Airbus Updates No.2478

Privilege Style replaces its two Boeing 757s with Airbus A321s

Palma de Mallorca, Spain - Spanish charter and leisure operator Privilege Style is preparing to retire its two Boeing 757 jets in the fleet. The airline is planning to replace them with two single-aisle jets from Airbus.

The carrier was previously looking at the Boeing 737-800 for the replacement. But the prolonged Boeing 737 MAX grounding affects the availability of the type since the airlines are trying to include more 737-800s in their fleets in the absence of 737 MAX jets.

According to the CEO of Privilege Style, the Spanish operator will acquire one Airbus A321 this year operated by Qatar Airways.

The carrier will continue to negotiate for a second Airbus A321 aircraft and then continue searching for two Airbus A320 jets.

Airbus Updates No.2477

Airbus faces record fine for bribery and corruption over aircraft sales

Toulouse, France - After three-years of a probe by the US and European authorities for bribery and corruption over aircraft sales, Airbus faces a record $4 billion fine.

The European planemaker agreed with the French, British and U.S. authorities on a preliminary deal. The deal, believed by anti-corruption experts to be the largest ever in a bribery case, ends an almost four-year crisis that led to a sweeping management overhaul and delayed plans to redeploy the plane giant’s cash surplus.

If approved by the courts, the deal is expected to allow Airbus to avoid criminal charges that risked banning the company from public contracts in the United States and European Union - a massive setback for one of Europe’s top defense and space firms.

The European planemaker has been investigated by French and British authorities for suspected corruption over jet sales dating back over a decade. It has also faced U.S. investigations over suspected violations of export controls.

Announcing the tentative agreement, Airbus - which dominates the commercial jet market alongside U.S. rival Boeing - said it would take a provision of 3.6 billion euros ($3.96 billion) in its 2019 earnings if the deal won approval in court hearings in the United States, Britain, and France on Jan 31.

Airbus Updates No.2476

jetBlue adds second-hand A321ceo due to neo delays

jetBlue Airways Airbus A321-200(SL) © Airbus Industrie

30.01.2020 - 04:11 UTC

jetBlue Airways (B6, New York JFK) has secured four second-hand A321-200s under a dry-lease contract with deliveries due in 2020 to mitigate expected delays with the arrival of its A321-200neo, President and Chief Operating Officer Joanna Geraghty said during a quarterly earnings call.

"We've also identified opportunities to mitigate potential additional aircraft delays and recently signed an agreement to lease used A321 which we expect to begin flying later this year. Our capacity guidance for 2020 assumes that only 11 of our 14 contractual A321neo will be delivered by Airbus in 2020," Geraghty said.

Chief Financial Officer Stephen Priest said that jetBlue remained in contact with Airbus regarding the terms of the deliveries.

"I am obviously not going to get into any details of commercial agreements with Airbus, but I'm pleased, (a) with the dialogue we're having with them, (b) the transparency going forward, and (c) that we have put good mitigant in place should anything change," he said.

The carrier underlined that the deliveries do not impact its planned launch of transatlantic services in 2023.

"We continue to work multiple paths around slots and a number of London area airports were confident that our London plans can work in any number of airports. And we'll update you when we have a bit more information to share," Geraghty added.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, jetBlue Airways currently operates 130 A320-200s, sixty-three A321-200s, six A321neo, and sixty E190s. It has a further seventy-nine A321neo on firm order from Airbus, including thirteen LR variants and thirteen XLRs.

The carrier also has seventy A220-300s on firm order. The aircraft will replace the E190s and are scheduled to start delivering by the end of 2020.

Aircraft involved are as follows:

N901JT ex G-TCVA c/n 5582

N902JT ex G-TCVB c/n 5606

N930JL ex G-TCVC c/n 6059

N931JT ex G-TCVD c/n 6126

Airbus Updates No.2475

Alaska Airlines to prioritise ex-Virgin A320 fleet renewal

Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-200 © Alaska Airlines

31.01.2020 - 03:34 UTC

As part of its fleet strategy, Alaska Airlines (AS, Seattle Tacoma Int'l) will prioritise the replacement of Airbus narrowbodies inherited from Virgin America (VX, San Francisco, CA), with decisions to be made this year, Alaska Air Group's Executive Vice President (Planning and Strategy), Shane Tackett, said during a quarterly earnings call.

"We have an opportunity to replace sixty-one A319-100 and A320 aircraft with larger gauge, more efficient assets, either B737-9s and B737-10s or A321-200neo, all of which would give us the ability to generate more revenue while lowering unit costs. The economics of upgauging over the next several years are compelling, and we're looking forward to finalizing plans to do this is one of our main 2020 objective," he said.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Alaska Airlines currently operates ten A319-100s (12.3 years old on average) and fifty-one A320-200s (9.3 years). It also took over ten A321neo from Virgin America although these aircraft, with an average age of just 1.9 years, are not slated for replacement in the near future.

The airline underlined that while the grounding of the B737 MAX was a challenge, it did not fundamentally alter its timeline for a decision.

"Boeing's challenges with the MAX did cause us to rework the sequencing of events and some of our timing. But we're confident that over the next six to nine months, we're going to come with a good decision for Alaska. Later this quarter, we're going to start the acquisition process. We will work it through the summer, and we're confident we'll come up with an answer in the third quarter, fourth quarter of this year," Senior Vice President (Fleet, Finance, and Alliances) Nathaniel Pieper added.

The bulk of the carrier's A320 Family aircraft are leased with just ten A320-200s owned by Alaska Airlines.

Prior to the merger, Alaska Airlines was an all-Boeing operator. Its fleet currently includes eleven B737-700s, sixty-one B737-800s, twelve B737-900s, and seventy-nine -900(ER)s, as well as three B737-700(F)s. In contrast to the A320s, the airline owns almost all of its B737s except for ten -800s.

It also has thirty-two B737 MAX 9s and thirty A320-200neo on firm orders from the two manufacturers. The order for A320neo has been inherited from Virgin America.

Alaska Airlines originally expected three B737 MAX 9s to deliver in 2019 and a further seven in 2020.

In addition to in-house narrowbodies, Alaska Airlines also sub-contracts the operation of thirty-two E175s to SkyWest Airlines (United States of America), and thirty E175s and thirty-four Dash 8-400s to Horizon Air (QX, Seattle Tacoma Int'l).

Airbus Updates No.2474

India's GoAir suspends flights; blames A320neo delays

GoAir Airbus A320-200N © Airbus Industrie

28.01.2020 - 20:20 UTC

GoAir (G8, Mumbai Int'l) has been forced to temporarily ‘suspend certain flights’ due to the unplanned grounding of existing aircraft and delays in the delivery of its A320-200neo. However, the airline reiterated that it remains on track to meet capacity expansion targets, according to customer note posted on its official Facebook account.

Over the last four weeks, it has suffered from unscheduled aircraft groundings. In addition, it has now be informed by Airbus and Pratt & Whitney of "their inability to deliver previously promised aircraft and engines through March 9, 2020." The airline said that it had "undertaken these [flight] suspensions as far ahead of time as possible in order to minimise the inconvenience to our customers" and that it intended to "reinstate these flights and operate at the earliest opportunity."

The low-cost carrier (LCC) has firm orders for 144 A320neo and remains on track for double-digit growth; it has grown by a robust 30% per annum for each of the last three years.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, the LCC has a fleet of forty-three A320-200neo and sixteen A320-200s in service. However, A320neo VT-WGO (msn 7871) has been inactive since December 11, Flightradar24 ADS-B data. Other GoAir aircraft currently listed as inactive include:

• A320-200, VT-WAH (msn 3616), in maintenance since late October;
• A320-200, VT-WAG (msn 3597), in maintenance since early November;
• A320-200, VT-WAF (msn 3306), in maintenance since late December, and;
• A320-200, VT-GOI (msn 5016), in maintenance since late November.

Airbus Updates No.2473

Turkey's AtlasGlobal suspends A330 operations

AtlasGlobal Airbus A330-200 © Rowen Aquilina

29.01.2020 - 00:57 UTC

AtlasGlobal (KK, Istanbul New) has suspended widebody operations after both its A330-200s were ferried to Shannon on January 25, 2020, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.

TC-AGD (msn 819) ended revenue operations on January 7, while TC-AGF (msn 900) continued to fly for AtlasGlobal until January 17. After a period of storage at Istanbul New, both aircraft were eventually ferried to Shannon.

Both aircraft are dry-leased from Carlyle Aviation Partners, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows.

The carrier did not respond to ch-aviation's query on whether it planned to return the A330s to service at a later point.

AtlasGlobal continues to operate two active A321-200s. Another unit of the type has been stored at Amman Queen Alia since November 27, 2019.

AtlasGlobal resumed operations on December 16, 2019, after a 20-day-long suspension of all scheduled flights due to restructuring. The carrier's fleet has been shrinking continuously. In late November, when it suspended operations, AtlasGlobal operated one A320-200, nine A321s, and three A330-200s. Its now-dormant subsidiary AtlasGlobal UA (UH, Lviv) operated two A320-200s at that time.

Airbus Updates No.2472

Airbus A320	-271N	9494		9V-TNC	Scoot	delivery 24-25jan20 TLS-DWC-SIN	ex F-WWDA
Airbus A320	-271N	9497		SX-NEA	Aegean Airlines	delivery 27jan20 TLS-ATH, basic new cs	ex F-WWIM
Airbus A320	-271N	9508		VP-BVH	S7 Airlines	delivery 28jan20 TLS-DME	ex F-WWIN
Airbus A321	-112	586		I-BIXQ	Alitalia	ferried 26jan20 FCO-NQY, for part-out & scrap	ex D-AVZU
Airbus A321	-211	1174		HL8236	Asiana	ferried 24-25jan20 ICN-CTS-ANC-GYR on return to lessor	ex N174AG
Airbus A321	-211	2060		G-TCDA	WFTC	air-test 28jan20 MPL-VLC-MPL	ex TC-JMG
Airbus A321	-231	3013		VN-A352	Vietnam Airlines	on wet-lease to Jetstar Pacific from 16jan20 (+ 3022 VN-A353, + 3198 VN-A354 from 15jan20)	ex D-AVZW
Airbus A330	-243	334		A9C-KE	Gulf Air	ferried 27jan20 BAH-DGX, for part-out & scrap	ex A4O-KE
Airbus A330	-202	489		9H-PTN	Luke Air	at DUB 24jan20 in full cs, EI-reg prior delivery	ex EI-GGN
Airbus A330	-202	733		EC-JPF	Air Europa	ferried 27jan20 CHR-BOD prior return to lessor	ex F-WWKU
Airbus A330	-203	819		TC-AGD	AtlasGlobal	ferried 25jan20 IST-SNN on return to lessor (+ 900 TC-AGF)	ex 2-RLAZ
Airbus A330	-343	1103		VQ-BEL	Aeroflot	ferried 22jan20 SVO-PVG prior return to lessor	ex F-WWYR
Airbus A330	-302	1106		EI-ELA	Aer Lingus	painted at DUB from 23jan20 into new cs	ex F-WWYH
Airbus A330	-343	1907		F-WWYH	Airbus	ferried 28jan20 TLS-CHR for paint into? B-LHJ Hong Kong Airlines ntu
Airbus A340	-313	212		EC-MFA	Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas	ferried 24jan20 MAD-EGBP, for part-out & scrap	ex A9C-LG
Airbus A340	-313	236		9H-JAI	HiFly Malta	ferried 25jan20 MAD-BRI after wet-lease to Estelar Latinoamérica	ex EI-GAD
Airbus A340	-313	483		9H-SOL	HiFly Malta	posn 25jan20 LPBJ-MAD on new wet-lease to Estelar Latinoamérica	ex T7-MAN
Airbus A340	-642	626		ZS-SNH	South African Airways	ferried 28jan20 JNB-GRU-SBD, for part-out &scrap	ex F-WWCF
Airbus Canada A220	-171	50048		N129DU	Delta Air Lines	delivery 24jan20 YMX-ATL	ex C-FOYA

Airbus Updates No.2471

Airbus A310	-324	576		EY-707	Asian Express Airline	ferried 23jan20 TAS-THR	ex UK31002
Airbus A310	-324	706		EY-704	Asian Express Airline	ferried 23jan20 THR-IKA	ex UK31003
Airbus A319	-132	2574		N883UA	United Airlines	delivery 21-23jan20 SHE-NRT-ANC-PHX-GYR	ex B-6206
Airbus A319	-132	3839		D-AGWM	germanwings	ferried 25jan20 CGN-NWI for paint into Eurowings cs	ex D-AVYQ
Airbus A319	-132	3841		D-AGWN	germanwings	ferried 14/25jan20 CGN-NWI-CGN, paint into Eurowings cs	ex D-AVYS
Airbus A319	-132	4282		OE-IKE	Carlyle Aviation Partners	ferried 28jan20 ISE-LFBF for paint prior delivery to?	ex S5-AAP
Airbus A320	-233	1624		OE-IKW	Avolon Aerospace	ferried 24jan20 MPL-EGBP, for part-out & scrap?	ex TC-ATT
Airbus A320	-214	1885		OK-HEU	CSA Czech Airlines	ferried 28jan20 OSR-BRU, OO-reg after paint into basic cs prior delivery	ex OO-SNG
Airbus A320	-214	2144		N239NV	Allegiant Air	ferried 25jan20 MRV-OSR, VP-reg prio delivery	ex VP-BWF
Airbus A320	-214	3289		D-ANNA	Sundair	delivery 29jan20 WOE-BRE, EI-reg	ex EI-GKK
Airbus A320	-232	3414		VT-INQ	IndiGo Airlines	ferried 16jan20 DEL-CGK prior return to lessor	ex F-WWIM
Airbus A320	-214	4498		VQ-BHN	Aeroflot	ferried 14-15jan20 SVO-KJA-TNA on return to lessor	ex D-AUBL
Airbus A320	-214	5278		OE-LZC	Austrian Airlines	delivery 24jan20 WOE-VIE	ex N642AC
Airbus A320	-214	5587		EC-LVP	Vueling	posn 29jan20 BCN-JED, Flyadeal decals on wet-lease	ex F-WWBY
Airbus A320	-214	6125		VQ-BXT	GECAS	ferried 24jan20 LDE-SOF	ex PR-OCA
Airbus A320	-214	7543		F-WXAJ	Airbus	ferried 26-27jan20 KUK-DWC-HER-TLS	ex JA12VA
Airbus A320	-214	8604		OE-IES	Sky High Leasing	regd 23jan20, parked at LDE	ex EI-LIX
Airbus A320	-251N	9119		9K-AKM	Kuwait Airways	delivery 24jan20 XFW-KWI	ex D-AXAA
Airbus A320	-271N	9353		RP-C4110	Cebu Pacific	delivery 28-29jan20 XFW-MCT-MNL	ex D-AUAW
Airbus A320	-271N	9463		CC-AWN	JetSmart	delivery 24jan20 TLS-YQX-PTY-SCL “Carpintero Negro”	ex F-WWBM