Short Takes
June 17th 2016
Lessors
GE Capital Aviation Services Ltd (GECAS) has delivered four new CFM56-powered B737-800s to Hainan Airlines. The aircraft were part of GECAS’ existing order book with Boeing. Read More »
Manufacturers
Airbus has contracted MTM Robotics to supply automated manufacturing equipment and machines for use on existing and future aircraft production lines. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have granted type validation to Bombardier’s CS100.
MRO
Incheon Aviation Tech (IAT), a joint venture between Korean Air and Pratt & Whitney, has opened a new engine test cell at Incheon capable of testing large engines with a thrust of up to 150,000 pounds. MTU Maintenance has signed a five-year contract, including 30-40 shop visits and provision of lease engines, with Garuda Indonesia to service the carrier’s fleet of CF34-8C5 engines.
Routes
AirAsia will add a thrice-weekly Langkawi-Hong Kong A320 service starting July 24. Bangkok Airways will launch a four-weekly Koh Samui-Chengdu A319 flight from July 8. China Eastern Airlines will launch a thrice-weekly Zhengzhou-Da Nang A320 service from July 5, and it will launch a four-weekly Zhengzhou-Nha Trang A320 flight the following day. Jet Airways will add a daily Hyderabad-Dammam B737 route and a daily Mangalore-Sharjah B737 flight from August 7, respectively. Myanmar Airways International (MAI) will launch a thrice-weekly Mandalay-Suvarnabhumi A319 route from September 3. Oman Air is delaying its four-weekly Muscat-Guangzhou A330-200 route launch from September 18 to October 31. Spring Airlines will add a thrice-weekly Yangzhou-Phuket A320 rotation beginning July 3. THAI will replace the B787-8 with the A330-300 on the daily Suvarnabhumi-Dubai route starting July 1. The vacant -8 will replace the B777-200ER on one of its thrice-daily Beijing rotations beginning that same day. THAI Smile will terminate its daily Suvarnabhumi-Macau A320 rotation effective September 1. Vietnam Airlines will add a thrice-weekly Ho Chin Minh City-Chengdu A321 route from November 1. Vistara will launch a double daily Delhi-Kolkata and daily Delhi-Kochi A320 flight starting June 10 and June 16, respectively.
