Short Takes
April 13th 2015
AIRLINES: Switzerland’s Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) has signalled it will approve Etihad Airways’ 33.3% investment in Swiss regional carrier Darwin Airline. Budget carrier VietJet Air has reiterated it is still looking to expand its north Asian reach by forming alliances and joint ventures with other airlines. Read More »
CARGO: All Nippon Airways (ANA) has secured antitrust clearance for its trans-pacific cargo joint venture with Star Alliance partner United Airlines. Russia’s AirBridgeCargo has reported a 20% year-on-year cargo volume growth for the first quarter ended March 31. Subject to antitrust clearance, FedEx has signed a conditional agreement to acquire 100% of TNT Express.
CARGO ROUTES: AirBridgeCargo has launched a twice-weekly round-the-world Moscow (SVO) – Shanghai (PVG) – Anchorage – Los Angeles – Chicago – Amsterdam B747-8F service. China Airlines Cargo will begin operations at Dubai Al Maktoum from April 16, replacing existing operations at Abu Dhabi as an intermediate stop between Taiwan and Europe.
CODESHARES: Japan Airlines (JAL) has added its ‘JL’ code to Bangkok Airways’ Bangkok – Dhaka service, while the Thai carrier has put its ‘PG’ designator on JAL’s services from Tokyo (HND) to Komatsu, Nagoya and Osaka (ITM). China Southern Airlines and Malaysia Airlines have ended all codeshares after more than eight years of partnership.
FLEETS: All Nippon Airways (ANA) has firmed a top-up order for four Sharklet-equipped Airbus A321ceos and three A321neos, increasing its A320 family commitment to 37 aircraft.
MANUFACTURERS: Airbus logged orders from six customers in March for a combined total of 84 aircraft, including an order for 30 A321neo LR aircraft and 25 A330-900neo from Air Lease Corp., while Boeing received orders for 39 aircraft from six customers, including a March 30 order from an unidentified customer for 30 787-9s.
MRO: Boeing Shanghai Aviation has signed an agreement with Russia’s Transaero Airlines for maintenance of Transaero’s B767 fleet. The MRO has now secured all B767 operators in Russia as heavy-maintenance customers.
ROUTES: Air Arabia has proposed a thrice-weekly Ras al Khaimah – Sylhet A320 service from late April, subject to government approvals. Air China will launch a thrice-weekly Hangzhou – Bangkok A321 service beginning June 12. China Southern Airlines will add a third daily Guangzhou – Manila E90 service from May 20. Emirates Airline will replace the B777-300ER with the A380 on the daily Dubai – Copenhagen route starting December 1. Finnair will operate the A350 daily to Shanghai (PVG) from October 25, daily to Beijing from November 21, daily to Bangkok from December 4 and daily to Hong Kong from February 1. flydubai has launched a thrice-weekly Dubai – Bandar Abbas B737-800 rotation. Moreover, it will cancel the daily Dubai – Colombo – Mattala/Hambantota – Dubai B737-800 route from May 1, but will continue to operate Dubai – Colombo twice a day. Korean Air will add a fourth weekly frequency on the Seoul – Vienna B777-200ER route from June 4, and a fifth weekly rotation starting July 6. Lao Airlines said it will continue operating the weekly Vientiane – Changzhou A320 route beyond June 30 as was originally scheduled. Mahan Air will increase frequency on the Tehran – Munich A310 route from twice- to thrice-weekly starting May 8. Siam Air has started daily Bangkok (DMK) – Zhengzhou B737 operations. THAI will replace the B777-200ER with the B777-300ER on the daily Bangkok – Mumbai route from June 1. VietJet Air will increase frequency on the Ho Chi Minh – Bangkok A320 route from twice- to thrice-daily from May 18.
