News from 15APR till 31MAY

Philippine Airline's President has officially announced that the airline has secured an additional US$ 1 billion of equity from various investors and is now keenly looking to place its largest ever order for 100 new planes. It has identified ordering additional A320s and introducing new A321s into its fleet for its regional and domestic operations. For the long haul market, PAL's President has stated that the carrier is leaning more towards ordering Boeing aircraft as the carrier only has 7 such examples in its fleet and would like to order many more. It has ruled out ordering the A380 as it cannot serve many domestic airports and nor does it require the additional capacity that this airplane brings to the table. For the long haul and high density ASEAN market segment, PAL is looking to standardize its fleet around the Boeing 787-900 which in turn would fully replace its current A343 and A333 fleet. For the long haul high volume markets, PAL is seriously evaluating the Boeing 747-800 to replace its B744s in due course. The new long haul destinations that PAL's President mentioned that the airline is keen to launch in the long run include Rome, Miami, London, Paris, New York and Chicago.

Comments:

The intention with which PAL would order B789s over more A330s is because the A333 cannot fly with a full payload from MNL to Middle East/Europe except UAE however the B789 can easily fly nonstop in both directions to all Middle East and EU destinations without any payload issues. The on board 2 class capacity of the B789 i.e. 290-300 seats is ideal for PAL to use on new medium density long haul routes in the future such as from Manila to Kuwait, Dammam, Dubai, Rome, Paris, Doha, San Diego, Sydney and Melbourne.

Also if airlines such as QR who have a bigger number of J class pax flying into Qatar per year versus Philippines, one reckons that PAL's 42 J class seat cabin on the B77Ws is a bit too much. They should maximize the cabin space of the B77Ws by having 30J class seats max along with 373Y class seats giving a total of 403 versus the 370 currently on their B77Ws (42J/328Y). In turn, a 403 seater B77W should for all purposes be an adequate replacement for PAL's entire B744 fleet which seats currently 391 passengers! In this way, there would be no need for PAL to order B748is but rather it can concentrate on big cost saving synergies by revolving its high density long haul fleet around the 403 seater B77W exclusively, the medium density long haul and regional fleet around the B789 and the short haul regional fleet around the A320 family thus enabling it to have only 3 aircraft family types in its fleet versus the many more it currently has which incur massive extra costs all across the board.


Jet Airways of India has officially announced that due to an ongoing network wide restructuring program aimed at curtailing routes that are not meeting profitability and demand forecasts, it shall be implementing the following changes:

BOM/JNB - all 5 weekly nonstop services using an A332 to be suspended effective 13JUN 2012

BOM/DXB - frequencies increased to 4 times daily using a B738 for all flights


Etihad Airways has officially announced that it has canceled a further 7 Airbus A 350-1000X aircraft out of an original order placed for 25 for this variant type. EY does not seem too pleased with the redesign and delayed entry into service date of the A351 and is looking closely at the newly proposed Boeing 777X product line. With this cancellation, it brings the total number of A351s on order by EY to just 12 units.

British Airways has officially announced that it shall be launching new long haul services to ICN-Seoul, South Korea effective 02DEC 2012. Flights shall be operated 6 times per week using a Boeing 777-200ER with the below mentioned schedule:

Days: MON/TUE/THU/FRI/SAT/SUN

BA 017 Dep LHR1300 Arr ICN 0855+1
BA 018 Dep ICN 1045 Arr LHR 1400

In other news, BA has too revealed many changes to its long haul route network for the upcoming IATA W12 schedule of which the main highlights are as follows:

CAI - capacity increased from daily B772ER to daily B744

IAH - capacity reduced to double daily B772ERs only from daily B744 + daily B772ER

DFW - capacity reduced from daily B744 to daily B773ER

MIA - triple daily B744 operated service maintained for W12 season as well


Qatar Airways has officially announced further capacity increases for its existing route network at the Arabian Travel Market held in UAE last week. The main highlights are as follows:

KWI - frequencies increased from 7 to 8 times daily effective June

CDG - frequencies increased from 16 to 18 times per week effective December

AUH - frequencies increased from 5 to 6 times daily effective June

KUL - frequencies increased from 17 to 21 times per week effective September

Emirates has officially announced that they are further increasing services to both Riyadh and Jeddah effective 01JUN 2012 onwards in the following manner as the carrier continues to witness high demand for its flights to/from the Saudi Kingdom. The main highlights are as follows:

RUH (eff 01AUG) - frequencies increased from double daily to 17 weekly i.e. 3 weekly A345s + daily A332 + daily B777. The additional 3 frequencies are at the following time i.e. dep DXB 0655 Arr RUH 0750...dep RUH 0920 Arr DXB 1205. This overall represents a capacity increase of 1448 seats on offer per week on a r/t basis !

JED (eff 01JUN) - frequencies increased from double daily to 18 weekly i.e. 4 weekly A332s + double daily A380s. The additional 4 weekly frequencies are operated using an A332 and also at an identical time to our recently introduced and successful GF 169/170 overnight services i.e. dep DXB 0155 Arr JED 0340...Dep JED 0515 Arr DXB 0855. This overall represents a capacity increase of 2224 seats on offer per week on a r/t basis !

Fly Dubai has officially announced that as part of the liberalized UAE-KSA bilateral accord, it has been awarded the right to increase its services to Riyadh effective immediately. Hence, the airline confirmed that it shall be increasing its own services to RUH from its DXB base effective 13MAY from double daily to triple daily nonstop using a 189 seater B737-800. The schedule already uploaded for sale in the GDS system shows departures from DXB at 0755/1425/1640 respectively and departures from RUH at 0930/1600/1815 respectively as well.


Boeing has officially announced that it is actively studying a true replacement for the Boeing 757 as many European and U.S. based carriers in particular are pressing the American manufacturer to produce a long range narrow body aircraft capable of flying the same range nonstop but with improved operating economics. The characteristics of the new B757 would likely be as follows:

1. Most probably be named as the Boeing 797 project

2. Would incorporate B787 technology

3. All economy class configuration is expected to seat 230 passengers and a typical two class approximately 180

4. Aircraft shall be able to fly 8 hours 30 minutes nonstop thus enabling routes such as East Coast USA to Germany/Western Europe be operated without any payload limitations.

5. Prime target customers include US Airways, United, American, British Airways, KLM/Air France, TAM as well as many low cost carriers based in Europe and Asia. 

Comments:

Over the weekend, I will be writing a detailed analysis on this new aircraft type being studied by Boeing and which airlines should seriously look at it as well as on what routes they could be operated on.

EVA Air of Taiwan has officially announced that it has placed an additional order with Boeing for 7 more Boeing 777-300ERs as the carrier looks to standardize its long haul fleet around this aircraft type. This would bring the total number of B77Ws in BR’s fleet to 22 and are being used primarily on USA and European routes.

Ethiopian Airlines has officially announced that due to increasing importance that CAN-Guangzhou has for traffic to all parts of Africa, in order to remain competitive against the likes of EK, KQ and QR in particular, it shall be adjusting its operations to CAN effective 16MAY 2012 by flying all flights nonstop from its Addis Ababa hub. ET will be using a Boeing 767-300ER to operate all the daily services where as currently flights are flown via Bangkok with 5^th freedom traffic rights. 

KLM has officially announced that due to increasing demand for its flights to IKA-Tehran from Europe and North America in particular, it shall be increasing its frequencies on the AMS-IKA route from the on set of the IATA W12 season. Currently, KL operates 4 times per week nonstop from AMS to IKA using a MD11 however, these shall be increased to daily nonstop flights using the same aircraft type.


Royal Jordanian has officially announced that due to poor loads and low yields, it shall be suspending all its flights to NBO-Nairobi effective immediately. RJ operated 4 times per week nonstop from Amman to NBO using an A320 with traffic mainly obtained from Italy, UK, Beirut and Germany.

Turkish Airlines has officially revealed on the GDS that it shall be increasing its flights across its network to a variety of medium and long haul destinations in 2012 of which the main highlights are as follows:

KBL - frequencies increased from 5 weekly to daily nonstop using an A320 effective 22APR

DAC - frequencies increased from 4 to 5 weekly nonstop flights using an A332 effective Oct

BAH - frequencies increased from 4 weekly to daily using an A321 effective 23APR

JFK - frequencies increased from 11 weekly to double daily effective Oct 28th  i.e. daily A333 + daily B77W

YYZ - frequencies increased from 4 to 5 weekly nonstop flights using a B77W effective Dec 31st

DMM - frequencies increased from 4 to 5 weekly nonstop flights using an A320 effective 23APR.

TK's CEO has also officially announced that the airline shall be launching new nonstop flights to IAH-Houston from November 2012 operated nonstop from IST. It is expected to initially be a 4 weekly nonstop service operated with a Boeing 777-300ER. Following the launch of IAH, the CEO also confirmed that flights to BOS-Boston will also get the green light from Summer 2013 operated nonstop using an Airbus A330-200.


Etihad Airways has officially announced plans for its brand new Boeing 777-300ERs that are due to enter service with the carrier effective July 2012. All future B77W aircraft will be fitted with a three class configuration seating 330 passengers i.e. 8 first class + 40 business class and 282 economy class. These shall be initially deployed exclusively on its flagship AUH-LHR route. Effective March 2013 i.e. on set of the IATA S13 timetable, EY in turn shall be increasing capacity on its LHR sector from triple daily A346s (286 seater) to triple daily B77Ws (330 seater) therefore an increase in capacity of 924 seats per week in each direction. As a result though of the A346 being taken out of LHR in S13, EY in turn announced that capacity to JFK shall be increased in S13 from a daily A 345 (240 seater) to a daily A346 (286 seater).


Kenya Airways has officially announced that it shall be launching new nonstop flights to BEY-Beirut effective 25OCT 2012 as the carrier looks to serve niche markets within a 6 hour flying range of its narrow body Boeing 737-700 aircraft capability especially to those airports that are also fellow Sky Team hubs. Flights shall be operated three times per week nonstop with the main target markets being O&D + transfer traffic bound to ADD, Congo, South Africa and Central Africa.

Delta Airlines has officially announced that it shall be suspending its flights to Milan and Rome effective 28OCT 2012 as the carrier looks to deploy wide body capacity elsewhere during the lean winter season which traditionally sees low volumetric demand for its European bound services. Daily flights from JFK to Rome along with Atlanta to Milan operated 4 times per week shall be suspended for the entire IATA W12 season.


Jet Airways of India has officially revealed on the GDS system that it shall be suspending three international routes very soon as the carrier looks to redeploy additional capacity domestically to cash in due to the downsizing of Kingfisher Airlines. The major highlights are as follows:

BOM/RUH - frequencies reduced from double daily to daily nonstop flights effective 13MAY

DEL/CMB - all flights suspended effective 16MAY

TRV/SHJ - all flights suspended 06MAY

Comments:
By suspending DEL-CMB, 9W stands to lose good feeder traffic bound to LHR and MXP in particular. It should bring CMB bring by October to take advantage of the peak winter seasonal demand from both India and Europe to CMB as well as to adequately feed its new upcoming EU routes + MXP in the lean winter season. For the time being though, EK/QR/EY/WY must be licking their lips as they stand to gain a lot out of MXP with 9W's DEL-CMB flights suspension. 9W needs to seriously look at operating MAA-KWI nonstop with a B739ER!


China Eastern Airlines has officially announced that it shall be increasing its presence on the popular Shanghai-Paris route as the carrier looks to take advantage of booming business, immigration and tourist traffic flows from China to France that is currently being witnessed. Currently, MU operates a daily A330-200 nonstop on the PVG-CDG sector, however from the onset of the IATA W12 timetable i.e. 28OCT, frequencies shall be increased to 10 times per week nonstop using the same aircraft type. Lastly, MU has officially announced that it has ordered 20 brand new Boeing 777-300ERs to expand its long haul fleet as well to gradually replace its entire fleet of 5 A340-600s which seat 322 pax in a 3 class configuration i.e. 8F/42J/272Y. The addition of the B777 into MU's fleet means a totally new aircraft type being added into the carrier's fleet but in turn the long term savings + extra revenue gained by operating B77Ws on long haul flights to USA and Europe versus A346s over a 12 year period far outweighs the costs involved in introducing a new aircraft type.


Air China has officially announced that due to increasing demand for its Stockholm bound flights from Beijing it shall be increasing capacity on the route to meet demand. Currently, CA operates 5 weekly nonstop services using a B772ER, however from 11JUN onwards, it shall be increasing flights to daily nonstop but with using a smaller Airbus A 330-200. In addition, it shall be reducing frequencies from its secondary PVG-Shanghai hub to Paris and Milan from July as well to 4 and 5 weekly each respectively.


Thai Airways has officially announced its new operational plans for its initial batch of four Airbus A380s that will be coming into service from 28OCT 2012. The main highlights are as follows:

CDG - frequencies to be reduced from 10 weekly B77Ws to daily A380 effective 16FEB

FRA - capacity increased from daily B744 + daily B77W to daily A380 + daily B77W effective 15DEC

NRT - capacity increased to daily A380 + daily B744 + double daily B773 effective 16JAN

Other changes announced by TG for the upcoming IATA W12 season are as follows:

 

MXP - capacity increased from 3 weekly A346s to 3 weekly B744s.

 

BNE - frequencies increased from 5 weekly to daily nonstop flights using a B773 for all flights.

 

OSL - frequencies reduced from daily to 6 weekly but capacity overall increased with new B773ER being used. TG's new B77Ws seat 34J + 330Y.

 

NGO - frequencies increased from 10 to 11 weekly

 

ARN - frequencies increased from daily to 9 weekly

 

CTS - new 4 weekly nonstop flights to be launched using an A333 effective 30OCT

 

Comments:

 

With regards to TG's A346 fleet, there has been a lot of talk of the carrier wanting to find solutions on either selling them off early as well how it can better utilize the plane on long haul routes. To begin with, one feels that TG must understand that it would be highly unlikely for them to sell A346s in the near future in the current configuration that they are in i.e. 8F/60J/199Y. Since the A346 has at least another 4-5 years left in TG's fleet, it would be seriously suggested to TG to re-configure its entire A346 fleet to have a 2 class configuration that is indicative of its passenger and market dynamics as well as the fact that many airlines now have switched to the 2 class model hence it would make a better re-sale proposition once put in the market. The two class configuration one proposes for TGs A346s is 36 business class + 328 economy class thus totaling 364 seats (97 more than its current layout). This is an ideal configuration not only for re-sale but also for TG's current European and Australian routes that lack demand for F class and barely fill up 70% of the J class cabin. In addition, by having a denser configuration it would in turn result in their seat operation cost per mile being reduced and gain passenger revenue. The 364 seater A346 is ideal for routes such as BKK-CPH/MXP/FCO/ARN/MUC/AKL/MEL/DME.

 

Afriqiyah Airways of Libya has officially announced that it has placed an order with Airbus for three brand new Airbus A 330-300s as the carrier looks to be at the forefront of Libya's new economic prosperity in the post Gadhafi era. The airline already has in its fleet 1 A332 + few A320s.

 

Comments:

 

One does not seem to understand why the larger A333 has been ordered when the A332 offers more flying range and can meet the passenger demand for any high density route to/from TIP.

 

 

Lufthansa has officially announced that the first route that its recently delivered new Boeing 747-800 shall be operating is Frankfurt-Washington nonstop. It will be operating the service 6 times per week using the B748 using the Lh 418/419 schedule. LH's B748s seat 362 pax in a 3 class configuration which is spread out as 8F, 92J and 262Y. LH too announced its first batch of long haul changes for the IATA W12 season of which the main highlights are as follows:

MUC/ORD - capacity reduced to daily A333

MUC/IAD - frequencies increased from 5 weekly to daily flights using an A333 only

MUC/PEK - frequencies increased from 5 weekly to daily flights using an A343 only

FRA/MAA - capacity reduced from daily A346 to daily A343

FRA/BOG - frequencies increased from 5 weekly to daily nonstop using an A346 only

News 01apr-14apr

Qatar Airways has officially announced plans for its USA expansion in 2013 using its fleet of yet to be delivered Boeing 787-800s. The main highlights are as follows:

BOS - new daily flights to be launched using a B787 operated nonstop
ORD - new daily flights to be launched using a B787 operated nonstop
ATL - new daily flights to be launched using a B787 operated nonstop
NYC - frequencies to be increased from daily to triple daily with the additional two daily flights operated via Eastern Europe using a B787.

DTW – new daily flights to be launched using a B787 operated nonstop

Comments:

One of the announcements of the year thus far no doubt as this is extremely smart to take advantage of the medium sized B787s and use them on secondary services to USA with exception to ORD which deserves a B77W in the long run. What one finds most interesting is the increase to NYC from daily to triple daily. How this should be handled is the following:

a) JFK should not be increased to triple daily but rather double daily only and the additional daily frequency should be to EWR in order to diversify its reach in the NY market segment. In addition, there are 2 options that QR should consider when it comes to deciding which EU airport to fly via to NYC. Option 1 is obviously DOH-BUD-JFK because no airline now flies nonstop to NYC from BUD ever since Malev collapsed and there is a huge un tapped O&D market segment to be tapped here. The B 787 over here is once again the perfectly sized aircraft to cater for this segment and with QR developing a 0200 departure hub wave bank out of Doha airport to the Indian Subcontinent region, KSA, GCC and Far East, the timings of this service would look like this so as not to cannibalize the 0800 departure of the already established nonstop service of QR083 at 0805.

QR XXX Dep DOH 1255 Arr BUD 1730 // QR XXX Dep BUD 1850 Arr JFK 2230

QR XXX Dep JFK 0005 Arr BUD 1450+1 // QR XXX Dep BUD 1620 Arr DOH 2235

*In this way, the current BUD-DOH schedule more or less remains the same!

b) Option 2 involves QR returning to EWR as no GCC carrier + MS/TK operate there thus giving QR back the niche that it once had as the EWR market size to India, Africa and Eastern Europe is mass volume as well and on some routes even bigger than JFK! For this second option, there are two scenarios that should be considered. The easiest option is to revamp the old DOH-GVA-EWR route with a daily B787 product because everyone knows that GVA struggles on a year round basis maintaining 55% S/F on an A332 hence it is now a 4 weekly A319 operated flight of which the premium seat product is below par. By operating a daily B787 with an excellent J and Y product to GVA and onwards to EWR, it definitely shall help increase S/F as the flight is catering to three different market segments versus one only. The schedule for this service would be as follows:

QR XXX Dep DOH 0855 Arr GVA 1435 // QR XXX Dep GVA 1600 Arr EWR 1850

QR XXX Dep EWR 2210 Arr GVA 1010+1 // QR XXX Dep GVA 1140 Arr DOH 1850

*In this manner, the same DOH-GVA schedule is maintained, GVA-EWR can see an evening service as well as an early morning departure at 0920 of UA957 so it provides a good choice for O&D pax here and it allows the flight back from EWR and GVA to arrive back into DOH at the peak time to connect to all of QR’s prime destinations departing within 90 minutes to Asia, Indian subcontinent and GCC region. In particular, EWR-AMD/BOM is beautifully connected in both directions via DOH!

The other scenario which one may find more adventurous and riskier but one which has a lot of potential in the long run to do well is to operate to EWR via Warsaw (WAW), Poland which would be a new destination altogether for QR. Poland as we all know is Eastern Europe’s largest and most healthiest economy and one of the few that avoided being plagued by the recent economic recession. In fact, its economic growth has been so huge, that it has now overtaken Holland as Europe’s sixth largest economy with also the highest GDP growth rate in Europe. With FIFA’s EURO 2012 tournament being played there this summer, the long term tourist market segment will only increase and there are no direct flights currently to both EWR and to the Middle East from WAW airport. Demand to Far East Asia, Australia, India, DXB, and NYC to/from WAW is big along with cargo as well which plays a key role in QR’s new route decision making process. One must also note that LOT only operates 4 times per week to JFK nonstop from WAW so with QR operating a daily service into EWR, it has a great chance to be a top contender market share wise especially in the high yielding premium cabin segment due to offering not only a daily service but a much better on board product in turn. The schedule for DOH-WAW-EWR would look somewhat like this:

QR XXX Dep DOH 0900 Arr WAW 1355 // QR XXX Dep WAW 1525 Arr EWR 1910

QR XXX Dep EWR 2040 Arr WAW 1140+1 // QR XXX Dep WAW 1320 Arr DOH 2000

*Once again a good schedule allowing the key markets required to feed WAW and EWR in both directions via DOH to be well connected

9W-Jet Airways of India has been officially awarded the right by the Indian Civil Aviation Authority to massively expand its international route network from the current 370 to 518 weekly flights from the onset of the IATA W12 season.

The main highlights are as follows:

Indian Govt has approved 9W effective immediately to launch new services to Dar Es Salaam and add 7 additional extra frequencies each to Kuwait, Dhaka, Colombo, Male, Bangkok, Singapore and Dubai. 9W has in turn also requested and has been granted permission by the Indian Government of the following:

7 additional frequencies into Saudi Arabia
7 additional frequencies into Doha 7 additional frequencies into Brussels from Bangalore
35 new weekly flights into Frankfurt and Munich combined
7 new frequencies for Delhi-Paris nonstop
7 new frequencies for Delhi-Ho Chi Minh City nonstop
7 additional frequencies into Sharjah, UAE

Comments:

9W needs to also look seriously at operating two more routes from India which have good O&D and flow traffic demand across its network:

Manchester-Mumbai operated nonstop 5 times per week using an A332 as there is a huge O&D market that needs a nonstop service i.e. 79,000 pax in 2011 alone. Plus they will get excellent feed via BOM to DAC/CMB/BKK/HKG/South India/AMD!

Delhi-Jakarta and Mumbai-Jakarta operated each 4 times per week using a B737-800. The annual passenger market size between Indonesia (CGK/DPS combined) to both BOM and DEL combined is 90,000 hence good volume but also, CGK services will help provide good volume via BOM/DEL to 9W’s expanding European and Middle Eastern operation as well.

With regards to the new routes, it most likely shall be as follows:

DEL-SGN daily B737 which will serve both as a feeder for CDG/MXP as well as rapidly expanding India-Vietnam tourism/business market segments!
DEL-CDG daily A332
BLR-BRU daily A332...hopefully JFK will be suspended and instead ORD launched! 9W can in turn code share with SN on their newly launched daily BRU-JFK service!
DEL-RUH daily B737 (desperately required). It cannot be JED unless operated from BOM as a B737 cannot be flown from South India neither DEL to JED nonstop due to payload limitations!
The extra DOH daily frequency will likely come from South India (either TRV or MAA)
DEL-BKK is in desperate need of a second daily B737 operated frequency with a 0200 departure out of DEL and arrival back between 2200-2330.

For KWI, it should be MAA-KWI nonstop as the annual market size on this sector is 178,000 pax and only KU operates it 4 times per week nonstop using an A310. FYI MAA-KWI is the largest Indian subcontinent market segment to/from KWI !

Turkish Airlines has officially announced that due to increasing demand for its services to/from KWI over the past 6 months, it shall be increasing capacity on its IST-KWI sector in a major manner effective 11JUN 2012. Currently, TK operates a double daily nonstop service from IST to KWI using an A320, however from 11JUN onwards, it shall be increased to TRIPLE DAILY nonstop using a larger A321 daily + double daily A320. Flights shall depart IST at 0105, 2035 and 2330 respectively on a daily basis each respectively.

Saudia Airlines has officially announced that it will be increasing its services to IST-Istanbul, Turkey effective 19JUN 2012 onwards. Currently, SV operates 3 weekly nonstop services from RUH-Riyadh however from mid June onwards it increases to 5 times per week nonstop using an Airbus A320. In addition, SV too revealed that due to the high demand of its Jeddah-Addis Ababa flights, it shall be further increasing frequencies from the current 4 to 5 weekly nonstop flights effective 02MAY 2012 using an Airbus A320.

United Airlines has officially revealed details of its long haul network changes for the IATA Winter 2012 season of which the main highlights are as follows:

EWR/FCO – all flights suspended

EWR/CPH – all flights suspended

EWR/GVA - frequencies reduced from daily to 6 weekly

EWR/OSL - frequencies reduced from daily to 6 weekly

EWR/HAM – frequencies reduced from 5 to 4 weekly

EWR/BCN – frequencies reduced from 6 to 4 weekly

EWR/TXL – frequencies reduced from 5 to 4 weekly using a B757

IAD/FRA – frequencies reduced from triple daily to double daily

IAD/MAN – frequencies reduced from daily to 5 weekly

IAD/DME – all flights suspended

ORD/AMS – frequencies reduced from daily to 5 weekly using a B763ER

ORD/BRU – frequencies increased from 6 weekly to daily

ORD/MUC – frequencies reduced from daily to 6 weekly

IAH/CDG - frequencies reduced from daily to 6 weekly

Egypt Air has officially announced that in spite of the political unrest that plagued Cairo in 2011, it still managed to make a net profit last year amounting to US$ 12 million as it was successful in leasing out aircraft and deferring deliveries of many wide body and narrow bodied aircraft from both Boeing and Airbus respectively. With the political situation now stable, its CEO revealed that it will be launching new 3 weekly nonstop flights to YYZ-Toronto from Summer 2013 using a Boeing 777-300ER. These were initially planned to start from June 2011 but deferred due to the political instability. More long haul enhancements to the network planned from Winter 2012 and for 2013 as well shall be announced gradually over the current summer season.

Garuda Indonesia has officially announced that it has placed an order worth US$ 2.5 billion with Airbus this week for the purchase of 11 brand new Airbus A330-300s to fuel its rapidly growing medium haul Austral-Asia network after it announced joining the Sky Team alliance. GA’s A333s seat 257 passengers in a two class configuration with 42 flat bed seats in business class and 215 in economy class.

Transaero Airlines of Russia has officially announced that it placed an order with Boeing earlier on this week for the purchase of 4 brand new Boeing 787-800s that it will use to further grow its long haul network in due course. These B788s will be seating 262 passengers in a 3 class configuration i.e. 4F + 14J and 244Y class respectively.

Saudia Airlines has officially announced that it will be significantly increasing its U.S. operations effective April 2012 in the following manner:

JED/JFK - frequencies increased from 3 to 5 times per week nonstop using a B772ER

RUH/JFK - frequencies increased from 1 to 2 times per week nonstop using a B772ER

JED/IAD - frequencies increased to 3 times per week nonstop using a B772ER

RUH/IAD - frequencies increased to 3 times per week nonstop using a B772ER

Lastly, SV too announced that due to the overwhelming response that its Addis Ababa flights have been receiving, it shall be further increasing capacity on the route effective 02MAY 2012.Frequencies on the JED-ADD route are being increased from 4 to 5 weekly nonstop flights using an A320 which are operated along side 3 weekly A320 RUH-ADD services. One of the main reasons for this rapid increase is because the KSA Govt’s new labor policy entails issuing thousands of new labor visas to Ethiopians to compensate for the ban imposed on new visa issuance to Filipinos and Bangladeshi labor workers.


Sri Lankan Airlines has officially revealed that it shall be massively scaling back its services to Europe from the end of the summer 2012 peak season. The main highlights are as follows:

ZRH - all flights suspended effective 27AUG 2012

FCO - all flights suspended effective 03SEP 2012

MXP - all flights suspended effective 03SEP 2012


Eva Air is in serious talks with Boeing about a possible purchase of 7 additional Boeing 777-300ERs as the carrier looks to replace its 4 aging Boeing 747-400 Combi fleet by 2015 and at the same time expand further into the U.S. market. This is due to the fact that from 2013 onwards, Taiwanese passport holders will be permitted to obtain visas upon arrival into USA hence BR wants to take full advantage of this by adding more weekly frequencies into Star Alliance hub airports mainly as the carrier has now been accepted into the alliance fold. In addition, BR is also looking to purchase 6 more Airbus A 321-200s for its regional services to China, Japan, Philippines and South Korea. This would bring its total A321 fleet to 12 units and shall be used to replace its entire MD90 fleet between 2014-16.


China Eastern Airlines has officially announced that it shall be increasing its services to FCO-Rome, Italy effective 01JUL 2012. Currently, MU operates 5 times per week nonstop from its PVG-Shanghai hub using an Airbus A 330-200, however these shall now be increased to daily nonstop flights using the same aircraft type. Being a Sky Team member, it will be code sharing with Alitalia on this sector as well as obtaining massive feed from its intra-Europe services beyond the latter's FCO hub base. In addition, MU too announced that it would be increasing services to YVR-Vancouver, Canada as well effective 22JUN from the current daily to 11 times per week with all flights operated using an A332. Lastly, the airline has announced that due to numerous delays to the Boeing 787 program, it has decided to fully cancel its order for 24 B787s in exchange for purchasing 45 Boeing 737-800s which shall be used to boost its domestic and ASEAN regional expansion strategy.


Kenya Airways has officially announced that due to high demand to Kenya as well all other parts of Africa, it shall be increasing its services to BOM-Mumbai, India effective 15MAY 2012. Currently, KQ operates a daily nonstop flight using a Boeing 767-300ER from Nairobi to Mumbai, these shall be increased to 10 times per week nonstop using the same aircraft type. The three new weekly flights arrive into BOM at 0700am and depart back at 0815am.


Etihad Airways has offically announced that due to poor loads and low yield, it shall be suspending all its services to HBE-Alexandria, Egypt effective 15MAY 2012. The seasonal demand for this route has hurt EY's performance here and the aircraft will be used on more better performing services. Currently, EY operates 3 times a week to HBE using an Airbus A 320-200.


Turkish Airlines has officially announced that it shall be significantly increasing its medium haul services across the MENA region of which the main highlights are as follows:

BGW - frequencies increased from daily to double daily using a B738

EBL - frequencies increased from daily to 11 weekly using an A320

ACC - frequencies increased from 4 weekly to daily nonstop flights using a B739ER

ABJ (Abidjan, Ivory Coast) - new 4 weekly flights to be launched effective 17JUL using a B739ER operated via ACC


TAAG Angola has officially announced that it has placed an order with Boeing for the purchase of 3 additional Boeing 777-300ERs as the carrier is very optimistic of the future outlook of Angola's economy which is now Africa's largest exporter of oil overtaking Nigeria last summer. TAAG has identified that these additional aircraft shall be used to boost frequencies to Beijing as well as launch 2 new European routes i.e. Paris and Rome.


KLM has officially announced that it shall be increasing its services to IAD-Washington DC effective July 2012 as the carrier looks to further tap into higher yielding long haul markets versus launching totally new routes which are far more riskier investments. Currently, KL operates a daily A332 on this route nonstop from its AMS hub base which shall in turn be increased to 10 times per week nonstop using an A332 8 times per week and a larger A333 twice a week.


United Airlines has officially revealed more changes to its European network for the on going IATA S12 season of which the main highlights are as follows:

IAD/MAN - new daily nonstop flights to be launched effective 01MAY using a B757

IAD/FCO - capacity reduced from daily B772ER to daily B763ER

EWR/CDG - capacity reduced to double daily flights operated by B757s only

EWR/MUC - capacity increased from daily B762ER to daily B764ER

ORD/BRU - frequencies increased from 6 weekly to daily

News in March 2012

Fly Dubai has officially announced major expansion plans for its route network for the IATA S12 season of which the main highlights are as follows:

*All flights are operated with a 189 seater B737-800s

BGW - frequencies increased from 4 weekly to daily nonstop flights

JED - frequencies increased from daily to 18 weekly nonstop flights

RUH - frequencies increased from daily to double daily nonstop flights

CGP - frequencies increased from 6 to 10 weekly nonstop flights

SAH - flights to be launched with 4 instead of 3 weekly nonstop flights

TBS - frequencies increased from 2 to 3 weekly nonstop flights

ASB - frequencies increased from 4 to 5 weekly nonstop flights

KTM - frequencies reduced from double daily to daily nonstop flights

Emirates has officially announced that it will be launching new nonstop flights to IAD-Washington DC effective 12SEP 2012. Frequencies will be daily from the on set using a 3 class 354 seater Boeing 777-300ER with the below mentioned schedule:

EK 231 Dep DXB 0220 Arr IAD 0850
EK 232 Dep IAD 1055 Arr DXB 0800+1

The above mentioned schedule offers excellent connections in both directions to India, KHI, DAC, CMB, ADD, NBO, JNB, BKK, SIN, KUL and the GCC region.

In addition, EK too confirmed that it will be launching an additional 5th daily nonstop flight to KHI-Karachi, Pakistan effective 01AUG 2012 with a 2 class Boeing 777-300ER (434 seater). The new flight will depart DXB at 1455 and arrive back into DXB by 2050. This new flight has been added to ensure seamless connectivity out of LAX/DFW/BAH/DOH/KWI to KHI with only a 2 hour in DXB versus the 6 hours presently endured by pax arriving from USA in particular.

Comments:

This announcement by Emirates in terms of flight launch date in particular is purposely done due to a major mistake by Etihad as one does not announce a new long haul route such as AUH-IAD a year in advance thus giving your direct competition such as EK/TK/QR to plan what actions are required to counter the EY entry into the market in terms of frequency/capacity increase. With EK launching IAD a full 6 months before Etihad, it provides them ample lead time to get corporate/consolidator contracts in place and take away a good chunk of the market from EY!

Where EK will succeed in IAD is getting Africa and India bound traffic versus EY who cannot capture this type of traffic because their flights do not connect via AUH to NBO/JNB + they use A320s to India so huge capacity bottleneck situation arises. IAD-Africa (especially JNB ADD NBO) is huge volume i.e. IAD-ADD alone is bigger than IAD-PAK + IAD-CMB + IAD-DAC combined together. Plus also note that with the SPA deal with Fly Dubai, EK will capture a lot of traffic bound to Central Asia, Iraq and Kabul on board its flights.


Kenya Airways has officially announced that it shall be launching new nonstop flights to DEL-Delhi, India effective 15MAY 2012 as the carrier looks to take advantage of the massive increase of traffic between Northern India and Africa. KQ will operate a Boeing 767-300ER on this new route 4 times per week nonstop from its Nairobi hub. It is forecasted that if the route performs well, it shall be increased to a daily frequency within 6 months of the launch with a possible extension to Seoul with 5th freedom traffic rights. The schedule of the new DEL flight is as follows:

KQ 220 Dep NBO 1400 Arr DEL 2330
KQ 221 Dep DEL 0100 Arr NBO 0530

In addition, KQ too confirmed that it is increasing its services to JED-Jeddah, Saudi Arabia effective 03JUL 2012 as the carrier looks to exploit the ever increasing labor market segment between KSA and Kenya along with the Umrah/Hajj market segment. Frequencies shall be increased from the present 2 to 3 weekly nonstop flights using a Boeing 737-700.

Virgin Atlantic has officially announced that it shall be reinstating services to BOM-Mumbai, India effective 28OCT 2012. Frequencies shall be daily operated nonstop from London Heathrow airport using its new Airbus A 330-300s (266 seater). The schedule however of this new BOM service is different from its old one as it allows perfect connections via LHR in both directions to its entire U.S. network. The schedule is as follows:

Daily A333 (33J / 48Y+ / 185Y)

VS 354 Dep LHR 1015 Arr BOM 0055+1
VS 355 Dep BOM 0310 Arr LHR 0755

Etihad Airways has officially announced that it has secured bilateral approval from the Egyptian Govt to further increase its services to CAI-Cairo, Egypt effective June 2012. Currently, Etihad operates double daily nonstop flights from AUH to CAI with A320s exclusively. These shall be increased to 18 times per week effective June 2012 as well resulting in a significant increase of capacity which the main highlights are as follows:

14 weekly A320s increased to 18 weekly i.e. daily A330 + 11 weekly A320

Days 1/2/4/6 (new flight schedule)

EY 651 Dep AUH 0055 Arr CAI 0245
EY 650 Dep CAI 0330 Arr AUH 0910

Gulf Air has officially announced major changes to its IATA S12 schedule to Europe and Medina of which the main highlights are as follows:

FRA – frequencies increased from daily to 11 weekly effective July 3rd

CPH – frequencies increased from 5 weekly to daily effective June 1^st

CDG – frequencies increased from daily to 10 weekly effective July 4th

MED – frequencies increased from 5 to 6 weekly effective May 19th

Singapore Airlines's new long haul low cost subsidiary called Scoot Airlines has officially announced its launch plan that will come into effect from 26JUN 2012. OQ revealed that its first 2 routes shall be Sydney and Gold Coast in Australia. SYD shall be operated on a daily basis nonstop where as OOL shall be flown 5 times per week. All routes are to be operated using an all economy class configured Boeing 777-200ER.

Lufthansa has officially announced that it is very keen on purchasing the largest version of the Boeing 787 family i.e. the Boeing 787-100X which is expected to seat 323 passengers in a 3 class configuration and can operate nonstop flights up to a range of Manila-Los Angeles without any payload restrictions. LH is reviewing this aircraft type as a long term replacement for its fleet of aging Airbus A340-300s in particular.

Comments:

Currently out of a fleet of 279 aircraft, 84 are Boeing manufactured and from this figure 28 are wide bodied Boeing 747-400s. Airbus dominates the fleet mix of LH and it is highly unlikely that they will just sit by and let Boeing have a field day. They will definitely offer Lufthansa an unbeatable offer for their Airbus A350-900s which is the main direct competitor to the B781X which should include a purchase/exchange swap for LH’s A343s for a sizeable A359 order.

Emirates has officially announced that it shall be increasing its services to FCO-Rome effective 01OCT 2012 as the carrier looks to further increase its market share on the high volume Rome-Asia and Rome-GCC market segments respectively. Frequencies shall be raised from double to triple daily nonstop flights using an A332 daily + A380 daily + B773ER daily. The schedule of the new daily frequency is a departure from DXB at 0300 with an arrival back at 1900 using an 3 class configured 237 seater A332. The top markets that feed currently EK’s FCO bound flights are DXB, Australia, JKT, MLE, Japan, ICN, BKK and BOM.

Malaysia Airlines has officially revealed the configuration of its new Airbus A380s which shall be arriving during the upcoming summer season to the airline. It will be seating 494 passengers in a 3 class configuration i.e. 8 first class + 64 business class + 422 economy class. Its first two routes shall be London Heathrow and Sydney.

Qatar Airways has officially revealed the configuration of its upcoming Boeing 787-800s that shall be used to replace A332s on medium haul sectors as well as boost capacity on existing routes where demand exists. QR takes delivery of 5 B788s this year and the seat layout states 254 passengers i.e. 22 business + 232 economy class. The first route it shall be deployed on is the flagship DOH-LHR sector . QR also revealed a new business class product for its B787 that sees the seat pitch being 80 inches and the seat width 22 inches.

In addition, QR too officially announced that it shall be majorly expanding its route network with the addition of 5 new destinations effective May 2012:

EBL – new 4 weekly frequencies using an A320

BGW – new 4 weekly frequencies using an A320

JRO – new daily flights using an A320 via NBO

BEG – new 4 weekly frequencies using an A320 via ESB

RGN – new 3 weekly nonstop flights using an A319LR

Iberia Airlines of Spain has officially announced that it shall be suspending all services to JNB-Johannesburg, South Africa effective 01MAY 2012. Currently, IB operates a 3 weekly nonstop service using an Airbus A340-300 out of its Madrid hub base. IB cites high operating costs and lower than average yields for the suspension.

Hainan Airlines of China has officially announced that it shall be increasing its presence in Europe from its Beijing hub base effective July 2012 in the following manner:

PEK/TXL (Berlin) – frequencies increased from 4 to 5 weekly nonstop flights using an A332

PEK/BRU – frequencies increased from 6 weekly to daily nonstop flights using an A332

Comments:

Hainan should seriously consider deploying its A346s to launch Manchester-Beijing nonstop as the potential is massive considering there is no nonstop link between MAN and the Far East much to the delight of KLM, LH, EK, QR and EY who are reaping the benefits of this. PEK-MAN alone has a O&D market size of over 60,000 passengers per year where as demand to Hong Kong is double of that. MAN is the main gateway airport to the Northern UK as well as a big market for cargo which is always of keen interest to the Asian carriers. Initially, a four weekly MAN-PEK nonstop service operated with an A346 (since an A332 would struggle with payload limitations) + a SPA with Flybe for feeder traffic to/from MAN + transfer traffic bound to MNL/PVG/CAN/ICN/Japan/TPE/HKG shall in all prove to be very useful in the long run.

As part of its on-going efforts to downsize operations to keep a skeleton schedule operational whilst it resolves its cash crunch situation, Kingfisher Airlines has officially announced radical cut backs to its international route network of which the main highlights are as follows:

DEL/LHR – daily nonstop flights operated by an A332 suspended effective 10APR

BOM/LHR - daily nonstop flights operated by an A332 suspended effective 16APR

DEL/BKK – daily nonstop flights operated by an A320 suspended

DEL/KTM - daily nonstop flights operated by an A320 suspended

BOM/BKK - daily nonstop flights operated by an A320 suspended

CCU/BKK - daily nonstop flights operated by an A320 suspended

Etihad Airways has officially announced yesterday evening that they will be further increasing their services to both Kuwait and Dammam effective 01APR 2012 of which the main highlights are as follows:

DMM - bilateral approval obtained to increase from the current 13 to 16 weekly frequencies using A320s for all flights. The additional flights depart AUH at 0200 and return back by 0655am AUH time respectively which is similar to our newly introduced GF 119/120 service launched since 30OCT and doing well.

KWI - frequencies increased from 21 to 25 flights per week using an A320. The additional flights depart AUH at 2045 and arrive back by 0100 AUH time respectively.

Austrian Airlines has officially announced that it shall be reducing its service to PEK-Beijing, China effective 25MAR 2012 as the carrier looks to cut costs wherever possible due to a grave concern with increasing fuel prices. OS currently operates a daily B767-300ER nonstop from VIE to PEK, but these shall be reduced to 5 weekly services using the same aircraft type from end March.

Fly Dubai has officially announced that it shall be launching new nonstop services to SAH-Sanaa, Yemen effective 22APR 2012. FZ shall be operating the route four times per week using a 189 seater B737-800 with its primary target markets being O&D to DXB and transfer traffic to nearby GCC destinations.

Boeing has officially announced that it shall be launching 2 new Boeing 777 models + 1 new Boeing 787 model from November 2012 of which the main highlights are as follows:

B 777-800X (778) - range is 14,800KM seating 353 pax in a 3 class configuration

B 777-900X (779) - range will be the same i.e. 14,800KM but will seat 407 pax in a 3 class configuration; this will be a replacement of the B773ER and can fly DXB-LAX/SFO/SYD/GRU nonstop without any payload issues.

Boeing 787-100X - range will be 14,000KM and will seat 323 pax in a 3 class configuration; this will be the direct replacement of the B772ER

Comments:

One does not think that the B778 will be a popular choice for airlines as it brings nothing special to the table. However, the B779 shall definitely be as it would be seating 57 more pax versus the A350-1000X and only offering a flying range capability of 800KM less. Emirates has been a key driver of this program and one can definitely expect it to order many of the type as its primary requirement was to have an aircraft the size of a B773ER or slightly larger that could operate with a full load of pax + cargo from DXB to the U.S. West Coast and South America which the B779 is slated to. In turn, one can now also expect QR's CEO to follow suit and order many as well which in turn will result in the carrier dumping the A351 if Airbus does not listen to his demands as the A351 program is heading down the same road as the A346HGW!

One more appetizing feature of the B779 is that according to its specifications, it shall also be able to fly nonstop with a full payload from both BOM and DEL to ORD-Chicago which can prove to be a really attractive proposition for 9W/UA/AI/AA to ponder over their long term fleet requirments!


Saudia Airlines has officially announced that it shall be dramatically increasing its presence in ADD-Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from the on set of the IATA S12 season i.e. 25MAR 2012 in the following manner:

JED/ADD - all 4 weekly nonstop flights currently operated with A320s shall be upgraded to 4 weekly A333s (298 seater)

RUH/ADD - new 3 weekly nonstop flights to be launched using an A320 effective 27MAR with the following schedule:

Days: 2/4/7

SV 425 Dep RUH 0905 Arr ADD 1220
SV 424 Dep ADD 1400 Arr RUH 1710

This will result in SV offering an additional 2080 r/t seats per week on the KSA-ADD route effective end March !


Air India has officially announced major changes to its entire Middle East operation that are to take effect from 25MAR 2012 onwards. The main highlights are as follows:

DEL/BAH - new daily nonstop flights launched with an A319

DEL/RUH - frequencies increased from 2 to 3 weekly nonstop flights using a B777

DEL/DXB - frequencies increased from daily B777 to double daily i.e. daily A321 + daily A319

DEL/DMM - frequencies increased from 2 weekly B777s to daily A319s

DEL/MCT - capacity reduced from daily A320 to daily A319

DEL/JED - capacity increased from 3 weekly A332s to 3 weekly B777s

BOM/DXB - frequencies increased from daily to double daily i.e. daily A321 + daily A332

BOM/JED - capacity increased from 4 weekly A332s to 4 weekly B777s

COK/RUH - capacity increased from 2 weekly B777 to 2 weekly B744

TRV/RUH - capacity increased from 2 weekly B777 to 2 weekly B744

CCJ/DXB - capacity increased from daily A320 to daily A321

HYD/DMM - all 4 weekly flights canceled

BOM/DMM - all 3 weekly flights canceled

Lastly, the airline has been cited by the Indian media, that it intends to launch new nonstop flights to MEL-Melbourne, Australia out of its Delhi hub from the on set of the IATA W12 season i.e. 26OCT 2012. AI would be utilizing its brand new Boeing 787-800s on this sector which seat 256 passengers in a 2 class configuration i.e. 18J + 238Y. Service is expected to initially be operated 4 times per week with connections via DEL available to LHR, DAC and KTM along with domestic India.


China Southern Airlines based out of Guangzhou, China has officially announced that it has placed a new order for 10 Boeing 777-300ERs earlier on this week as the carrier looks to replace its aging B772ER fleet along with older Airbus A330-200 models operated on long haul routes with fuel efficient aircraft offering the best performance economics. Deliveries of these B773ERs will begin from Winter 2013 and shall last till 2016. The routes it intends to deploy these aircraft on are Paris, Los Angeles, London Heathrow and Vancouver.


Cathay Pacific has officially announced that it shall be reducing its services to the Middle East region from the on set of the IATA S12 season in the following manner:

BAH - frequencies reduced from daily to 4 weekly flights

AUH - frequencies reduced from 4 to 3 weekly flights


Etihad Airways has officially announced that they shall be launching new nonstop services to BSR-Basra, Iraq effective 15APR 2012.Flights shall be operated 4 times per week using an A320 with a 0945 departure from AUH and arrival back by 1445 thus enabling excellent connections into BSR from all over Europe/ISC/GCC and Far East. Out of BSR though the transit time is ok for Asia/GCC but 10 hours for all European flights!


Emirates has officially announced that they shall be increasing their services to both Doha and Kuwait effective 01AUG 2012 onwards in the following manner:

DOH – frequencies increased from 35 to 42 flights per week i.e. triple daily B777-300s (354 seater) + triple daily A332s (278 seater)

KWI – frequencies increased from 28 to 35 flights per week i.e. 24 weekly B777-300s (354 seater) + 11 weekly A332s (278 seater)

The new flights depart DXB at 10am and arrive back by 2pm in order to feed their late afternoon European departure hub wave bank which is between 330-430pm DXB time. EK too confirmed that it has in sights a plan to launch new daily nonstop flights to IAD-Washington DC in the short term future using a 3 class configured Boeing 777-300ER. If finalized, it is expected to be launched few months before Etihad's launch in March 2013.


Jet Airways of India has officially announced that it shall be significantly increasing its presence at DMM-Dammam airport effective 17MAR 2012. Currently, 9W operates a daily nonstop service from both TRV and BOM into DMM using a B737-800. However from 17MAR 2012, 9W will be launching new 4 weekly nonstop flights from DEL to DMM using the same aircraft type. This seems to be a direct response to Air India who only yesterday announced that they are increasing DEL-DMM from 2 weekly B777s to a daily A319 service.


Hainan Airlines of China has officially announced that it shall be increasing its services to YYZ-Toronto effective 20JUL 2012 by adding a new 4th weekly nonstop service out of its primary PEK-Beijing hub base. HU shall be using an Airbus A340-600 for all PEK-YYZ flights which seat 288 passengers in a 3 class configuration i.e. 8F/60J/220Y (ex Cathay aircraft).


British Airways has officially announced that the initial routes it intends on operating its Airbus A380s are New York JFK, Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore as the carrier looks to deploy the aircraft on its highest yielding premium long haul markets from the on set. JFK will be served with a twice a daily frequency where as PEK, HKG and SIN would be daily initially until more aircraft get delivered.


Japan Airlines has officially announced that it shall be launching 2 new long haul routes out of its NRT-Tokyo Narita hub from the on set of the IATA Winter 2012 season of which the main highlights are as follows:

HEL - new 4 weekly nonstop flights using a B787-800 effective 01MAR 2013

SAN (San Diego) - new 4 weekly nonstop flights using a B787-800 effective 01DEC 2012