Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews Oct 13, 2015 Facebook Twitter DELHI: As airlines get a breather from plunging oil prices and tech-savvy, mid-level managers accept the fact that their ‘road warrior’ status doesn’t always come with first- or business class benefits, some sage upgrades by airlines are being implemented. Arguably chief among them is the introduction by non-US carriers of premium economy – a class of product that can give regular flyers on a budget a reasonable shot at affordably avoiding the economy class crush. Singapore Airlines (SIA) is the latest carrier to join the premium economy bandwagon; firstly on its A380s. But will SIA extend this new product to the new ultra long-range Airbus A350-900ULR, which  after an amendment to its A350 order is now poised to enable the reinstatement of all-premium, non-stop service from Singapore to the US from 2018? The airline, which  pushed for the ULR , isn’t saying explicitly. “We ...

AINONLINE by    NEELAM MATHEWS Emirates Airline, the largest A380 operator in the world, cannot fly its superjumbos to India in the absence of a new bilateral air services agreement. (Photo: Airbus) January 27, 2014, 12:00 PM India has lifted restrictions on the Airbus A380 airliner to land at four Code F compliant airports, the country’s Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) announced Monday. But while the industry has applauded the move, the government has not made it an effortless exercise, as major carriers wanting to fly their A380s to India run short on service entitlements. “Bilateral air service agreements ( ASA s) that prohibit operation of A380s to India will need to be amended before permission is granted,” the MoCA said in a statement. “Rationalization of traffic rights from services per week to seats per week shall be done through mutual negotiations through memoranda of understanding.” Airports will require Directora...

Neelam Mathews May 6, 2013 A Jet Airways A330 that was chartered for the Big Fat Gupta wedding in Johannesburg, would have returned by now and the controversy died down- even as the carrier firms up plans for its six A330-200s, AerospaceDairy learns. Abu Dhabi beckons Initially, Jet was to lease the 6 A330s to Etihad for which 60 cabin crew were selected for training in Abu Dhabi for nine months, but within a week of getting the notice, the decision was cancelled, we hear. The six A330s we believe, will take off from Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore to Abu Dhabi to three points in Europe of which Brussels and Milan are included. The third point could be Paris or Amsterdam. We could not confirm. ( Etihad Airways and Air France have announced a number of new codeshare destinations in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe for summer 2013). We had earlier broken the story on Jet looking at ordering a large number of aircraft-perhaps at the Paris Air Show- of which the 737 MAX is sure...

Neelam Mathews April 26, 2013                        It’s a page from Arabian Nights. As Jet Airways rubbed the lamp, out came the genie with Etihad! And now if Aladdin – our very own Jet- plays its cards right, which we have no doubt it will, its going to be great going. Here at AerospaceDiary, we’re hearing Jet plans to announce an order for 200 Boeing 737 Max, t he new-engine variant, powered by CFM’s LEAP-1B engines said to reduce fuel burn , and 777s. We couldn’t confirm the figure for the wide-bodies. Also, we're hearing, but could not confirm, that the first of its ten ordered 787s (following some cancellations) may now be delivered end of December instead of 2014. Whether this order is scheduled for announcement at the Paris Air Show in June, we can only hazard a guess. And once Etihad gets its A380, we are likely to see it land in Jet colors- next...

Neelam Mathews Jan 11, 2013 Singapore Airlines (SIA) has firmed up an order for 25 more widebody aircraft from Airbus, comprising five A380s and 20 A350-900s. The deal was completed in 2012 and follows an agreement in October 2012.   Singapore Airlines has placed three consecutive orders for the A380, making it the second largest customer of the A380, and now has 19 aircraft in service. In the mid-size category, the new A350 XWB order sees the airline double its backlog for the all-new aircraft to 40. The A350-900s will be used by the airline on both medium and long haul routes.

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE  »  JANUARY 7, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Fortunes have reversed for Kingfisher Airlines since 2007, when the carrier’s CEO, Vijay Mallya (seated center), hosted Airbus COO for customers John Leahy (left) and Airbus executive v-p Kiran Rao during a New Delhi press conference promoting Kingfisher’s since dashed plans to fly the A380. (Photo: Airbus) January 7, 2013, 11:55 AM Facing a high debt burden, unpaid bills, a depreciating rupee in its home country of India and rising fuel costs, Kingfisher Airlines saw its Air Operator Permit   ( AOP ) expire on December 31 after the Director General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ) found the carrier had failed to furnish no-objection certificates from service providers–including airports–in its restructuring plan. Now, the Airports Authority of India ( AAI ) has threatened to “evacuate” the assets of the airline from airports across the country. “We also have p...

Neelam Mathews Nov 20, 2012 AerospaceDiary caught up with Singapore Airlines dynamic CEO Goh Choon Phong briefly during the AAPA 56th Assembly of Presidents in KL recently. On the possibility of A380 operations to India, Goh said: "We regularly consider new destinations for our A380s and India is indeed a market we would consider operating A380s to in future. At present we have no confirmed plans. However, in response to the question of regulatory approvals, we always treat our discussions with regulatory authorities as confidential." On budget carriers' competition on the Singapore-India route, Goh said: "We face competition on every route on which we operate and this is from many different types of airlines and LCCs. We compete by focusing on providing our customers the best quality products and services, across a wide network. For India in particular, we continue to look at ways to expand our operations to the country, both by SIA and by subsidiary, Silk...

Neelam Mathews Nov 15, 2012 MAS has received its third A380. The fourth will be delivered by the end of this week. Malaysia Airlines is the eighth operator of this new aircraft and will receive its remaining two A380 by the first quarter of 2013. Malaysia Airlines will use two 494-seater aircraft to commence day-time flights from KLIA to London Heathrow starting Nov 24. Flight MH4 will depart KLIA at 10.45am daily to arrive London Heathrow the same day at 4.15pm. The return flight MH1 departs London daily at 10.00pm and arrives KLIA the next day at 6.20pm. This day service will complement Malaysia Airlines’ current daily A380 night service to the UK capital, where MH 2 departs KLIA at 11.40pm and arrives in London at 5.50am the following day with the return flight MH3 departing London at 12.00 noon and arriving KLIA at 7.25am the next day. With the introduction of the double daily A380 services effective 24 November 2012, Malaysia Airlines will cease the 359-seater B747-...

Neelam Mathews Oct 31, 2012 Jet Airways may soon be moving its international operations to Munich, Aerospace Diary learns. While  Brussels Airport was geared to handle 6 Jet flights a day with seamless activity, the carrier's expansion plans for adding more flights connecting Bangalore, Hyderabad and perhaps Chicago and Washington DC, will make the terminal small for handling the six existing plus four proposed flights, it is learnt. We hear that most of the senior managers have not been informed about the change. Since Munich is a busy airport, Jet will face considerable competition there as Brussels was a virtual monopoly. For example, Chennai-Brussels-JFK will now be MAA-MRU-JFK. "Now Jet cannot use 332s. Compare that to Lufthansa's 380... which will at a lower cost...Hence they should add capacity to BRU," an analyst says. "They (Jet)  should have connected to further points long ago..... Since 2007 they have been operating the same flights...

Neelam Mathews Sept 4, 2012 While Indian carriers will need 1,450 new airplanes valued at $175 billion dollars,of which 83% will be single aisles, interestingly, it gives only a 1%  (15) in its current market outlook -2011-2031- to regional jets. While it says 234 will be twin aisles, the outlook forecasts no sales for large jets such as the A380 and 747-8. Boeing does not see the ultra large jets selling here. “Everybody wants frequency. Worldwide, the size is going down. No one will take the risk….(as a result of major losses in the airline business in India),” said Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president of sales, Asia Pacific and India. It may be recalled that Kingfisher had wanted to start its first flight when allowed international operations from Bangalore to San Francisco. The flight never took off as numbers weren't there  and the aircraft was subsequently given to Africa's Arik Air. This is in sharp contrast to Thai Airways that will take delivery of th...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Malaysia Airlines (MAS) took delivery of its first A380, becoming the eighth operator of the world’s largest  airliner.    The aircraft was handed over to MAS Group Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya by Airbus Chief Operating Officer Fabrice Brégier in Toulouse today and is expected to arrive at the Malaysian national carrier’s Kuala Lumpur base tomorrow (30 May 2012).  “The A380 showcases our latest premium offering in products and services. This will be our latest flagship aircraft, offering new levels of comfort, luxury and convenience for long haul travel,” said Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, MAS Group Chief Executive Officer. “With the A380 in our fleet, MAS will reinforce its position as one of the world’s preferred premium carriers bringing great Malaysian Hospitality to our customers.” Malaysia Airlines has ordered six A380s. Powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, the aircraft feature a premium three class layout, wi...

Neelam Mathews April 30, 2012 Starting early July, Malaysia Airlines’ first A380 aircraft will be inducted  into commercial service on the Kuala Lumpur – London daily route. Sporting its own blue wau logo and a new livery, the 494-seat aircraft will have a 3-class configuration. The Main Deck will have 8 First seats and 350 Economy Class seats, whilst the Upper Deck will have 66 Business seats and 70 Economy seats. First and Busines class will have full-flat seats.

Neelam Mathews April 10, 2012 Even as India procrastinates and continues to be on an insular mode on granting permission to permit the A380, Singapore Airlines’ three daily services on the Singapore-London route will all be operated with the Airbus A380 from 1 June 2012. Currently, two of the services are operated with the superjumbo while one is operated with the Boeing 777-300ER. From 1 June 2012, the third daily service, departing Singapore as flight SQ308 and returning from London as SQ319, will be operated with an A380 as well. The switch to the larger A380 will increase seat capacity on the route by 17% a day. London was Singapore Airlines’ first destination in Europe to receive the superjumbo, in March 2008. This was increased to double-daily A380 operations six months later. Singapore Airlines currently operates the A380 to 10 destinations: Sydney, London, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Zurich, Los Angeles, Frankfurt and New York. The world’s first carrier to o...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Jan 16, 2012 The Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 is now flying to Frankfurt and New York,with the inaugural Singapore - Frankfurt - New York service having departed Singapore shortly after midnight today. It will then depart the German city at 0820hrs and arrive at New York’s JFK airport at 1110hrs, all times local. The daily A380 flights will replace an existing daily Boeing 747-400 service to JFK Airport via Frankfurt, representing a daily increase of 25% in seat capacity, says SIA. Frankfurt and New York will be Singapore Airlines’ ninth and tenth destinations to receive the superjumbo. Frankfurt is Singapore Airlines’ fourth point in Europe to be added to the list, after London, Paris and Zurich, while New York is the second point in North America, after Los Angeles. The Singapore Airlines A380 has proven exceptionally popular with customers, with strong loads on all routes it serves. The world’s first carrier to operate the A380 in October 20...