FLEET - SWISS / A350-900 / F-WZGC msn 748

Photo: Alain Charpentier
 

EDELWEISS / A350-900 / HB-IHF

Flyingphotos - Faro
 

FLEET - EMIRATES / A350-9 / F-WZFD

Photo: Alain Charpentier

FLEET - Emirates to deploy its A350 to Edinburgh on 3 January

Dubai, UAE: 26 November 2024 – Emirates has announced it will bring forward its daily A350 scheduled service to Edinburgh starting from 3 January 2025. The advancement of the scheduled service reinforces Emirates’ commitment to providing customers with enhanced travel experiences and greater comfort onboard.


The Emirates A350 will be rolled out to 8 other destinations including Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kuwait, Bahrain, Colombo, Lyon, Muscat and Bologna, with more destinations to follow.


Emirates flight EK 23 will depart Dubai at 14:50hrs and arrive in Edinburgh at 19:05hrs, local time. The return flight, EK24, will depart Edinburgh at 20:40hrs and arrive in Dubai at 08:05hrs, the following day.


The airline also currently serves Glasgow with a daily A380 – offering customers 14 weekly flights to/from Scotland. Including Edinburgh, Emirates serves eight destinations in the UK.


For more information or to book tickets, visit emirates.com. Tickets can also be booked on Emirates App, Emirates Retail stores, Emirates contact centre, or via travel agents.

EMIRATES

Dubai, Toulouse – 25 November 2024: Emirates marks an important fleet milestone today with the delivery of its first Airbus A350 aircraft. A6-EXA is the first of 65 A350 aircraft to be delivered to the airline over the course of the next few years. The delivery also marks the first new aircraft type to join the Emirates fleet since 2008.

The aircraft was officially handed over this morning to Emirates and will soon embark on its ferry flight from Toulouse (TLS) to Dubai today at 1600hrs local time.

Aviation enthusiasts and Airbus A350 fans can track the flight’s journey in real time on Flight Radar 24. Once the Emirates A350 lands in Dubai, the aircraft will receive its finishing touches at Emirates Engineering before being officially unveiled at a special event later this week.

The delivery flight for the newest member of the Emirates fleet was powered by a blend of jet fuel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The aircraft will officially enter commercial service in January when it makes its debut flight to its first destination, Edinburgh, followed by 8 other destinations across the Middle East, West Asia and Europe.

EMIRATES

FLEET - Germany's Discover Airlines mulls B787s or A350s

Lufthansa Group is evaluating fleet renewal options for Discover Airlines (4Y, Frankfurt International) to allow it to more efficiently compete with rival Condor (DE, Frankfurt International), chief executive Carsten Spohr said during a quarterly earnings call.

"We are in the process of deciding if new technology aircraft will also go to Discover. This could either be B787s or A350s," he said.

The group recently announced a wide-ranging restructuring plan to address growing financial pains. As Lufthansa Group aims to make mainline Lufthansa "fit for the future", it will increase the number of seasonal and leisure-oriented routes served primarily by Discover Airlines.

"We are striving for the full potential of our leisure carrier Discover Airlines and the new carrier for feeder traffic, Lufthansa City Airlines. They will further expand their services at our transit hub in Munich with a more competitive cost basis," Spohr outlined.

The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Discover Airlines currently operates three A330-200s (19.7 years old on average), and ten A330-300s (17.9 years). All of the widebodies were transferred to the carrier from other group units: the -200s from defunct SunExpress Deutschland and the -300s from Lufthansa (six), Brussels Airlines, and Edelweiss Air (two each). Discover also operates fourteen A320-200s.

Lufthansa has unfilled orders for twenty-eight A350-900s (of which five are allocated to Swiss) and thirty-four B787-9s. Edelweiss Air, the group's other leisure-focused AOC, currently operates a widebody fleet of five A340-300s but plans to replace them with six second-hand A350-900s.

Condor, Germany's largest leisure carrier and thus Discover Airlines' chief rival, is well into its fleet renewal programme. Its widebody fleet currently comprises seventeen A330-900s with six more due.

Despite their rivalry, Lufthansa continues to feed Condor passengers on domestic routes under a longstanding special prorate agreement (SPA). The deal was to be cancelled in 2020, but, given a lengthy court battle, will now end in October 2024.

 

FLEET - Japan Airlines finalises order for A350-900s and A321neo aircraft

Farnborough, United Kingdom, 23 July 2024 – Japan Airlines (JAL) has signed a firm order with Airbus for 20 A350-900 widebody aircraft and 11 single-aisle A321neo, finalising a commitment announced earlier this year.

The order was announced at the Farnborough Air Show 2024 during a signing ceremony with Yukio Nakagawa, Executive Officer and Senior Vice President Procurement of Japan Airlines, and Christian Scherer, Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Commercial Aircraft business.

The new A350-900s will join the carrier’s A350 fleet serving international routes, while the A321neo will operate on domestic services within Japan. To date, JAL has ordered a total of 52 A350s, with 18 in service. The A321neo contract represents JAL’s first order for the Airbus single-aisle product line.

Executive Officer and Senior Vice President Procurement of Japan Airlines Yukio Nakagawa said, “We are delighted to have signed the firm order for the introduction of additional A350s and new A321s. We will accelerate the introduction of the state-of-the-art and fuel-efficient aircraft to provide our passengers with excellent service and to reduce CO₂ emissions. We believe that this additional introduction of Airbus aircraft will further deepen our partnership.”

Chief Executive Officer of the Commercial Aircraft business, Airbus, Christian Scherer said, “We thank Japan Airlines for placing its confidence once again in the A350. In addition, we celebrate a new milestone in our partnership with the airline following its order for the A321neo. We are committed to providing our full support to Japan Airlines as its growing fleet is deployed on more routes across its network, both domestically and internationally.”

The A350 is the world’s most modern and efficient widebody aircraft and the long-range leader in the 300-410 seater category. The A350’s all-new design includes state-of-the-art technologies and aerodynamics delivering unmatched standards of efficiency and comfort. By the end of June 2024, the A350 Family had won more than 1,300 firm orders from 60 customers worldwide, making it one of the most successful widebody aircraft ever.

The A321neo is the largest member of Airbus’ best-selling A320neo Family, offering unparalleled range and performance. By incorporating new generation engines and Sharklets, the A321neo brings a 50% noise reduction and more than 20% fuel savings and CO₂ reduction compared to previous generation single-aisle aircraft, while maximising passenger comfort in the widest single-aisle cabin in the sky. To da3te more than 6,400 A321neos have been ordered by more than 90 customers across the globe.

As with all Airbus aircraft, the A350 aircraft is already able to operate with up to 50% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Airbus is targeting to have its aircraft up to 100% SAF capable by 2030.

More information on Airbus at the Farnborough International Airshow is available here.

 

SPECIAL SCHEME - DELTA AIR LINES / A350-900 / F-WZNU msn 673 / "LA 28 cs"

Alain Charpentier

TLS
 

SPECIAL SCHEME - Delta shows third Olympic-jet

Delta Air Lines has released official pictures of its third Airbus-widebody with a special Olympic-livery. This time, the aircraft, Airbus A350-900 F-WZNU (673), is promoting LA 2028, the city that will host the summer Olympics in that year. Delivery of the A350 is expected in the coming weeks and it will become N522DZ.Earlier this year, in April, Delta took delivery of A350-900 N521DN (661) wearing the "Team USA"-livery. And in 2021, the airline welcomed its first Olympic-jet with A330-900 N411DX (1991).
Photo by Delta Air Lines.

 

ROUTES / FLEET - Emirates delays start of Airbus A350 operations

Emirates airline delayed the start of its Airbus A350 operations by 50 days, Aeroroutes reported.

This week, Emirates updated its flight schedule and delayed the aircraft’s debut to November 4. The model was initially scheduled to begin operations with the airline on September 15 on the Dubai-Bahrain route.

As of today, these are the scheduled operations with Emirates’ A350:

Dubai – Edinburgh as of November 4 (Unchanged)

Dubai – Bahrain as of November 15 (Previously September 15)

Dubai – Kuwait as of November 15 (Previously September 16)

Dubai – Ahmedabad as of 01 January 2025 (Previously 27 October)

Dubai – Bologna as of January 1, 2025 (Previously December 1)

Dubai – Bombay as of January 1, 2025 (Previously October 27)

Dubai – Colombo as of January 2, 2025 (Previously January 1, 2025)

Dubai – Lyon as of March 1, 2025 (Previously December 1, 2025)

Dubai – Muscat as of March 1, 2025 (Previously December 1, 2025)

The airline has 65 Airbus A350-900 aircraft on order. These aircraft will have a three-class configuration: 32 in Business Class, 21 in Premium Economy and 259 in Economy.

AEROROUTES

 

ROUTES - Air India will introduce its new Airbus A350-900 on the Delhi – London (Heathrow) route on September 1.

Air India today (27JUN24) filed aircraft changes on Delhi – London Heathrow route, as the airline launches A350-900XWB aircraft service on this route on 01SEP24. The A350 will operate on 14 of 17 weekly flights, replacing 777-200LR/-300ER aircraft.


AI161 DEL0245 – 0730LHR 359 D

AI111 DEL0645 – 1130LHR 359 D

AI165 DEL1415 – 1900LHR 788 6

AI165 DEL1515 – 2000LHR 788 24


AI162 LHR0945 – 2250DEL 359 D

AI112 LHR1315 – 0205+1DEL 359 D

AI166 LHR2045 – 0940+1DEL 788 6

AI166 LHR2145 – 1035+1DEL 788 24

 

FLEET - Starlux Airlines (Taiwan) anticipates a surge in aircraft deliveries by 2026 that will effectively double the size of its fleet to 48 aircraft

In 2025, one A350-900, three A350-1000s, and three A330neo will arrive, followed by six A321neos, three A330neos, and five A350-1000 in 2026. The first if five A350F being arriving in 2027.

 

FLEET - German government places firm order for three ACJ350 XWB DEFENSE

In a special ceremony at ILA Berlin, Lufthansa Technik handed over the third and final modified Airbus A350 government aircraft to the German Federal Ministry of Defense’s Special Air Mission Wing.

The Airbus A350, registered 10+03, will officially fall under the guardianship of the German Air Force Named ‘Kurt Schumacher’, 

The jet was updated in the latest livery with new lettering in the ‘Bundes Sans’ font and wingtips that are now extensively painted in the colors of the German flag.

Photos: Lufthansa Technik
 

The Air India Airbus A350 Will Be at the Farnborough Air Show

The Farnborough Air Show has released the first list of aircraft that will be on display:, with the
Air India with the Airbus A350
A321XLR,
A330-900neo
A220-300.
Photo: Air India.