Short Takes
November 6th 2015
AIRLINES: Colorful Guizhou Airlines is in talks with Chinese lessor, AVIC Leasing for CRJ-900s, the AirFinance Journal has reported. Read More » Should a deal be signed, they would be the start-up's maiden Bombardier aircraft following an order for seven E-190s and ten options with Embraer (São José dos Campos) earlier this year. Hainan Airlines has filed an application with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to launch a Beijing-Las Vegas B787 service from September, 2016. Malaysia Airlines has unveiled a new generation A330-300 business class seat due to enter service from April, and featuring a fully-flat bed, arranged in a 1-2-1 and 1-2-2 layout, ensuring direct aisle access for every passenger. Each seat is equipped with a 16-inch Panasonic touch screen IFE. Chinese low-cost carrier Spring Airlines has entered the Japanese hotel sector after unveiling its new Spring Sunny Hotel brand last week, as part of a joint venture with Sun Frontier Fudousan, a Japanese real estate management company. The hotel is expected to launch in Nagoya in first-half 2016, with long term plans including 20 additional properties in Tokyo, Osaka and other Japanese cities in Spring 's network over five years.
LESSORS: China Aircraft Leasing Company (CALC) has taken delivery of the first of 100-on-order Airbus aircraft placed in December 2014 and completed first delivery to its new customer, Air Macau. Meanwhile, CALC this week also delivered the final of five A320s from its books to Air India.
MANUFACTURERS: CFM International has delivered the first LEAP-1B engines to Boeing to support factory rollout of the first 737 MAX before year-end and first flight in early 2016. Mitsubishi Aircraft has gained flight approval from the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ). Pratt & Whitney has commenced flight testing on the PW1900G engine designated to power the Embraer E190-E2 and E195-E2.
ROUTES: AirAsia will launch a thrice-weekly Penang-Yangon and a four-weekly Penang-Ho Chi Minh service from December 17 and January 25, respectively, using the A320. Air Canada will resume daily Toronto-Incheon operations commencing June 17 and using the B787-8. Air China will add a twice-weekly Hangzhou-Ibaraki A319 rotation starting January 30. All Nippon Airways (ANA) will replace the B777-200ER with the B787-9 on one of its two daily Haneda-Beijing service beginning December 11. American Airlines will launch a daily Haneda-Los Angeles B787-8 service from February 11, using the former Delta slot at Haneda. Delta Air Lines will terminate its four-weekly Atlanta-Dubai B777-200LR service from February 11, citing “unfair Gulf carrier competition”. Emirates Airline has cancelled its planned four-weekly Dubai-Bamako launch originally scheduled for October 25. Etihad Airways will deploy the A380 on one of its three daily Abu Dhabi-Mumbai rotations from May 1. Eurowings will add a Tehran-Cologne A330-200 service, weekly from March 29 and twice-weekly from May 6. Fiji Airways will commence twice a week Singapore-Nadi (Fiji) flights from April 5, Singapore’s first direct link to the South Pacific. Hainan Airlines will launch a twice-weekly Xian-Rome A330-200 service starting December 9, and it will add a thrice-weekly Xian-Narita B737-800 rotation from December 23. Lufthansa will reduce frequency on the Frankfurt-Nagoya A340-300 route from daily to thrice-weekly commencing March 27, and from the same date it will also reduce Frankfurt-Narita from daily to thrice-weekly whilst changing the operational aircraft from the B747-400 to the A340-300. Qantas will operate a second flight each Friday between Hong and Sydney from December 11 to March, taking the carrier’s operations from 11 to 12 flights a week for the period. Qantas also will add two flights on the Perth-Singapore route,bringing the route up to a daily, year-round rotation. Malindo Air has applied for daily Kuala Lumpur-Colombo B737-800 traffic rights from December 16. Myanmar National Airlines will launch twice-weekly Yangon-Chiang Mai ATR72 operations from December 18, and it will add a thrice-weekly Yangon-Taipei B737-800 service starting January 26. Turkish Airlines will launch a thrice-weekly Istanbul-Mauritius-Antananarivo A330/A340 service from December 15, to be upgauged to four-weekly beginning February 8. South Korea’s T’Way Airlines will launch a daily Incheon-Ho Chi Minh B737-800 service from December 24.
