Turkish Airlines' low-cost subsidiary AJet (formerly known as Anadolu Jet) has secured additional Airbus A321neos by signing two lease-agreements. The first agreement was reached with Avolon for ten aircraft, followed by one with Carlyle Aviation Partners for another four A321neos. All aircraft are planned to be delivered in 2026 and 2027.
AJet is leasing the new aircraft to reduce its dependency on wet-leased aircraft, which proved to be not as reliable as operating aircraft themselves.
Today, AJet is operating a fleet of 87 aircraft, made-up of thirteen A320neos (currently parked and being readied for the airline), eight A321-200s, fourteen A321neos, 45 Boeing B737-800s, and seven B737-8s.
Air Greenland to take delivery of first A320neo by YE27
Air Greenland (GL, Nuuk) has signed a dry-lease agreement with Carlyle Aviation Partners for one A320-200N, the airline announced on its website. Delivery is expected in December 2026 with entry into passenger service planned for spring 2027.
"The delivery time for new Airbus aircraft is currently six to seven years, so we have chosen to lease the aircraft to be ready when the new international airport in Ilulissat opens and to gain financial flexibility as the route is still new," said Jacob Nitter Sørensen, chief executive of Air Greenland.
The lease agreement with Carlyle runs for six years, but the airline will have an option to extend it further into the future. The Nuuk-based carrier revealed that the cockpit of the A320neo will be crewed mostly by A330neo pilots thanks to the commonalities between the two aircraft types.
Air Greenland also plans to train some of its De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Dash 8 pilots for the A320neo operations. It further disclosed that maintenance on the new aircraft will be conducted in Copenhagen by SAS Scandinavian Airlines where its A330 is also being serviced.
Hans Airways (GKS) has firmed the letter of intent it signed in January for its first aircraft, A330-200 msn 950, with a committed contract, it said in a statement on March 30.
According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, the aircraft is a 13.7-year-old jet, formerly EC-KTG with Air Europa (UX, Palma de Mallorca) and currently in maintenance at Abu Dhabi Int'l. The remarketed aircraft is owned and managed by Carlyle Aviation Partners and will be re-registered as G-KJAS.
It is “undergoing maintenance checks with Etihad Airways Engineering, overseen by a Hans Airways liaison engineer,” the British hybrid-service long-haul start-up said.
The Hans management team aims to secure a proving flight date imminently from the UK Civil Aviation Authority, a precursor to obtaining its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) for which it submitted its application in March 2020.
Hans Airways now plans to start commercial flight operations in early summer, with scheduled secondary-city air links between the United Kingdom and India. CEO Satnam Saini told ch-aviation in December that it would initially launch scheduled services out of Birmingham Int'l. Cabin crew training is currently taking place both in Birmingham and Manchester.
UK-India Startup Hans Airways Signs LOI For Its First A330-200
UK-based startup Hans Airways has taken a step closer to realizing its ambitions with a letter of intent (LOI) for its first aircraft. The airline has today announced the agreement for an A330-200, and has applied to the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for its Air Operators Certificate. It hopes to launch services as soon as this summer.
Hans Airways has signed up for its first aircraft. Photo: Hans Airways
First A330 for Hans
Hans Airways, a brand new UK airline, has today revealed that it has signed a letter of intent (LOI) for its first aircraft. The airline is looking forward to receiving an A330-200 later this year, with high hopes to begin operations before the summer is out.
The A330 in question carries MSN 950, and is a 13.5-year-old A330-200 that has been in service with Air Europa since its construction. It was delivered new to Air Europa as EC-KTG in September 2008, and is on lease from Carlyle Aviation Partners. According to data from RadarBox.com, the aircraft left Spain at the end of December, and is currently in maintenance at Abu Dhabi.
Hans Airways shares that the A330 will be re-registered G-KJAS – a nod to one of the airline’s principal early investors, Kirpal Singh Jass. It will retain its current Air Europa cabin layout, which features 275 economy and 24 premium economy seats. In a statement, the airline’s CEO Satnam Saini commented,
“We are delighted to have achieved this very important milestone in our two-year journey. Our scheduled operations centre on the Airbus A330, a popular and spacious long-haul widebody, excellent for cargo too, and we are grateful to everyone who has helped us to ratify this agreement at the start of the new year.”
EC-KTG in its current livery for Air Europa. Photo: Victor via Flickr
The airline applied for its AOC in March 2020 and is hopeful of approval in the coming weeks. Dependent on the timescales for this, and the situation with global travel restrictions, it hopes to launch services before the end of the summer.
Moving ahead
Hans Airways began recruiting crew back in August last year. The airline says that the first set of flight crew, comprised of four pilots and cabin crew, began training on January 3rd with its training partner IAGO Flight Training.
Looking to connect the UK to secondary cities in India, the airline is working to set up a base in Birmingham (BHX). Although it hasn’t named any Indian cities specifically yet, its website showcases Amritsar, which could be a lucrative destination for a direct Birmingham flight.
The A330s will be in two classes – premium economy and economy. Photo: Hans Airways
While this market is going to be relatively price sensitive, Hans Airways isn’t going all out to be a low-cost airline for these routes. It states that it intends to operate a hybrid model, combining great value for money with some of the more in-demand frills such as inflight entertainment and catering.
The airline has put together a board of directors with some pretty impressive CVs. Non-executive director Dr Barry Humphreys is a former regulator with the UK CAA and a former director of Virgin Atlantic. Fellow non-executive director Dr Peter Malanik is the former CEO of Austrian Airlines. And the Chairman, Ruchir Verma, has worked with Microsoft, Zurich Insurance and various other corporate projects. Similarly, the leadership team has officers formerly employed by the likes of easyJet, BA CityFlyer, TUI, Virgin, and more.
While the jury is still out on whether the UK to India market needs another player, Hans Airways clearly believes in its strategy. It has already planned a frequent flyer program and is keenly eyeing the start of operations later in the year.
Fiji Airways Sends Two Airbus A330s Back To Its Lessors
Fiji Airways is losing a third of its Airbus A330 fleet as it returns two A330-200 aircraft back to lessors. The airline has been working to reduce its costs amid the global health crisis and persistent travel restrictions, and suppressed demand. The aircraft will fly back to Abu Dhabi and their lessor, Etihad Airways.
Made possible due to the short-term nature of the original lease agreement, Fiji Airways is in the process of sending back two of its Airbus A330-200s. The early return is due to the prolonged health crisis and suppressed travel demand.
The two 15-year-old jets are named “Island of Beqa” (registered DQ-FJO) and “Island of Vatulele” (registered DQ-FJP). This move, according to Fiji Village, is a few months ahead of the original end of the lease.
Fiji Village also notes that the airline’s Managing Director and CEO, Andre Viljoen, notes that the aircraft were first acquired to boost capacity in the short term and allow for an increase in frequency, as well as the launch of new routes (such as to Tokyo). Viljoen also noted that the aircraft played a key role in mitigating schedule disruptions caused by the 737 MAX crisis and the global grounding of the type.
The aircraft registered DQ-FJP has already departed Fiji Airways’ home base at Nadi for Abu Dhabi. Photo: RadarBox.com
DQ-FJO and DQ-FJP are configured differently from the rest of the Fiji Airways A330-200 fleet. Rather than 24 business class seats and 249 economy, the pair have a more spacious configuration, with 18 seats in business and 233 in economy.
Parallel histories
Data from Planespotters.net shows that the jets joined Fiji Airways in the middle of 2018 as short-term leases. Both aircraft had previously been flown by Air Seychelles.
However, digging deeper, we can see that both jets have parallel histories- flying with the same carriers at every stage of their service life. The pair began flying for Jet Airways in 2006/2007 before going to Gulf Air in 2008 on a short-term lease. They went back to Jet Airways shortly after and again were out on a short-term lease to Oman Air in 2009. After then going back to Jet Airways, the two jets went to Etihad, then Air Seychelles, and finally, Fiji Airways. Unfortunately, both jets have been inactive and parked since March 2020 with the onset of the health crisis.
Without the two A330s, Fiji Airways will have 13 aircraft in its fleet. Photo: Getty Images
Data from Planespotters.net suggests that the pair are leased from Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad Airways. In a way, this could explain the recent flight to Abu Dhabi for DQ-FJP. However, examining ch-aviation data, it looks like the aircraft are sub-leased, with the registered owner of both jets being Carlyle Aviation Partners. With Etihad unlikely to operate the aircraft themselves, perhaps Abu Dhabi has been selected as a storage site- until a new lessee can be found to operate the aircraft.
According to the ch-aviation schedules module, Air Senegal plans to debut the A321 on its daily route from Dakar to Conakry on December 21, 2020.
The aircraft will join Air Senegal's existing narrowbody fleet of two A319-100s. The carrier also operates two ATR72-600s, one A330-900 and although it owns the aircraft, it wet-leases a further A330-900 from Hi Fly Malta (HFM, Malta Int'l).
AP-BNE (msn 733), a 14.5-year-old twinjet previously operated by Air Europa (UX, Palma de Mallorca) and owned by Carlyle Aviation Partners, was ferried after maintenance and repainting at Châteauroux directly to Karachi Int'l, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. It has yet to be deployed into commercial service.
The A330 is the first of a trio due to join Serene Air's fleet. The privately-owned carrier currently operates four B737-800s on domestic routes within Pakistan. As of September 1, 2020, it intends to operate its full pre-COVID domestic schedule.
"Serene Air is ready to commence international operations to Dubai Int'l and Sharjah in the UAE and followed by Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia," Muhammad Safdar Khan, CEO of Serene Air, said in a statement to the Khaleej Times newspaper. "We will foray into the Saudi market later this year and we also have firm plans to explore key destinations in China and the UK."
"With this addition, we are poised to become stronger and thrive in the intensively competitive airline industry. This is the start of fleet enhancement as Serene Air would be adding two more A330s to its fleet in the next three to four months," Khan added.
While Serene Air's B737-800s are configured in single-class layouts, the A330-200 features 299 seats in a dual-class layout - with 275 economy class seats and 24 business class seats.
Air Serbia to add two former Adria Airways Airbus A319
Belgrad, Serbia - Serbian flag carrier Air Serbia announced that it would add two former Adria Airways Airbus A319 jets.
The aircraft with registrations S5-AAP and S5-AAR were ferried to Toulouse, where there will be painted in the Air Serbia's corporate colors. They are expected to make their commercial debuts next month.
The ten-year-old planes are owned by Miami-based Carlyle Aviation Partners. The new A319s will allow the Belgrad-based operator to launch up to ten new routes and increase its flight frequencies on its existing routes.
Air Serbia currently operates nine Airbus A319, two Airbus A320, one A330-200, six Boeing 737-200 and, six ATR 72 (three ATR 72-200, three ATR 72-500).
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.
AJet secures more Airbus A321neos
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