Short Takes
December 2nd 2014
Airlines: Juneyao Airlines’ low-cost subsidiary Jiuyuan Airlines has postponed its inaugural flight—from Guangzhou to Zhanjiang—to December 2 following approval of its routes application. It has 50 B737-800 and MAX aircraft on order. Read More » Thai long-haul budget start-up NokScoot has officially unveiled its livery which combines Nok Air’s iconic bird beak with Scoot’s yellow swoosh. Singapore Airlines – TATA Group start-up Vistara will commence operations only next year after encountering delays obtaining its Air Operator Permit from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Codeshares: Myanmar Airways International (MAI) has found its first codesharing partner. From December, MAI will add its ‘8M’ designator on Garuda Indonesia (GA)’s services between Jakarta, Bangkok and Singapore while GA will add its code on MAI’s flights between Yangon, Bangkok and Singapore. MAI says it also plans to sign a codeshare agreement with Air France in the near future. Japan Airlines (JAL) and SriLankan Airlines (UL) are beginning their first codeshare agreement on December 2. JAL will add its ‘JL’ code to SriLankan’s four-weekly Tokyo (Narita) –Colombo service, as well as onward connections to Bangkok and Male. Meanwhile, SriLankan will add its ‘UL’ designator to JAL’s services from Tokyo (Narita) to Seoul’s Incheon and Pusan, its domestic rotations from Tokyo (Narita) to Osaka (Itami) and Nagoya, and services from Osaka (Kansai) and Nagoya to Bangkok. TAM Airlines has added its ‘JJ’ code to five of All Nippon Airways’ domestic routes from Narita and four domestic routes from Haneda. Qantas has added its ‘QF’ designator to eight additional domestic American Airlines routes, three out of Dallas Forth-Worth and five out of Los Angeles.
Fleets: Thailand’s “boutique” Bangkok Airways has taken delivery of the first of nine 70-seat ATR 72-600s on order for expansion purposes. Indonesia’s Lion Group has ordered 40 additional ATR 72-600s in a deal worth more than $1 billion at current list prices, bringing the group’s total order log for the new generation turboprop to 100 and making it the largest customer for the type. Chinese start-up Ruili Airlines has received its first direct-purchase B737-700 aircraft as part of an order for 14 B737 aircraft comprising -700s and MAXs. Ho Chi Minh-based VietJet Air has taken delivery of the first A320 ordered directly from Airbus as part of a firm commitment for 63 A320 Family aircraft.
Manufacturers: ATR has obtained European Aviation Safety Agency certification for approach avionics developed for its ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 aircraft. Boeing has started final assembly of the first B787-9 to roll out of its South Carolina facility. United Airlines will be the launch customer for the first Dreamliner built at the North Charleston factory. Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee’s Aviation Register has granted a Supplemental Type Certificate to Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. for its Sukhoi Superjet 100 to perform vertical navigation for all stages of flight.
Product: Japan Airlines (JAL) has introduced a new low-density variant of its B787-8 Dreamliner. The 161-seat configuration comprises 38 fully-flat business class seats, 35 premium economy and 88 economy seats and will debut on the Tokyo – Frankfurt and Tokyo – JFK routes from December 1 and January 1, respectively. The oneworld alliance member will also introduce domestic first class on its B767-300 aircraft shuttling between Haneda and Osaka (Itami) from December 8. The B767’s overall configuration will be five seats in first, 42 in business and 205 in economy.
Routes: China Southern Airlines will introduce a second weekly Urumqi – Tashkent rotation using B737-700 aircraft from December 8. Delta Air Lines will suspend its daily B767-300ER Amsterdam – Mumbai service from March 28. Emirates will add a third daily two-class B777-300ER Dubai – Male service from December 2. India’s IndiGo will introduce a daily Mumbai – Kozhikode and a daily Kozhikode – Dubai service from January 1. Kenya Airways stopped serving New Delhi on November 24, but maintains daily flights to Mumbai. Japanese budget carrier Peach Aviation will launch a four-weekly Okinawa – Hong Kong A320 service on February 21. Philippine Airlines will increase frequency on the A330-300 Manila – Dammam route from three- to five-weekly from December 9 and from four- to five-weekly on the Manila – Riyadh route effective December 15. Qatar Airways will increase frequency on the Doha – Copenhagen route from daily to eleven-weekly from February 1, and from daily to ten-weekly on the Doha – Stockholm route from February 2. Ukraine International Airlines will launch a Kiev – Beijing B767 service operating initially twice-weekly from April 29 before going thrice-weekly from May 10. UNI Air has reduced frequency on the Taipei – Wenzhou A321 route from twice-weekly to weekly. Taiwanese budget start-up V Air will launch Taipei – Bangkok and Taipei – Chiang Mai services from December 17 and January 7, respectively, subject to government approval.
