Short Takes
January 26th 2018
Airlines: HNA Group is expected to outline a major restructuring next week. Qatar Airways hopes to take delivery of its first A350-1000 in February, following a delay caused by “complex seat configuration”, according to its CEO, Akbar Al Baker. Read More » Singapore Airlines and Vistara are considering an anti-trust immunity pact. Taiwan’s StarLux Airlines plans to launch in 2020. United Airlines has commenced nonstop Sydney-Houston B787-9 flights.
Routes: All Nippon Airways (ANA) will replace the B767-300ER with the A320neo on the daily Narita-Xiamen route and the daily Osaka-Beijing route from June 1 and October 1, respectively; it also will replace the B737-700 with the A320neo on the daily Osaka-Hangzhou rotation from May 1. Russia’s Aurora Airlines will add a twice-weekly Vladivostok-Beijing A319 route from January 20. Fuji Dream Airlines will launch a daily Izumo-Shizuoka E170 route and a daily Izumo-Sendai E170 service from March 25 and April 20, respectively. Gulf Air will replace the A330-200 with the B787-9 on the double daily Bahrain-Heathrow route beginning June 15. Hainan Airlines plans to add a twice-weekly Shenzhen-Madrid B787 route from March 22, as well as a twice-weekly Shenzhen-Tianjin-Vancouver A330-300 service from May 25. Japan Airlines (JAL) will replace the B787-8 with the larger -9 on the daily Narita-Dallas route from May 1. Malindo Air will add a thrice-weekly Kota Kinabalu-Guangzhou B737-800 scheduled charter route commencing January 23. Qantas Airways plans to launch a four-weekly Melbourne-San Francisco B787-9 service starting September 1. Thai AirAsia X will start a daily Don Mueang-Sapporo A330-300 route on April 10. Vietnam Airlines will launch a thrice-weekly Phu Quoc-Chengdu A321 scheduled charter route on January 28.
