05NOV edition

Turkish Airlines has officially announced that it has been bilaterally awarded seven additional frequencies to Pakistan from November 2013 onwards and as a result shall be taking full advantage in the following manner:

LHE – new 3 weekly nonstop flights to be launched effective 27NOV using a B738

KHI – frequencies increased from 4 weekly to daily effective 23DEC using a B738

ISB – frequencies increased from 3 to 4 weekly effective 25NOV using a B738

In addition to the above, TK too confirmed that its services to IAH-Houston shall be increased to daily nonstop effective 30MAR14 using a B773ER.

Egypt Air’s management has officially announced that the carrier will be placing a major order with Boeing and Airbus next year for a total of 60 new aircraft i.e. 17 to replace current fleet and 43 to be used for growth. Management has informed the media that it is considering the Airbus A380/A350 alongside the B77X/787 for the wide bodied fleet mix. The carrier wants to take full advantage of the geographical location of its Cairo hub and be a key player in the EU-Asia, EU-Africa and North America-Asia/Africa market segments. To begin its expansion plans, all the new aircraft that would be ordered shall be leased rather than purchased outright for financial ease, two new long haul routes were officially announced for 2014 which were Hong Kong and Jakarta (to be operated via KUL).

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-10/egypt-air-identifies-60-plane-requirement-to-revamp-aging-fleet.html

Analysis:

The aircraft that MS are looking to replace include 7 A332s + 4 B772As + 3 A342s + 3 AB6Fs. Its flagship long haul product is available currently only on board its new A333s and B773ERs. MS doesn’t need anything bigger than a B77W in the future. The A380 too has no business being in the MS fleet even for service to JED because it is operated 4-5 times daily by the airline from CAI hence better suited for this aircraft type.

As far as MS’s medium/long haul fleet is concerned, the fleet should be like this:

B77W – should remain for long haul and high density medium haul routes. In order to best utilize this asset to its fullest potential, it should be configured in 2 layouts i.e. one for long haul which is the current 49J + 298Y and one for high density routes requiring less premium seats. Over here, the configuration proposed is 21J + 379Y giving it 400 seats i.e. 17% more capacity at the same operational cost. The high density configuration is ideally suited for MS’s services to KWI, JED, RUH, DXB, BKK as well Hajj/Umrah flights to Saudi Arabia. There is no need what so ever for MS to drain its finances by investing in the more expensive B779X when the B77W (B773ER) is perfectly suited for its route network.   

B 789 - for medium density long/medium haul routes (A359 one feels is too big in a 2 class configuration for this market segment for MS)...280 seats in a 2 class config i.e. 24J + 256Y

A321-200NEO - for high density short haul routes in the MENA region and Africa (within 6.5 hours flying distance)...170 seats in a 2 class config i.e. 12J + 158Y

CS300 - for high frequency regional/domestic routes plus low density short/medium haul routes within a 6 hour flying radius of CAI. Configuration proposed is 12J + 115Y so 127 seats in total. The cost savings (over a 15 year period) of operating + purchasing + retraining the CS300 should outweigh the commonality positives gained by having an A320/A321NEO fleet !

Qatar Airways has officially announced many capacity changes to its route network for the current IATA W13 season of which the main highlights are as follows:

CMB – effective 01JAN14, capacity increased from triple daily A321s to daily B773ER + double daily A321

DWC and SHJ – effective 01MAR14, new double daily flights to be launched to both airports using an A320

HGH – new 4 weekly nonstop flights to be launched using an A332 effective 20DEC

BRU – capacity increased from daily A332 to daily B787

TXL – capacity increased from 4 weekly A320 to 4 weekly A332

In addition to the above, QR also revealed that it will be launching new 4 weekly nonstop flights to MIA-Miami, USA effective 10JUN14. All flights will be operated using a Boeing 777-200LR using the same schedule as its current JFK, ORD and IAD bound services.

Cathay Pacific has officially announced that it shall be significantly increasing capacity to Chicago (ORD) and Los Angeles (LAX) from the on set of the IATA S14 season in the following manner:

ORD – frequencies increased from daily to 10 weekly nonstop flights using a B773ER

LAX – frequencies increased from triple daily to 4 times daily with all flights operated with a B773ER

In addition to the above as part of the on going cost reduction measures being implemented by the airline, it will be reducing capacity to both JNB and SFO from IATA W14 season as follows:

JNB – capacity reduced from daily B744 to B773ER

SFO – all double daily flights to be exclusively operated using a B773ER

The significant operational cost savings of the B773ER being used instead of the B744 + the extra cargo revenue uplift were key aspects for CX to make this decision.

Emirates has officially announced that it has been granted additional bilateral access to the highly lucrative Luanda (Angola) market by being the only 2^nd long haul carrier allowed to operate more than 3 times per week to the country. Effective 01DEC13, EK will be operating a daily nonstop service between DXB and LAD using a B773ER with its current standardized schedule.

American Airlines has officially announced that it will be undertaking significant long haul expansion out of its primary DFW-Dallas hub to Asia from June 2014 onwards. AA revealed two new long haul routes i.e. daily DFW-PVG (Shanghai) effective 11JUN14 using a B772ER + daily DFW-HKG effective 01JUN14 using a B773ER. As far as its JFK-HND (Tokyo Handea) flights are concerned, AA announced that the current daily nonstop service using a B772ER will be discontinued effective 30NOV13 as the airline seeks to better deploy its assets elsewhere. 

Etihad Airways has officially announced many capacity changes across its medium and long haul network for the current IATA W13 and following S14 seasons of which the main highlights are as follows:

JKT – frequencies increased from daily to double daily B773ERs

CMB – frequencies increased from daily to double daily A320s

LAX – new daily nonstop flights to be launched effective 01JUN14 using a B772LR. This is a new aircraft type obtained by EY via purchasing 5 of them from Air India last month. These B77Ls shall be reconfigured to EY’s specifications which are 8F/40J/189Y.

PER – new nonstop flights from AUH shall be launched in 2014 in collaboration with Virgin Australia

The Iraqi Government has officially announced that it is placed an order on behalf of Iraqi Airways for 5 new Bombardier CS 300s as the carrier looks to expand its regional network in the Middle East region. These five jets are part of an exchange order i.e. replacing 5 CRJ 900ERs which were originally purchased by the carrier many years ago. The price paid for each CS300 was US$ 40 million which is a 44% discount from the published US$ 72 million official price tag as stated by the Government themselves.

Korean Air has officially announced that it has placed a new US$ 4 billion order with Boeing for the purchase of additional wide body jets. These include 5 B747-800Is + 1 B787-900 + 6 B777-300ERs. In total, this brings the KE B748 passenger fleet count to ten units.

Finnair has officially announced few capacity changes to its long haul route network for the upcoming IATA S14 season of which the main highlights are as follows:

DEL – frequencies reduced from 6 to 3 weekly using an A333

YYZ – capacity increased from 3 weekly B757s to 3 weekly A333s

Austrian Airlines has officially announced that it shall be majorly expanding its presence in USA from the onset of the IATA S14 season of which the main highlights are as follows:

EWR – new 5 weekly nonstop flights to be launched using a B763ER

ORD – frequencies increased from 5 weekly to daily nonstop using a B763ER

IAD – capacity increased from daily B763ER to daily B772ER

Air Europa of Spain has officially announced that it has purchased 8 additional Boeing 787-800s as the carrier looks to embark on a rapid expansion drive into Latin America, North America and Asia using this particular fleet. This brings the total number of B788s ordered by the airline to 16.