Short Takes
September 11th 2015
Manufacturers
Airbus’ year-to-date order book for commercial aircraft soared to a gross total of 748 through to August 31. Rival Boeing booked orders for 462 aircraft during the period, but retained the lead in the total value of its commercial aircraft gross orders year-to-date, with sales of $116.4 billion, compared with Airbus’ $94.9 billion. Read More » In separate news, Boeing has selected U.S. firm, Astronics, to provide the passenger service units (PSUs) for the 777X program, planned to commence production in 2017 and have first deliveries in 2020. Rolls-Royce has secured a $431 million loan from the European Investment Bank to aid the research and development of a higher thrust version of the Trent XWB engine.
Routes
AirAsia will launch four-weekly Kuala Lumpur-Changsha A320 operations starting October 2. Air China will launch a four-weekly Chengdu-Paris A330 service December 12, reversing its original plan to launch thrice-weekly rotations January 28. Austrian Airlines will add a five-weekly Vienna-Pudong B777-200ER service from April 4. British Airways will delay the launch of the B787-9 on the daily Heathrow-Abu Dhabi-Muscat route from October 26 to November 5. Cathay Pacific Airways will launch a four times a week Hong Kong to Madrid service, subject to government approval, next June. China Eastern Airlines will start twice-weekly Taiyuan-Yantai-Nagoya B737-800 scheduled flights on September 24. China Southern Airlines will increase frequency on the Guangzhou-Ho Chi Minh B737-800 route from three- to four-daily services from January 28. Delta Air Lines will reduce frequency on the Hong Kong to Seattle A330-200 non-stop route from daily to twice-weekly from October 25 and will instead operate five times weekly Narita-Hong Kong operations to maintain daily connectivity. Korea’s Eastarjet will add a daily Jeju-Bangkok B737-800 service from October 1. Etihad Airways will replace the A340-600 with the A330-300 on the daily Abu Dhabi-Incheon route from November 29. Malindo Air will launch thrice-weekly Kuala Lumpur-Amritsar B737-900ER operations from October 25. Oman Air has delayed the B787-9 launch on the daily Muscat-Frankfurt route from October 25 to December 1. Royal Brunei will add a fifth weekly frequency to the Bandar Seri Begawan-Denpasar A320 route beginning October 25. Singapore Airlines will increase frequency on the Singapore-Mumbai route from double daily to 17-weekly starting October 25, with a mix of B777-200ER and -300ER aircraft, to replace current daily A380/B777 operations. Thai Lion Air will add a second daily Don Mueang-Singapore B737-900 rotation from September 16. Tigerair will add thrice-weekly Singapore-Lucknow A320 ope rations from December 2. Vistara will launch a daily Delhi- Bhubaneswar A320 service from October 1.
