Short Takes
November 9th 2018
Routes: AirAsia will start a four-weekly Ipoh-Singapore A320 route on December 2. Read More » China Eastern Airlines will reduce Kunming-Sydney A330-200 flights from thrice- to twice-weekly beginning March 31. EVA Air will increase Taipei-Seattle B777-300ER service from daily to 10-weekly from July 7. GoAir will add a twice-weekly Bangalore-Male A320 flight on December 9. Hainan Airlines will launch a twice-weekly Shenzhen-Paris B787-9 service on December 21 and a twice-weekly Chongqing-Paris A330 flight on December 19. Hong Kong Airlines will reduce Hong Kong-Auckland A330-200 flights from daily to five-weekly from March 31 and to three times a week beginning May 1. The airline also will cut Hong Kong-Vancouver from a daily A330-200 service to five a week flights from January 10. IndiGo Airlines will start a twice-weekly Vijayawada-Singapore A320 service on December 4. Jeju Air will add a five-weekly Muan-Cebu B737-800 service on December 21, followed by twice-weekly Muan-Kota Kinabalu B737-800 flights from December 23. Shenzhen Airlines will start a daily Nanchang-Singapore B737-800 route on January 1. Sichuan Airlines will launch a four times a week Xian-Mandalay A320 route on March 31. Thai AirAsia will add a daily Chiang Mai-Beijing A320 service on November 30. Thai Lion Air has revised the launch date for daily Don Mueang-Narita A330-300 flights from November 30 to December 7. VietJet Air will increase Ho Chi Minh-Kaohsiung A321 flights and Ho Chi Minh-Taichung A321 flights from daily to double daily, both starting February 7.
Training: Etihad Aviation Training and Alpha Aviation Academy have launched a partnership whereby Etihad will offer core flying skills training to Alpha Aviation Academy’s student pilots in Al Ain. Alpha is a joint venture between the global pilot training Alpha Aviation Group and the UAE’s low-cost carrier Air Arabia.
Leasing: CDB Aviation has signed a long-term lease with Indian low-cost carrier, SpiceJet, for three Boeing 737MAXs, with the first of the aircraft to arrive at the carrier next month. The two remaining aircraft in the order will be delivered from November to December next year.
MRO: AAR and Ameco have signed a long-term co-operative agreement for the servicing, repair and disassembly of Rolls-Royce RB211 engines. Cebu Pacific has extended its component support contract with AFI KLM E&M to include seven A321ceo and 32 A321neo. The agreement, announced in Singapore this week, follows a component support contract between the low-cost carrier and the MRO last year for the airline’s A320 fleet. Singapore Component Solutions, a joint venture between AFI KLM E&M and Sabena Technics, and Liebherr Aerospace, will combine their expertise to conduct maintenance work on Liebherr-designed heat exchangers. Airbus subsidiary, Satair, and U.S. headquartered Regent Aerospace have signed an exclusive long-term partnership for cabin upgrades and refurbishments.
Air Show China Zhuhai
GAMECO (Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Company Ltd) and Satair have extended their agreement to participate in the Airbus Managed Inventory Service, which will support the 200 Airbus aircraft operating in China that are maintained by GAMECO.
GE Aviation and Xiamen Airlines have signed a digital solutions agreement to extend their partnership in analytics, particularly to enhance flight safety, optimize fuel efficiency and reduce operational costs for the Mainland airline’s 208 aircraft.
Qingdao Airlines have selected Honeywell Aerospace auxiliary power units (APU) for its new fleet of 24 A320neo and signed a 12-year deal with the manufacturer for MRO of the units. Also at Air Show China this week, Hainan Airlines chose Honeywell’s APU and aftermarket support program and GoDirect connected maintenance program for its fleet. As well, the U.S. headquartered OEM will provide China’s COMAC with its Aspire 400 satellite system for the Mainland manufactured ARJ21-700 jet.
