Flyingphotos Magazine News: novembro 2023

quinta-feira, 30 de novembro de 2023

SPECIAL COLORS - J-Air launched "JAL Myakumyaku JET" from November 28, 2023. "Myakumyaku" is the mascot character of the 2025 Osaka/Kansai Expo

Photo: J-Air

J-Air / Embraer 190STD / JA252J

NEW AIRLINE - NG Eagle (Nigeria) took delivery of two A320s, serials 2157 and 2531, both on wet lease from Heston Airlines (Lithuania), as the carrier plans to start commercial operations on 01 December 2023.

Photo: NG Eagle

FLEET - Easy Charter (Georgia) took delivery of its first A300-600F, serial 521, as it looks to grow its fleet and replace an older A300.

Photos: Easy Charter

Air Samarkand (Uzbekistan) added its first A321, serial 5936, to the fleet. The aircraft is on lease.

Air Smarkand / Instagram

FLEET - Ghadames Air (Libya) add one B777-200, serial 32889, which was acquired via ACMI lease from Alta Airlines Holdings (US).

Ghadames Airlines is a relatively new airline, having been founded in 2021. However, it has quickly become one of the leading airlines in Libya, thanks in part to its modern fleet of aircraft.

The Ghadames Airlines fleet consists of two types of aircraft: the Boeing 777-200 and the Boeing 737-300.

ROUTES - Etihad announces new destinations, capacity increases for summer 2024

Etihad Airways has revealed its 2024 summer flight program, which is expected to see a 25% increase in weekly departures compared to the same period in 2023.
Among the destinations added for the next summer season are four traditional European vacation hotspots, Malaga, Spain (AGP), Nice, France (NCE), and the Greek islands of Santorini (JTR) and Mykonos (JMK).

Etihad also confirmed the launch of previously announced services to Kozhikode (CCJ) and Thiruvananthapuram (TRV), in southern India, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi, Kenya, India, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi, Kenya, and Boston-Logan (BOS).

On top of that, Copenhagen (CPH), Denmark, will become a yearround destination and Athens (ATH), Colombo (CMB) and Bangkok (BKK) will see an additional number of frequencies. CPH and CMB
will see a twice daily service while the Thai capital will operate up to 17 weekly frequencies.

During a Q&A session with journalists at the Dubai Airshow 2023, Etihad CEO, Antonoaldo Neves shared some of his plans for the continued growth of the airline.

In this informal conversation, at which AeroTime was present, Neves reaffirmed his optimistic outlook and appeared unfazed by the geopolitical tension in the region and the launch of new wellfunded competitors in neighboring Saudi Arabia.

India, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi, Kenya, and Boston-Logan (BOS).

On top of that, Copenhagen (CPH), Denmark, will become a yearround destination and Athens (ATH), Colombo (CMB) and Bangkok (BKK) will see an additional number of frequencies. CPH and CMB will see a twice daily service while the Thai capital will operate up to 17 weekly frequencies.

During a Q&A session with journalists at the Dubai Airshow 2023, Etihad CEO, Antonoaldo Neves shared some of his plans for the continued growth of the airline.

In this informal conversation, at which AeroTime was present, Neves reaffirmed his optimistic outlook and appeared unfazed by the geopolitical tension in the region and the launch of new wellfunded competitors in neighboring Saudi Arabia.

Neves mentioned that until quite recently only London was served more than once a day by Etihad, but this was changing.

He noted that Milan and Madrid now have more than one daily frequency and the list will keep growing, with Barcelona being touted as a possible candidate for frequency increase in the near future.

FLEET - Hi Fly (Portugal) has expanded its fleet with the addition of two A330-200s, serial 939 and registration 9H-HFK.

The carrier is currently adding a new aircraft every quarter and this rate is expected to be kept until end of 2024

Photo: FPP

NEW AIRLINE - Senor Air (Mexico) plans to begin operations on 08 December 2023 with one ERJ135, serial 145450, flying out of Cabo San Lucas.

Where we fly
Cabo San Lucas
Los Mochis
Mazatlán
Puerto Vallarta
Guadalajara
Mexico City AIFA

SENOR AIR

ROUTES - JetBlue seeks 840 slots at Lisbon Airport for summer 2024, as the carrier expands its transatlantic offering.

Ton Jochems - AMS

quarta-feira, 29 de novembro de 2023

NEW AIRLINE - Regional airline Fly91 receives govt approval, targets Oct launch

Goa-based carrier is promoted by former executives of Fairfax and Kingfisher

Fly91, a regional start-up airline based in Goa, has received 'no objection' clearance (NOC) from the civil aviation ministry to start operations.

Fly91 aims to start flights in the October-December quarter. It is promoted by Harsha Raghavan, the former Fairfax India head, and Manoj Chacko, executive vice president of suspended Kingfisher Airlines.

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"Securing the NOC is an important milestone and we are happy about it. But it is like reaching the base camp of Mount Everest and now the real climb will begin. We plan to apply to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for an air operator certificate in two-three weeks," said Chacko.

Fly91 has selected ATR-72 aircraft for operations and intends to get 6-7 planes in the first year of operations. Thereafter, it plans to add an equal number of aircraft for the next five years. "We are in advanced stages of discussion with lessors and OEMs. Our core team is in place. We also have received commitments from pilots who want to join us. Initially we will have a strength of 200 employees," he said.

Fly91 will have Goa as its headquarters and it is looking for airports in North and West India as secondary bases.

The new airline will be based in Goa's second airport situated in Mopa in northern part of the state. The airport began operations earlier this year and in the first quarter handled over 700,000 passengers. The airport is now connected to 21 destinations with the addition of eight routes in summer schedule.

"Gradual & constant growth in the number of destinations will boost the tourism & positively impact socio-economic activities in Goa," the airport's CEO R V Seshan said in a statement last week.

The planned launch of Fly91 comes in the backdrop of expansion of government's regional connectivity scheme. Last week, the government launched fifth round of the scheme known as Udan.

Over 450 routes have been operationalised under the scheme which connects unserved and underserved towns. Over 11.3 million passengers have flown in more than 200,000 Udan flights since the scheme was launched in 2017, the ministry said in February.

https://www.business-standard.com/companies/news/regional-airline-fly91-receives-govt-approval-targets-oct-launch-123042600431_1.html

LEVEL to become a stand-alone airline in IAG and to grow

The International Airline Group has announced that LEVEL will become a stand-alone airline in the group. Currently, the airline is only a brand operated by Iberia but this will change with LEVEL getting its own Air Operator's Certificate (AOC). Next to its own AOC, the airline will be expanding its fleet by adding four more aircraft, growing the fleet to eight Airbus A330s.

LEVEL was established by IAG in 2017 as a low-cost long-haul brand, trying to compete with other airlines like Norwegian. The company has its base at Barcelona. Later, it also expanded with flights out of Paris-Orly and also dabbled into the short-haul market by launching LEVEL Europe with bases in Amsterdam and Vienna. Since the pandemic, flights from Vienna and Paris-Orly have been axed, leaving only the long-haul flights out of Barcelona.

The announced and planned expansion of LEVEL doesn't mean adding more (or the return of) bases, the airline will continue to focus flying out of Barcelona.

Photo by LEVEL.

FLEET - SUNCLASS AIRLINES / A330-900 / F-WWYL msn 2050

Alain Charpentier

SPECILA COLORS - ALLEGIANT AIR / A320-200WL / N198NV - "Insomniac"

Duncan Stewart

FLEET - Azerbaijan's Silk Way sees A350F as bridge between B777s

Silk Way West Airlines (7L, Baku Heydar Aliev International) has selected the A350F as a type to bridge the gap between the arrival of the last of its five firm-ordered B777-200Fs in 2027 and the start of the deliveries of its B777-8Fs, its president and chief executive Wolfgang Meier explained during an interview with STAT Media.

"When you look at the delivery slots of our five B777-200Fs, the last delivery will be in 2027 and then there will be a gap until the new orders of the B777-8Fs. This gap we're going to fill with new A350Fs. Both aircraft [the A350F and the B777-8F] are really convincing models in terms of fuel efficiency and environmental friendliness," he stressed.

He did not reveal the exact timeline for the deliveries of the B777-8Fs but stressed that Silk Way West Airlines strategically preferred not to be among the early operators of a newly certified type. As the first passenger variant, the B777-9, is expected to enter into service in 2025, Boeing estimates that the freighter variant could be delivered to the launch customer in 2027. As such, the A350F would allow the airline to meet its strategic goal of renewing the fleet without having to wait for the deliveries of the new B777-8Fs.

The Azerbaijani cargo specialist ordered two A350Fs with a further two options in mid-2022, followed by two B777-8Fs also with two options less than half a year later. The A350s will be its first Airbus type.

The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows that the carrier's current fleet comprises seven B747-400FSCDs, five B747-8Fs, and two out of the five recently ordered B777-200Fs. The airline used to operate two B767-300Fs but retired them by 2015. Meier said that the B747-400FSCDs are slated for eventual retirement.

"We made the strategic decision to modernise our fleet, and as the years go by, we will definitely phase out the -400s. When is this going to happen? This is a tactical question. I would not rule out that we are going to phase out the first -400 during the course of next year, but this depends on the market situation," he said.

The macroeconomic environment for cargo freighters is currently tough, he conceded but added that this does not reflect on Silk Way West Airlines, whose business continues to thrive.

CH Aviation