We're a few days into the new month, meaning Airbus has released its figures over the previous one, January 2022. In this month, the manufacturer was able to note down 36 orders, 52 cancellations, and delivered 30 aircraft.
Ordered were:
2 A220-100s by Azorra Aviation
20 A220-300s by Azorra Aviation
6 A320neos by an Undisclosed customer
8 A321neos by Undisclosed customers
Cancelled were:
50 A321neos for Qatar Airways
2 A350-1000s for Qatar Airways
Delivered were:
1 A321neo to Air China (leased via Bocomm Leasing)
1 A350-900 to Air France
1 A321neo to American Airlines
1 A320neo to China Eastern Airlines (leased via CALC)
1 A321neo to China Southern Airlines
1 A220-100 to Comlux
1 A220-100 to Delta Air Lines
1 A350-900 to Delta Air Lines
1 A321neo to easyJet
1 A320neo to Frontier Airlines
1 A320neo to Iberia
2 A320neos to Indigo
1 A321neo to Indigo
1 A321neo to Loong Air (leased via AerCap)
1 A320neo to Qingdao Airlines
1 A321neo to Qingdao Airlines
1 A320neo to S7 Airlines (leased via AerCap)
1 A320neo to Sichuan Airlines (leased via Bocomm Leasing)
1 A321neo to Sichuan Airlines (leased via Air Lease Corporation)
1 A350-900 to Singapore Airlines
2 A320neos to Spirit Airlines
2 A320neos to Spring Airlines
2 A321neos to STARLUX Airlines (1 leased via NAS Aviation Services, 1 via Aviation Capital Group)
1 A321neo to Ural Airlines (leased via SMBC Aviation Capital)
In total, Airbus has now logged a net of -16 orders for 2022.
Yemenia (IY, Aden) took delivery of A330-200 7O-AFE (msn 883) on February 4, marking the carrier's resumption of both widebody and A330 operations.
Formerly 3B-NBM with Air Mauritius (MK, Mauritius), the 14-year-old jet was acquired by Aircraft Finance Germany GmbH from Doric Flugzeugfonds Zweite GmbH & Co earlier this year. It features General Electric CF6-80E1A4 motors and is equipped with 18 premium and 259 economy-class seats. Airline board chairman Ahmed Masoud Al-Alwani said in a statement that the widebody would help ease capacity and cargo constraints on key routes.
The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows Yemenia last operated widebody jets when it retired the last of four A310-300s in 2019 following an incident at Cairo Int'l. It last operated A330s in 2015 when the intensification of the civil war forced the retirement of its final two remaining A330-200s.
SAS begins using the A321LR on regular services from today, February 4th, nearly two months earlier than previously expected
The A321LR will operate from Copenhagen to Washington Dulles. SK925 will depart Denmark at 11:45 and arrive in the US at 15:15 local time, Returning, SK926 will leave Dulles at 17:15 and arrive home at 07:15 the next day.
The flight to Washington has a block time of nine hours and 30 minutes. That's 35 minutes longer than the A330-300 it replaces, as smaller aircraft cruise at slower speeds. The impact of wind is such that on the way back it's only five minutes longer.
SAS currently has two A321LRs
The two examples are registered SE-DMO (delivered in October 2020) and SE-DMR (September 2021), with a third (SE-DMS) to be delivered. With only 157 seats, they're relatively premium-heavy – exactly what is needed for long-haul narrowbody service to offset higher seat-mile costs.
SAS will have three A321LRs. Photo: Airbus
SAS A321LRs to the US
SAS currently serves Copenhagen-Dulles three-weekly. In February, the A321LR will operate two of these three (on Fridays and Sundays but not on Wednesdays) for just eight return trips this month. Things will soon change, with the introduction of Copenhagen to Newark and Boston on March 27th. That's the first day of the aviation summer season.
In the first week of summer (March 27th-April 2nd), SAS has 40 A321LR round-trips bookable: a once-daily service to Dulles and Newark, and six-weekly to Boston. Boston and Dulles will be almost exclusively by the narrowbody, although the A330-300 reappears in October. It's so far away that much could change. Newark, meanwhile, will double to twice-daily from March 27th. The A330 will operate the peak-time midday service, with the A321LR deployed on the early evening departure.
Copenhagen to Dulles: SK925, 12:00-15:00; returning: SK926, 17:15-07:35+1
Copenhagen to Boston: SK927, 12:30-14:55; returning: SK928, 17:15-06:45+1
Copenhagen to Newark: SK901, 18:15-21:05; returning: SK902, 23:30-13:20+1
The economics of long-haul A321s
In 2020, anna.aero and RDC Aviation looked at Aer Lingus' A321neos versus A330-300s. It found that the narrowbody should boost the carrier's long-haul performance, with deployment especially sensible on thinner or less competitive routes, or at less demanded times of the day.
It showed that the A321 requires 41% fewer passengers to breakeven (at 85% seat load factor). Because the A321 is obviously much smaller, it would have a 15% higher seat-mile cost, necessitating a 15% higher average fare to breakeven. However, the unit cost increase would be offset by an approximately 50% lower fixed/variable cost per sector.
Photo: SAS.
The A321LR will operate from Copenhagen to Washington Dulles. SK925 will depart Denmark at 11:45 and arrive in the US at 15:15 local time, Returning, SK926 will leave Dulles at 17:15 and arrive home at 07:15 the next day.
The flight to Washington has a block time of nine hours and 30 minutes. That's 35 minutes longer than the A330-300 it replaces, as smaller aircraft cruise at slower speeds. The impact of wind is such that on the way back it's only five minutes longer.
ANA Holdings has tweaked its Airbus order book, dropping the A321-200NX(LR) in favour of the standard A321-200N version, and simultaneously deferring their deliveries.
The Japanese holding said in a stock market filing that the total number of A320neo Family aircraft it has on order remains unchanged at eighteen. However, instead of sixteen A320-200Ns due for delivery between 2022 and 2025, the airline is now planning to take 15 units of the type in the same time frame. Two A321-200NX(LR)s have also been dropped in favour of three A321-200Ns. While the extended-range units were scheduled to deliver between 2022 and 2023, the three standard A321neo are supposed to enter ANA's fleet between 2025 and 2026.
The holding said the motivation was spurred by changes in its business environment..
Despite the order's reconfiguration, Peach Aviation has not entirely abandoned plans to operate the A321-200NX(LR). It still has two units on order from Air Lease Corporation and recently inducted the first. The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows the LCC also has an independent order directly from Airbus for five A320-200Ns and a single A321-200NX(LR).
On 30 January, the first of two A321P2Fs for Lufthansa Cargo was delivered. On this date, D-AEUC (3504) arrived at Munich after a ferry flight from it's conversion at Singapore-Seletar. The flight had stops at Colombo, Muscat and Larnaca. The A321P2F is currently all white and is expected to enter commercial operations in the coming weeks.
The duo of A321P2Fs are leased via lessor BBAM and will be operated by Lufthansa CityLine to boost Lufthansa Cargo's European cargo-operations.
Jazeera Airways To Buy 28 A320neo Family Planes From Airbus
The board of Kuwait-based budget airline Jazeera Airways has finally approved a deal to acquire 28 A320neo family aircraft. The deal was first struck in November 2021 at the Dubai Airshow, but only as a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Now, with official board approval, the $3.4 billion order’s status can now be considered firm. The move will see the all-Airbus narrowbody operator expand and modernize its fleet as it looks to better compete in the region.
The deal was first penned as an MoU in November 2021 at the Dubai Airshow. Photo: Jazeera Airways
Commenting on his airline’s decision to expand the fleet with additional Airbus jets, Jazeera Airways Chairman Marwan Boodai said in November:
“Jazeera Airways is pleased to extend its long-term relationship with Airbus further with this significant new order. We will effectively double our current fleet size to 35 aircraft by 2026…We have exciting expansion plans ahead, which will further boost our contribution to the Kuwait economy and, in particular, the travel sector.”
Going for a stretch
Of the 28 Airbus narrowbodies ordered, 20 will be the midsize A320neo, with the other eight as stretched A321neos. This is a notable change from what the carrier has been operating thus far. Up until now, Jazeera Airways has been operating the A320 size only.
With the longer (and longer range) A321neo, not only are higher capacities achieved but new destinations are also made accessible to the airline. While the A320neo’s stated range is 3,400NM (6,300KM), the A321neo has a range of 4,000NM (7,400km). This opens up additional destinations in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Southeast Asia. Could Johannesburg (South Africa) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) be on the airline’s radar? We’ll have to wait and see!
The range of the A321neo from Kuwait International Airport. Photo: GCMap.com
Rohit Ramachandran, CEO of Jazeera Airways, noted that the purchase of both A320neos and A321neos will offer the airline“great flexibility to extend our network to medium and longer-haul destinations from Kuwait,” noting that more destinations will give passengers more choice to travel and enjoy popular destinations as those relatively underserved.
Acquisition of spare engines also approved
According to Gulf News, the Jazeera Airways board also approved an agreement to purchase two CFM engines as spares for the fleet. While engine deals don’t typically make the headlines, they do have hefty price tags, with the Jazeera deal coming in at a $32.2 million list price.
Is Jazeera Airways becoming a hybrid airline?
Jazeera Airways’ current fleet consists of just 17 Airbus A320 Family aircraft. Eight of these are the older A320-200 ‘ceo’ variant, while the remaining nine are the newer generation A320neo. While the airline’s older A320-200 aircraft are configured with an all-economy cabin seating of 165 seats, the NEOs have two classes and divide into 12 business class seats and 144 in economy class.
This type of setup is somewhat atypical for a budget airline- as this category of carrier tends to have a single-class cabin. However, as it has continued to expand its fleet and destinations, Jazeera Airways appears to be moving away from the standard low-cost model. With the airline eventually taking another size of aircraft, it certainly looks to be more like a “JetBlue” type of carrier than a Ryanair of sorts. So would we also see lie-flat seating on the A321neo to appeal to customer desire for long-haul comfort? It’s certainly another thing we’ll have to wait to see
