Short Takes
June 8th 2015
CARGO: FedEx says it has retired 15 older FedEx Express aircraft as part of an effort to “rationalize capacity” and modernize its fleet. The retired aircraft include seven MD-11Fs, one MD-10F, three A300Fs and four A310-300Fs. Read More » FedEx said the impact of retiring these aircraft, engines and related parts resulted in a non-cash impairment charge of $246 million recorded in May.
CODESHARES: From July 27, Xiamen Airlines will place its ‘MF’ code on eleven ex-Amsterdam KLM regional routes. Korean Air has added its ‘KE’ designator to ten ex-Paris Air France domestic and regional services.
MANUFACTURERS: Airbus has shipped major component assemblies to the U.S. for the first A320 family aircraft to be assembled in Mobile, Alabama. At its Renton facility, Boeing last week started building the first B737 MAX, on schedule, and plans to eventually construct 42 MAXs a month.
MRO: A consortium led by ANA HOLDINGS will build a new MRO facility called MRO Japan at Naha Airport to perform base and heavy maintenance for regional aircraft and medium-sized jets, such as the DASH8-Q300/400, MRJ, CRJ, B737, A320, A321 and B767, as well as fuselage painting. The facility is scheduled to open during the second half of FY2017.
ROUTES: Air Arabia will add a thrice-weekly Sharjah-Faisalabad A320 service from October 25. All Nippon Airways (ANA) will replace the B787-8 with the larger -9 variant on the daily Haneda-Paris route starting October 25, and it will launch a Narita-Brussels service “from winter 2015” without giving further details. China Southern Airlines will add a fifth weekly frequency on the Guangzhou-Perth B787 route beginning October 25. South Korean low-cost carrier Eastar Jet will increase frequency from daily to twice-daily on the Incheon-Osaka B737-800 route from July 5. HK Express will increase frequency on the Hong Kong-Osaka A320 route from 21- to 25-weekly starting June 23. Lufthansa has cancelled planned A380 operations on the Mumbai-Frankfurt service; it will instead continue operating the B747-400 beyond October 25. KLM will reduce frequency on the Fukuoka-Amsterdam B777-200ER route from thrice- to twice-weekly from October 25. Iran’s Mahan Air will increase frequency on the Tehran-Beijing A310 route from thrice- to four-weekly beginning June 17, and it will replace the A310 with the A340-300 on the six-weekly Tehran-Shanghai service from July 1. Rotana Jet will launch a daily Abu Dhabi-Doha Embraer 145 and a thrice-weekly Abu Dhabi-Dhaka A319 service, both starting June 24. THAI has maintained its daily Thai Smile Bangkok-Macau A320 service after it previously planned to cease operations May 15. Taiwanese budget carrier V Air will cancel its thrice-weekly Taipei-Macau A321 from July 11, three months after its launch. Xiamen Airlines will reduce frequency on the Xiamen-Amsterdam B787-8 route from thrice- to twice-weekly starting October 25.
