Airbus Updates No.2002

India's Vistara to add maiden A321neo in 2020

Airbus A321-200N © Airbus

28.11.2018 - 06:49 UTC

Vistara (UK, Delhi Int'l) has announced it will dry-lease fifteen A320neo Family aircraft from Air Lease Corporation, including its six first A321neo.

The deliveries of the six A321neo are scheduled between the first quarter of 2020 and the end of 2021. The nine A320neo will deliver from the first quarter of 2021 through 2022. All fifteen narrowbodies will come from the Air Lease Corporation's order book with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac).

Air Lease Corporation currently has eleven A320neo, sixty-three A321neo, and sixty-six A321neo(LR) ordered directly with Airbus.

Currently, the Indian full-service carrier, a 51/49 joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi), operates thirteen A320-200s and nine A320neo. It also has six B787-9s on order directly with Boeing. Earlier this year, Vistara announced a letter of intent for an order of 13 A320neo directly from Airbus during Farnborough Air Show. At the time, Airbus said Vistara would add an additional 37 A320neo from lessors. Of these, Avolon has recently announced it would deliver 15 between June 2019 and August 2021.

So far, Vistara operates exclusively domestically in India. Its international debut was initially planned for October 2018 and has now been delayed to at least December 2018 due to red tape.

Airbus Updates No.2001

WOW air returns 4 airbus aircraft, Icelandair takeover uncertain

WOW air Airbus A330-300 © WOW air

28.11.2018 - 19:28 UTC

WOW air (WW, Reykjavik Keflavik) has returned two A320-200s and two A330-300s to the lessor as a part of "necessary restructuring" given worsening financial and market conditions.

The Icelandic LCC retired its A320-200 TF-SIS (msn 4270) on November 22 and TF-BRO (msn 4305) on November 25. Both Airbus narrowbodies have since been ferried to Shannon for storage. WOW air does not operate any more A320-200s.

The carrier also returned two A330-300s TF-LUV (msn 1607) and TF-WOW (msn 1624). Both widebodies have already been ferried to Lourdes/Tarbes. WOW air has one more A330-300 in service.

All four returned aircraft are owned by Park Aerospace Holdings and managed by Avolon. Park/Avolon was also due to own and manage all four A330-900s originally scheduled to join WOW air shortly.

WOW air said in a statement that the downsizing of the fleet was done "in cooperation with its lessors" as "a part of a necessary restructuring of the airline and to ensure maximum utility of its remaining fleet".

The carrier's fleet also includes one A320-200neo, twelve A321-200s (one of them wet-leased to Aruba Airlines), and two A321-200neo. In the addition to the Aruba Airlines wet-lease, the Icelandic carrier is also planning to operate 102 charter flights between Miami Int'l Havana Int'l and Santa Clara de Cuba for Gulfstream Air Charter (GFT, Miami Int'l) over the period December 4, 2018 and January 31, 2019.

CEO Skuli Mogensen admitted in a letter to the company's bondholders that the market and financial situation of the airline have worsened since the bonds were issued on September 24, 2018.

"A number of external and internal events have worsened significantly and the Company is now working on securing its long-term funding," Mogensen said.

He blamed bad publicity about the company's situation, the bankruptcy of Primera Air Scandinavia (PF, Billund) which further worsened the image of transatlantic low-cost carriers, stricter payments terms imposed by creditors, lessors, and authorities straining the cash flow, and finally the increased fuel prices.

"With the above in mind we have been working diligently to seek additional funding and have received interest from a number of parties including Icelandair (FI, Reykjavik Keflavik) as has been publicly announced. Timing is a consideration as the situation described above has resulted in these funding initiatives becoming a necessity for the business," Mogensen said.

However, fellow Icelandic carrier Icelandair has since said that it will, at least for now, postpone the acquisition of WOW air. The parties previously reached a preliminary agreement in early November 2018.

"The purchase agreement contains various reservations that must be met. Based on the state of the situation today, Icelandair Group is unlikely to fulfill all reservations before [the shareholders' meeting on November 30]," Icelandair Group said in a filing to the Iceland Stock Exchange, without disclosing the unmet conditions.

Airbus Updates No.2000

TAP Air Portugal takes delivery of maiden A330-900neo

TAP Air Portugal Airbus A330-900 © Airbus

27.11.2018 - 15:53 UTC

TAP Air Portugal (TP, Lisbon) has taken delivery of its first and the world's first A330-900N from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) on November 26.

The first of twenty aircraft of the type scheduled to deliver until the end of next year, CS-TUB (msn 1836) is leased from Avolon and will be flown to Lisbon in the coming days. Ten of the aircraft have been ordered directly from Airbus while the others will be sourced from the order books of lessors including Air Lease Corporation.

TAP has chosen a three-class configuration for the type seating 298 passengers with thirty-four in Business Class, ninety-six in Economy Plus, and 168 in Economy.

According to ch-aviation fleets data, the Portuguese carrier currently operates a fleet consisting exclusively of Airbus aircraft which includes twenty-one A319-100s, twenty A320-200s, four A321-200s, thirteen A330-200s, four A330-300s, and four A340-300s. Its neo narrowbody fleet is composed of a single A320-200neo and two A321-200neo aircraft at present.

TAP is also taking over two ex-Primera Air Scandinavia (PF, Billund) aircraft on lease from GECAS, according to a Skyliner Aviation report.

The A330-900s will be deployed on TAP's long-haul network from Lisbon and Porto to destinations in Angola, Brazil, Canada, Mozambique, the UK, the US, and Venezuela replacing its existing widebody fleet. As reported by ch-aviation earlier this year, the A330-300 fleet will be taken over by Star Alliance partner Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau) starting next year.

Airbus Updates No.1999

Airbus A321	-211	6968		G-TCDL	Thomas Cook Airlines	posn 21nov18 MAN-YUL, hybrid Air Transat cs on winter-lease	ex D-AZAU
Airbus A321	-271N	8197		B-1067	Air China	delivery 22-23nov18 XFW-OVB-TSN	ex D-AVXD
Airbus A321	-271N	8389		VN-A697	VietJet Air	delivery 26-27nov18 XFW-AZI-SGN	ex D-AYAV
Airbus A321	-251NX	8526		G-NEOR	British Airways	delivery 23nov18 XFW-LHR	ex D-AVZQ
Airbus A321	-271N	8578		N217HA	Hawaiian Airlines	delivery 21nov18 BFM-PAE	ex F-WZMS
Airbus A321	-272N	8589		VN-A618	Vietnam Airlines	delivery 23-24nov18 XFW-GYD-HAN	ex D-AVXR
Airbus A330	-343	782		9M-XBE	AirAsia X	M-reg canx 22nov18 & delivery 23nov18 CRK-KUL	ex M-ABLO
Airbus A330	-243	1104		N380HA	Hawaiian Airlines	ferried 23nov18 FCO-SEA after paint into new cs	ex F-WWYX
Airbus A330	-243	1171		N382HA	Hawaiian Airlines	ferried 23nov18 HNL-VCV for paint into new cs	ex F-WWYA
Airbus A340	-311	115		TC-JDM	Turkish Airlines	ferried 24nov18 IST-ESB, was wfu since 16sep18	ex F-WWJN
Airbus A340	-642	1030		2-FIXP	European Aviation	ferried 26nov18 BOH-LETL	ex A6-EHK
Airbus A350	-941ULR	238		9V-SGF	Singapore Airlines	delivery 22nov18 TLS-SIN	ex F-WZGP
Airbus A350	-941	247		B-1080	Air China	delivery 24nov18 TLS-TSN	ex F-WZFW
Airbus A350	-941	255		D-AIXL	Lufthansa	delivery 22nov18 TLS-MUC	ex F-WZGA
Airbus A350	-941	256		B-LGH	Hong Kong Airlines	delivery 21nov18 TLS-HKG	ex F-WZFD

Airbus Updates No.1998

Airbus A319	-114	742		C-GARG	Air Canada	ferried 22nov18 ROW-YYZ after paint into new cs, first A319	ex D-AVYM
Airbus A319	-112	946		HC-CMO	TAME Ecuador	ferried 23nov18 GYE-MZJ on return to lessor	ex F-WTBM
Airbus A319	-112	1263		D-APTA	PrivatAir Gernany	ferried 25nov18 JED-SOF (+ 1625 D-ASPB)	ex LY-VEU
Airbus A319	-111	2527		G-EZIR	easyJet	ferried 23nov18 LCA-EMA, for paint, for Allegiant Air	ex D-AVWK
Airbus A319	-112	2879		EI-EZC	Rossiya Airlines	ferried 26nov18 WOE-LED, for Volotea	ex B-6232
Airbus A319	-112	2897		6V-AMA	Air Sénégal	delivery 22nov18 MAD-DSS	ex EC-JXV
Airbus A320	-214	1396		N	Allegiant Air	in full cs at OSR 24nov18, EC-reg prior delivery	ex EC-HQI
Airbus A320	-232	2077		OE-IHR	Celestial Aviation	regd 22nov18, parked at LDE (+ 2029 OE-IHQ 23nov18 ex D-ASPE)	ex D-ASPF
Airbus A320	-232	2676		P4-	Fly Aruba	air-test 26nov18 MPL-GRO-MPL, VP-reg, full cs, prior delivery	ex VP-CAO
Airbus A320	-232	2908		VT-	IndiGo Airlines	ferried 23nov18 MEX-MTY, XA-reg, full cs prior delivery	ex XA-TAR
Airbus A320	-214	4314		VT-IKF	IndiGo Airlines	delivery 22nov18 SOF-DEL, c/n tbc	ex OE-IGP
Airbus A320	-214	6080		A6-ANY	Air Arabia	ferried 25nov18 HYD-SHJ after paint	ex 9K-EAH
Airbus A320	-214	6166		A6-ANZ	Air Arabia	ferried 24nov18 SHJ-HYD, Wataniya cs, for paint	ex 9K-EAI
Airbus A320	-214	6416		OE-ICM	easyJet Europe	re-regd 23nov18 at STN on transfer ( + 6837 OE-INQ ex G-EZOX)	ex G-EZOB
Airbus A320	-251N	7181		A4O-OVD	Salam Air	delivery 23nov18 TLS-LFBF, for paint	ex F-WWBT
Airbus A320	-214	7730		OE-INB	easyJet Europe	ferried 19/21nov18 LGW-STN-LGW on transfer, re-regd 21nov18	ex G-EZRH
Airbus A320	-251N	8470		VT-EXO	Air India	delivery 21nov18 TLS-DEL, Star Alliance cs	ex F-WWIR
Airbus A320	-251N	8494		SE-ROM	SAS	delivery 23nov18 XFW-ARN	ex D-AUBJ
Airbus A320	-251N	8564		V8-RBG	Royal Brunei Airlines	delivery 22-23nov18 TLS-DWC-BWN	ex F-WWIP
Airbus A321	-211	1921		C-FTXW	Air Transat	ferried 20nov18 MAN-YUL on winter-lease, hybrid cs, regd 23nov18	ex G-TCDW

Airbus Updates No.1997

British Airways takes delivery of first A321neo

Illustration of British Airways Airbus A321-200N © Airbus

26.11.2018 - 05:03 UTC

British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) has taken delivery of its first A321neo with G-NEOR (msn 8526) having been handed over and ferried from Hamburg Finkenwerder to London Heathrow on Friday, November 23.

The IAG International Airlines Group carrier has ten of the type on order from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac), all of which are powered by CFM International LEAP-1A32s. Deliveries are expected to be completed by late 2019.

British Airways is an existing operator of the A321 employing eighteen A321ceo on flights covering the domestic UK market, Ireland, Scandinavia, Western & Central Europe, Russia, and the Middle East.

Equipped with 235 seats, the A321neo aircraft is scheduled to start operating on December 2 with rotations from Heathrow to Oslo Gardermoen and Dublin Int'l according to ch-aviation analysis of schedule data.

Airbus Updates No.1996

Air France to cut A380 fleet by 50%

Air France Airbus A380-800 © Air France

26.11.2018 - 05:50 UTC

Air France (AF, Paris CDG) will return five of its ten A380-800s to their lessor, DP Aircraft, once their contracts expire start to expire late next year.

According to France's Les Echos newspaper, the first two jets are set to leave in late 2019. As such, the carrier will retain only the five A380s that it owns.

Despite the A380's higher unit operating costs versus the workhorse of Air France's longhaul fleet, the B777-300(ER), management will retain the five quadjets given the very weak second-hand A380 market. It is recalled that out of the five A380s Singapore Airlines retired this year, only one - msn 6 - has found placement with a new operator (Hi Fly Malta) with the remaining four all stored at Lourdes/Tarbes.

As it stands, Air France will invest a whopping EUR225 million to upgrade the remaining A380s' cabins. Fitments will commence from late 2020 onwards, the report added.

According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Air France has configured its A380s with 516 seats including 9 seats in First Class, 80 in Business, 38 in Premium Economy, and 389 in Economy. they are currently used to connect Paris CDG with each of Abidjan, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson, Dubai Int'l, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, Los Angeles Int'l, México City Int'l, Miami Int'l, New York JFK, San Francisco, CA, Shanghai Pudong, and Washington Dulles.