty-three A321-200s, twenty-three A321-200NX, eleven A321-200NX(LR)s, and forty-eight E190s.

CH Aviation

Photos:Duncan Stewart

 

FLEET - Korean Air to take first B787-10 in mid-2Q24, sells B747-8s

Korean Air (KE, Seoul Incheon) will take delivery of the first of ten B787-10s supplied by Air Lease Corporation (ALC) later this month. The lessor's CEO, John L Plueger, confirmed the upcoming deliveries in a May 8 earnings call.

Korean Air has 20 of the type on order among a larger portfolio of seven B787-9s, twenty-two B737-8s, thirty-nine A321-200Ns, one A321-200NX, twenty-seven A350-1000s, and six A350-900s. The Korean Air deliveries are part of a broader portfolio of aircraft that ALC expects to deliver to customers around Asia this year and next. The lessor says the region remains a global hotspot for aircraft demand amid double-digit passenger growth in many markets there.

Meanwhile, Korean Air has sold five B747-8s to US aerospace firm Sierra Nevada Corporation. The airline disclosed the KRW918.3 billion won (USD672 million) transaction in a May 8 regulatory filing. The airline said the sale was part of its mid- to long-term fleet renewal and disposal plan. The sale is scheduled to be completed in September 2025. The filing did not disclose the specific aircraft sold. However, Reuters cited a source familiar with the matter saying they were B747-8s. Korean Air operates nine of the type, with two currently inactive.

Sierra Nevada recently secured a USD13 billion United States Air Force contract for the Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) programme to develop a successor to the E-4B. The new aircraft is expected to start flying in 2036.