Short Takes
July 8th 2016
Airlines
All Nippon Airways (ANA) will showcase its latest B787-9 at the 50th Farnborough International Airshow starting this Monday, marking the first time the Japanese carrier carries out a demonstration flight at the air show. Read More » EVA Air will replace the current 3-3-3 economy seating on its B777-300ERs with the tighter 3-4-3 setup. Spring Airlines now allows passengers to pay for their tickets in instalments. Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Air is looking to add long-haul services to Jeddah next year.
Manufacturers
Airbus had its biggest delivery month so far this year with 64 commercial aircraft handed over in June to 33 airlines and nine lessors, including four A320 Family jets for Juneyao Airlines, three A321ceos for American Airlines, an A321ceo and an A330-300 for Delta Air Lines, and three A320ceos for BOC Aviation (destined for Citilink, Vistara and Volaris). In terms of orders this year to date, Airbus trails rival Boeing. Toulouse ended the first half with 183 net orders (after cancellations), while Chicago sold 276 airframes (after cancellations). ATR has inaugurated its new maintenance site at Toulouse-Francazal Airport after France’s civil aviation authority certified the OEM as a maintenance organisation.
Routes
Air China has cancelled its planned Beijing-Colombo A330 service resumption from November 1. Air France will reduce frequency on the CDG-Osaka B777-200ER route from five- to four-weekly commencing October 30. China Southern Airlines will cancel its thrice-weekly Urumqi-Istanbul A330 service from July 20. Hainan Airlines confirmed August 14 as the inaugural date for its daily B787-9 Beijing-Boston service. From July 10, IndiGo Airlines will add a fourth daily A320 flight between Chennai and Coimbatore, a second daily flight between Chennai and Visakhapatnam, and a third daily rotation between Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, as well as a fourth daily service from Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam. Korean Air will launch a five-weekly Incheon-Delhi A330-200 flight beginning December 1. Lion Air has taken over MegaMaldives’ Macau-Koror route, operating every five days with B737-900ER aircraft. Shandong Airlines will add a third daily B737-800 service between Jinan and Incheon starting July 28. Thai Lion Air will reduce frequency on the Don Mueang-Taiyuan B737-900ER route from four- to twice-weekly from July 24. Tibet Airlines has replaced the A319 with its brand-new A330-200HGW on select services from Lhasa to Chengdu and Beijing, respectively. Turkish Airlines will add a twice-weekly Istanbul-Ouagadougou-Conakry B737-900ER route starting September 5. Vistara will launch a daily Kolkata-Port Blair A320 service from September 30.
