Kuwait Airways announces major expansion

Kuwait Airways has officially announced its bigger ever network expansion as the carrier looks to regain market share away from its competitors especially on key point to point routes. For the IATA S17 season, the main highlights are as follows:

DAC - frequencies increased from daily to 12 weekly effective 15JUL using a B77W exclusively

CMB - frequencies increased from daily to 10 weekly nonstop flights using an A332

DEL - frequencies increased from 12 weekly to double daily

MAA - frequencies increased from 4 to 5 weekly flights using an A332

JFK - frequencies increased from 6 weekly to daily flights using a B77W

LHR - capacity increased with all ten weekly flights exclusively operated by the B77W

FRA - capacity increased from 4 weekly A332s to 4 weekly B77Ws

FCO - frequencies increased from 3 to 4 weekly nonstop flights using an A320

IST - frequencies increased from 9 to 12 weekly nonstop flights i.e. 2 weekly A332s + 10 weekly A320s

AMM - frequencies increased from 13 weekly to double daily

BEY - frequencies increased from daily to 12 weekly 

IKA - frequencies increased from 4 to 5 weekly flights 

MHD - frequencies increased from 2 to 3 weekly 

NJF - frequencies increased from 2 to 3 weekly

BAH - frequencies increased from 8 weekly to double daily

DXB - frequencies increased from 18 to 25 weekly

LHE - frequencies increased from 3 to 4 weekly

KHI - new 4 weekly nonstop flights to be launched with an A320

COK - capacity adjusted to daily A332 + 3 weekly A320s

MNL - capacity increased effective 15AUG from daily B772 to daily B77WB77W

BKK - capacity increased from daily A332 to daily 

In total, KU will be operating an additional 36 flights per week in S17 season versus W16.

The fleet by August 2017 will comprise of 10 B77Ws + 5 A332s + 10 A320s with all the wide body aircraft having flat beds in J and F class along with wifi access in every seat. Seven out of the ten A320s have wifi installed too. 

The configuration of KU's wide body fleet is as follows:

B77W (777-300ER) - 334 seats i.e. 8F/36J/290Y

A332 (330-200) - 212 seats i.e. 17F/30J/165Y

Singapore Airlines places a $13 billion order with Boeing

Singapore Airlines has officially announced that it has placed a huge order with Boeing for 39 wide body aircraft as part of its 2020-2030 fleet replacement strategy. SQ ordered 20 Boeing 777-9s plus 19 Boeing 787-10s which will be used to replace their current Boeing 777-300ERs + Airbus A330-300s. 

SQ said that the B781s will be primarily used to operate medium haul routes within Asia and to Australia. The B779s will be exclusively used on long haul services to Europe and North America. 

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2017/02/09/boeing-wins-138-billion-order-singapore-airlines/97685122/

Qatar Airways increases Zurich flights

Qatar Airways has officially announced that it shall be significantly increasing its presence in ZRH-Zurich marketplace effective 17SEP17 as the carrier looks to gain a proper foothold especially amongst the high yielding corporate market segment out of the country.

Currently, QR operates a daily nonstop service from DOH to ZRH using a B788, however effective 17SEP, frequencies shall be increased to 11 weekly nonstop exclusively operated by the A350-900.

Etihad announces more India expansion

Etihad Airways has officially announced that will be boosting its presence in India by adding more frequencies to Bangalore and Calicut from the on set of the IATA S17 season as demand to the GCC region in particular continues to surge from South India.

In addition, the carrier confirmed adjusting capacity based upon demand projections for its Middle East services during this period too.

The main highlights are as follows:

BLR – frequencies increased from double to triple daily nonstop using an A321 (double daily) and an A320 (daily) 

CCJ – frequencies increased from 3 to 4 times daily using an A321 and A320 double daily each respectively

MUC – capacity increased to daily B77W + daily A346 effective 01JUN

AMM – frequencies reduced from double daily A321/A320 combination to daily B789

BEY – capacity increased from daily A321 to daily B789 effective 01AUG

CAI – capacity reduced from 3 daily A320 + daily A346 to four daily flights exclusively operated by the A320/A321 only from 01AUG

MAD – frequencies increased from 4 weekly to daily nonstop using an A332

 

Pakistan flights increased by Oman Air

Oman Air has officially published on sabre its expansion plan for Pakistan as a result of it receiving additional bilateral access to the country.  

The main highlights are as follows effective 05FEB17:

KHI – frequencies increased from daily to 12 weekly using a B738

LHE – frequencies increased from daily to 10 weekly using a B738

Oman Air announces India expansion plan

Oman Air has officially published on sabre its expansion plan for India as a result of it receiving 6,000 additional weekly seats bilaterally recently. The main highlights are as follows effective 05FEB17:

MCT/DEL - frequencies increased from double to triple daily flights using a B738

MCT/CCJ - frequencies increased from daily to double daily flights using a B738

MCT/LKO - frequencies increased from 11 weekly to 14 weekly (split schedule) using a B738

MCT/BOM - capacity increased from double daily B739 to daily A332 (2 class) + daily B739

Saudia announces India expansion

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been recently awarded 8,000 weekly incremental bilateral seats into India and hence Saudia Airlines has announced part 1 of its expansion plan for the upcoming IATA S17 season.

The main highlights are as follows:

RUH/TRV - new 3 weekly nonstop flights to be launched effective 04APR using an A333

JED/TRV - new 2 weekly nonstop flights to be launched effective 04APR using an A333

JED/HYD - frequencies increased from 3 to 5 weekly nonstop flights using a 413 seater B773

JED/BOM - capacity increased from daily B772 to daily B773

United Airlines looking to replace B767 fleet

United Airlines has disclosed that it has started the process of wanting to replace its fleet of 50 Boeing 767s (35 B763ERs + 15 B764ERS) as the carrier wants to retire these aging aircraft by 2020. It’s B763ERs are 22 years old in 2017 and their B764ERs are 16.

Source: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/united-eyeing-767-replacement-in-fleet-review-433417/

Analysis:

In the article link above, it states that there could be a possibility that UA might restructure its order of A350-1000s (A351s) to potentially include A330NEOs as the capital acquisition costs are lower for this aircraft versus the B787-9 (789).

From an objective view point, UA should not consider ordering the A330NEO under any circumstances because it unnecessarily adds another fleet type mix into their portfolio when it is totally not required. Unlike Delta who already operate a size able A330 fleet, switching over to the A330NEO is not an issue for them but for UA it is because they have no experience what so ever in operating this aircraft currently.

The most suitable B763ER/B764ER replacement for UA is an aircraft that they already operate i.e. the B789. UA’s B763s seat 214 pax where as their B764s seat 242. On the other hand, their B789s accommodate 252 pax + 3 tons more cargo + it can fly up to 15 hours nonstop without any payload restrictions unlike its B767s which are limited to maximum 12 hours (B763ER only). If pricing is an issue, they can get Boeing to give them a good deal for an incremental order of 50 B789s units by getting them to price match the competition if possible.

As far as the 35 A350-1000 order is concerned, if UA is having second thoughts on this aircraft type being in its fleet, the best alternative scenario is as follows:

·         Exchange with Airbus 35 A351s for 70 A321NEOs

·         Use the 70 A321NEOs to fully replace its 56 B757s on domestic and regional routes + on selected EWR-Ireland/secondary UK services

·         The A321NEOs can also be configured in its P.S. configuration for EWR-LAX/SFO which the B757s currently operate on

·         70 A321NEOs will replace 56 B757s with the remaining 14 aircraft balance being used to facilitate growth or replace its 14 oldest A320s

·         If more wide bodied aircraft are required, then it can easily place a top up order for more B77Ws and B789s as a high density configured B781 is perfectly suited to replace their high density configured 364 seater B772A.

·         In this above suggested scenario, there is one less fleet type mix for UA to worry about as the wide bodies would revolve around the B777/B787 families only whereas the narrow body has both the B737 and A320 family line

Emirates announces EWR-Newark via Athens

Emirates has officially announced that it will be launching new services to EWR-Newark airport effective 12MAR17. Flights shall be flown on a daily basis using a Boeing 777-300ER operated via Athens with full 5th freedom traffic rights across the Atlantic.

This will result in EK operating 5 daily flights into the New York marketplace i.e. 4 to JFK (1 is via MXP) + 1 to EWR (via ATH).

The schedule of this new service is as follows:

EK 209 Dep DXB 1050 Arr ATH 1530
EK 209 Dep ATH 1730 Arr EWR 2200

EK 210 Dep EWR 2345 Arr ATH 1600+1
EK 210 Dep ATH 1800 Arr DXB 2340
 

Etihad boosts Rome capacity

Etihad Airways has officially announced that it will be significantly increasing the capacity offering on its daily Rome (FCO) bound services flown nonstop from Abu Dhabi (AUH) from the on set of the IATA Summer 2017 season.

Currently, EY operates a daily A330-200 on the route seating 262 passengers in a dual class layout. However effective 27MAR, this flight shall receive a major capacity upgrade to a daily 412 seater Boeing 777-300ER. This represents a 57% increase in seat capacity as well as enables EY to carry an additional 3 tons of cargo in the belly per flight.  

Saudia increases Los Angeles

Saudia Airlines has officially confirmed that due to rising demand for its LAX-Los Angeles bound flights operated nonstop from Jeddah, it will be increasing its frequencies on the route effective 02JUL.

Currently, SV operates 3 times per week nonstop using a B77W, however these shall be increased to 5 times weekly using the same aircraft type from July 2017 onwards. 

Air India announces Washington DC and Copenhagen

Air India has officially announced via its twitter account feed that it will be launching 2 new long haul destinations during the upcoming IATA S17 season. They are as follows:

Washington DC-Delhi nonstop to be operated using a B777 effective July 2017 three times per week

Copenhagen-Delhi nonstop to be operated using a B787 effective May 2017 four times per week

Both airports are major Star Alliance hubs hence AI will be code sharing with UA and SK on both these routes to gain additional feeder support.

Cathay Pacific increases Toronto

Cathay Pacific has officially announced that due to surging demand for its YYZ-Toronto bound flights, it will be boosting its presence on this route effective 24JUN17.

Currently, CX operates 10 times per week nonstop from HKG to YYZ using a B77W however from 24JUN onwards these shall be increased to double daily nonstop using the same aircraft type. CX recently signed a broad based code share agreement with Air Canada which will in turn help boost their Canada wide coverage via domestic code sharing.

Qatar Airways increases Vienna and Stockholm

Qatar Airways has officially announced that it will be boosting its presence in VIE-Vienna, Austria after it successfully managed to obtain a more liberal bilateral agreement with its Government. Presently, QR flies a daily service between VIE and DOH using a B788 however from 15AUG, frequencies are being increased to 12 times per week nonstop with the 5 additional flights operated with an A332.

In addition, QR also confirmed the following:

LAS - new nonstop flights to be launched effective 08JAN18 operated 4 times per week nonstop with a B77L

ARN - frequencies increased to double daily nonstop effective 29MAR17

HEL - capacity increased from daily A320 to daily B788 effective 16SEP

Cathay Pacific announces Barcelona

Cathay Pacific has officially announced that it will be launching new services to BCN-Barcelona effective 02JUL17. CX will operate 4 times per week nonstop from HKG using an A350-900 with the below mentioned schedule:

Days: 1/3/5/7

CX 321 Dep HKG 0020 Arr BCN 0735 
CX 322 Dep BCN 1350 Arr HKG 0805+1 

Market demand overall from BCN to Japan, Asia, Australia and South Korea is larger from BCN versus MAD as well as P2P to HKG more importantly. 

Comments:

In April 2015, I had written about how good it would be for CX to seriously consider adding BCN to their route network and now it has become reality--link http://airline-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cathay-pacific-considering-barcelona.html

Qatar Airways increases Beirut frequencies

Qatar Airways has officially announced that due to increasing demand from both its home market as well as its network, it will be increasing its frequencies to BEY-Beirut effective 16JAN.

Currently, QR operates a triple daily service using one A330 + double daily A320s. However from 16JAN onwards, frequencies are boosted to four daily with double daily A330s + double daily A320s.

Flights will be departing DOH at 0220/0810/1450 and 2040 respectively with the 0810 and 1450 services being flown using the A330s.

Turkish increases Karachi and Kuwait capacity

Turkish Airlines has officially announced that it will be significantly increasing capacity on its Kuwait and Karachi bound services from the on set of the IATA S17 season.

KHI will be boosted by upgrading its current daily nonstop service from a B738 to a daily A333 where as KWI will be done in stages:

a) Effective 27MAR, IST-KWI increases from 2 to 3 daily with one daily service operated by an A332 whilst the remaining 2 are with an A320

b) Effective 27JUN, IST-KWI increases from 3 to 4 daily + from 10JUL, SAW-KWI increases from daily to double daily B738s

China Southern announces North America expansion

China Southern Airlines based out of Guangzhou has officially revealed details of its North America expansion plans from June 2017 which are as follows:

YYZ - frequencies increased from 3 to 5 weekly nonstop effective 24JUN using a B77W

JFK - frequencies increased from 10 weekly to double daily B77Ws effective 20JUN

SFO - frequencies increased from 4 to 6 weekly nonstop using a B77W effective 21JUN

Etihad increases Riyadh frequencies

Etihad Airways has officially announced that it will be increasing its frequencies to RUH-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia effective 01FEB17 as the carrier has secured attractive evening slot timings ensuring more destinations in its network are connected in both directions conveniently via AUH.

Currently, EY operates a double daily service between AUH and RUH but from 01FEB, these will be increased to triple daily with flights departing AUH at 0155/1015 and 2100 each respectively. The new service departs AUH daily at 2100 using an A320.

Qatar Airways increases Phuket and Islamabad capacity

Qatar Airways has officially announced many capacity upgrades to its IATA S17 medium and long haul route network of which the main highlights are as follows:

HKT - frequencies increased from 11 weekly to double daily nonstop

ISB - capacity increased from daily A320 + daily A330 to daily B77L + daily A330

BRU - capacity increased from daily B788 to daily A359

LOS - capacity increased from daily A332 to daily A333

BLR - capacity increased from daily A333 to daily B77W