Short Takes
September 29th 2017
OEMs: COMAC’s C919 performed its second flight on Thursday, 146 days after its debut on May 5. Taking off at 7:22am from Shanghai’s Pudong, the test aircraft flew to Nantong in Jiangsu Province, before returning to Pudong at 10:08am. Read More » The next goal is to have the aircraft fly the 1,400km-journey from Shanghai to Yanliang, although no date has been set yet. The test aircraft did not retract its landing gear during the first two flights.
Routes: AirAsia will launch a daily Johor Bahru-Macau A320 route on November 28. Cathay Dragon will increase frequency on the Hong Kong-Fukuoka route from daily to eleven-weekly from January 14. El Al will replace the B767-300ER with the B777-200ER on its thrice-weekly Beijing-Tel Aviv route from June 30. Ethiopian Airlines will increase frequency on the Addis Ababa-Chengdu route from thrice- to four-weekly B787-8 operations commencing December 10. EVA Air will launch thrice-weekly nonstop Taipei-Vienna B777-300ER flights from March 25, replacing the previous stopover in Bangkok. Moreover, the airline will resume former TransAsia Airways flights from Song Shan to Hangzhou (twice-weekly A321; October 29), Tianjin (weekly A321; October 30) and Chongqing (twice-weekly A321; November 2). Hong Kong Airlines will add a four-weekly Hong Kong-San Francisco A350-900 route from March 25. Jeju Air will double its frequency between Incheon and Kaohsiung from twice- to four-weekly B737-800 flights beginning October 29. Shenzhen Airlines will launch a daily Hong Kong-Wuxi B737-800 route on October 29. THAI will increase frequency on the Bangkok-Busan A330-300 route from five- to six-weekly starting December 2. Thai Lion Air has launched a thrice-weekly Krabi-Changsha B737-800 service.
