Airbus Updates No.2356

Airbus A319	-111	1164		VP-BTS	S7 Airlines	ferried 24-25nov19 DME-KEF-ALB-GWO, for part-out & scrap	ex N311NB
Airbus A320	-211	267		D-AIQL	germanwings	ferried 25nov19 CGN-OST, for part-out &scrap	ex F-WWDY
Airbus A320	-232	1663		UR-AJC	AtlasGlobal Ukraine	ferried 21nov19 IST-MPL on return to lessor	ex OE-IDT
Airbus A320	-214	1762		YL-LCU	smartLynx Airlines	ferried 25nov19 RIX-AMM	ex HB-IJX
Airbus A320	-214	3750		VT-NAG	AirAsia India	delivery 21nov19 CGK-DEL	ex VT-IDW
Airbus A320	-271N	8959		B-309P	Shenzhen Airlines	delivery 18nov19 TSN-SZX	ex B-007F
Airbus A320	-271N	9113		B-30CA	Sichuan Airlines	deivery 22nov19 TSN-SZX	ex B-000E
Airbus A320	-251N	9132		VN-A593	Bamboo Airways	delivery 22nov19 XFW-MPL, for paint	ex D-AXAC
Airbus A320	-271N	9202		B-30CL	Shenzhen Airlines	delivery 22nov19 TSN-SZX	ex B-007D
Airbus A320	-271N	9207		ZK-NHD	Air New Zealand	delivery 23-26nov19 XFW-MCT-KUL-CNS-AKL	ex D-AVVF
Airbus A320	-251N	9211		B-30CM	Spring Airlines	delivery 22nov19 TSN-PVG	ex B-007A
Airbus A320	-271N	9309		B-30C1	Air China	delivery 22-23nov19 TLS-SVX-TSN	ex F-WWBF
Airbus A320	-251N	9354		CS-TVG	TAP Air Portugal	delivery 22nov19 TLS-LIS	ex F-WWDZ
Airbus A320	-251N	9372		CC-AZP	Sky Airline	delivery 22-23nov19 TLS-KEF-JAX-SCL	ex F-WWIJ
Airbus A321	-231	963		TC-AGI	AtlasGlobal	ferried 20-21nov19 ISE-KEF-ORD-GYR on return to lessor	ex TC-OBF
Airbus A321	-231	1042		P4-NAS	Air Astana	ferried 25nov19 ALA-HEL-KEF on retun to lessor	ex N104AQ
Airbus A321	-211	1451		TC-ATR	AtlasGlobal	ferried 13nov19 IST-MPL on return to lessor (+ 1503 TC-ATB)	ex F-HCAI
Airbus A321	-211	6038		G-TCDD	Air Lease Corp	ferried 22nov19 SNN-LCA	ex D-AVZO
Airbus A321	211	6056		C-	Air Transat	ferried 22nov19 LCQ-JAX-SAL, G-reg after paint prior delivery	ex G-TCDE
Airbus A321	-211	6114		C-FTXU	Air Transat	seen regd at SNN 25nov19 prior delivery & paint (+ 6548 C-FTXZ ex OE-IDF)	ex OE-IEH

Airbus Updates No.2355

A British Airways Airbus A350-1000 was damaged during painting

Toulouse, France - An Airbus A350 intended for the IAG flag carrier British Airways was reportedly damaged at the paint shop.

According to aviation and travel blog Sam Chui, The European aircraft manufacturer has confirmed the incident after a set of rumors and is now repairing the aircraft.

Airbus is reluctant to disclose how the incident happened or how severe is the damage, but rumors suggest that scaffolding equipment used during the painting job hit the aircraft's airframe.

The A350-1000 of the British carrier was already set delivery for next month.

British Airways has so far taken delivery of two A350-1000 out of 18 on order with the European planemaker.

The third aircraft already rolled out the paint shop. The damaged jet is the fourth copy with registration G-XWBD.

The existing A350-1000s are serving on the airline's long-haul routes London - Toronto, and London - Dubai. British Airways will add Tel Aviv and Bangalore to its A350-1000 routes during the winter season.

Airbus Updates No.2354

Air France says goodbye to its first Airbus A380

Paris, France - Yesterday (Nov 24) French flag carrier Air France ferried an Airbus A380 (F-HPJB) from Paris to Malta. Air France's flight AF370V marks the beginning of the retirement process of the airline's ten superjumbo jets. The carrier plans to retire all of its A380s in the fleet before 2022.

Air France's A380 will be repainted full-white in Malta and returned to the German lessor Dr. Peters Group. The F-HPJB joined Air France in 2010 as the second Airbus A380 delivered to the French operator.

After ten years of operation, it is not a secret that the French company lost its love to the iconic aircraft.

It’s a tough airplane. At airports to board and to deplane takes a long time with special bridges required to accommodate the size. It takes a long time to get your bags, it uses more fuel. Operationally, it’s not the best airplane to use,

said Air France-KLM Group CEO, Ben Smith on Nov. 20, during the sidelines of an IATA event in Berlin, Germany.

Air France is the second carrier to retire Airbus A380s in the World after Singapore Airlines. The Asian carrier already removed five units from its fleet. The first A380 registered 9V-SKA, which was operated by Singapore Airlines for ten years, was completely dismantled in Tarbes, France by the European aircraft storage, maintenance, and recycling company Aerosave.

It took French company 11 months to remove all recyclable components of the aircraft.

Today, Airlines are in favor of more efficient planes with lower operating costs rather than operating larger jets such as Airbus' A380 and Boeing's 747. The operators prefer newer generation widebodies such as the A350 and Boeing 787 - 777X for their long-haul operations.

Airbus aims to establish a healthy second-hand market for the A380s

Due to the lack of market demand, Airbus announced that it would stop the production of the A380s in 2021 after delivering the remaining A380s of the Emirates Airlines, the largest operator of the type in the world.

But that won’t stop the European planemaker to promote the aircraft as a second-hand option among the airlines such as Portuguese charter operator HiFly.

Airbus is helping leasing companies to find new operators for the returned A380s. Last year, Hi Fly, the Portuguese wet-lease specialist, became the first operator of a secondhand Airbus A380.

Paulo Mirpuri, President, and CEO of Hi Fly said that they were planning to add another secondhand A380 to expand charter operations of his company.

A second A380 will be a lot easier, so we will be driven by market demand. And we will need to have one full year of operation before we decide about the next one, and the third one, and the fourth one,

Mirpuri said during a press conference.

Last month, Airbus said secondhand A380s offer new opportunities to the airlines, lessors and charter operators, which would guarantee the existence and the profitability of the aircraft for decades to come.

The manufacturer has so far delivered 239 Airbus A380 to 15 different airlines around the globe.

Airbus Updates No.2353

AirAsia takes delivery of first A321neo

AirAsia Airbus A321-200NX © Airbus

23.11.2019 - 02:00 UTC

AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur Int'l) took delivery of its first A321-200neo in the form of 9M-VAA (msn 9139) on November 20, 2019, the low-cost carrier said in a press release.

The Airbus narrowbody was ferried from Hamburg Finkenwerder via Ashgabat to Kuala Lumpur Int'l over the course of November 20-21, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.

AirAsia said that the 236-seater A321neo will be initially used from its Kuala Lumpur hub to cities across Asia, with the first destinations including Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Singapore Changi, Bangkok Don Mueang, and Shenzhen. The airline has yet to file schedules for the type.

The LCC said it will use the A321neo to gradually replace all existing A320-200s and A320-200neo. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, the Malaysian airline currently operates sixty-four A320-200s and thirty-one A320neo. In terms of AirAsia Group narrowbody fleet, AirAsia India operates a further twenty-five A320-200s, AirAsia Japan - three A320s, Indonesia AirAsia - twenty-seven A320s, Philippines AirAsia - twenty-four A320s, and Thai AirAsia - fifty-one A320s and eleven A320neo.

AirAsia is the world's second-largest confirmed customer for the A321neo. It initially ordered 100 units but then, earlier in 2019, converted another order for 253 A320neo to A321neo, bringing the total tally of the largest A320neo Family aircraft on order to 353. It also still has thirteen A320neo on firm order from the manufacturer.

The world's largest customer for the A321neo is IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi Int'l) with seven units already delivered and a further 391 on firm order from Airbus.

Airbus Updates No.2352

GECAS orders 12 Airbus A330neo and 20 A321XLR

Dubai, UAE - American leasing company GECAS has placed a firm order for 12 Airbus A330neo and 20 A321XLRs.

The agreement for the newly launched A321XLR covers an order for 13 new jets and the conversion of seven A321neos in the GECAS' current order book.

The new deal brings the total number of A330 family jet orders placed by the American lessor to 45 and the A320 family jets to 588.

Airbus Updates No.2351

Chief Executive of Jazeera Airways criticizes Airbus due to delivery delays

Kuwait - Kuwait's first private carrier Jazeera Airways is frustrated due to delivery delays of its A320neos on order and has no plans to place an order during the Dubai Air Show.

We are not happy with the delays that are occurring in the production line and I think Airbus is very aware of our position,

Rohit Ramachandran told Reuters news agency.

Jazeera Airways will place an order 25 single-aisle jets next year to continue its expansion. Airbus and Boeing are competing for this order.

The order could be worth around $3 billion at list prices, depending on which aircraft type is chosen. It is common for airlines to get discounts on mass orders.

Jazeera chief executive says production issues with the A320neos have delayed the delivery of new aircraft this year, forcing the airline to postpone new routes planned for this year.

I don’t see a major improvement. I think they continue to have unplanned delays in production,

Ramachandran said.

Last month, Airbus reduced its full-year delivery goal for its commercial jets, as it strives with setbacks in its production lines.

Any order could include longer-range jets like the Airbus A321XLR, Ramachandran added.

Jazeera Airways expects to finish this year with around three million passengers.