EUROPEAN AIRLINE SCENE - WEEK ENDING 25-09-10
The information in this blog comes from a variety of sources, though particular credit must be given to the following sites, which are very highly recommended.
Chris Witt/Skyliner
http://www.skyliner-aviation.de/
Jethro/UK & Ireland Airline Fleet Listings
http://jethros.eu/
Drewski/737NG Line Number list
http://drewski2112.livejournal.com/
Air China Cargo. See under Cathay Pacific Cargo.
Air Southwest is to be acquired by Eastern A/W from Sutton Harbour Holdings. An agreement in principle has been reached between the parties & it is hoped that the deal will be completed next month. The Air Southwest brand will be retained.
Air Zimbabwe is to lease two A345s from Hi-Fly & originally ordered by Kingfisher. The first of these is CS-TQP (886 - VT-VJA NTU), which was ferried from Toulouse to Hamburg on 24/9 for painting, & will be delivered to Air Zimbabwe next month. The second may well be c/n 894, originally to have been VT-VJB, & which was allocated CS-TQL a while ago, though I had thought that it was now destined for Sonair.
Astraeus. Three B752s are due to go from Gatwick to Jeddah next week on lease to Saudi Arabian for Hajj operations as follows (subject to last minute change):
G-OJIB (24292) from Gatwick to Jeddah on 28/9 etd 11.00 (due to arrive at Gatwick from Southend on 27/9)
G-STRX (25621) from Gatwick to Jeddah 28/9, etd 14.00
G-STRZ (27622) from Gatwick to Jeddah 1/10, etd 16.30
British A/W B773 G-STBB (38286) was ferried from Cardiff to LHR on 20/9 as BAW9173E, undertaking its first revenue flight the following day as BAW143 to Delhi. B752 G-BPEE (25060) flew an acceptance flight for FedEx from/to Gatwick on 22/9 as BAW9275E. It is due to become N949FD with delivery to the USA scheduled for next month.
Bulgarian Air Charter MD82 LZ-LDI (53226) has become EK-82226 with Ararat International & was delivered from Sofia to Yerevan on 19/9.
Cathay Pacific. See under Orient Thai A/L.
Cathay Pacific Cargo B744F B-HKS (27070) is now B-2455 for Air China Cargo & was noted as such at Hong Kong in full scheme on 22/9. Delivery is due late next month.
CSA B734 OK-FGR (28477) was ferried from Prague to Norwich on 19/9 for painting for UT Air, returning to Prague after paint on 22/9. It is to become VQ-BID.
Cyprus A/W A320 5B-DBD was noted at Larnaca as M-ABCW for Phoenix Aircraft on 19/9 & was ferried to Nagpur on 23/9.
Dniproavia. Further to last week, it is now known that E145 F-WKXL (145436) has become UR-DNY.
Eagle Aviation Europe B744 F-GTIR (27071 ex 9V-SPF) was registered to DVB Bank as N270RP on 15/9 & ferried from storage at Bournemouth to Tel Aviv via Sofia for freighter conversion for World A/W.
EasyJet A319 G-EZGC (4444) was delivered from Finkenwerder to Gatwick on 24/9. G-EZGD (4451) was flown back to Finkenwerder from Dinard as D-AVYA on 24/9, presumably after painting. A321 G-TTIE (2682) flew its last revenue service on 19/9 as EZY8854 from Alicante, before departing to Shannon the same day as EZY8001 on return to the lessor. G-TTIF (3106) also flew its last revenue service on 22/9 as EZY8930 from Faro & then departed the same day to Shannon as EZY8001 on return to the lessor. This was easyJet's last A321 & the current disposition of the retired fleet is as follows:
G-TTIA (1428) to Monarch as G-OZBS, current
G-TTIB (1433) to Monarch as G-OZBP, current
G-TTIC (1869) stored at Shannon, for Wind Rose Aviation 11/10
G-TTID (2462) stored damaged at Shannon
G-TTIE (2682) stored at Shannon
G-TTIF (3106) stored at Shannon, for Mihin Air 11/10
G-TTIG (3382) to THY as TC-JML, current
G-TTIH (3546) to Monarch as G-OZBT, current
G-TTII (3575) to Monarch as G-OZBU, current
Free A/W F50 SX-BRM (20207) was ferried from Maastricht to Athens all white on 23/9, swapping with SX-BRS (20206).
Germania F100 D-AGPA (11276) has become VH-XWM for Air Alliance & left Woensdrecht on delivery on 23/9.
Germanwings. See under Lufthansa.
Iberia. See under Non-Airline.
Israir A320 4X-ABG (4413) was delivered from Toulouse to Tel Aviv on 21/9.
JAL B744 JA8901 (26343) was registered to AerSale as N364AS on 20/9 & left Tokyo/Narita on 22/9 routing to Roswell, NM via Oakland, CA.
Kalitta Air. Former Northwest Cargo B742F N640US (23888) was delivered from Marana, AZ to Oscoda, MS on 18/9, with N644NW (24177) following on 21/9.
KLM B733 PH-BTI (28720) has become 5Y-KYN & left Amsterdam for Nairobi on 24/9 in full Kenya A/W scheme on a two-year lease. B737 PH-BGL (30369) arrived at Amsterdam on delivery on 24/9.
KLM Cityhopper E190 PH-EZS (19000380) arrived at Amsterdam on delivery on 18/9. This was the last of the seventeen ordered by the airline to be delivered.
LOT E145 SP-LGD (145244) was registered to ECC Leasing Co Ltd of Dublin on 21/9 as G-CGJR, leaving only five of this type still in service with the carrier. E170 SP-LIN (17000313) left Brazil on 23/9 & is due to arrive at Warsaw on delivery on 25/9.
Lufthansa A320 D-AIZJ (4449) made its first flight on 17/9 in full scheme as D-AVVM. The airline's Supervisory Board approved the acquisition of a further 48 aircraft this week for the carrier & its subsidiaries. This breaks down to 20 A320 family & 3 A333s for the airline itself plus 4 A320 family & 5 A333s for Swiss, 8 A319s for Germanwings & 8 E195s for Lufthansa Cityline. The carrier is already the biggest operator of Airbus aircraft in the world.
Lufthansa Cityline CRJ2 D-ACHB (7391) left Cologne on 22/9 for Toronto & refurbishment for UT Air. E190 D-AECI (19000381) arrived at Munich on delivery on 23/9. Also see under Lufthansa.
Martinair will cease all passenger operations next year & concentrate on freight alone.
Non-Airline
F-WJKF A343 (378) registered to Airbus Industrie & formerly with Iberia as EC-HQF, was ferried from Chateauroux to Lourdes on 24/9 for further storage.
G-BTZN B462 (E3149) for Aviation Capital Solutions was delivered from Kemble to Manston on 22/9.
P4-MAK B737BBJ (40761) for Samrussitera, made its first flight on 23/9. Delivery is due in November.
P4-NGK B737BBJ (37583) for Itera Holdings arrived at Basel on 22/9 following cabin configuration at Dallas/Love Field, TX (see Skyliner for photo).
Norwegian Air Shuttle B738 LN-DYH (40865) arrived at Oslo on delivery on 24/9. The carrier now has 28 B738s in service, with a further 55 on order. Due before the end of this year are LN-DYF (39004) & LN-DYI (40866). Allocations for 2011 are LN-DYG (39165), LN-DYJ (39045), LN-DYK (39046), LN-DYL (40867), LN-DYM (39005), LN-DYN (39006), LN-DYO (40868), LN-DYQ (40869) & LN-DYS (40870). The company intends to phase out its B733 fleet by 2012. It has also stated that it intends to start long-haul services to Bangkok & New York next year & to eventually operate to up to fifteen long-haul destinations. Currently, they do not appear to have placed any orders for aircraft that could operate such routes non-stop.
Orient Thai A/L took delivery of B744 HS-STC (26548 ex 9V-SMN, B-HKD, N548MD) at Bangkok on 19/9. This aircraft had been stored at Goodyear, AZ as N548MD (registered to WFBN) & had previously served with Cathay Pacific A/W &, prior to that, with Singapore A/L.
Phuket Air. See under United A/L.
Qatar A/W B773 A7-BAL (38244) left Paine Field, WA on 24/9 on delivery to Doha.
Regional E120 F-GTSO (120097) left Clermont-Ferrand on 22/9 on delivery to Naturelink of South Africa.
Ryanair B738 EI-ENC (34980) made its first flight on 17/9 & was followed on 20/9 by EI-ENB (40289).
Saudi Arabian A320 HZ-AS38 (4432) was delivered from Finkenwerder to Jeddah on 21/9. HZ-AS39 (4442) made its first flight on 22/9 as F-WWIA & was ferried from Toulouse to Finkenwerder the same day. Also see under Astraeus.
SmartLynx A320 YL-LCF (0446), which had been leased to Strategic A/L, was reregistered LX-STA on 23/9 & ferried from Paris/CDG to Brussels on 24/9.
Strategic A/L. See under SmartLynx.
Swiftair. See under TNT
Swiss. See under Lufthansa.
S7 A/L will join the OneWorld alliance in November.
THY B773 TC-JJE (40707) made its first flight on 17/9 & was ferried to Portland as N5020K for painting the following day.
TNT B733F OO-TNI (23512) flew an acceptance flight from/to Liege on 21/9 in full Swiftair scheme prior to delivery to Spain.
Transavia B738 PH-GGW (35831) left Amsterdam on 22/9 in full Gol scheme bound for Belo Horizonte following summer lease & will doubtless revert to PR-GGW.
United A/L B744 N192UA (26881), now registered to WFBN, was ferried from Marana, AZ to Bangkok/Don Muang via Anchorage, AK for Phuket Air on 21/9.
United A/W of Bangladesh has taken delivery of A313 S2-AFF (672 ex HB-IPN, F-OHPX, OK-YAC, M-ABCX) & it was ferried to Bangladesh from Maastricht on 24/9, still as M-ABCX (see Skyliner for photo).
UT Air. See under CSA & Lufthansa Cityline.
Viking A/L B733 SE-RHV (28567) flew its last revenue service on 19/9 as VIK378 from Kalamata to Gatwick & then departed later the same day to Keflavik using its registration as a callsign, before continuing on to its new owner in Brazil.
Wataniya A/W A320 9K-EAG (4411) was delivered from Toulouse to Kuwait City on 22/9. A further seven A320s are on order for delivery next year.
World A/W DC10F N303WL (46917) was delivered from storage at Marana, AZ to Hamilton on 24/9 for Kelowna Flightcraft. Also see under Eagle Aviation Europe.