American Eagle retrojet

Envoy Air has taken delivery of a new ERJ170. The aircraft, N760MQ (17000294) has been painted by the airline in a very lovely American Eagle-retro livery. Previously this Embraer was in use with British Airways as G-LCYD and it is leased to Envoy by Azorra Aviation.

Envoy Air is a so called production carrier for American Airlines and part of the American Airlines Group. It operates three ERJ170s and 98 ERJ175s for American Eagle and also 57 ERJ145s.

Photo by Envoy Air.

Emirates celebrates UEA’s 50th birthday

Emirates is celebrating the 50th birthday of the United Arab Emirates by adding specials stickers to its livery on a select number of its A380s and B777s. The right hand side is decorated with English decals, the opposite side with Arabic.

The first aircraft that had the decals applied is A380 A6-EVG (256) and it made its first commercial flight with it on 16 August on EK923 from Dubai to Cairo.

Photo by Emirates.

1st A330 for flypop in paintshop

The first aircraft for UK-based start-up flypop has entered the paintshop in preparation for its delivery. The aircraft involved is A330-300 with MSN 1445, which was previously in use with Cebu Pacific as RP-C3342 and has been at Guangzhou since 24 May 2021 for maintenance and the paintjob.

The new airline is planning to connect the UK with India and will open its first base at London-Stansted. From there it plans to fly to Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Goa and Kolkata once it has received its AOC.

Photo by flypop.

Chair Airlines to add A320

In the last quarter of this year, Chair Airlines is planning to add its first A320. The airframe is currently unknown but the aircraft will replace the airline's A319 HB-JOH (3589) which has been damaged beyond repair during maintenance at Naples in July last year.

To cover for the loss of capacity, Chair is wet-leasing a B737-800 (SP-ESE, 30688) from major shareholder Enter Air until the A320 is delivered. The airline's own fleet consists now of two A319s (HB-JOG, 3818 and HB-JOJ, 3024).

Chair Airlines was launched in 2019 as the successor of Germania Flug. It has its base at Zürich and flies to twenty destinations, the majority of them being seasonal or charter-flights. Since the rebranding in 2019, Enter Air is a majority shareholder, holding 49% of the shares in the Swiss airline.

Scramble

Flair to open Edmonton base, launch four US routes

The fast-growing Canadian ULCC will begin its first US services from Edmonton in December. 

By David Casey / Routesonline

Canada’s Flair Airlines is opening a new base at Edmonton International (YEG) and starting four new transborder US routes as the ULCC continues to expand its footprint.

Seasonal service will be offered this winter to Hollywood Burbank (BUR), Las Vegas (LAS), Palm Springs (PSP) and Phoenix Mesa (AZA), beginning on Dec. 16. There will be three flights per week to LAS and two per week on the other US routes.

President and CEO Stephen Jones announced in early July that the carrier intended to fly to the four US destinations—alongside Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Orlando-Sanford (SFB)—but did not give schedule details or frequencies.

Flair is also expanding its domestic network from Edmonton. In addition to existing winter service to Abbotsford (YXX), Kitchener-Waterloo (YKF), Toronto (YYZ) and Vancouver (YVR), the carrier is increasing its current summer service from Kelowna (YLW) and Victoria (YYJ) to extend throughout the winter season.

“Basing aircraft and crew in Edmonton demonstrates the company’s ongoing commitment to our region,” YEG president and CEO Tom Ruth said. “In addition, these new US destinations will be popular nonstop routes as we rebuild our network.”

Flair will base one Boeing 737-8 aircraft in Edmonton starting in December. Between direct and indirect employment, Flair estimates 50 new jobs will be created in addition to the 75 operations and business staff already headquartered in the city.

The expansion from Edmonton comes after the airline launched service from Abbotsford, British Columbia to six domestic destinations. Daily service is being offered from YXX to Calgary (YYC), Edmonton, Montreal (YUL), Ottawa (YOW), Toronto and Winnipeg (YWG).

Brian Worthington

Croatia's Fly Air41 completes certification

Fly Air41 Airways (BER, Zagreb) received its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) from the Croatian civil aviation authority (Hrvatska Agencija za Civilno Zrakoplovstvo - HACZ) on August 18, 2021, and is set to begin revenue operations on August 20.

German sister SundAir (SR, Berlin Brandenburg Int'l) said in a press release that Fly Air41's sole aircraft, A319-100 9A-BER (msn 3950), would be based out of Leipzig/Halle and operate leisure charter flights on behalf of Sundair's existing customers, with the first flight scheduled to Kerkyra. The aircraft is painted in a livery identical to Sundair's own and was positioned to Germany on August 19.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Sundair operates two in-house A319-100s and three A320-200s. Until August 18, it also wet-leased another A319 from Croatia Airlines (OU, Zagreb). which was based out of Leipzig and will presumably be replaced by the Fly Air41 jet.

Sundair said it would add a further two A320-200s to its combined fleet in the coming weeks. Both of them will be placed on the AOC of Fly Air41 Airways.

ch aviation

Norse Atlantic to link London Gatwick and US in 2022 - union

 

Norse Atlantic Airways is due to start operating from London Gatwick when it launches operations between Europe and the United States in 2022, the British and Irish transport workers union Unite revealed after meeting representatives of the low-cost long-haul start-up.

The airline is expected to hire former employees of Norwegian staffing firm Norwegian Air Resources UK Limited, which halted its operations earlier this year, the union said in a statement on August 17.

“Unite met with Norse Atlantic Airways last week and is set to agree a timetable for further discussions on the collective bargaining agreements for our members following the signing of a recognition agreement earlier this year,” explained Unite regional officer Claire Simpson.

The news is “a much needed boost for the UK aviation industry” as the embattled sector navigates its way out of the pandemic, she added, and “for Gatwick Airport in particular.”

“Norse Atlantic is looking to start operations next year and this will be a vital opportunity for former Norwegian Air Resources employees, many of them Unite members, who were made redundant in January,” she said.

Norse Atlantic Airways responded to ch-aviation’s request for comment by saying: “We have made no announcements about a potential LGW start-up. However, we have said that London is an interesting market for Norse, which is why the company has talks with local unions.” It added that “Norse Atlantic Airways values Unite as one of our key social partners. The association shares the same core principles in that we wish to be a career airline and an airline of choice.”

Last week, Gatwick said it had lost GBP244.6 million pounds (USD335 million) during the half-year period ending June 30, 2021, which chief executive Stewart Wingate described as “the most challenging six months the airport has witnessed.” Forced travel bans and a collapse in demand saw just 569,000 people pass through the airport during the period. Wingate urged the British government “to act now and remove unnecessary and costly PCR testing requirements for passengers, particularly for those double vaccinated” or risk lagging behind the US and Europe.

Norse Atlantic Airways’ first B787-9 rolled out of the International Aerospace Coatings (IAC) paint shop in Shannon on August 15, the airline revealed with images on social media. Registered as LN-LNO (msn 38779), as when it flew under Norwegian, it is the first of 15 of the type Norse Atlantic will lease in its livery, though it is still awaiting its Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 J2 engines.

ch aviation

Iceland's PLAY targets mid-2Q22 for US market debut

PLAY (OG, Reykjavik Keflavik) has set in motion plans to start scheduled flight operations to the United States in summer next year after it applied to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for exemption authority and a foreign air carrier permit.

In the application, the Icelandic budget airline said only that it intends to start scheduled passenger flights from Iceland to the US East Coast in June 2022 using its existing fleet of A321-200Ns. As such, the authority sought to cover both scheduled and charter flights ferrying passengers, mail, and cargo.

Operational since June this year, PLAY is planning to develop Reykjavik Keflavik into a transatlantic hub providing cheap travel between Europe and North America (Canada included). At present, its network covers Spain and the Canary Islands, Austria, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, and Denmark.

"Once major cities on both sides of the Atlantic have been connected, it will be possible to start adding services to smaller markets with less direct competition, both to and from Iceland and across the Atlantic," it said in its IPO prospectus published earlier this year.

Unlike the ill-fated WOW air (WW, Reykjavik Keflavik) which had also sought to exploit Iceland's ideal geographical location in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, PLAY says it has no plans to add any widebody aircraft. As such, it will stick with the A320neo Family of jets. The advent of North American flights will also help drive up unit profitability through increased aircraft utilisation of 13-14 hours per day, it added. As such, PLAY's anticipated average sector length in 2023 will be 2,899 kilometres.

Last month, chief executive Birgir Jónsson said the current plan is for PLAY to grow to 15 aircraft by 2025.

ch aviation

Uganda Airlines readies for A330neo operations

Uganda Airlines (UR, Entebbe/Kampala) is set to begin widebody operations after it managed to add its pair of A330-800s to its AOC's operations specifications last week. In a press release, the state-owned airline said the move would allow it to open up flights to Dubai Int'l first followed by London, Mumbai Int'l, and Guangzhou. No official dates or timelines have yet been revealed.

5X-NIL (msn 1977) and 5X-CRN (msn 1979) arrived in central Africa in December 2020 and January 2021, respectively. However, due to delays in their type certification by the Ugandan Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA), both were grounded until August 12. Just before being certified, 5X-NIL carried out a demonstration flight to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo in South Africa.

The bungling of the A330neo's induction into service is one of the key events Uganda Airlines' upper management is being held accountable for by the government given the losses the airline has incurred since its launch.

Since its inception in August 2019, Uganda Airlines has been plying a fleet of four CRJ900s on flights to Burundi, Tanzania, South Africa, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, and Somalia. According to the Ministry of Transport update, an application to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for a TCO certificate has been submitted to enable the airline to fly to London. In addition, the airline has also been designated as the Ugandan carrier for flights to the UK capital and Dubai. An application for China (Guangzhou) is being worked on.

CH AVIATION

EGO Airways partners with Greece's Lumiwings

 

EGO Airways (E3, Milan Malpensa) has partnered up with Lumiwings (LWI, Forli) to sell tickets on mostly domestic Italian flights the Greek carrier will operate during the final days of the peak summer season.

According to the two airlines' internet booking engines, EGO Airways is marketing Lumiwings' flights from:Forli to Cagliari, Catania, Comiso, Ibiza, and Olbia through the end of this month, all of which will be operated with Lumiwings' B737-300. The partnership is the first code-share agreement signed by either of the operators, according to the ch-aviation PRO airlines module.

Despite its Greek registration, Lumiwings focuses on the Italian market. Initially an ACMI/charter specialist, the carrier entered the scheduled market in the Summer 2021 season, basing its only B737-300 out of Forli and running a network of Italian domestic routes and international services on leisure routes to Greece and Spain. In early July, the carrier inducted a B737-700, which is also based out of Forli.

EGO Airways, in turn, operates a single E190 on a point-to-point, primarily domestic, network in Italy, connecting cities in the north with the south of the country. Forli is one of EGO's focus cities.

Ch aviation

MALAYSIA AIRLINES - A330-200 - 9H-MTX - Visit Malaysia

 Ton Jochems

HUNGARY AIR CARGO - A330-200F - HA-LHU

 Ton jochems - AMS

Airbus celebrates the 1,000th aircraft covered by Flight Hour Services with flyadeal

 

flyadeal signed long-term Flight Hour Services (FHS) agreement with Airbus
The agreement covers all of flyadeal’s A320 fleet including the 1,000th Airbus aircraft under FHS
Airbus FHS provides fully integrated material services and helps enhance operational reliability

Toulouse – France, 17 August 2021 – flyadeal, the low-cost Jeddah-based airline owned by Saudi Arabian Airlines, signed a long-term Flight Hour Services (FHS) agreement to support its A320 fleet.

The agreement includes the 1,000th aircraft supported by Airbus Flight Hour Services. The carrier will benefit from integrated material services including spare pool access, on-site-stock at the main base and components engineering and repairs. Through the FHS contract, Airbus will guarantee spare parts availability, contributing to securing aircraft technical performance.

Mikail Houari, President of Airbus Africa & Middle East, said: “Signing this agreement with flyadeal is an important milestone; it is the 1st FHS contract in Saudi Arabia and the biggest Airbus aircraft fleet to be covered by FHS”.

“We are proud of our partnership with flyadeal and look forward to continuing working together. This agreement reaffirms our commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia’s aviation sector”, Houari added.

Airbus has finalised 11 Flight Hour Services contracts with operators worldwide over the last six months. The latest contract agreements demonstrate the continued interest in Airbus’s integrated maintenance service, proving more relevant than ever in post-crisis times when airlines need to carefully monitor their costs and contain investments.

Boeing KC-46A Tanker for Japan Completes First Refueling Flight

First KC-46A for a non-US customer gives and receives fuel with another KC-46A

Boeing will deliver tanker to Japan Air Self-Defense Force this year

EVERETT, Wash., Aug. 16, 2021 – The first Boeing [NYSE: BA] KC-46A tanker built for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) recently refueled another KC-46A aircraft in the skies over Washington state. The Japan-bound tanker also successfully received fuel in return.

“Refueling with the first Japan KC-46A is an important milestone for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force,” said Jamie Burgess, KC-46 program manager. “KC-46A is the world’s most advanced air refueling aircraft and has already transferred more than 42 million gallons of fuel to other aircraft globally through its boom and drogue systems.”

Japan is the KC-46 program’s first non-U.S. customer and is scheduled to receive its first aircraft this year.

“State-of-the-art refueling makes the KC-46A a standout, but this tanker goes well beyond that,” said Will Shaffer, president of Boeing Japan. “The ability to carry cargo and passengers while maintaining tactical situational awareness makes the aircraft a critical tool in the security alliance between the U.S. and Japan.”

The Japan KC-46A is capable of refueling U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and JASDF aircraft.

The U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing a contract for the JASDF’s first KC-46A tanker in December 2017. The agreement was completed through the Foreign Military Sale process between the U.S. government and Japan. A second Japan tanker is already in production.

Boeing is assembling the KC-46A aircraft for both the U.S. Air Force and Japan on its 767 production line in Everett, Washington. Boeing’s Japanese partners produce 16% of the KC-46A airframe structure.

For more information about Boeing Defense, Space & Security, visit www.boeing.com. Follow us on Twitter: @BoeingDefense and @BoeingSpace.

As a leading global aerospace company, Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries. As a top U.S. exporter, the company leverages the talents of a global supplier base to advance economic opportunity, sustainability and community impact. Boeing’s diverse team is committed to innovating for the future and living the company’s core values of safety, quality and integrity. Learn more at www.boeing.com.
 

.EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg - 07/2021

 Paul Bannwarth

First photo of Emirates celebrating 50 years of United Arab Emirates in December 2021

 

A6-EVG photos
Airbus A380-842


Frankfurt Rhein-Main Int'l Airport - EDDF
Germany
Konstantin von Wedelstaedt

Lisboa Humberto Delgado-Portugal - 08/2021

FPP - Lisboa
 

EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg - 07/2021 - ( Executive)

 Paul Bannwarth