Jet Airways

Jet Airways of India have officially confirmed to the Mumbai Stock Exchange yesterday that it has firmed up 5 out of 10 remaining options for A 332s. These additional aircraft will start arriving from Oct 2009 onwards. Thus in total, 9W's A 332 fleet by 2011 will increase from 10 to 15.

Comments :

So lets break down to see how the 15 A 332s are possibly going to be used -

2 A 332s for daily YYZ flights via BRU

2 A 332s for daily ORD flights via BRU from April 2008

2 A 332s for future daily LAX flights via BRU in 2008

3 A 332s hopefully used for daily India-DXB/KWI/AUH bound flights.

1 A 332 for 6 weekly ATQ-LHR nonstop

1 A 332 for future daily BOM-HKG nonstop

1 A 332 for future daily BOM-JNB flights

1 A 332 for future daily BOM-MAN flights (hopefully)

2 A 332s for India-SIN/KUL bound flights (hopefully)

China Airlines

China Airlines of Taiwan has announced that it has placed a huge order with Airbus for 20 Airbus A 350-900s of which 14 are firm orders and 6 are options. CI has confirmed that this aircraft type will fully replace its fleet of six Airbus A 340-300s in addition to be used to increase its flights to Europe and North America. The first A 359 is expected to be delivered in 2015 to the airline. In addition to this order, CI is also expected to place another order soon for either the A 380 or B 747-800 to replace its B 744 fleet as well as to add capacity to high density markets such as HKG, LAX, SFO & BKK.

Analysis :

Boeing has no one but themselves to blame for not getting this lucurative order from CI because of their failure to offer the 310 seater Boeing 787-100X to its clients. If such a B 787 model was available for sale, then it would have also grabbed a size able chunk of the EK order made for 120 A 350s. The next big order for the 270-320 seater market that Boeing stands to lose if it doesnt offer the B 781 by Farnborough 2008 is the 100 airplane order to be placed jointly by AF & KLM.

CI had already mentioned before that it will not be ordering the B 777-200LRs/300ERs for nonstop TPE-EU/UK/NYC bound flights as the aircraft technology would be outdated by the time the A 350 and B 787 enter the market place. The A 359 can easily fly TPE-JFK and TPE-LON/CDG nonstop without suffering a payload restriction. One cannot rule out a future order for 16 more A 359s to be placed to fully replace CI's fleet of 16 A 333s between 2016-18 as this aircraft type is an ideal A 333 / B 772A replacement aircraft.

Air France

Air France has announced that it will be taking advantage of the new open EU-USA open skies deal by flying to LAX-Los Angeles nonstop from LHR-London Heathrow from Summer 2008. AF will use a 3 class Boeing 777-200ER on this route and will codeshare with Delta Airlines.

Flight schedule is as follows :

AF 61 Dep LAX 2025 Arr LHR 1440+1
AF 60 Dep LHR 1700 Arr LAX 2015

Northwest Airlines

Northwest Airlines has officially announced that it will be launching new flights to London Heathrow from late March 2008 when the EU-USA open skies agreement comes into effect. NWA will offer triple daily flights i.e. one each from its 3 main USA hubs (SEA, DTW and MSP) using a combination of A 332s and A 333s.

Flight schedules are as follows :

29th March MSP-LHR-MSP daily using an A 333

Dep MSP 2130 Arr LHR 1215+1

Dep LHR 1425 Arr MSP 1725

1st May DTW-LHR-DTW daily using an A 333

Dep DTW 1750 Arr LHR 0705+1

Dep LHR 0850 Arr DTW 1230

1st June SEA-LHR-SEA daily using an A 332

Dep SEA 2205 Arr LHR 1605+1

Dep LHR 1830 Arr SEA 2055

Saudia Airlines

Saudia Airlines has put up its large fleet of classic 5 Boeing 747-100s, 9 Boeing 747-300s and 28 MD 90s up for sale as it embarks on a fleet modernization programme which has already begun by an order being placed for 22 Airbus A 320s at the Dubai Air Show.

The 424-seat 747-300s are over 20 years old while the 747-100s have 417 seats and are 25 years of age. Both aircraft types are configured in two classes i.e. J & Y.

Kingfisher Airlines

According to an article in the Vancouver Sun newspaper, Kingfisher Airlines of India has committed to launching the first ever nonstop flight linking YVR-Vancouver with DEL-Delhi, India. A nonstop YVR-DEL flight would take 15-16 hours to fly and KF hasnt indicated any timeframe to launch the route.

Source : http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=e2d1ac8b-2b5c-4c4f-a894-be2a331a1dbf&k=6689

Analysis :

The earliest time frame that KF could think of launching YVR-DEL nonstop would probably me Winter 2009 as the first 4 A 345s of theirs would be used on nonstop India-USA flights. KF should look at YVR-India nonstop before YYZ-India because there is less direct competition from YVR to India than there is from YYZ. Obviously from YVR, the main target market for KF would be the Sikh market bound for DEL & ATQ, hence it must ensure that its flights connect within 3-4 hours at DEL with its DEL-ATQ-DEL flights i.e. IT 4513 / 4514.

However, one feels that the YVR-India market isnt high yielding enough to warrant sending a 3 class configured aircraft like KF's A 345s are going to be. The reason being is that the First class market segment between YVR and India is minimal hence it would be a waste if KF sent a 3 class A 345 with a F class cabin to YVR. If KF can dedicate 2 out of their 10 A 345s for a daily YVR-DEL-YVR nonstop operation seating approximately 280-310 pax in a 2 class configuration, then there is potential in making decent money on this route. To ensure, loads are good year round, KF needs to also look into a SPA agreement with either AC or WS for their respective YEG-YVR and YYC-YVR flights to help feed their YVR-DEL flight.

Libyan Airlines

Afriqiyah Airways and Libyan Airlines of Libya officially firmed up its orders for Airbus planes that it had excercised its interest for at the Paris Air Show in June 2007. Libyan Airlines signed a firm contract for four A 350s, four A 330-200s and seven A 320s where as Afriqiyah ordered 6 A 350s.

Iceland Air

Iceland Air has announced that it will be shuffling its USA bound flights by suspending operations to BWI-Baltimore and instead increasing JFK from daily to 9 times a week for the summer 2008 season only. All JFK flights will be flown using a B 757-200ER and BWI gets suspended from January 13th 2008.

Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific has announced that it has placed an order with Airbus for 8 more Airbus A 330-300s. These new planes will thus result in CX having a total fleet of 40 A 333s by the time they are all delivered which would be in 2012. Dragonair too will get some of these A 333s to expand their regional and Australian network.

Finnair

Finnair of Finland has placed a firm order with Airbus for an additional A 330-300E for delivery in spring 2009. This new order brings the total number of Finnair's Airbus wide-body aircraft to 22, which include seven A 330-300Es, four A340-300Es and eleven A 350-800s/900s.

RAK Airways

RAK Airways of Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE has announced its flight schedule for its inaugural routes to DAC, CMB, BEY and Sofia from its RAK airport hub. The highlights are as follows :

RKT/BEY - 3 weekly B 752s

RKT/CMB - 3 weekly B 752s

RKT/DAC - 3 weekly B 752s

RKT/SOF - weekly B 752

Kingfisher Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines of India has become an official member of the elite "5 Star Airline" club which was made official by Sky Trax earlier on in the week. Along side, Kingfisher Airlines another airline also got a 5 Star ranking i.e. Asiana of South Korea.

This award for KF, makes it the first ever "domestic carrier" to achieve a ranking of 4 Stars or higher from the respected Sky Trax website.

Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways has announced that it is not happy with the performance economics of its fleet of 4 Airbus A 340-600s and has thus made the decision to not exercise options to get 6 more of these type of aircraft. Instead, it will lease out its A 346s within 5 years time to interested parties and focus its high density long haul flights around the Boeing 777-300ER of which it has ordered 14 models.

QR also mentioned that its A 332s will indeed be gradually replaced by the B 787-800s from 2012 onwards. Its A 330s and A 346s will be transfered to a leasing company that it is setting up called Oryx Leasing.

Analysis :

Apart from QR, other airlines that have found the B 777-200ER/-200LR/300ER family more superior to the A 343/A 345/A 346 series family are AC, CX, EK, AF, OS and SQ. Keeping this in mind, one cannot rule out Etihad Airways following suit!

Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian Airlines has signed a MOU with Airbus for the purchase of 24 wide bodied jets which are to be delivered from 2012 onwards. The order comprises of 6 A 330-200s + 6 options + 6 Airbus A 350-800s + 6 options. These Airbus aircraft are intended to fully replace HA's fleet of 18 Boeing 767-300ERs.

The first A 332 will be delivered in 2012 where as the first A 358 in 2017. One of the main reasons why HA ordered the A 358 is because the airline is closely examining the possibility of launching nonstop flights to London from HNL. HA also announced that it will be launching new flights to Manila 4 times a week nonstop from March 2008 using a B 763ER.

Analysis :

What HA needs to do is to take advantage of HNL being an excellent strategic hub located between Far East Asia and USA/Canada because via HNL, HA can offer ONE STOP flights from Asia to YVR + key U.S. markets such as SFO, ORD, LAX, NYC, IAD and Texas which see high density travel demand year round from their respective areas to HKG, MNL, Korea, China and Japan.

However, HA must be careful as to choosing which cities in Asia are feasible for their current fleet of B 763ERs to operate as well as future operations with the A 358s and A 332s. Currently, the popular ex Hawaii-Asia routes are mainly MNL and Japan. The other markets that can benefit from HA service are HKG, PVG, ICN and PEK only. These cities have a small amount of O&D to HNL (largely leisure / honeymoon traffic) but a far greater amount of 6th freedom traffic bound for YVR and mainland USA which HA can transport via their HNL hub. Getting rights to PVG & PEK might be a problem for HA due to the flight allocation policy for China by the U.S. DOT.

Keeping that in mind, HKG & ICN are more easier to get flight approvals for. As far as Europe goes, obviously the A 358s would be used for those flights, but apart from LGW, one doesnt see the need for HA to even bother looking at any other city. Frankly speaking, even LGW would be a loss making route for HA. Is there really that much demand for HNL from UK or mainland Europe?

KLM

KLM has announced that it placed another order with Boeing for 2 more Boeing 777-300ERs + 2 options + 3 Boeing 737-700s + 2 options. The airline has six B 773ERs on order with Boeing and is scheduled to take delivery of its first of this model in the first quarter of 2008. KLM currently operates a fleet of 15 B 772ERs in a combination of leases and direct purchases.

It also announced an order with Airbus for 2 more Airbus A 330-200s. KLM also announced that along with Air France, it is expected to place an order for 100 wide bodied long haul aircraft next summer which will fully replace within 7-8 years time its combined fleet of A 343s, B 744 Combis, MD 11s etc.

Analysis :

Unfortunately for Boeing, the B 789 isn't the perfect replacement aircraft for the B 74E and MD 11. If Boeing want this order, they have to speed up developing the B 787-100X as that is a future replacement aircraft for the A 333, A 343, B 772ER, MD 11 and B 744 Combis. If they cant offer the B 781 by Farnborough 2008, then the A 359 will win the KLM order.

Air China

Air China has announced changes to its European network for Summer 2008 as it looks to focus on key markets which offer decent growth prospects. The main highlights are as follows :

PEK/FCO - increases from 5 weekly to daily using a B 744 Combi.

PVG/MXP - increases from 3 weekly flights to daily using an A 343.

PVG/CDG - suspended from April 2008, currently flown three times a week.

PEK/CDG - to be increased from daily to double daily.

Etihad Airways

Etihad Airways is expected to announce a huge order for narrow and wide bodied aircraft next summer (most likely at the Farnborough Air Show). The new order is designed to secure delivery slots for planes between 2010-2020.

With regards to the VLA (very large aircraft) fleet, the A 380 is pitted against the B 747-800 where as in the medium density category, the A 350 family is pitted against a combination of B 777s and B 787s. In the narrow bodied field, the A 320 is likely to bag the order instead of the B 737-800.

Japan-Thailand open skies

Japan and Thailand have concluded signing an open skies deal between the two states paving the way for unlimited number of flights operated by multiple designated airlines to as many airports between the two countries except for Tokyo Narita. The latter can only be flown 21 times a week by any Thai carrier.

Lufthansa

Lufthansa has announced that it is changing the equipment being used on its FRA-Tel Aviv route due to high demand for its business class cabin. As a result, from April 2008 , LH will fly double daily Airbus A 340-600s on this sector which is currently being operated by a daily B 744 + daily A 343.

Besides TLV, LH plans to upgrade capacity on its MUC-PEK flight by replacing the A 343 with the larger A 346 from Summer 2008 due to high demand for business class seats on this particular route.

China Airlines

China Airlines of Taiwan has confirmed that it will be suspending its loss making flights to IAH-Houston from January 29th 2008. Currently, the flight is flown via SEA-Seattle five times a week using an A 343. SEA however, will continue to maintain 5 weekly terminator flights flown by the A 343.