Monthly Archives: July 2012

Qatar Airways to introduce the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on the Doha-London Heathrow route

Qatar Airways (Doha) has 30 new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners on order. The fast-growing Persian Gulf carrier is planning to take delivery of the first Dreamliner in early September 2012. The first revenue flight will be from Doha to London (Heathrow), making Qatar the first airline to operate the new type regularly at LHR according to this report by Travel Weekly.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Royal S. King. The pictured 787-8DZ N10187 (msn 38320) was the star of the recent Farnborough Airshow. It will become A7-BCB on delivery.

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Qatar Airways:

Airberlin to reduce winter schedules at Hamburg due to the aviation tax

Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin) will adjust its winter capacity according to existing market requirements. The airline is canceling unprofitable routes during the upcoming winter. According to the carrier, “the additional burden caused by aviation tax has meant that a number of flight connections can no longer be operated profitably and must therefore be completely removed from the winter schedule.”

Airberlin is removing routes from the winter schedule that are unprofitable due to the reduced capacity utilization. From Hamburg flights to Karlsruhe, Barcelona and Zurich will be dropped. This reduces the winter schedule in Hamburg from the 220 flights to 182 flights per week.

Airberlin is also canceling Stuttgart – Milan and the flight between Sylt and Cologne. Overall Airberlin is reducing its winter capacity by two percent compared to the winter schedule of 2011/12.

Airberlin:

Norwegian to add 10 new routes to Las Palmas for the winter season

Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian.com) (Oslo) is launching 10 new direct flights to Las Palmas (Canary Islands) from the end of October and early November.

Passengers will now have the chance to fly directly to Las Palmas from Ålesund, Evenes, Haugesund, Rygge and Tromsø.

Norwegian can also offer sun seeking Swedes three new direct routes to Las Palmas this winter from Karlstad, Malmö and Umeå. In addition, Norwegian has decided to launch weekly flights to Las Palmas from Billund in Denmark and Oulu in Finland.

In addition to the new routes, Norwegian will also increase its existing flights with one more weekly departure to Las Palmas from Torp, Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger, totaling up to two direct flights weekly. Norwegian will also increase its direct flights from Oslo, by offering eight weekly departures from the capital. Stockholm will see an increase from three to four weekly flights, while Copenhagen will have an increase from three to five weekly flights to Las Palmas.

Norwegian will use its new, more environmentally friendly Boeing 737-800 aircraft with free WiFi on the Las Palmas routes.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems. New arrival. Newly-assembled Boeing 737-8JP LN-NGB (msn 39015) was delivered to Norwegian on July 2, 2012. Arriving at Amsterdam, LN-NGB carries the tail image of Geirr Tveitt. According to Wikipedia, Geirr Tveitt, was born Nils Tveit (October 19, 1908 – February 1, 1981) and was a Norwegian composer and pianist. Tveitt was a central figure of the national movement in Norwegian cultural life during the 1930s.

Norwegian:

Jazz Aviation LP announces tentative agreement with its Maintenance and Engineering’s union

Jazz Aviation LP (Halifax) has announced it has reached a tentative labor contract with its Maintenance and Engineering employees represented by the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 2002.

The agreement is subject to a ratification vote by union members and covers approximately 885 CAW-represented Maintenance and Engineering employees at Jazz.

Korean Air finalizes an order for two more Boeing 777-300 ERs, returns to an operating profit in the 2Q

Korean Air (Seoul) has finalized an order for two additional Boeing 777-300 ERs (Extended Range) airplanes. The order is valued at $596 million at Boeing list prices.

Korean Air currently operates 34 777 airplanes that include 10 777-300 ERs. With this order, the airline has six more 777-300 ERs on order with Boeing. The airline became the first airline in the world to operate both the 747-8 and 777 Freighters when they were added to its fleet after a historic double airplane delivery in February 2012.

On the financial side, the company returned to an operating profit in the second quarter. The airline issued the following financial report for the second quarter:

“Korean Air, South Korea’s flagship airline, announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2012 ended June 30, 2012.

The airline posted operating income of 3,119 billion KRW for the second quarter of 2012, a year-on-year increase of 9.9%. Operating profit turned to black from a loss of 38 billion KRW in the same period of last year to a profit of 100 billion KRW. International passenger and cargo businesses remained the major revenue contributors for the airline, accounting for 56.8% and 25.1% of the operating revenue respectively.

International Passenger Business

During the second quarter of 2012, it saw increased traffic across all routes, including the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS, up 41%), Japan (up 28%), China (up 18%) and Europe (up 15%). International passenger segment recorded a year-on-year growth of 10.1% and 9.0% in passenger traffic and carrying capacity, reaching 16,232 million RPK and 20,540 million ASK respectively. Overseas outbound traffic lifted 18%, with 21% and 15% increase in Korea inbound traffic and transit respectively.

To cater the growing demand in summer, the airline will increase passenger carrying capacity in high demand routes. With the introduction of new Incheon – Yangon route in the third quarter, as well as stepping up frequency on selected routes, such as Incheon – Jinan, Incheon-Kunming, Incheon-Okayama, Incheon – Guam, Incheon – Paris etc., the airline sees potential growth in passenger traffic.

With stabilized jet fuel price and exchange rate, the airline is expected to see improvement in profitability.

Cargo Business

Cargo traffic recorded a year-on-year fall of 12.2% to 2,013 million FTK as it saw a Y-o-Y decrease of 9% in Korea outbound traffic and transit traffic respectively. While transit traffic from Japan reported a slump, transit traffic from Oceania recorded increase of 47%. Direct flight between Shanghai and Americas was also put into operation in the second quarter.

Benefiting from the London Olympic Games and seasonal high demand in the third quarter, cargo traffic is expected to recover gradually. In an attempt to address environmental issues and high jet fuel price, Korean Air will introduce fuel efficient and environmental friendly aircraft to the fleet. The airline will strive to enhance profitability and sustain growth by developing new markets such as South America and Africa.

Korean Air will continue to expand its business prudently while enhancing the quality of its service for the remaining of the year. With its long-standing commitment to achieving “Excellence in Flight”, Korean Air aims to provide the best quality to its customers while bringing the best returns to its shareholders.

* Exchange rate on June 30, 2012: 1 US Dollar = 1,153.8 KRW”

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing. Boeing 777-3B5 ER HL8208 (msn 37645) climbs away from Los Angeles International Airport.

Korean Air:

South African Airways introduces its 2012 London Olympics logojet

South African Airways (Johannesburg) brought its newly-decorated Airbus A340-313X registered as ZS-SXD (msn 642) to London (Heathrow) for the first time. ZS-SXD is painted in a special 2012 London Olympics color scheme.

The aircraft was officially unveiled on July 18. South African issued the following statement:

“South African Airways on July 18, 2012 revealed the fully branded aircraft that will fly Team South Africa and officials to the London 2012 Olympic Games on July 19, 2012. The spectacular design painted on the aircraft was created by Adri le Roux, a first year design student at Stellenbosch University.

The long-haul Airbus A340-300 is set to cause a splash at international airports with its bold and colorful images of South African swimmers, runners, soccer players and other sports stars.

SAA issued a public competition challenging South African youth of ages 13-21 to design an iconic visual which captures the spirit of South Africa. The judging criteria included creative flair and an eye for design. Furthermore, the simplicity and longevity of the design was considered, with the third and final criteria being how the design compliments SAA’s internationally recognised branding.

The design of the aircraft is colorful and vibrant and uses the colors of the South African flag to create brush strokes covering the plane. The sportsmen and women in the stroke illustrate the speed and excellence with which the SA Olympic team performs on the field.

As an official air transportation partner to the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), SAA will fly athletes and officials to London for the Olympics, which takes place from July 27, 2012 to August 12, 2012. SAA will also fly athletes and participants to the Paralympics, scheduled for August 29, 2012 to September 9, 2012.

Adjudication of the competition to design the Olympic aircraft’s special livery was conducted by a panel of technical, arts, and design professionals. On the panel were South Africa’s National Herald Mr. Themba Mabaso, SAA Technical Senior Engineering Analyst: Mr. JJ Pretorius, Vega School of Arts lecturer Mr. Matthew Partridge, and Mr. Steve Knapp, Art Director at Brand Activation. The results were audited by Ernst and Young, SAA’s auditing firm.”

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Nippon Cargo Airlines introduces a new livery with the new Boeing 747-800 freighters

Nippon Cargo Airlines-NCA (Tokyo-Narita) has introduced this new livery with the first new Boeing 747-800 freighters. The cargo airline has 15 copies on order.

Copyright Photo: Nick Dean. Boeing 747-8KZF JA13KZ (msn 36138) climbs gracefully into the sunny skies at Paine Field near Everett, Washington.

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Nippon Cargo Airlines-NCA:

OLT Express Germany takes over Contact Air

OLT Express Germany (Bremen) took over the operations of Contact Air Service GmbH & Co. KG (Stuttgart) on July 4. Both companies will continue to operate under the OLT Express brand. Anti-trust clearance of the acquisition is expected to be completed in early September 2012.

With the acquisition, OLT Express Germany now employs about 500 additional employees. Of these, there are approximately 200 employees in Bremen, about 200 in Stuttgart and about 100 in Saarbruecken.

Top Copyright Photo: Andi Hiltl.

OLT Express (Germany):

Contact Air:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Rolf Wallner.

Panalpina sells its 12% share of Luxair

Panalpina (Basel) has sold its 12.09 percent share of Luxair-Luxembourg Airlines (Luxembourg). The government of Luxembourg purchased the shares in June according to this report by Handelszeitung.

Read the full report (in German): CLICK HERE

Top Copyright Photo: Royal S. King. Swiss freight forwarder Panalpina has a close relationship with Atlas Air. Atlas Air operates this new Boeing 747-87UF N851GT for Panalpina.

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Luxair-Luxembourg Airlines:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Bernardo Andrade. Embraer ERJ 145LU (EMB-145LU) LX-LGX (msn 145147) of Luxair arrives at Barcelona.

Ethiopian Airlines orders an additional Boeing 777-200 LR (Longer Range)

Ethiopian Airlines (Addis Ababa) has announced it has placed an order for one additional 777-200 LR (Longer Range) Worldliner, adding to the airline’s fleet of five 777-200 LRs. The order is valued at approximately $276 million at list price.

Ethiopian Airlines was the first African airline to operate the 777-200 LR, the first to order the Boeing 787 Dreamliner with an order for 10 and the first to order the 777 Freighter. Ethiopian Airlines currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of 737, 757, 767 and 777 airplanes in passenger service and a 757, MD-11 and 747 in cargo operations.

Copyright Photo: Christian Volpati. Boeing 777-260 LR ET-ANO (msn 40771) named “The Rift Valley” arrives from Addis Ababa at Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

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