Airbus Updates No.2129

Uganda Airlines firms up A330neo order

Illustration of Uganda Airlines Airbus A330-800N © Airbus

09.04.2019 - 08:04 UTC

Uganda Airlines (Entebbe/Kampala) has firmed up a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) for two A330-800s. The preliminary order for the widebody jets was signed during the 2018 Farnborough Air Show.

According to a parliamentary report submitted on March 26, the two A330neo are tentatively due to deliver during the final quarter of 2020. They cost USD108 million each of which a deposit of USD1.1 million was put down last year. A further USD10 million dollars was to be paid for each jet by March 31. The full USD20 million is, therefore, presumed to have now been paid given Airbus's confirmation of the order. The next instalment date is October 31, 2019, when the state will again pay USD26,748,476 for each aircraft. The balance is due to be settled by October 2020.

Aside from the A330neo, Uganda Airlines also has four CRJ-900s on order from Bombardier (BBA, Montréal Trudeau). The first two regional jets were to have delivered on March 26 with the remaining two to deliver in July and September of this year.

Although a total of UGX1.26 trillion (USD336.8 million) was allocated by parliament during its FY2018/19 budget for the purchase of all six aircraft, an additional UGX280 billion Ugandan shillings (USD75.6 million) was required to pay off the balance due on the first two CRJs (USD41.55 million or USD20.775 million x 2) and secure spare parts (USD5 million). The airline also required USD29.9 million to fully refund the government for funds that were to have been used to cover initial capitalization costs but which were ultimately used to pay the deposit for the four CRJs (USD27.7 million or USD6.925 million x 4) after the government failed to secure external financing.

However, given that parliament only agreed to disburse the required UGX280 billion on March 29, the first of the CRJs, 5X-KOB (msn 15457), will now only arrive in Entebbe/Kampala on April 23.

Uganda Airlines hopes to complete its AOC drive and launch soon after the reception of its first aircraft.

Airbus Updates No.2128

Airbus A320	-271N	8833		ZK-NHC	Air New Zealand	delivery 06-09apr19 TLS-MCT-KUL-CNS-CHC	ex F-WWDE
Airbus A320	-214	8847		JA825P	Peach Air	delivery 08-10apr18 TLS-DXB-UTP-KIX, regd F-WXAR	ex F-WWIG
Airbus A320	-271N	8865		EC-NCT	Vueling	delivery 08apr19 TLS-BCN	ex F-WWDT
Airbus A320	-251N	8871		9M-RAO	AirAsia	delivery 05-06apr19 TLS-DWC-KUL	ex F-WWDC
Airbus A320	-251N	8880		G-UZHX	easyJet	delivery 05apr19 TLS-LTN	ex F-WWBE
Airbus A321	-231	1421		LY-NVU	Avion Express	delivery 03apr19 MPL-MAN, all white, prior summer wet-lease to Onur Air	ex OE-IBD
Airbus A321	-231	3106		VP-BHN	Nordwind Airlines	ferried 07apr19 KUF-SVO after paint	ex 4R-MRC
Airbus A321	-211	5681		C-GHPD	Air Canada	ferried 06/09apr19 LCQ-YUL-SNN after paint	ex TF-KID
Airbus A321	-211	7127		TF-GMA	Air Lease Corp	Wow Air cs, ferried 08-09apr19 YYZ-SNN-OSR	ex D-AVXE
Airbus A321	-211	7650		TF-WIN	(Wow Air)	ferried 05apr19 DTW-YMX (+ ‑253N 8085 TF-DTR BWI-YMX)	ex D-AVYJ
Airbus A321	-253N	7942		N924VA	Alaska Airlines	ferried 06apr19 VCV-SFO after paint into standard cs	ex D-AVZJ
Airbus A321	-251N	8260		EI-LIA	Azur Aviation	ferried 05apr19 NQY-NWI for paint prior delivery to Bamboo Airways as VN-A589	ex OY-PAC
Airbus A321	-251NX	8593		CS-TXA	TAP Air Portugal	delivery 05apr19 XFW-LIS	ex D-AVXU
Airbus A321	-211	8812		N375DN	Delta Air Lines	delivery 05apr19 BFM-MCI	ex F-WZML
Airbus A330	-343	997		C-	Air Canada	ferried 05apr19 GIG-LIS, CS-reg after paint prior delivery	ex cS-TOU
Airbus A340	-313	270		TC-JIH	Turkish Airlines	ferried 01apr19 IST-JNB, for Global Aviation	ex F-WWJP
Airbus A340	-642	740		A7-AGA	Qatar Airways	ferried 08apr19 FCO-DOH after paint into all white plus Training titl	ex F-WWCP
Airbus A340	-642	740		A7-AGA	Qatar Airways	ferried 01apr19 DOH-FCO for paint into all wh plus Training titl prior use at DOH airport	ex F-WWCP
Airbus A350	-941	289		ET-AWM	Ethiopian Airlines	delivery 05apr19 TLS-ADD	ex F-WZFK
Airbus A350	-941	294		9V-SHE	Singapore Airlines	delivery 06apr19 TLS-SIN	ex F-WZGM

Airbus Updates No.2127

Airbus A319	-112	1997		N772XF	American Airlines	onward delivery 07apr19 CLT-ATL	ex N920FR
Airbus A319	-112	3043		2-ACSB	Aero Capital Solutions	ferried 09apr19 PRG-DGX, CSA cs	ex OK-MEK
Airbus A319	-112	3892		D-ASTG	Lufthansa Technik	Germania cs, ferried 08apr19 TXL-PAD	ex OK-OER
Airbus A319	-115	8651		B-306S	Tibet Airlines	delivery 04apr19 TSN-LHW	ex B-000E
Airbus A320	-232	1411		RP-C7935	Pan Pacific Airlines	delivery 02-04apr19 MPL-HBE-MCT-DAC-CRK	ex OE-IHM
Airbus A320	-212	1416		EC-NAC	Thomas Cook Baleares	posn 04apr19 MAN-DUS on wet-lease to Condor	ex D-AICK
Airbus A320	-214	1717		D-ABNI	Eurowings Europe	posn 04apr19 PAD-STR after transfer	ex OE-IDE
Airbus A320	-232	2077		LY-	GetJet Airlines	ferried 09apr19 LDE-SNN, OE-reg prior delivery	ex OE-IHR
Airbus A320	-232	2138		VT-IKE	IndiGo Airlines	delivery 08apr19 LCA-DEL, EI-reg	ex EI-GHF
Airbus A320	-232	2161		OE-LOY	LaudaMotion	regd 05apr19 prior delivery ex LCA	ex EI-GHM
Airbus A320	-214	3859		F-GKXT	Air France	ferried 04apr19 OSR-CDG after paint on re-transfer	ex F-WWDM
Airbus A320	-232	4270		N698NK	Spirit Airlines	in full cs at SNN 06apr19, D-reg after paint prior delivery jun19	ex D-AAAC
Airbus A320	-232	4305		D-AAAF	?	Wow Air cs, seen regd at SNN 04apr19	ex TF-BRO
Airbus A320	-214	4329		D-AEUH	Lufthansa Technik	ferried 04apr19 LCA-DEB	ex OE-LOF
Airbus A320	-214	4393		VT-	IndiGo AIrlines	ferried 09apr19 SOF-SNN, OE-reg for paint prior delivery	ex OE-IGQ
Airbus A320	-271N	7788		N906NK	Spirit Airlines	delivery 06apr19 TLS-KEF-DTW	ex D-AVVC
Airbus A320	-251N	7854		PR-YYE	Azul Linhas Aéreas	ferried 09apr19 SNN-LETL, VQ-reg, after paint prior delivery	ex VQ-BXK
Airbus A320	-271N	8803		ZK-NHB	Air New Zealand	delivery 09-12apr19 XFW-MCT-KUL-CNS-CHC	ex D-AUBU
Airbus A320	-251N	8826		UK32022	Uzbekistan Airways	delivery 09apr19 XFW-TAS	ex D-AUBH
Airbus A320	-251N	8827		B-308K	Spring Airlines	delivery 04apr19 TSN-PVG	ex B-000Q

Airbus Updates No.2126

Atlantic Airways gears for A320neo delivery in late 2Q19

Atlantic Airways Airbus A320-200 © Airbus Industrie

04.04.2019 - 15:06 UTC

Atlantic Airways (RC, Vágar) is expecting to take delivery of its first A320-200neo in June 2019 and is looking to transition to an all-A320neo fleet in the near future, CEO Jóhanna á Bergi told Air Transport World.

"The first A320neo is joining our fleet in June; the second one in the first quarter of 2020. We would like to have a unified A320neo fleet as soon as possible," á Bergi said.

The Faroese carrier currently operates two A319-100s and one A320-200. The first two A320neo will be msn 8918 and 8996, the ch-aviation fleets module shows.

The airline is limited by the short runway at its main base and the only airport in the Faroe Islands, Vágar. The operational limitations are further exacerbated by frequent winds and poor visibility at the airport. As such, Atlantic Airways is unable to operate any larger aircraft.

á Bergi said that with the A320neo's enhanced operational performance specifications, the carrier will look at launching new flights to destinations further out from the Faroe Islands. By the end of 2019, Atlantic Airways hopes to start flying to New York.

Airbus Updates No.2125

Kuwait Airways turns to ACMI over A320neo delivery delays

Kuwait Airways Airbus A320-200 © Tis Meyer (PlanePics.org)

04.04.2019 - 08:50 UTC

Kuwait Airways (KU, Kuwait) has said it will wet-lease in capacity given delays in the delivery of its first A320-200neo.

In a statement, the Kuwaiti carrier said three A320neo that were to have delivered in March this year have since been deferred to June, October, and November.

Under its original plan, the trio of A320neo were to have seamlessly replaced three A320ceo - 9K-AKA (msn 181), 9K-AKB (msn 182), and 9K-AKC (msn 195) - that were taken out of service as of March 31 ahead of their sale to a third-party.

As such, with the wet-leased aircraft only due to arrive in two weeks time, Kuwait Airways said it has been forced to cancel select flights. Affected passengers will be accommodated on other flights.

Kuwait Airways is expecting a total of fifteen A320neo from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac). Other than the three outgoing jets, it currently operates eight A320ceo.

Airbus Updates No.2124

British Airways to launch A350-1000 ops in early 4Q19

Airbus A350-1000 © Airbus

03.04.2019 - 19:40 UTC

British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) will launch scheduled A350-1000 flights on October 1, 2019, and will initially deploy the Airbus widebody to Dubai Int'l and Toronto Pearson, ch-aviation schedules analysis has revealed.

The British flag carrier will initially use the A350-1000 to run daily flights to Toronto from October 1. From October 8, the airline will also deploy the type to Dubai daily.

Currently, both routes are operated with B777-200(ER)s.

British Airways has eighteen A350-1000s on order with Airbus.

Airbus Updates No.2123

French authorities investigate Airbus over Egyptian orders

© Tis Meyer (PlanePics.org)

02.04.2019 - 08:19 UTC

Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) has been confronted with fresh allegations of corruption after German news magazine Spiegel and French disclosure platform Mediapart published internal documents suggesting the European aircraft manufacturer had bribed its way to contracts in Egypt in 2003 and 2006.

The first instance focuses on an April 2003 order with EgyptAir (MS, Cairo Int'l) for seven A330-200s while the other focuses on a 2006 deal involving the sale of four A320-200s to another EgyptAir-affiliated carrier, Air Cairo (SM, Cairo Int'l).

According to the report, Airbus allegedly recruited Lebanese firm Samit International to "arrange meetings between the company's representatives and high-level government representatives" from Egypt, to organize negotiations for the sale of the seven A330 aircraft, and assist Airbus with the sale of A320s. Samit's compensation was pegged at 1.5% of all proceeds.

In 2006, Airbus again recruited Samit for another contract with the Egyptians. This time, the mandate encompassed the sale of various models, including four A320-200s to Air Cairo. Airbus mandated Samit, the documents said, to "maintain all conditions for a political environment favourable to the Company's Products."

According to the documents, between 2003 and 2008, Samit submitted invoices to Airbus for over EUR10 million euros, which Airbus was supposed to transfer to one of Samit's accounts in Lebanon. Deposits started in 2005 with a total of 13 having been made. The funds were then forwarded onto other third-parties six of which received substantial tranches of cash.

Prosecutors in France have been in possession of the documents since summer 2017 and have already begun their investigations.

Neither the investigators nor Airbus chose to comment on the allegations.

Airbus is currently being investigated in several countries for deals conducted under suspicious circumstances. In 2018, it agreed to pay USD99 million to settle a German investigation into alleged corruption surrounding the purchase by Austria of 18, then later reduced to 15, Eurofighters.

Airbus Updates No.2122

Airbus A321	-231	2216		YL-LCV	smartLynx Airlines	posn 31mar19 ERF-BHX on summer-lease to Jet2	ex F-WTDH
Airbus A321	-211	3191		YL-LCX	smartLynx Airlines	regd 26mar19, posn 29mar19 SHJ-LCA-BRS, Thomas Cook cs	ex SP-HAZ
Airbus A321	-211	4116	7482	VQ-BEG	Aeroflot	ferried 02apr19 OSR-SVO after mx**	ex D-AZAF
Airbus A321	-211	5733		C-GHPJ	Air Canada	ferried 30mar19 YRQ-YMX after paint	ex TF-SON
Airbus A321	-211	6232		C-GHQI	Air Canada	onward delivery 30mar19 YMX-YUL-LCQ, for paint	ex TF-DAD
Airbus A321	-251N	8312		VN-A591	Bamboo Airways	ferried by Azur Aviation 01apr19 EMA-NQY, EI-reg after paint prior delivery	ex EI-ITA
Airbus A321	-271N	8603		N542VL	Volaris	delivery 01-02apr19 XFW-KEF-BGR-MEX	ex D-AVXZ
Airbus A330	-243	248		G-TCCF	Condor	ferried 31mar19 FRA-MAD prior return to Air Transat	ex C-GJDA
Airbus A330	-243	251		G-TCCG	Condor	ferried 01apr19 FRA-MAN prior return to Air Transat	ex C-GUFR
Airbus A330	-243	451		9H-CLX	Comlux Aviation Malta	ferried 31mar19 IND-CHR after VIP-config	ex F-WJKG
Airbus A330	-243	1016		G-TCXD	Thomas Cook Airlines	ferried 31mar19 MDE-AUH, N-reg prior delivery	ex N969AV
Airbus A330	-243F	1406		B-308Q	Sichuan Airlines	ferried 31mar19 DUB-DOH, A7-reg after paint prior delivery	ex A7-AFZ
Airbus A330	-243F	1506		PR-ONV	Avianca Brasil	ferried 30mar19 BSB-MDE on transfer to Avianca Cargo	ex F-WWKF
Airbus A350	-941	224		HL8359	Asiana	delivery 01apr19 TLS-ICN	ex F-WZNT
Airbus Canada	CS300	55042		YL-CSM	airBaltic	posn 30mar19 RIX-MUC on summer wet-lease to Lufthansa (+ 55043 YL-CSN)	ex C-FOVX
Airbus Canada	CS300	55051		YL-AAP	airBaltic	delivery 30mar19 YMX-RIX	ex C-FOVD

Airbus Updates No.2121

Airbus A319	-112	1252		9A-CTL	Croatia Airlines	ferried 31mar19 OSR-ZAG after paint into new cs	ex D-AVYS
Airbus A319	-112	1980		N771XF	American Airlines	ferried 29mar19 GYR-CLT prior svc entry	ex N919FR
Airbus A319	-111	3078		6V-	Air Sénégal	ferried 01apr19 MAD-NWI, EC-reg, for paint prior delivery	ex EC-KBX
Airbus A319	-112	4258		OK-PET	CSA Czech Airlines	ferried 01apr19 PRG-DGX on return to lessor	ex D-AVWM
Airbus A320	-214	888		ES-SAK	smartLynx Estonia	posn 31mar19 TLL-ORY on summer-lease to Air France	ex EI-EZA
Airbus A320	-232	1411		RP-C7935	Pan Pacific Airlines	delivery 02apr19 MPL-HBE	ex OE-IHM
Airbus A320	-214	1725		ES-SAS	smartLynx Estonia	posn 31mar19 on sumer-lease to TUI Airlines Netherlands	ex HK-4817
Airbus A320	-232	2016		RP-C7936	Pan Pacific Airlines	in full cs at SHJ 31mar19, 2-reg prior delivery	ex 2-ROSE
Airbus A320	-216	3140		RP-C8948	Philippines AirAsia	posn / first in svc 26/29mar19 KUL-MNL-DVO-MNL after transfer	ex 9M-AFT
Airbus A320	-214	4363		D-AIZH	Lufthansa	ferried 30mar19 NWI-MUC after paint into Star Alliance cs	ex D-AXAW
Airbus A320	-214	5250		N279NV	Allegiant Air	delivery 23-25mar19 MNL-GUM-HIK-ONT-VQQ, regd 29mar19	ex RP-C3269
Airbus A320	-251N	7854		PR-YYE	Azul Linhas Aéreas	ferried 01apr19 LETL-SNN, VQ-reg, for paint prior delivery	ex VQ-BXK
Airbus A320	-251N	7995		PR-YYC	Azul Linhas Aéreas	delivery 30-31mar19 LETL-SID-NAT-CNF, VQ-reg	ex VQ-BXP
Airbus A320	-271N	8752		B-306W	West Air	delivery 01-02apr19 TLS-TSE-TSN	ex F-WWDZ
Airbus A320	-214	8798		PK-LZK	Batik Air	delivery 30-31mar19 TLS-AZI-KUL-CGK	ex F-WWIP
Airbus A320	-232	8838		LV-IVO	JetSmart Argentina	delivery 01-02apr19 TLS-LPA-NAT-SCL	ex F-WWBP
Airbus A320	-271N	8848		JA219A	ANA All Nippon	delivery 30-31mar19 XFW-OVB-HND	ex D-AXAI
Airbus A321	-211	995		D-ASTV	Sasof II Aviation	Germania cs, ferried 30mar19 DUS-CDT	ex TS-IQB
Airbus A321	-231	1366		XU-722	Sky Angkor Airlines	ferried 26/30mar19 REP-MCT-IST prior lease to?	ex LY-VEH
Airbus A321	-211	1921		C-FTXW	Air Transat	ferried 01apr19 YUL-MAN after winter-lease	ex G-TCDW