domingo, 11 de agosto de 2024
quinta-feira, 8 de agosto de 2024
FLEET - Panama's Uniworld Air Cargo inducts first B737-3Y0 freighter ( HP-1938UCG)
Panama-based UniWorld Air Cargo plans to begin a transition from 727-200Fs to 737 Classic freighters later this year as it expands its fleet
SPECIAL SCHEME - AIR ASIA CAMBODIA / A320-200 / XU-819 - first special livery
Kuala Lumpur Sepang Int'l Airport - WMKK - Malaysia
quarta-feira, 7 de agosto de 2024
SPECIAL SCHEME - JetSuiteX / N247JX / Embraer ERJ-145LR / Serial #: 145763 - "This is how we fly" special livery
Photo: Tomcatxi
FLEET - Vietnam Airlines adds fifth Boeing 787-10 to its fleet
The Boeing 787-10 is currently the largest passenger aircraft in use in Vietnam. The aircraft has 24 business class seats and 343 economy class seats. The Boeing 787-10 is capable of carrying up to 15% more passengers and cargo compared to the Boeing 787-9.
Vietnam Airlines currently has around 100 aircraft, consisting of five Boeing 787-10s, 11 Boeing 787-9s and 14 Airbus A350s.
FLEET - First KLM A321neo performs maiden flight ahead of delivery
The Dutch flag carrier announced that its first Airbus narrow-body aircraft had performed a test flight from the manufacturer’s facility at Finkenwerder Airport (XFW) near Hamburg.
FLEET - Universal Sky Carrier (Germany) took delivery of one A340-600, serial 557, powered by Trent 556-61 engines.
A340-642
Serial #: 557
Photo: Michael Demura
FLEET - Georgian Airways takes first freighter, a B767
Georgian Airways (A9, Tbilisi) has taken delivery of its first freighter, a B767-300ER(BDSF), on a multi-year lease from Air Transport Services Group subsidiary Cargo Aircraft Management.
4L-GMC (msn 24209) was ferried directly from Wilmington International to Tbilisi on July 29, 2024. The 33.1-year-old aircraft, converted by Israel Aerospace Industries (Tel Aviv Ben Gurion), has yet to enter revenue service. Georgian Airways will be its first post-conversion operator.
The carrier currently operates a passenger-only fleet comprising two B737-700s, two B737-800s, one inactive B767-300ER delivered in June 2024, one Challenger 850, and one Global 6000.
Similarly named Georgian Airlines (GH, Tbilisi) currently operates two B767-300ER(BDSF)s, one B737-800(BCF), and two B737-800(SF)s. The two airlines were affiliated in the past, with Georgian Airlines set up as a cargo subsidiary of Georgian Airways. Currently, Georgian Airlines is co-owned by Tamaz Gaiashvili (60% stake) and its CEO, Irakli Mezvrishvili (40%). Georgian Airways is co-owned by David Gaiashvili (80%), brother of Tamaz, and Georgian Air Services LLC (20%). The latter is co-owned by Eteri Gaiashvili (90%) and Sopio Gventsadze (10%).
segunda-feira, 5 de agosto de 2024
FLEET - LOT takes delivery of 1st E195-E
The aircraft is registered SP-LEA (19020124) and arrived at Warsaw on 31 July 2024. Entry into commercial service is scheduled on 11 August 2024, and the first destination will be either Oslo or Zürich.
Photo by Embraer.
FLEET - US’s JetBlue Airways defers A321neo deliveries
JetBlue Airways (B6, New York JFK) and Airbus have entered into an amended delivery schedule deferring forty-four A321-200Ns initially due from 2025 to 2029, to 2030 and beyond, the US carrier announced in its 2024 second quarter financial results.
Following this deferral, JetBlue’s firm aircraft orders remain as follows:
the remainder of 2024: twelve A220-300s, one A321neo;
2025: twenty A220-300s, four A321neo;
2026: twenty A220-300s;
2027: five A220-300s;
2028: seven A220-300s;
2029 onwards: four A220-300s and forty-four A321neo.
Additionally, JetBlue has the option to purchase twenty A220-300s between 2027 and 2028.
Chief Executive Officer Joanna Geraghty said during an investor call that restoring the company’s balance sheet is critical to securing its future and returning to profitable growth.
“We simply cannot continue to invest in capital-intensive assets that must be financed upon delivery and that are subsequently unable to produce a return because they have to be parked due to required maintenance and lengthy wait times. With that in mind, we’ve come to an agreement with Airbus to defer forty-four A321neo aircraft, which are the fleet most impacted by the Pratt & Whitney GTF engine issues. This will reduce our upcoming capital expenditures by USD3 billion, helping us to improve our free cash flow outlook and restore our balance sheet health,” she said.
The carrier’s fleet currently comprises 308 aircraft, including thirty-four A220-300s, 130 A320-200s, sixty-three A321-200s, twenty-five A321-200NX, eleven A321-200NX(LR), and forty-five E190s.
In the first half of 2024, JetBlue reported a net loss of USD691 million. The carrier added that it is still working with Pratt & Whitney to secure compensation for 2024 and that the engines' removal's full impact and potential remediation steps remain uncertain.
CH Aviation
Photo: Duncan Stewart
FLLET - Lufthansa to exit A340s, B747-400s by 2028
Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) has announced that as a part of its new turnaround programme it will retire all remaining A330-200s, A340-300s, A340-600s, and B747-400s by 2028 to reduce the costly complexity of its widebody fleet.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows the airline currently operates seventeen A340-300s, seventeen A340-600s, and eight B747-400s. It owns all of these aircraft. It also operates nine A330-300s, and while it no longer operates any A330-200s, having retired all five as of 2006, its leisure-focused Discover Airlines (4Y, Frankfurt International) subsidiary operates three.
Lufthansa did not respond to ch-aviation's request for confirmation that the announced plan pertains to the Discover-operated A330-200s.
Lufthansa's quadjet fleet also comprises eight A380-800s (of which five are currently active) and nineteen B747-8s.
Lufthansa Group conceded in its quarterly earnings release that it was becoming "increasingly challenging" for its mainline to hope to break even in 2024. The holding posted a EUR212 million euro (USD229 million) operating loss for the first half of 2024, while Lufthansa itself recorded a EUR442 million (USD478 million) operating loss.
The holding blamed late aircraft deliveries as one of the causes of its current headaches. On a group level, it took 41 fewer B787-9s and B777-9s between 2019 and now than it had planned. It compensated for the delays by extending the service lives of twenty-three A340-300s and B747-400s. This only partially offset the delays, with 18 aircraft still missing, while at the same time there were rising fuel and operating costs. The changes also increase "irregularity costs" and lower crew productivity. As a result, Lufthansa Group estimates the cost of delayed widebody deliveries to be in triple-digit millions of euros.
Lufthansa has twenty-one B777-9s, seven B777-8Fs, and thirty-four B787-9s remaining on orders from Boeing.
The holding identified a host of other issues affecting its mainline carrier, such as "negative market development in the key Asia-Pacific traffic region, inefficiencies in its Lufthansa and Lufthansa CityLine flight operations", and "the disproportionately high increase in location cost in Germany and new collective labour agreements".
The newly launched turnaround programme, which aims to make Lufthansa "fit for the future" and "the Group's flagship again", will also tighten the focus on its premium product, more seasonal network, an increase in Lufthansa City Airlines and Discover operations, and other improvements. Lufthansa Group noted that its other carriers "remain on course in line with market developments". Nonetheless, Swiss was the only one to post an operating profit in the first half of the year. Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings all posted small operating losses not exceeding EUR100 million (USD108 million).
CH Aviation
Photo: Duncan Stewart
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.
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