Flights News On Airlines Fleet & Route Expansion ,Europe,Kenya ,South Africa & Africa

Flights News On Airlines Fleet & Route Expansion

,Europe,Kenya ,South Africa & Africa

In November article we have air news on airlines fleet & route expansion as follows,

Airlines Announce Major Orders

Two of the world's major airlines, Germanys Lufthansa and Hong Kong-based Cathy Pacific, are among the several airlines which have announced significant aircraft orders in recent weeks for their respective fleet modernization programmes.

The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG approved the order of 48 new aircraft for the Group at its recent meeting. Of these new aircraft, eight Airbus A330-300s, equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines, will be deployed on long-haul routes and the remaining 40 aircraft will be deployed on continental traffic.

The planned order includes three Airbus A330-300s and 20 of the A320-family for Lufthansa Passenger Airlines, as well as eight new Embraer 195 aircraft for Lufthansa Regional. In addition, the order includes five Airbus A330-300s, two Airbus A321s and two Airbus A320s for SWISS, as well as eight new Airbus A319s for German wings.

The new aircraft will be delivered to the Group successively from 2012.The order has a list value of approximately 3, 5-bilion euro's.

Cathy Pacific has firmed up a previously-announced commitment for 30 Airbus A350XWBV long-range aircraft. The purchase agreement was signed in Hong Kong recently. The aircraft will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. They will be operated across Cathy Pacific's route network, mainly on its long-range services to Europe.

Cathy Pacific Airways has also exercised existing purchase rights for six additional B777-300ERs (extended range).The six new airplanes ,with an estimated value of us$1,6-billion ,will increase Cathy Pacific's B777-300ER future fleet from 30 to 36 .The carrier, one of the worlds largest operators of the jetliner, also operates 12 Boeing 777-300s and five 777-200s.

Cathy Pacific first announced its selection of the 777-300ER in 2005.This announcement is Cathy Pacifics fourth increase in its acquisition plans for the long-range jetliner.

Malaysia Airline has placed a firm order with airbus for two more A330-200F freighters, following the conversion of two existing options. The latest contract increases the airlines firm orders for the type to four, all of which will be operated by the carrier's subsidiary MASkargo.The aircraft will be powered by PW4000 engines.

The A330-200F is the latest addition to the A330 Family. Offering the lowest operating costs in its size category, it is the only modern mid-size, long haul, all-cargo aircraft capable of carrying 65 tonnes over 4000 nautical miles or 70 tones over 3200 nautical miles.

Libyan Airlines has taken delivery of the first of seven Airbus A320 airliners it has ordered for its domestic and regional services based on the carrier's hub in Tripoli .The aircraft is powered by CVFM engines.

With Lufthansa's third Airbus A380 recently entering the airlines route network just one week after delivery, the airline announced the arrival of the flagship to Johannesburg six weeks ahead of the original launch schedule.

The giant aircraft now operates to Johannesburg twice weekly, and the remaining services will continue to be operated with its Boeing 747-400s.

"The demand for capacity to and from South Africa is growing and by adding almost 400 additional seats per week we are able to meet this need," explained Axel Simon, Director Southern Africa for Lufthansa German Airlines and Swiss International Airlines.

Airlink Adjusts Its Fleet

South African regional carrier, Airlink, is to acquire four AVRO RJ85 four-engine jet airliners from BAE Systems and has also extended the leases on two Jet stream 41turboprop aircraft.

Airlink currently operates a fleet of four RJ85s alongside four BAe 146-200s and these latest RJ85s are being planned as replacements for the BAe 146s. The resulting fleet commonality is expected to generate operational and cost benefits for Airlink.

The RJ85s are scheduled to have all been delivered by January 2011. Each BAe 146-200 will be returned to BAe Systems upon delivery of each RJ85.

The Airlink fleet of eight BAe 146/AVRO RJ aircraft has been successfully supported by the BAE Systems Regional Aircraft Jet Spares support program me since entering into service in 2007. The newly delivered RJ85s will also be fully enrolled on to Jets pares, which provides extensive on-site and pool stock rotable spares coverage.

Air links lease extension of the two Jet stream 41s, which had been scheduled to return to BAE Systems later this year, means that these aircraft will now continue to remain in service alongside the airlines additional fleet of 12 Jet stream 41s.

Johannesburg-based Airlink is along standing customer of BAE Systems Regional Aircraft, currently operating 14 Jet stream 41s alongside its BAe 146/AVRO RJ fleet and eight Embraer ERJ135s.

Airlink is a South African Airways alliance partner and currently operates more than 3500 flights, carrying about 65000 passengers per month of which 70 percent are business travelers.

It provides vital feeder services connecting smaller South African centres with the major hubs at Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Airlink also serves more than 20 South African destinations, together with a number of regional international cities in neighbouring countries.

Kenya Airways Weighs Its Options

Kenya Airways is under pressure on the back of its ambitious plans with the notice from Boeing that the first delivery of the Boeing 787 Dream liners has been delayed yet again.

"The delivery date revisions follow an assessment of the availability of the engine needed for the final phases of flight test this fall," said Boeing in a statement which revealed that first deliveries of the Dream liners would be delayed until the first quarter of 2011.

This means that Kenya Airways which originally expected delivery of its first two 787s in September 2010 has now had the delivery date rescheduled to "sometime in 2013." This has greatly delayed its plans as the carrier had initially placed an order for six 787s with the option for a further six, but later converted three of the options to firm orders bringing the total confirmed orders to nine 787s.

Kenya Airways managing director and CEO, Titus Naikuni,said that, due to this delay, the airline was already in discussions with Airbus regarding an order for the Airbus 330 as a replacement for the delayed 787s.

"Yes I would dare to cancel the order if (Boeing) can't deliver," said Naikuni, when he addressed the press at the company's annual meeting held recently.

Naikuni noted that Boeing had not offered any compensation for the delays and had not offered to participate in the 767 retrofits which involved interiors and IFE upgrades which would be done at a major cost to maintain the 767 fleet for an extended period.

Kenya Airways' has an ambitious plan to launch a new route every month for the next three years. Currently the carrier has a route network of 50 destinations with nine new destinations planned in the current financial year, most of them in Africa.Naikuni added that the plan was to fly to every capital in Africa, more destinations in Europe, begin operations in Latin America with Sao Paulo earmarked as the first destination in hat region and Kuala Lumpur as a possible destination in Asia.

Bram Stella, the carrier's chief operating officer added that Kenya Airways would need additional aircraft if the 787s were not delivered in a reasonable timeframe.

Naikuni said that a decision on whether to cancel the 787 order and switch to Airbus as an alternative would be made before the end of the year.

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