Short Takes
September 15th 2016
Airlines: Air Serbia CEO, Dane Kondić, says the carrier’s second long-haul destination will most likely be Beijing. Read More »
Lessors: BOC Aviation will lease five B737-800s on ten-year leases to Aeroflot budget subsidiary, Pobeda, from 2017, Reuters has reported.
Manufacturers: Chengdu Aircraft Industry (Group) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), has supplied the first composite rudders for B737MAX and B787-10 aircraft. Boeing says it has delivered 58 commercial aircraft to 36 airlines, six lessors and three unidentified customers in August, bringing its year-to-date deliveries to 478. Bombardier has cut its CSeries delivery target from 15 to seven aircraft this year as Pratt & Whitney engine delays continue. The Canadian OEM has thus far delivered two CS100s to launch operator SWISS, with a third due in October. The first CS300, a larger variant, is expected to enter service with launch customer airBaltic in the fourth quarter.
MRO: Taikoo (Xiamen) Landing Gear Services Co. Ltd., a HAECO Group unit, this week announced it has successfully completed the first landing gear overhaul for a B777-300ER in China.
Routes: Air China will suspend its twice-weekly Beijing-Pyongyang B737-700 service from November 12 through to March 25. Air India will increase frequency on the Delhi-San Francisco B777-200LR route from thrice- to six-weekly commencing November 21. EVA Airways will replace the A330-200 with the larger -300 variant on its daily Taipei-Denpasar route from January 16. Garuda Indonesia will replace the A330-300 with the two-class B777-300ER on the four-weekly Denpasar-Beijing route, and the thrice-weekly Denpasar-Pudong route, effective October 30. Hong Kong Airlines will increase frequency on the Hong Kong-Gold Coast-Cairns A330-300 rotation from thrice- to five-daily beginning December 9. Qatar Airways will increase frequency on the Doha-Luxor A320 route from five-weekly to daily starting October 30. SAUDIA will launch a four-weekly Riyadh-Toronto B777-300ER flight from November 4. Shanghai Airlines will add a daily Pudong-Chiang Mai B737-800 flight starting October 30, and it will add a fifth daily frequency on its Pudong-Bangkok B737-800 route from the same date. SriLankan Airlines will launch a twice-weekly Colombo-Lahore A320 service from September 27. VietJet Air will launch a daily Ho Chi Minh City-Hong Kong A320Family service starting December 9. Vistara will launch a double daily Kolkata-Bangalore, and a daily Kolkata-Guwahati A320 flight from October 18, respectively.
