Snippets on Airline Routes Worldwide and Aircraft Leasing Opportunities

Posted by- Neelam Mathews

Oct 22, 2011

Emirates Airline has said it has big expansion plans - with a mix of Boeing 777 and Airbus A330-200 aircraft - for Pakistan with the launch of additional flights to Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar. Lahore and Islamabad will both be served by non-stop daily flights from October 31 and November 2, while Peshawar will get three weekly flights from November 5.  The airline also serves Karachi, its first destination in Pakistan. Around  2.2 million O&D passengers travelled between Pakistan and the UAE last  year. The non-oil trade between Pakistan and Dubai crossed $2.5 billion in 2010.
“The evolving market structure, improved accessibility, rise in remittances and rising consumer spending due to the expanding population are reshaping the aviation sector in Pakistan and Emirates is keen to continue to strengthen its presence in the country,” said a spokesman.
Emirates Airlines is the third largest operator between the two countries after Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) with a 34.5 percent share, followed by Air Blue with 22.6 per cent of the traffic. 
Korean Air has pulled out on a decision to fly the Airbus A380 on its flights between Seoul Incheon and Frankfurt and will instead, fly it on the JFK route.  It will be used on ten weekly flights from December 4 and to a double-daily schedule from February 14, 2012. 
Air Canada and SriLankan Airlines have signed a codeshare agreement that will allow travellers to make connections between the two airlines’ services on a single ticket itinerary.  The agreement will allow efficient connections between North America and the Indian sub-continent at European gateways such as Frankfurt, London and Paris.  Canada is home to Sri Lanka's largest expatriate community.
Lufthansa is to launch its first flights to Asia from its Düsseldorf hub. The Düsseldorf – Tokyo Narita connection will be operated six times every week satrting June 1, 2012 using an Airbus A340-300. 
Singapore-based operation of Australian carrier Jetstar Airways, Jetstar Asia, will start services to Guangzhou on Dec 22 from Singapore.The airline has already more than doubled its capacity to China in the first nine months of this year. It will also introduce a connection to Beijing, which starting November 24-  an extension of its existing Melbourne – Singapore link. 
With increasing Chinese visitors to the Maldives, Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines will introduce flights between Beijing and the Maldives. The twice weekly flight starting on November 1, will have a third weekly frequency from January 10, 2012.  The demand for flights between Beijing and the Maldives has more than doubled in the past year, up from approximately 19,000 O&D passengers to 33,000 in the past 12 months.  Visitor numbers from China are growing faster than Europe, one of the traditional markets for traffic to the Maldives.  Official statistics show that round 120,000 Chinese tourists travelled to the Maldives last year, making China the largest individual source market and this resulted in the introduction of a first charter service from Beijing earlier this year, says Routes.  Singapore Airlines (75 per cent) currently dominates the traffic between Beijing and Malé, the capital and most populous city in the Maldives but passengers are also currently flying with Malaysia Airlines via Kuala Lumpur; Qatar Airways via Doha; Emirates Airline via Dubai and SriLankan Airlines via Colombo.

Aircraft Leasing Opportunities

According to Route Exchange, the following aircraft are available for lease.

Global Aviation Holdings / North American Airlines - World Airways
Global Aviation Holdings through its fully certified U.S. Part 121 subsidiaries, North American Airlines and World Airways is a major provider of worldwide passenger and cargo air transportation. With a fleet of B757-200, B767-300ER and MD11 passenger and MD11F and B747-400F cargo aircraft Global is well equipped to offer a wide variety of ACMI, Wet-lease, Subservice and Charter solutions. www.glah.com
 PrivatAir 
B737-700 BBJ1- Range up to 12 hours non stop. Flexible single or  dual class configuration. Ideal aircraft for route development/defence.
Air Finland 
2x B757-200 (219 Y Seats)  available for contract.