Tag Archives: A321-200

Finnair to lease four Airbus A321s, updates its fleet plans, E170s to be retired

Finnair (Helsinki) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with BOC Aviation Pte Ltd (Singapore) to lease four new Airbus A321-200 narrow-body aircraft.

BOC Aviation is a subsidiary of Bank of China, specializing in aircraft leasing. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery to Finnair during the first half of 2017. The lease agreements have a minimum term of eight years.

The airline continued;

In November, Finnair had announced the temporary damp-lease of two A321 aircraft from summer 2016 onwards. This arrangement is intended to cover the transitional period until the delivery of the four A321 aircraft now dry-leased from BOC Aviation for the longer term.

The transactions are part of Finnair’s fleet renewal, the first phase of which consists of replacing aging long-haul A340 wide-body aircraft with modern A350s. With a view to the growing long-haul traffic, feeder capacity is increased by adding seats to existing narrowbody aircraft and replacing some smaller aircraft with larger ones over the next few years. The A321 is Airbus’ largest narrow-body passenger aircraft, and the Finnair configuration will feature 209 seats.

The sale of four surplus aircraft

In the same context, Finnair sells surplus aircraft in accordance with its fleet plan to various buyers. The agreements or MOUs concern one ATR turboprop aircraft used in regional traffic, and two Embraer E170 regional jet aircraft, which will be retired from Finnair and Norra’s traffic in January-February 2016 and subsequently delivered to the buyers.

In addition, Finnair will sell an old A340 wide-body aircraft for part-out in the first half of 2016.

The sale transactions do not have a significant impact on profit and loss.

Finnair aircraft slide show:

Spirit Airlines to add two seasonal routes from Minneapolis/St. Paul

Spirit Airlines (Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood) starting in April 2016, will begin new seasonal daily service between the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and the Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and Philadelphia International Airport (PHL).

Spirit’s new seasonal service between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Philadelphia will operate from April 14, 2016 through November 9, 2016, and between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Boston will operate from April 28, 2016 through September 7, 2016.

This announcement follows Spirit’s recent announcement of new daily nonstop service between MSP and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL), also starting in April 2016. With these additions, Spirit will operate nonstop service from Minneapolis-St.Paul to 16 cities, including Atlanta (starting 4/14/2016), Baltimore/Washington DC, Boston (starting 4/28/2016), Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Fort Myers, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orlando, Philadelphia (starting 4/14/2016), Phoenix, and Tampa.

Spirit Airlines aircraft slide show:

Route Map:

Spirit 12.2015 Route Map

Finnair to recruit 100 pilots and 300 cabin crew members

Finnair (Helsinki) has announced it will add more pilots and cabin staff. The company issued this statement:

Finnair prepares for growth in its long-haul traffic starting in 2016 and begins the biggest recruitment drive in the company’s history. In addition to the approximately 70 pilots and 130 cabin attendants recruited this year, the company is seeking to recruit 100 new pilots and 300 new cabin crew members. Some 50 people are also hired to perform customer service tasks and other functions during the spring.

In October, Finnair took delivery of its first Airbus A350-900 aircraft and altogether 19 have been ordered. The new wide-body aircraft are the engine of Finnair’s growth and add capacity to its long-haul traffic from spring 2016 onwards. Increasing capacity also increases the need for personnel. Earlier this year, Finnair stated that growth translates to approximately 1000 new jobs by 2020.

Recruitment of the flying personnel starts on December 4, 2015. After the selections have been made, the trainings and employment for the different employee groups will begin in phases from spring 2016 onwards, following the increase in Finnair’s need for new employees.

Finnair’s strategic objective is to double its traffic between Asia and Europe by 2020 from the 2010 level. The strategy is based on the growing markets in Asia, fast connections between Europe and Northeast Asia, quality service, and cost-efficient, punctual operations. As Asian traffic grows Finnair is also increasing capacity in its European traffic because a significant part of the company’s customers are transfer passengers.

Finnair aircraft slide show:

JetBlue Airways partners with Amazon

JetBlue Airways (New York) and Amazon (Seattle) today announced that unlimited streaming entertainment on Amazon Video is available beginning this week on over 150 JetBlue aircraft equipped with free Fly-Fi broadband Internet, just in time to entertain travelers during the holiday travel season.

Amazon Prime members can sign-in or sign-up to instantly access tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes, including Amazon Originals such as the critically-acclaimed new series The Man in the High Castle, the multi Emmy and Golden Globe-winning series, Transparent, and the Emmy award-winning kid’s series Tumble Leaf, at no additional cost to their membership. In addition, all JetBlue customers can rent or purchase titles in the Amazon Video store, including new release movies and day-after TV programming.

As part of the multiyear year agreement, Amazon on JetBlue has been integrated into The Hub, JetBlue’s entertainment portal that customers access on their personal devices. Amazon on JetBlue offers a high-quality and reliable streaming experience for customers choosing from thousands of titles 35,000 feet in the air.

The collaboration will involve a broad array of benefits for customers, including activities in JetBlue’s flagship Terminal 5 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. In 2016, TrueBlue loyalty program members will be able to earn TrueBlue points for their purchases in more than 40 categories on Amazon while inflight or on the ground through other JetBlue marketing channels.

Customers will also be able to watch Amazon Originals such as the just-launched series The Man in the High Castle as well as the second season of the Emmy and Golden Globe winning series Transparent which airs on December 11, among others, on JetBlue’s seatback televisions.

Copyright Photo: Fred Freketic/AirlinersGallery.com. JetBlue Airways’ Airbus A321-231 N946JL (msn 6425) in the Prism tail design prepares to depart from the John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) hub.

JetBlue Airways aircraft slide show:

MetroJet Airbus A321-231 EI-ETJ crashes in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, 224 dead

MetroJet (Kogalymavia dba) (Moscow-Domodedovo) Airbus A321-231 EI-ETJ (msn 663) while operating flight KGL 9268 from Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt to St. Petersburg, Russia with 217 passengers and seven crew members was climbing after departing Sharm el Sheikh in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt on October 31, 2015. The crew told ATC they had technical problems. The flight was reported to be at 31,000 feet when it disappeared from the radar screens after 23 minutes of flight. The scattered wreckage was located by military forces in the mountains of the Sinai near Al Arish on the Mediterranean Sea. There are now reports of bodies being recovered. The Russian Embassy in Cairo is now reporting all on board have died in the tragic crash.

The airframe was originally delivered to MEA as F-OHMP on May 27, 1997 and has served with Onur Air, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Kolavia.

Spirit Airlines reports 3Q GAAP net income increased 44.9% to $97.1 million

Spirit Airlines, Inc. (Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood) today reported third quarter 2015 financial results.

Adjusted net income for the third quarter 2015 increased 31.6 percent to $97.3 million ($1.35 per diluted share) compared to the third quarter 20141. GAAP net income for the third quarter 2015 increased 44.9 percent year over year to $97.1 million ($1.35 per diluted share).
Adjusted pre-tax margin for the third quarter 2015 increased 560 basis points to 26.9 percent. On a GAAP basis, pre-tax margin for the third quarter 2015 increased 760 basis points to 26.9 percent.
Spirit ended the third quarter 2015 with unrestricted cash and cash equivalents of $748.9 million.
Spirit’s return on invested capital (before taxes and excluding special items) for the twelve months ended September 30, 2015 was 28.8 percent2.

Copyright Photo: Andy Cripps/AirlinersGallery.com. Spirit took delivery of 3 new Airbus A321 aircraft during the third quarter 2015, ending the quarter with 76 aircraft in its fleet. Airbus A321-231 N657NK (msn 6671) taxies at the FLL hub.

Spirit Airlines aircraft slide show:

Germania Flug (Switzerland) takes delivery of its first Airbus A321

Germania Flug AG (Holiday Jet) (Switzerland) (Zurich) has taken delivery of its first Airbus A321. The pictured Airbus A321-211 HB-JOI (msn 5843, ex D-ASTD) was delivered on October 21 from the German parent Germania (Berlin-Schonefeld). The new type went into service yesterday (October 25) from Zurich and Geneva to Pristina, Kosovo and Skopje for tour operator Air Prishtina according to ch-aviation.

Copyright Photo: Andi Hiltl/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-211 HB-JOI prepares for takeoff at Zurich with the new Swiss registration and flag.

Germania Flug (Switzerland) aircraft slide show:

Aeroflot outlines its winter schedule, will not fly to Kiev and Odessa due to the ban

Aeroflot Russian Airlines (Moscow) has outlined the changes with its new winter schedule:

From October 25, 2015, Aeroflot will move to its winter flight schedule, which will be in place through March 26, 2016.

Flights to 51 countries are planned for winter 2015-2016. Aeroflot will fly from 119 points of origin, among these 43 in Russia and eight in the CIS. In light of Ukraine’s introduction of a ban on Aeroflot flights from October 25, there will be no more flights to Kiev and Odessa.

Aeroflot will fly to 68 destinations further afield, including 45 in Europe, 13 in Asia, five in America and five in the Middle East and Africa.

The winter timetable continues to place emphasis on growth of Aeroflot’s route network within Russia. The company is launching a new route between Moscow and Stavropol. It is also examining the possibility of introducing service to Saratov. Flights between Moscow and Voronezh, which began in June, will continue.

Aeroflot will fly to destinations across Russia that have strong passenger demand: Abakan, Adler/Sochi, Anapa, Arkhangelsk, Astrakhan, Barnaul, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Voronezh, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan, Magnitogorsk, Mineralnye Vody, Murmansk, Nizhnekamsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Novy Urengoy, Samara, St. Petersburg, Nizhnevartovsk, Novokuznetsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Perm, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Rostov-on-Don, Simferopol, Stavropol, Surgut, Tomsk, Tyumen, Ufa, Khabarovsk, Chelyabinsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Yakutsk.

The number of flights on high-demand routes will increase. Flight frequencies per week from Moscow to the following domestic destinations will increase: St. Petersburg (from 107 to 112), Nizhny Novgorod (from 35 to 42), Sochi/Adler (from 35 to 42), Rostov-on Don (from 21 to 42), Mineralnye Vody (from 21 to 35), Arkhangelsk (from 14 to 21), Murmansk (from 14 to 21) and Tomsk (from 7 to 14).

The weekly frequency of flights to Minsk has also increased significantly (from 28 to 35). Among European destination, flight frequencies to Berlin and Prague will increase, as will flights to Munich (from 21 to 28), Riga (from 21 to 28) and Warsaw (from 14 to 21).

The needs of tourists who prefer beach holidays have been taken into account. For Winter 2015/2016 there will be a greater number of flights to destinations in South East Asia and the Caribbean, including daily flights to Phuket, Havana and Hanoi. The number of daily flights to Cairo has doubled (from 2 to 4). At the same time, over the winter period flights to Heraklion and Split traditionally stop, consolidating their status as purely summer resorts.

Other Aeroflot Group airlines will carry passengers on an additional 70 routes. Including low-cost carrier Pobeda, Aeroflot Group unique routes will total 200.

An additional 125 unique routes will be offered to our customers via code sharing agreements with partner airlines. Code-sharing agreements expand Aeroflot’s reach to 17 additional countries: Albania, Algieria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ghana, Indonesia, Ireland, Iceland, Cambodia, Kenya, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Morocco, Myanmar, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia and Tunisia.

In total, including through agreements with partner airlines, flights on 325 routes across 68 countries will be operated under Aeroflot’s “SU” code.

Aeroflot aircraft slide show:

The last US Airways flight arrives in Philadelphia this morning

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) operated the last US Airways-coded (US/AWE) flight (US1939) (the flight was named after the year All American Aviation was founded) overnight as a red eye flight from San Francisco to the Philadelphia hub. This was the last leg of an historical two-day flight. The last portion departed SFO at 9:43 pm (2143) local time last night and arrived at PHL this morning at 5:58 am (0558). The last flight was operated with Airbus A321-211 N152UW (msn 5588) (below).

American Airlines Group issued this short statement:

As we fly on
We remember
All the flights we
Had together…
We will still be friends forever.
‪#‎US1939‬

Today American is merging the two reservations systems.

Frontier Airlines takes delivery of its first Airbus A321

Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) yesterday (October 9) took delivery of its first Airbus A321. The pictured A321-211 D-AZAA (msn 6793), named “Otto, the Owl” became N701FR on the handover.

As a result Airbus issued this statement:

Frontier Airlines, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, USA has taken delivery of the first Airbus A321 to join its fleet. In the last year, the airline has placed firm orders for 19 A321s, reflecting its market strength and the need for the largest Airbus A320 Family member. All 19 A321s are the current engine option (ceo) and will be equipped with Sharklets. Each will seat 230 people in a single class, and be powered by CFM56-5B engines from CFM International. Frontier’s current in-service fleet consists of 57 A320 Family aircraft (35 A319s and 22 A320s). In addition to the remaining 18 A321s on backlog, the airline has 18 A319neo (new engine option), 62 A320neo, and two A320 ceo aircraft on order, for a total backlog of 100 Airbus single-aisles.

All of Frontiers A321s will feature lightweight composite Sharklets, 2.4-meter/94-inch tall wing-tip devices that provide a fuel consumption reduction of up to 4 percent, plus either a range extension of 100 nautical miles or increased payload of up to 450 kilograms/992 pounds.

Frontier’s new A321s will initially be used on their routes from Orlando to Philadelphia, Denver, Cleveland and Detroit. The airline just this fall opened up a new crew base in Orlando to support the A321.

Top Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss/AirlinersGallery.com (all others by Airbus). A321-211 D-AZAA (msn 6793) is pictured at the Airbus facility at Hamburg (Finkenwerder).

Frontier Airlines aircraft slide show:

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