EUROPEAN AIRLINE SCENE - WEEK ENDING 17-10-09
The information in this blog comes from a variety of sources, though particular credit must be given to the following sites, both of which are very highly recommended.
Chris Witt/Skyliner
http://www.skyliner-aviation.de/
Jethro/UK & Ireland Airline Fleet Listings
http://jethros.eu/
With additional thanks this week to CH-Aviation
http://www.ch-aviation.ch/news.php
Aer Lingus will operate its Gatwick & Bristol services under the Astraeus AOC from the beginning of November for a period of 3 to 6 months while it applies for its own UK AOC. This interim measure will allow the carrier to apply to non-EU countries to operate flights from Gatwick & destinations in the USA & South Africa have been suggested. Also see under Vladivostok Avia.
Aero-Charter A/L. See under Cityline Hungary.
Air Alps Do328 OE-LKG (3089) has become 5N-DOY with Yuletide & left Oberfaffenhoffen on 11/10 all white en route to Nigeria via Tozeur, Tunisia.
Air Dolomiti B463 I-ADJI (E3149) was ferried from Exeter to Kemble on 13/10 for further storage. The first of the five additional ATR72s for the airline, I-ADCA (658 ex D-ANFG), positioned from Verona to Munich on 14/10 & is due to be followed by I-ADCB (660 ex D-ANFH) on 17/10.
Air Italy is to add two more B738s to its fleet this winter when it will also retire its three B752s.
Air Transat. The former Dragonair A333 C-GCTS (177 ex B-HYE) has entered trans-Atlantic service at last & was noted operating as TSC310 on the Montreal to Paris run on 15/10. A332s C-GGTS (250) & C-GITS (271) have been leased to Garuda for Hajj operations.
Alitalia B763 I-DEIF (27908) was registered to Omni Air International as N351AX on 14/10 & ferried from Rome/Fiumicino to Tel Aviv for maintenance & painting on 16/10.
Alitalia Express ATR72s I-ATMC (588) & I-ATPM (705) were registered to Nordic Aviation Contractor (Ireland) Ltd on 14/10 as G-CGFT & G-CGFX respectively.
AndoluJet will shortly take delivery of B737 N297MD (34297), which arrived at Shannon from Howard AFB, Panama on 15/10. This machine was previously with Aeromexico as EI-DMX & XA-MAY.
Astraeus B752 G-OJIB (24292) was ferried from RAF Brize Norton to Norwich as AEU733P on 11/10 for painting (into Iron Maiden scheme again?), while G-STRX (25621) was noted at Gatwick on 13/10 wearing Saudi Arabian titles, presumably for Hajj work. A320 G-STRP (0136) was ferried from Kemble to Southend for painting on 15/10 & was still transmitting the old hex code for EC-GRF. It is reported that the airline will also add a second former Clickair A320 to its fleet.
Atlant-Soyuz has retired three of its five Tu-154Ms. Also see under Ryanair.
Austrian A/L A319 OE-LDG (2652), which had been in storage since 15/5, had re-entered service by 5/10.
British A/W Cityflyer B463 G-BZAT (E3320) was ferried from London City to Kemble on 14/10 as CFE03P, presumably for storage. Earlier in the day, it had operated a service from Glasgow.
CityLine Hungary An-26 HA-TCS (47313905) has become UR-DWA with Aero-Charter A/L & was noted as such in basic Cityline scheme at Luxembourg on 8/10.
DHL has ordered a further three B763Fs taking its total to six. It is believed that the additional machines will also be UK registered.
EasyJet B737 G-EZJA (30235), which was ferried to Southend on 13/9 for preparation for Aerolineas Argentinas, was registered N384DF on 14/10. A319 deliveries on 16/10 were G-EZFL (4056) to Milan/Malpensa & G-EZFM (4069) to Madrid.
Euro Atlantic A/W has a further two B763s. Noted on 15/10 were CS-TFS (25411 ex S9-DBW) at Lisbon all white & CS-TFT (26208 ex S9-DBY) at Oporto in full scheme. Both are expected to depart shortly on Hajj operations.
Eurocypria B738 C-GLBW (30671) was ferried from Heraklion to Perpignan on 14/10 as ECA9279 prior to return to Sunwing A/L following summer lease.
Europe Airpost intends to obtain four more B733s next year for passenger charter work.
Flybe. Unexpectedly, DHC-8 G-FLBE (4261) returned to Birmingham on 13/10 following painting into Olympic Air scheme at Norwich. It had been expected to go to Athens direct from Norwich, but flew several Flybe sectors.
Flyglobespan B738 G-CEJP (29646) flew its last revenue service on 11/10 as GSM126 from Alicante to Glasgow & was ferried to Lasham on 12/10 as GSM738P for preparation for Ethiopian A/L. G-CDEG (33022) is due to be withdrawn on 22/10.
Freebird A320 TC-FBY (0283) reverted to its previous registration of N754US on 6/10 & will be going to a Bulgarian operator
Iberia A343 EC-GQK (197) was ferried from Manchester to Madrid all white on 14/10 as IBE4717 prior to return to the lessor.
Icelandair B752 TF-FIJ (25085) was ferried from Keflavik to Kano on 13/10 on lease to Kabo Air. Going the other way on the previous day was B763 TF-FIB (25365), which was ferried from Kano to Budapest (in full Travel Service scheme) following lease to Kabo Air.
I-Fly B752 EI-DUD (26249) arrived at Moscow/Vnukovo on 12/10 on delivery from Miami, FL
Italiatour A/L now hopes to restart operations on 31/10.
JAL B743 JA813J (23068) was noted all white & without titles at Narita on 7/10 & is believed to be for sale.
Jet A/W has not taken up B773 VT-JEL (36563) & it was ferried from Paine Field, WA to Pinal Air Park/Marana, AZ as N834BA on 8/10.
KLM B734 PH-BDY (24959) was ferried from Amsterdam to Woensdrecht as KLM7451 for storage on 14/10. PH-BDR (24514) & PH-BDS (24529) were cancelled from the Dutch register on 8/10 & then registered to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest as N514PR & N529PR respectively on 14/10, leaving Woensdrecht on 15/10 bound for Goodyear, AZ. B733 PH-BDA (23537), currently parked at Kemble, was cancelled from the Dutch register on 9/10.
Korean Air B773 HL7784 (37136) made its first flight on 15/10.
Lufthansa B744 D-ABTA (24285) was noted in basic scheme at Frankfurt on 8/10 & will be going to Pinal Air Park/Marana, AZ for storage.
Lufthansa Cityline EMB190 D-AEBB (19000316) arrived at Munich as DLH8986 on delivery on 10/10. CRJ2 D-ACHG (7439) was noted in full Rwandair scheme at Hamburg prior to delivery.
Niki plans to add three A320 & one more EMB190 to its fleet next year.
Norwegian Air Shuttle has announced that it is considering adding four A330s or B767s to its fleet in order to commence long-haul operations.
Olympic A/L B734 SX-BKN (26281) was registered to ILFC as N164LF on 8/10 & left Athens on 14/10 en route to Miami, FL.
Onur Air plans to replace its MD-83/88s with A320 family aircraft by 2012.
Orbest A332 CS-TRA (461) positioned from Lisbon to Madrid on 14/10 for wet-lease to Aerosur.
Regional Fk100 F-GPXI (11503) has become EP-MIS with Iranian Air Transport & left Woensdrecht on 14/10 destined for Ahwaz.
Rossiya. See under UT Air.
Ryanair B738s EI-CSZ (32780), EI-CTA (29936) & EI-CTB (29937), which are all currently at Chateauroux, are understood to be destined for Atlant-Soyuz. EI-EFW (35018) & EI-EFX (35019) have been noted on the flightline at Renton recently.
SAS DHC-8 LN-RDD (4009) was ferried from Copenhagen to Exeter on 16/10 following storage.
Sun Express will retire its three B752s next year.
Thomas Cook A320 G-TCAC (1411) left Manchester as SSV9501P on 15/10 for winter lease to Skyservice.
Thomsonfly B733 G-THOE (26313) was ferried from Luton to Bournemouth as TOM9836 on 8/10 on return to the lessor. The registration OD-HAJ was reportedly applied on 13/10.
Transaero is to obtain two ex Gulf Air B763s.
UPS B763F N336UP (37857) made its maiden flight on 10/10
UT Air took delivery of yet another ex Continental B735 on 10/10 with the arrival at Khanty-Mansiysk of VP-BXZ (27329 ex N52616). The carrier now has sixteen former Continental B735s in service, with a further two to be delivered this year. Will also add three ex Rossiya Tu-154Ms to its fleet later this year (it is still quite a big user of the type with sixteen in service at the moment).
Vladivostok Avia A333 VQ-BEQ (86 ex EI-JFK) was noted at Shannon on 12/10 awaiting delivery.
XL A/W France returned A320 C-GTDP (1780) to Skyservice on 15/10 following summer lease.