Short Takes
December 16th 2016
Airlines: ANA Holdings CEO, Shinya Katanozaka, this week said ANA has invested an initial $150,000 for a 49% stake in a new airline venture in Myanmar that looks to start international operations in 2018. Read More » Biman Bangladesh is requesting proposals for the wet-lease of a 220-300-seater widebody aged 20 years or younger for eight months from February. Philippine Airlines (PAL) has finalized its order for five Bombardier Q400s (plus seven options) for deliveries throughout 2017.
Manufacturers: Airbus on Thursday received joint type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the FAA for the PW1100G-JM-powered A321neo. Boeing will further cut B777production from seven to five a month from August as it prepares to transition to the B777X due to enter commercial service in 2020. It expects some job losses as a result, with further announcements to follow. Last week, Boeing started final assembly of the first B787-10 Dreamliner (first delivery scheduled in 2018). Bombardier this week received FAA type certification for the CS300 (following previous EASA approval). The Canadian OEM on Thursday issued the firm’s 2017 guidance, aiming for consolidated EBIT before special items in the $530 million-$630 million range, a 50% improvement over 2016.
MRO: AirAsia has selected AFI KLM E&M to provide component support for its 304 on-order A320neos. The agreement includes component repair services and solutions designed to maximize aircraft availability, such as the provision of a local main base kit at the LCC’s Kuala Lumpur engineering facilities. All Nippon Airways (ANA) has inked a flight analytics agreement with GE Aviation aimed at improving aircraft fuel efficiency by up to 1% a year. The contract marks GE’s first digital solutions agreement with a Japanese carrier.
Routes: China Eastern Airlines will replace the A330-200 with the B777-300ER on the daily Pudong-Heathrow run from March 26, introducing first class to the route. China Southern Airlines will increase frequency on the Guangzhou-Nairobi A330-200 route from thrice- to four-weekly beginning July 4. EastarJet will launch a daily Busan-Kota Kinabalu B737-800 flight beginning December 16. Hainan Airlines will start a thrice-weekly Shenzhen-Nha Trang B737-800 route on December 18. Jeju Air will add a twice-weekly Daegu-Danang B737-800 service launching December 29. Jet Airways will launch a daily Bangalore-Colombo B737-800 flight commencing January 5. Korean Air will launch a thrice-weekly Incheon-Barcelona B777-200ER route on April 28. Malaysia Airlines will add a daily redeye B737-800 Kuala Lumpur-Pudong flight from March 26, complementing its daily A330 daytime rotation. Malindo Air has launched a twice-weekly Kuala Lumpur-Guiyang B737-800 flight. Okay Airways has started a thrice-weekly Hangzhou-Phuket B737-800 flight. Oman Air will launch a four-weekly Muscat-Nairobi B737-800 route launching March 27. Peach Aviation will start daily Okinawa-Suvarnabhumi A320 operations from February 19. Qatar Airways will launch a daily Doha-Dublin B787 flight from June 12. Thai AirAsia plans to launch a four-weekly Don Mueang-Hyderabad A320 route on December 23, following its daily Don Mueang-Kolkata launch on December 16. Shenzhen Airlines will add a second daily Shenzhen-Singapore A320 rotation launching December 20. Singapore Airlines will replace the B777-300ER with the A350-900 on the five-weekly Singapore-Manchester-Houston triangular route from January 17. Thai Smile plans to add a daily Suvarnabhumi-Kota Kinabalu A320 service from March 1. VietJet Air will increase frequency on the Ho Chi Minh-Tainan A320 route from five-weekly to daily starting March 26. Xiamen Airlines will launch a thrice-weekly Xiamen-Los Angeles B787-9 rotation commencing June 27.
