The 10.9-year-old aircraft underwent pre-delivery maintenance at East Midlands and was ferried to Türkiye on September 21, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. It was then re-registered in Libya ahead of delivery to Buraq Air. The aircraft has yet to enter into revenue service and the carrier did not disclose a timeline. It said, however, that it aims to become Libya's "number one" carrier with the "new" fleet.
ZS-GAS (msn 76) was ferried from Johannesburg O.R. Tambo via Khartoum to Chisinau on August 3-4, 2022, and started operating for the Moldovan carrier on August 5, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. It is currently deployed on a wide range of routes out of the Moldovan capital. FlyOne has not filed any schedules for the wet-leased aircraft.
Neither of the carriers involved responded to ch-aviation's request for comment regarding the duration of the ACMI contract.
Global Aviation Operations operates seven A320s (including three under its Lift Airlines brand). The South African company is currently increasing its footprint in Europe, having recently launched a Lithuanian carrier, Global Airways (GBL, Vilnius), which currently operates three A320-200s under a season-long ACMI contract with Corendon Airlines Europe (XR, Malta Int'l).
Owned by Aviator Capital, YR-DSE (msn 2479) is a 17.2-year-old jet that was ferried post-maintenance from Craiova to Suceava on July 23 and subsequently operated its first flight to Antalya on behalf of Air Bucharest (BUR, Bucharest Baneasa). Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows it continues to operate mainly on behalf of Air Bucharest - a passenger charter specialist with no active in-house aircraft - but has also flown single charters under Dan Air's own code.
On 11 April, Pelita Air Service welcomes its first Airbus A320. The aircraft, registered PK-PWC (5463), was welcomed at Jakarta and sports the company's new corporate image. Previously, the Airbus was in use with GoAir in India as VT-GOL between 2013 and 2021. A second A320, PK-PWA (3809) will follow shortly.
In the coming weeks, Pelita is set to obtain all the neccessary licenses to operate the A320 and will then use the duo to launch domestic scheduled services, a new venture for the company which is currently focused on charters, cargo, maintenance, training and airport services. Next to the A320s, it has a fleet of one ATR42, five ATR72s, two Casa 212s and a single RJ85 which it operates for the Indonesian government. The company also operates the AT802, Bell 412EP, Bell 430, Bo105 and S76.
Cobra Jet Aviation is an Egyptian charter start-up, which has taken delivery of its first aircraft, A320 SU-CJA (1895). As can be clearly seen the Airbus was previously operated by Qatar Airways (as A7-ADD).
The new airline is named after wadjet, the ancient Egyptian god for safety. Next to its A320, Cobra Jet is also planning to add an A340-300 to be able to also offer long-haul and high capacity charter flights. The airline is based at Cairo.
GlobalX Takes Delivery Of Its First Aircraft, An Airbus A320
Start-up airline Global Crossing, or GlobalX, has taken delivery of its first aircraft. The A320 arrived at its new base, Miami International Airport (MIA), in the afternoon on Sunday, January 17th. The arrival brings the carrier one step closer to gaining FAA certification.
GlobalX’s first A320 was given a proper welcome in Miami on Sunday. Photo: GlobalX
A step on the path to certification
While much is doom and gloom in the world of aviation right now, there are also intermittent causes for celebration. Upon landing, the first GlobaX liveried A320-200 was greeted with a ceremonial water cannon salute. The event was commemorated with speeches by the airline’s and Airbus America’s CEOs.
“We are thrilled to take delivery of our first A320 aircraft here at our base at MIA.We are building our airline around Airbus with the A320 and 321 in passenger configuration, and later this year with the first of many A321 cargo aircraft,” said Ed Wegel, Chairman and CEO of Global Crossing, in a statement shared with Simple Flying.
“We hope to operate the Airbus A330 aircraft as well.Today is a testament to the outstanding work of the GlobalX team as we continue to certify as a US flag carrier,” Mr Wegel continued, refering on future widebody plans for his airline.
GlobalX’s first A320 of 2005 vintage is leased from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Capital. It arrived fresh from the paintshop, wearing its new carrier’s blue and green livery. It seats 180 passengers in an all-economy configuration. The airline says it will deploy it on charter services across the US, the Carribbean and South America.
First A321 to join shortly
The carrier is now awaiting FAA certification to commence operations, which it expects will receive towards the end of March. It is also expecting one more Airbus narrowbody, an A321, scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2021. Also built in 2005, it is leased from Estonian-based Magnetic Leasing and previously belonged to Vietnam Airlines.
“We extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to the leadership and team at GlobalX for their trust in Airbus and our A320 aircraft family. It’s an honor to welcome a new A320 and A321 operator in North America and support them throughout their expansion,” Airbus Americas Chairman and CEO Jeff Knittel said in a statement.
Operating out of Florida and New Jersey
The charter-start-up hoping to make a mark in the coming year will operate from two bases – MIA and Atlantic City International Airport (ACY) in New Jersey. GlobalX hopes to grow its fleet from two to ten or 15 of A320 family aricraft. As its CEO stated, the new entrant airline has hopes to add an A330 to its certificate, although this would be at least a couple of years into the future.
Airbus delivered nearly 100 fewer aircraft over first four months
Airbus delivered just 14 aircraft during April as the full effects of the coronavirus crisis on its production operation became evident, a total down by 80% on the 70 deliveries achieved in the same month last year.
The airframer registered only a single order – for nine A320neo-family jets from lessor Avolon – bringing overall net orders for the first four months of 2020 to 299.
No cancellations were recorded for April.
Source: Airbus
Airbus delivered a single A350-900 during April 2020
Just two long-haul aircraft were delivered in April, comprising an A350-900 for Japan Airlines and an A330-200 for conversion into a tanker by Airbus’s military division.
These were complemented by the handover of six A321neos and six A320neos. Chinese-affiliated deliveries featured, with Loong Air receiving an A320neo, while CMB Financial Leasing and CDB Leasing took aircraft respectively for Flynas and Azul.
Airbus also delivered five single-aisle aircraft to Turkish Airlines and fellow Turkish operator Pegasus Airlines, another three to IndiGo, and one to Spirit Airlines.
The airframer has not indicated how many aircraft have been manufactured but currently remain undelivered.
But Airbus had delivered 136 aircraft by the end of April, nearly 100 fewer than the 232 deliveries it had achieved by the same point last year. Compared with 2019 single-aisle deliveries are down 40% while long-haul deliveries have nearly halved.
Aero K (EOK, Cheong Ju) is nearing the delivery of its first aircraft, with A320-200 N631VA (msn 3135) already repainted in the South Korean start-up's livery, according to photos available online.
The aircraft is a 12.7-year-old unit owned by Carlyle Aviation Partners, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows. It was previously operated by Alaska Airlines (after the takeover of Virgin America, the earlier operator) and, according to Flightradar24 ADS-B data, was retired from revenue service on October 6, 2019. It was subsequently ferried to Greensboro, then to Victorville in mid-December 2019, and finally back again to Greensboro on January 3 already in Aero K's livery.
Chief Executive Kang Byung-ho said in October 2019 that Aero K planned to take its first A320 in February 2020 and launch operations on the Cheong Ju-Jeju route in March. The LCC expects four A320s for delivery by the end of 2020.
Juneyao Air (HO, Shanghai Hongqiao) took delivery of its first A320-200neo on December 12, in the form of B-30C9 (msn 9189), the carrier said on its Facebook profile.
The Airbus narrowbody was subsequently ferried from Tianjin to Shanghai Pudong on December 13, 2019, and operated its maiden revenue flight as HO1185 to Changchun on December 15, RadarBox24 ADS-B data shows.
"The aircraft will be deployed in domestic destinations including Chongqing, Xi'an Xianyang, Shenzhen, and Guilin. More destinations will come shortly. One more A320neo is expected to be delivered later this month," the Chinese carrier said.
According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Juneyao Air currently operates forty A320-200s, twenty-seven A321-200s, and six B787-9s. In addition to the A320neo, it is also expecting the delivery of its first A321-200neo shortly.
