Tag Archives: McDonnell Douglas

Falcon Air ceases all operations

Falcon Air Express (Miami) on Friday (June 5) voluntarily surrendered its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and ceased all operations according to this report by The Ledger. The company had recently moved its aircraft to Lakeland, Florida and was in negotiations with the city about starting scheduled passenger operations from the airport that currently does not have any air service.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Falcon Air logo-1

The company originally started operations in March 1996.

Copyright Photo: Tony STorck/AirlinersGallery.com. McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83 (MD-83) N120MN (msn 53120) approaches the runway at Miami.

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Lufthansa Cargo to bring home the remains of the victims of Germanwings flight 4U9525

Lufthansa Group (Frankfurt) tomorrow (June 9) will operate a special Lufthansa Cargo (Frankfurt) McDonnell Douglas MD-11F flight from Marseille to Dusseldorf which will bring home the remains of the victims of Germanwings (Cologne/Bonn) ill-fate flight 4U9525 which crashed in the French Alps. Transfer of the remains to the victim’s families will occur on June 10. Lufthansa Cargo will operate more flights in the coming weeks until the end of June. The group issued this statement:

Lufthansa Group logo

Lufthansa is working with all its available resources to ensure the repatriation and transfer of victims of the Germanwings flight 4U9525 to the relatives in the originally planned schedule. To start off the repatriation flights, Lufthansa will arrange at short notice a special flight with a MD-11 of Lufthansa Cargo from Marseille to Dusseldorf. The plane will take off from Marseille on June 9 at 20:50 and is expected at Dusseldorf at 22:30. There will be 30 coffins of the victims of flight 4U9525 on board.

The repatriation of the victims was initially scheduled for next week. At short notice, however, a delay had resulted due to regulatory requirements. The Federal Government Commissioner for the victims’ relatives had then turned immediately to the authorities and received assurances that preparations for repatriation could be made immediately.

After this first special flight to Dusseldorf, the other victims will be gradually transferred to their home countries in the coming weeks. The French authorities are working hard in order to create the formal conditions for the transfer of the victims as soon as possible. Lufthansa is in close contact with the relatives to ensure that the transfer of the victims is carried out according to the relativesโ€™ wishes.

Germanwings black logo

Copyright Photo: Pascal Simon/AirlinersGallery.com. McDonnell Douglas MD-11F D-ALCM (msn 48805) departs from the Frankfurt cargo hub.

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Allegiant today launches seasonal Tulsa – Los Angeles flights

Allegiant Air (Las Vegas) today (June 5)ย launches new, nonstop, seasonal flights from Tulsa to Los Angeles.ย The new seasonal flights will operate twice weekly through August 17, 2015 between the Tulsa International Airport (TUL) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Yesterday (June 4) the ultra low-fare carrier launched twice-weekly seasonal flights from Little Rock, Arkansas also to Los Angeles.ย The new seasonal flights will operate twice weekly through Auguist 16, 2015, and will fly nonstop between Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport (LIT) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 (MD-82) N408NV (msn 53246) promoting the Blue Man Group show in Las Vegas arrives at LAS.

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Allegiant launches five seasonal routes from Myrtle Beach

Allegiant Air (Las Vegas)ย this week celebrated the start of new, nonstop seasonal flights to Myrtle Beach.

Allegiant logo-3

New seasonal routes launching to Myrtle Beach include:

Akron/Canton, Ohio โ€“ June 3, 2015 through Sep. 13, 2015
Sanford (near Orlando), Florida โ€“ June 4, 2015 through Sep. 13, 2015
Indianapolis, Indiana โ€“ June 4, 2015 through Sep. 13, 2015
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania โ€“ June 5, 2015 through Sep. 13, 2015
Clarksburg, West Virginia โ€“ June 5, 2015 through Aug. 17, 2015

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83 (MD-83) N416NV (msn 49555) arrives at Concord, North Carolina, near Charlotte.

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FedEx Express early retires 15 aircraft, adjusts the retirement schedule for 23 additional older aircraft

FedEx Corporation (FedEx Express) (Memphis) has announced it has permanently retired 15 aircraft and 21 related engines as it continues to rationalize capacity and modernize its aircraft fleet to more effectively serve FedEx Express customers.

The company continued;

FedEx Express logo (large)

The permanent retirement of aircraft and related engines includes:

Seven McDonnell MD-11F airframes and 12 related engines;

Three Airbus A300 airframes and three related engines;

Four Airbus A310-300 airframes and three related engines; and

One McDonnell Douglas MD10-10 airframe and three related engines.

The impact of retiring these aircraft, engines and related parts resulted in a non-cash impairment charge of $246 million recorded in May 2015.

FedEx has also adjusted the retirement schedule of an additional 23 airframes and 57 engines.

FedEx also recognized in May 2015 $30 million in cash charges associated with these actions.

These combined retirement changes will not have a material impact on near-term depreciation expense.

FedEx Express fleet as of February 28, 2015:

FedEx Express Fleet 2.28.15

Notes:

1 – February 28, 2015 Boeing 757 count includes 21 aircraft that are not currently in operation, 5 of which are in the modification process and 16 of which are awaiting modification.

2 – As of February 28, 2015 Boeing 767 count includes 3 aircraft that are not in operation and are in the modification process. As of February 28, 2015, FedEx is committed to purchase 44 B767Fs. Aircraft to be delivered statistics include certain lease additions and expirations.

3 – As of February 28, 2015, FedEx is committed to purchase 18 Boeing 777Fs.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Seven MD-11Fs were retired.ย McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (F) N595FE (msn 48553) climbs away from Anchorage.

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Allegiant today starts new service from Memphis

Allegiant logo-1 (large)

Allegiant Air (Las Vegas) today (May 22) stated nonstop flights from Memphis to Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood, Las Vegas and Sanford (near Orlando).

Copyright Photo below: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83 M868GA (msn 49554) arrives at the Las Vegas base.

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Nordic Global Airlines to shut down on May 31

Finnair logo

Finnair (Helsinki) has issued this statement about the future of partially-owned Nordic Global Airlines-NGA (Helsinki):

Nordic Global Airlines-NGA logo

The Board of Directors of Finnair’s associated company Nordic Global Airlines Ltd (NGA) has decided to discontinue NGA’s operations by May 31, 2015. The termination of the operations has no material impact on Finnair’s cargo business, or Finnair’s financial position. NGA, focused on cargo freighter operations, was founded in 2011. Since then NGA grew to fly main-deck cargo in four continents with its low-cost and thin-organization model, but with overcapacity in the sector and depressed freight pricing, the cargo airlineโ€™s decision to cease operations was unavoidable.

Finnair Cargo Oy owns 40 percent of the company, and other shareholders are Neff Capital Management LLC, Daken Capital Partners LLC and the Mutual Pension Insurance Company Ilmarinen. Between 2011 and 2014, Finnair leased freighter capacity from NGA for its mainly Asian cargo traffic. Finnair’s belly cargo capacity will increase significantly in the coming years, when new A350 aircraft join Finnairโ€™s fleet. Finnair has decided to focus in future on cargo carried in the cargo holds of passenger aircraft and discontinued separate cargo freighter operations at the end of 2014.

NGA was operating four McDonnell Douglas MD-11F freighters.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Despite the elaborate NGA logo, the NGA aircraft usually operated with only small titles and non-descript white fuselages. McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (F) OH-LGD (msn 48513) arrives at Las Palmas in the Canary islands.

Falcon Air moves four MD-80s to Lakeland, considers scheduled flights

Falcon Air (Falcon Air Express) (Miami) has moved four McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83s (MD-83s) to Lakeland, Florida (LAL).

Falcon Air logo

Previously The Ledger in Lakeland reported the city of Lakeland was negotiating with Falcon Air to provide scheduled passenger flights from the underutilized airport. The last scheduled passenger service at LAL was provided by DirectAir (operated by Sky King Airlines). LAL is located very close to Disney World and is situated between Orlando and Tampa.

According to the report, Falcon Air is considering scheduled air service to Baton Rouge, Branson, Chicopee (Massachusetts), Huntsville, Jackson, Lansing (or Kalamazoo) and Newport News/Williamsburg. Service could start in June.

The business model is likely to be the same as used by Allegiant Air which serves small cities initially with minimal service and flies to popular holiday destinations like Orlando. Allegiant serves the Central Florida area through Sanford (SNF) (north of Orlando) and St. Petersburg/Clearwater (PIE) (west of Tampa). LAL is actually closer to Disney World than SFB. Falcon Air is likely to select small cities not already being served by Allegiant Air from Central Florida.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83 (MD-83) N120MN (msn 53120) is one of the four aircraft that has been repositioned to LAL.

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Air France-KLM’s first quarter loss widens

Air France-KLM Group (Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Transavia Netherlands, Transavia France, Hop! and Martinair) reported a first quarter net lossย of โ‚ฌ504 million ($56.9 million), compared to a net loss of โ‚ฌ485 million ($546 million) in the same quarter a year ago.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. The group retired threeย Boeing 747 freighters in the Winter 2014-15 season, while another five Martinair McDonnell Douglas MD-11s will be retired by the end of the Winter 2015-16 season. The Group plans to operate only five full-freighters by the end of 2016. McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (F) PH-MCS (msn 48618) of Martinair taxies at the Amsterdam cargo hub.

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Sea Air of Croatia to start flights on May 18

Sea Air (Osijek) of Croatia will launch scheduled passenger operations on May 18 from Osijek ย to Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna using a 160-seat McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 wet leased from Ten Airways (Tend Air) of Romania according to Balkans.com.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Terry Wade/AirlinersGallery.com. McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 (MD-82) YR-MDK (msn 49139) arrives at London (Gatwick).

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