K.C.Wong
sexta-feira, 4 de abril de 2025
FLEET - Hong Kong Airlines chases more aircraft for long-haul growth
Hong Kong Airlines (HX, Hong Kong International) is hunting for more aircraft to satisfy passenger demand but will turn to the used aircraft market as wait times for new aircraft extend into the next decade, vice president Zhan Guicai told Bloomberg. “We need more aircraft,” he said. “We will introduce as many as possible.”
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Hainan Airlines Holding-controlled Hong Kong Airlines operates thirty aircraft, including sixteen A320-200s, three A321-200s, and eleven A330-300s. Zhan said that before COVID-19, the airline had around 50 aircraft. There is strong demand for long-haul flights, he said, as evidenced by the success of the recently launched Hong Kong-Vancouver International service, which is enjoying average passenger loads of 90%.
Zhan said he wanted to build the carrier's long-haul network, including starting more flights to Europe and the US, as well as to Melbourne Airport. Services to Sydney Kingsford Smith are due to start in June. Aside from Vancouver and the soon-to-start Sydney flights, Hong Kong Airlines' network is intra-Asia focused, with a lean towards North Asia.
Zhan says the unpredictability of the used aircraft market makes accurate fleet growth projections difficult. But the airline would like to grow the fleet by one-third in the short term and is currently in talks to lease five to ten aircraft, including narrowbodies and widebodies. However, he adds that Hong Kong Airlines considers the B787-8 too small for its long-haul needs, saying that was why it decided to forego the opportunity to buy 19 of them recently put on the market by parent carrier Hainan Airlines (HU, Haikou) and China Southern Airlines (CZ, Guangzhou).
CH Aviation
ROUTES - Fly Angola rebuilds domestic network from Lubango Support
Fly Angola (EQ, Luanda 4 De Fevereiro) resumed domestic services between Luanda 4 De Fevereiro and Lubango in Huíla province on April 1 following a 20-month hiatus as it works to restore its domestic network.
Since March 31, Fly Angola has also connected Lubango 3x weekly with Cabinda, 1x weekly with Benguela, and 1x weekly with Windhoek International in the Namibian capital. This makes it the only airline offering direct connections on these routes, according to CEO Belarnicio Muangala.
He confirmed ADS-B data that the inaugural flight on the Luanda-Lubango route was operated with a Beech 1900D, D2-FFN (msn UE329), chartered for the occasion from Sonair (SOR, Luanda 4 De Fevereiro) due to the unavailability of the airline's own E145s, which will, however, be deployed on all the scheduled flights.
Fly Angola suspended all its domestic flights on August 18, 2023, due to economic and operational constraints exacerbated by a weakening Angolan kwanza, which, at the time, left state-owned TAAG Angola Airlines as the only scheduled domestic player.
Fly Angola's in-house fleet comprises two E145s: D2-FYE (msn 145510), subleased to the airline by International Aircraft Holdings FZCO (IAH), an associated company in Dubai; and D2-FDF (msn 145221) owned by Gestomobil.
Regionally, Fly Angola has been focusing on connections to Namibia. Since March 31, it has been serving Windhoek 2x weekly from Luanda, 3x weekly from Cabinda, and 1x weekly from Lubango.
CH Aviation
ROUTES - AIR CHINA NS25 BEIJING – EUROPE SELECTED AIRCRAFT CHANGES – 03APR25
Air China in recent schedule update filed selected aircraft change between Beijing and Europe. Latest adjustment as of 03APR25 includes the following.
Beijing Capital – London Heathrow eff 20JUN25 CA855/856 3-class 777-300ER replaces A350-900
04JUL25 – 31AUG25 2-class 777-300ER replaces 3-class
Beijing Capital – Paris Charles de Gaulle * CA933/934 11JUN25 – 30JUN25 3-class 777-300ER replaces 2-class
* CA875/876 eff 30APR25 2 of 5 weekly A350-900 replaces 3-class 777-300ER
Photo: Duncan Stewart
ROUTES - VOLOTEA NS25 NETWORK CHANGE – 30MAR25
The following is the summary of Volotea’s network additions during Northern summer 2025 season, including those previously not covered on AeroRoutes since 02MAR25.
Selected routes that have seen changes, as well as not highlighted correctly in previous AeroRoutes report, have been corrected in this post.
Asturias – Castellon 10MAY25 – 11OCT25 2 weekly A319 (A320 from 31MAY25; Briefly scheduled in 2024-25 Holidays period)
Bari – Kefallinia 10JUL25 – 28AUG25 1 weekly A320 (Last served in August 2021)
Bastia – Paris Beauvais eff 06JUL25 2 weekly A320 (A319/320 from 04SEP25; Last served in August 2021) Bordeaux – Alghero 04JUL25 – 29AUG25 2 weekly A320 Bordeaux – Alicante eff 31MAY25 2 weekly A320 (3 weekly 08JUL25 – 28AUG25; Last served until November 2019)
Bordeaux – Bari eff 31MAY25 2 weekly A320 Bordeaux – Mahon eff 01JUN25 2 weekly A320 (Last served in 3Q21)
Bordeaux – Malta eff 30MAY25 2 weekly A320 (Last served until January 2022) Bordeaux – Marseille eff 30MAY25 4 weekly A320
Brest – Irakleion eff 08APR25 1 weekly A320 Florence – Alghero 06JUL25 – 31AUG25 2 weekly A319 Lille – Comiso eff 08APR25 1 weekly A320
Lille – Patrai eff 09APR25 1 weekly A320
Lyon – Salerno 04JUL25 – 29AUG25 2 weekly A319
Marseille – Salerno 06JUL25 – 31AUG25 2 weekly A319 Nantes – Patrai 04JUN25 – 08OCT25 1 weekly A319
Palermo – Bilbao eff 12APR25 2 weekly A320 Palermo – Irakleion 08JUL25 – 26AUG25 1 weekly A320
Paris Orly – Alghero eff 31MAR25 2 weekly A320
Rodez – Ajaccio eff 12APR25 1 weekly A319
Rodez – Bastia eff 12APR25 1 weekly A319
Rodez – Figari eff 13APR25 1 weekly A319
Rodez – Lille eff 02MAY25 2 weekly A319 Rodez – Porto eff 24APR25 2 weekly A319
Strasbourg – Irakleion 07JUL25 – 25AUG25 1 weekly A320 Strasbourg – Lyon eff 04APR25 2 weekly A320 (No service 01JUL25 – 31AUG25)
Toulouse – Rennes eff 01SEP25 2 weekly A319/320
Following routes served in Northern summer 2024 season (excluding those served with less than 2 flights throughout) are not offered in 2025. Note some of these routes never appeared in initial schedule filing nor available for reservations by the fourth quarter of 2024.
Athens – Ancona
Athens – Bordeaux
Athens – Cagliari
Athens – Irakleion
Athens – Mykonos
Athens – Toulouse
Athens – Verona
Bari – Comiso
Bari – Malaga
Bari – Rhodes
Bari – Skiathos
Bari – Toulouse
Bastia – Montpellier
Bilbao – Faro
Bilbao – Paris Orly
Bilbao – Thira
Bordeaux – Dusseldorf
Bordeaux – Hamburg
Bordeaux – Stuttgart
Bordeaux – Thira
Bordeaux – Verona
Cagliari – Ancona
Cagliari – Barcelona
Cagliari – Bilbao
Cagliari – Brindisi
Cagliari – Nantes
Cagliari – Salerno
Cagliari – Turin
Lille – Lanzarote
Lille – Rome Fiumicino
Lille – Tenerife South
Lille – Venice Marco Polo
Lyon – Bilbao
Lyon – Caen
Lyon – Hamburg
Lyon – Kalamata
Lyon – Thira
Madrid – Corvera
Mahon – A Coruña
Mahon – Corvera
Marseille – Annaba
Marseille – Deauville
Marseille – Florence
Marseille – Lanzarote
Marseille – Mykonos
Marseille – Salerno
Montpellier – Deauville (4 flights scheduled in NS24)
Montpellier – Strasbourg
Nantes – Kalamata
Nantes – Thira
Nantes – Vienna
Palermo – Nice
Santander – Ibiza
Santander – Corvera
Strasbourg – Biarritz
Strasbourg – London Gatwick
Thessaloniki – Thira
Toulouse – Catania
Toulouse – Deauville (4 flights scheduled in NS24)
Toulouse – Dubrovnik
Toulouse – Hannover
Toulouse – Kerkyra (Corfu)
Toulouse – Lanzarote
Toulouse – Tenerife South
Toulouse – Thira
Turin – Comiso
Turin – Lampedusa
Turin – Palermo
Valencia – Olbia
Valencia – San Sebastian
Verona – Berlin
Verona – Comiso
Verona – Copenhagen
Verona – Prague
Verona – Valencia
Aeroroutes / Photo: Flyingphotos
quinta-feira, 3 de abril de 2025
NEW AIRLINE - Sola Air (Sweden) plans to launch operations on 28 April 2025
ROUTES - KOREAN AIR NS26 PRELIMINARY AIRCRAFT CHANGES – 02APR25
Korean Air since last week filed initial modifications to its Northern summer 2026 operations, effective 29MAR26. Based on comparison to Northern summer 2025, notable adjustments include the following.
Seoul Incheon – Frankfurt eff 29MAR26 787-9 replaces 777-300ER in NS25, 3 weekly
Seoul Incheon – San Francisco eff 29MAR26 1 daily KE023/024 787-10 replaces 777-300ER in NS25 (Currently this route is listed as 7 weekly)
Seoul Incheon – Sydney eff 29MAR26 787-10 service maintained in NS26, replacing 777-300ER in NS25
Seoul Incheon – Vancouver eff 29MAR26 Tentatively filed with 7 weekly flights, instead of 11 weekly in NS25
B777-300 aircraft operations filed for 29MAR26 – 30APR26:
Seoul Incheon – Guam
Seoul Incheon – Manila KE621/622
Historical default A380 schedule (London and Paris), previously filed from 29MAR26, has been removed in last week’s schedule update, leaving the airline once again with no A380 schedule filing for the time being. The filing of A380 London and Paris schedule that briefly appears for 4-week period has been a routine from the carrier when it initially lists the following year’s future schedule every March and October.
Initial changes listed above will see further modifications in the next few months.
Seoul Incheon – Vancouver eff 29MAR26 Tentatively filed with 7 weekly flights, instead of 11 weekly in NS25
B777-300 aircraft operations filed for 29MAR26 – 30APR26:
Seoul Incheon – Guam
Seoul Incheon – Manila KE621/622
Historical default A380 schedule (London and Paris), previously filed from 29MAR26, has been removed in last week’s schedule update, leaving the airline once again with no A380 schedule filing for the time being. The filing of A380 London and Paris schedule that briefly appears for 4-week period has been a routine from the carrier when it initially lists the following year’s future schedule every March and October.
Initial changes listed above will see further modifications in the next few months.
Aeroroutes
Photo: Flyingphotos
NEW AIRLINE - New Namibian flag carrier mooted by YE26 - report
Namibia's new president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, plans to relaunch a new national carrier between June and December 2026 as a public-private partnership (PPP), The Namibian newspaper reported citing presidential spokesman Alfredo Hengari.
Hengari said that a market study would be completed by June 2025, and expressions of interest for the PPP would be finalised by August 2026.
"Negotiations should be concluded by December 2025, and the launch and official operations of the new airline are anticipated between June and December 2026," he stated.
According to the newspaper, the new Namibian president has allocated NAD20 million Namibian dollars (USD1.1 million) for a feasibility study into a national carrier, with funding managed by the Ministry of Works and Transport under minister Veikko Nekundi.
According to a source close to the leadership of the ruling South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO), the president has emphasised the priority of a flag carrier as a symbol of national pride. The implementation plan of SWAPO's election manifesto indicates that NAD3 billion (USD163 million) would be required over the next five years to support a new national airline.
Still, in an address to employees, Nekundi said it was not a matter of "so-called pride" but of "unmeasurable economic contribution" to revive a national airline. He promised that re-establishing a national carrier would not cost the government millions of dollars. He assured Namibians that the new government was "prudent in all its affairs", and, "as such, all necessary steps will be undertaken to ensure that a national airline is devised accordingly."
In his address, filmed by Namibia's One Africa Television, Nekundi explained that the government does not intend to revive Air Namibia (Windhoek International), which was liquidated in February 2021 after costing the nation NAD8 billion (USD435 million) in state bailouts over three decades. "Air Namibia is not coming back. We are not reviving Air Namibia. We are bringing back a national airline. Those are two different things. Air Namibia is gone, but a national airline will be in Namibia," he stated.
Local analysts pointed out that the government's upcoming budget should provide more insight into its funding model for a new national airline and how it would be managed differently from defunct Air Namibia, which was marked by chronic financial instability, unsustainable operational costs, and structural inefficiencies that rendered the airline unprofitable from its inception despite decades of state support.
CH Aviation
Photo: Flyingphotos
quarta-feira, 2 de abril de 2025
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