Airbus Updates No.3343

 

UK's Titan Airways retires only A318

Titan Airways Airbus A318-100© Rowen Aquilina

23.04.2021 - 00:04 UTC

Titan Airways (ZT, London Stansted) has retired its only A318-100, having ferried the 11.6-year-old G-EUNB (msn 4039) reportedly for part-out on April 13, 2021.

The all-business-class Airbus narrowbody with 32 lie-flat passenger seats was previously operated by British Airways as one of a pair of aircraft used on the premium London City-New York JFK route. The flag carrier sold the aircraft in 2017 (the other unit, G-EUNA (msn 4007), was ferried to Enschede for part-out in February 2021 once British Airways cancelled the route).

Flightradar24 ADS-B data indicate that Titan Airways used its A318 on a commercial service for the last time on March 11, 2021, flying from London Stansted to Hassi Messaoud in Algeria and return. Since then, the aircraft has been stored at Stansted. On April 13, Titan ferried it to St. Athan. It is owned by Fuyo General Lease and managed by ALM - Aircraft Leasing & Management, the ch-aviation fleets ownership module indicates. According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), an aircraft registration case was opened on March 26, 2021, indicating potential deregistration in progress.

Titan Airways did not respond to ch-aviation's request for confirmation that the aircraft will indeed be parted out.

The carrier's fleet currently comprises two A320-200s, four A321-200s, two A321-200(P2F)s, two A321-200NX(LR)s, two B737-400(SF)s, and two B757-200s, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows.

The A318s, excluding the ACJ318-100 variant, remain in operation with just two carriers in the world: Air France with 18 units and Tarom with four.

Airbus Updates No.3329

 

Tarom puts 14 aircraft up for sale including all 4 Airbus A318's

Tarom Airbus A318-100© Tis Meyer / PlanePics.org

12.04.2021 - 16:55 UTC

Tarom (RO, Bucharest Otopeni) has set in motion previously announced plans to dispose of 14 ageing aircraft deemed surplus to future requirements.

A Request For Proposals (RFP) said the aircraft are offered on a voetstoots basis (as-is, where-is) with indicative starting prices offered as a guide.

A318-100s:

• YR-ASA (msn 2931) - 14 years old - USD6,518,617;
• YR-ASB (msn 2955) - 14 years old - USD6,527,075;
• YR-ASC (msn 3220) - 13 years old - USD6,859,032;
• YR-ASD (msn 3225) - 13 years old - USD6,868,546;

Airbus Updates No.2812

FAA Issues Airbus A320 Family Airworthiness Directive For Over 1200 Planes

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that it is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus A320 family aircraft. The group estimates that the notification affects 1,203 planes of United States registry.

The FAA is issuing this directive due to concerns over safety regarding specific aircraft. Photo: Getty Images

The concern

An AD is a notification to owners and operators that there is a safety deficiency with a specific model of aircraft or a system part of it. Moreover, the holder must address the issue. According to an FAA document, this directive impacts jets across A318, A319, A320, and A321 models.

The directive mentions the following planes:

• A318-111, -112, -121, and -122
• A319-111, -112, -113, -114, -115, -131, -132, and -133
• A320-211, -212, -214, -216, -231, -232, and -233
• A321-111, -112, -131, -211, -212, -213, -231, and -232

The FAA said that there were reports of fatigue cracks on continuity fittings at the lower framing of the front windshield on aircraft that had a certain production modification. Furthermore, following analysis, it is evident that specific certification requirements for damage tolerance and fatigue are not met on planes in a particular post-production modification configuration.

Altogether, this airworthiness directive impacts aircraft across the Airbus A320 family. Photo: Airbus

Fixing the issue

The FAA says that the AD requires repetitive high frequency eddy current (HFEC) inspections of the central node windshield area for cracking. Moreover, if operators do find cracking, they have to perform the necessary corrective measures.

These actions are specified in a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD. The FAA incorporated these details into the document for reference. Overall, the government body is sharing this directive due to the unsafe condition on these units

“The FAA is issuing this AD to address fatigue cracks on continuity fittings at the lower framing of the front windshield on airplanes on which Airbus Production Modification 22058 (which is included in Airbus Modification 21999) has been embodied,” the FAA said in the document.

“Additional analysis showed that certain certification requirements for damage tolerance and fatigue are not met on airplanes in a post-production Modification 22058 configuration. The FAA is issuing this AD to address this condition, which could lead to failure of the continuity fittings at the lower node of the windshield central frame, possibly resulting in decompression of the airplane and injury to occupants.”

Inspections across the nation

Most major US carriers presently have several A320 family aircraft within their fleets. Therefore, across the country, there will be some busy workers addressing these concerns in the directive.

Earlier this month, the FAA shared a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for an airworthiness directive on the Boeing 737 MAX. This release is just one of many steps in getting jet in the skies for passenger operations. The type has been on the ground since March 2019.

Nonetheless, airlines will be taking any of these airworthiness directives seriously. Undoubtedly, they will be ensuring that they exercise the right course of action as soon as possible.

Airbus Updates No.2634

Air France to Sell and Lease Back 16 Airbus Single-Aisle Aircraft

May 04, 2020   

Paris, France - Air France has reached an agreement with the US investing group FTAI Aviation for the sale and leaseback of sixteen Airbus A318 and A319 jets. 

The lessor said in a statement the transaction covers six A319-100s and ten A318-100s. All planes are powered by CFM International CFM56-5B engines. The deal is expected to close later this month and involves an average lease duration of 34 months.

Air France currently operates eighteen A318-100s. All of them are owned by the airline. In turn, the carrier owns twenty out of thirty-three A319-100s in its fleet. The remaining 13 units are dry-leased from various lessors.

Airbus Updates No.2562

The month in review: February 2020

Since the beginning of the year, Airbus logged net orders for 274 commercial aircraft from its A220, A320 and A350 XWB product lines. During the month of February, Airbus recorded no new orders.

In February, Airbus delivered 55 aircraft to 35 customers. Single-aisle deliveries in February involved 40 A320 Family aircraft (composed of 37 NEO versions and three in the CEO configuration), plus four A220s. For Airbus widebody aircraft, seven A350 XWBs were provided in the A350-900 configuration and two A350 XWBs in the A350-1000 configuration; along with two A330 Family aircraft (composed of one NEO version and one CEO). 

Airbus registered three new airlines in its A320neo operator base this month. Swiss International Air Lines became a new A320neo operator after taking delivery of its first of 25 A320neo aircraft on order. EGYPTAIR, the national carrier of Egypt, received its first A320neo on lease from AerCap, while Airbus made its first A320neo delivery to flyadeal, the low-cost carrier in Saudi Arabia on lease from Avolon.

Among the month’s notable deliveries was the first A350-900 delivered to Aeroflot, the national airline of Russia, out of 22 aircraft of the type on order. 

Airbus’ backlog of aircraft remaining to be delivered as of 29 February stood at 7,670. This total was comprised of 6,209 A320 Family aircraft and 547 A220s, as well as 328 A330s, 577 A350 XWBs and nine A380s.

The overall orders logged by Airbus since its creation totalled 20,382 commercial aircraft, which includes 15,522 A320 Family aircraft, 1,823 A330s, 935 A350 XWBs, 658 A220s and 251 A380s.

Airbus Updates No.2322

The month in review: October 2019

October was a landmark month for Airbus in terms of new business, with orders logged for 415 new commercial jetliners. This includes one of the company’s largest-ever transactions with a single airline operator, and overall bookings that significantly strengthened the extra-long-range A321XLR’s market positioning – while the 77 deliveries brought the total number of A320neo/A321neo jetliners delivered to customers/operators above the 1,000 mark.

Leading October orders was Indian carrier IndiGo’s for 300 additional A320neo Family aircraft, taking its overall order for the type to 730.

Other bookings in October for the increasingly-popular A321XLR included 30 for Malaysia’s AirAsia X, 20 for Hungarian-based Wizz Air, 12 for JetSMART of Chile, and two for an unidentified customer. Another unidentified customer ordered 13 A321XLRs in a transaction that also included 12 A330-900 highly efficient wide-bodies.

Completing the A320 Family orders during the month was China Airlines’ contract for 11 A321neos; seven A320neos for Taiwan’s Tigerair; and an agreement by the U.S. based lessor Aviation Capital Group for three A320neos. Overall, the A320neo Family reached a new milestone of over 7,000 orders from 113 customers with a backlog of more than 6,000.

New transactions were also booked in October for the latest member of Airbus’ single-aisle product line: the A220. France’s Réunion Island-based airline, Air Austral, signed a firm order for three A220s, becoming the first A220 customer in the Indian Ocean region; while Air Tanzania, the A220’s initial African-based operator, extended its fleet of A220-300s with two additional aircraft.

The 77 deliveries during the month were made to 45 customers and led by the A320 Family with 59 deliveries (56 NEOs and three CEOs). Since the A320neo Family entry into service in 2016, October marked Airbus’ 1,000th A320neo Family delivery, an aircraft which was received by IndiGo.

Among the other notable deliveries in October were the first A321neo for Taiwan’s STARLUX Airlines (through lessor GECAS).

Completing the October deliveries were four A220s, along with 14 Airbus wide-body aircraft: eight A350-900s and six A330s (four NEOs and two CEOs).

During the first 10 months of 2019, Airbus made 648 deliveries overall to 92 customers, compared with 584 aircraft over the same period of 2018 – equivalent to 64 more deliveries.

Taking the latest orders and deliveries into account, Airbus’ aircraft backlog as of 31 October stood at 7,471 aircraft including 6,107 A320 Family, 436 A220 Family, 593 A350 XWBs, 284 A330s and 51 A380s. 

Airbus Updates No.2230

Avianca Holdings to dispose of 14 A320 Family jets to FTAI

Avianca Airbus A320-200 © Avianca

26.07.2019 - 14:57 UTC

Avianca Holdings will further reduce its overall fleet through the end of this year following the decision to sell 14 aircraft.

In a stock market filing, the Panama-based holding firm said it had reached an agreement to sell ten A318-100s and four A320ceo to New York-based Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC (FTAI Aviation), for an estimated aggregate price of approximately USD160 million. The sale is expected to close by year-end.

“We are excited to execute a flexible phase-out plan that maximizes our fleet value. It has been terrific working with FTAI – we look forward to exploring new opportunities across our fleet with FTAI and continuing to build our relationship with them," Anko van der Werff, Avianca’s Chief Executive Officer, said.

According to ch-aviation fleets advanced, Avianca Holdings' ten A318s operate for its Avianca Airlines (AV, Bogotá) subsidiary alongside the four A320ceo.

As part of its Avianca 2021 turnaround strategy, Avianca Holdings, in March, succeeded in cutting seventeen A320neo from its 128-strong order with Airbus. In addition, it also deferred deliveries of another 35 aircraft of the type to between 2019-2022 thus saving the firm financial commitments of more than USD2.6 billion.

It also retired its fleet of ten E190s in late June.