Airbus Updates No.4633

SAS celebrates 80th birthday

SAS is celebrating its 80th birthday with a special livery on its Airbus A330-300 LN-RKR (1660). The aircraft was repainted between 14 and 30 March 2026 at Shannon.

On 31 March 2026, the Airbus conducted its first commercial flight in the special dark blue livery. It flew from Copenhagen to New York-JFK, commemorating the importance of this route for the early international expansion of the airline in 1946.

SAS, which is getting majority owned by the AF-KLM Group, is currently operating a fleet that is consisting of seven ATR72-600s (operated by BRA), four A319s, three A320s, 80 A320neos, three A321neos, eight A330-300s, five A350-900s, one B737-700, thirteen CRJ900s (operated by CityJet), and fifteen ERJ195s.

Photo by SAS.

Airbus Updates No.4519

1st Airbus A321NEO painted for Sun PhuQuoc Airways

On 13 June 2025, Scramble reported about a new Vietnamese start-up called Sun PhuQuoc Airways. Now, we can show you the first painted aircraft for the airline, which was rolled-out of the paintshop on 13 July 2025 at Shannon.

The aircraft is Airbus A321-211 2-FWCA (8577). It's owned by leasing company FitzWalter Aviation and was previously in use with VietJetAir as VN-A627 between 2018 and 2022. It has been parked at Shannon since October last year. It's currently unknown which Vietnamese-registration it will get.

A second A321 is also alreadt in the paintshop at Shannon. This is 2-FWCB (8592), which also flew with VietJetAir before but as VN-A628. It has also been parked at Shannon since October last year.

Photo by Malcolm Nason.

Airbus Updates No.4346

1st Airbus A350-900 for Edelweiss breaks cover

Malcolm Nason was present at Shannon on 14 August 2024, when the first Airbus A350-900 for Edelweiss Air broke cover after being painted at the airport.

The aircraft involved is currently registered OE-LHF (079) and will become HB-IHC once in service. Commercial flights are scheduled to begin in April next year.

The close observer will notice a slight modification to the airline's livery, with the red of the tail now swooping onto the fuselage a bit.

In total, Edelweiss Air will add six A350s to its fleet. Four of them are former LATAM-aircraft, while the remaining two are currently in use with Thai Airways.

The airline will use its new widebody aircraft to replace its current long-haul fleet of five A340-300s.

photo credit: Malcolm Nason