Short Takes
June 16th 2017
MRO: The joint venture between Safran Aircraft Engines and AFI KLM E&M, announced a year ago, now has officially been named Airfoils Advanced Solutions. The company's new plant will be completed in early 2018, with operations due to kick off later next year. Read More » Airfoils Advanced Solutions will repair high-pressure compressor blades and variable stator vanes, focusing on the CFM International CFM56 engines, the GE GE90 engines and the Engine Alliance GP7200.
Routes: Air Astana will add a thrice-weekly Astana-Delhi A320/E190 route on July 2. Air Seoul will start a daily Incheon-Osaka A321 service on September 12. Alitalia will launch a daily Rome-Delhi A330-200 flight beginning October 29. Asiana Airlines will continue operating the Incheon-Rome B777-200ER route five-weekly from October 29, reversing a previous decision to return to thrice-weekly operations with the winter schedule. China Eastern Airlines will launch a six-weekly Pudong-Jakarta A330-200 service on July 18, increasing to daily operations from August 13. Emirates Airline will add an eighth weekly frequency on the Dubai-Incheon A380 route from July 7. Etihad Airways will terminate its thrice-weekly Abu Dhabi-San Francisco B777-200LR route on October 29. From July 11, HK Express will increase frequency on the Hong Kong-Fukuoka A320 route from double daily to 19 weekly and it will increase Hong Kong-Nagoya A320 service from daily to twelve-weekly. Lao Airlines plans to launch a twice-weekly Vientiane- Chongqing A320 route on June 28. New Gen Airways has launched a thrice-weekly Krabi-Hefei B737-800 scheduled charter route. Shanghai Airlines will increase frequency on the Pudong-Kuala Lumpur B737-800 route from daily to double daily starting June 30. Spring Airlines will resume four-weekly Nanchang-Suvarnabhumi A320 flights from July 2. Tianjin Airlines has postponed the launch of twice-weekly Tianjin-Xian-Gatwick flights from July 24 to September 29; it also is delaying thrice-weekly Tianjin-Chongqing-Melbourne flights from September 27 to October 31. Thai Lion Air will launch a four-weekly Chiang Mai-Guangzhou B737-800 route on July 16. Vietnam Airlines will add a thrice-weekly Nha Trang-Changzhou A321 route on June 28. West Air has cancelled plans for a Chongqing-Cebu A320 route from July 3.
