Short Takes
October 16th 2015
CODESHARES: Air Canada and United Airlines are expanding their codeshare partnership, with Air Canada adding its ‘AC’ code to United’s Newark-Delhi, Newark-Mumbai and Dulles-Dubai services from October 13, and United placing its ‘UA’ code on Air Canada’s Toronto-Delhi and Toronto-Dubai services. Read More » Qatar Airways has started adding its ‘QR’ code to eight Sun Air of Scandinavia’s domestic and regional services from Aalborg, Billund, Gothenburg and Oslo.
MANUFACTURERS: Airbus has completed painting the first A350-900 for Singapore Airlines. The aircraft is now set to move to the next stages of production, including the installation of engines and cabin furnishing, before starting ground and flight tests. The aircraft is scheduled for delivery to Singapore Airlines in the first quarter of 2016. Bombardier has reiterated its commitment to the CSeries, which is 90% through certification, after recently disclosing that partnership talks with Airbus had been called off. “Bombardier is 100% committed to the CSeries. The CSeries is coming to market and the airplane will be here soon. We are getting further and further with the certification,” it said. Boeing has launched a new digital records management capability to its Maintenance Performance Toolbox, which it said would enhance maintenance operations and reduce costs for airlines. The records module will enable firms to manage scanned and digitally produced maintenance and flight records and eliminate the need for paper-based maintenance records.
MRO: HAECO Group has completed its first C check on a B787-8. SIA Engineering has announced the formation of a joint-venture with Boeing offering engineering, materials management and fleet support solutions. The JV will be called Boeing Asia Pacific Aviation Services, with SIA holding a 49% stake and Boeing owning the remaining 51%. Its capabilities will include supporting Boeing’s GoldCare program for 737, 747, 777 and 787 aircraft to customers in the Asia-Pacific and beyond.
ROUTES: Air Canada will replace the B787-8 with the larger -9 on its daily Toronto-Tel Aviv service from June 1. Beijing Capital Airlines will add a weekly Wanxian-Macau A320 rotation beginning October 30, and it has applied for twice-weekly Beijing-Madrid A330 traffic rights “from December”. EVA Air plans to increase frequency on the Taipei-Komatsu A321 route from daily to twelve-weekly starting April 15. Finnair will begin daily A350 operations into Singapore’s Changi from August 3. Jetstar Japan will add a thrice-weekly Narita-Taipei A320 service from November 27, to be upgauged to daily operations starting December 23. It will also launch a thrice-weekly Osaka-Taipei and a thrice-weekly Nagoya-Taipei service, both operated by its A320s, from December 11 and December 12, respectively, to be upgauged to daily frequency beginning December 23 and 24, respectively. KLM is once again delaying its B787-9 Amsterdam-Abu Dhabi-Bahrain inaugural, this time by a week to November 22. Thailand’s NokScoot will add a four-weekly Don Mueang-Qingdao B777-200ER service commencing November 25. Philippine Airlines will launch a thrice-weekly Manila-Dubai-Jeddah A330-300, as well as a four-weekly Manila-Dubai-Kuwait A330-300 service, “from December”. Qatar Airways will launch a daily Doha-Adelaide A350-900 service from May 2, and it has postponed its second daily JFK service, operated by the A350, by a month to April 1. China’s Spring Airlines will add a four-weekly Changchun-Bangkok A320 flight beginning November 3. United Airlines will launch a thrice-weekly San Francisco-Auckland B787-9 service from July 1, to be upgauged to daily from October 28, 2016, and it will add a thrice-weekly San Francisco-Tel Aviv B787-9 rotation starting March 30.
