Recently in airline Category

Here, from Flightglobal's AirSpace gallery, is a lovely image from last week's Bahrain air show of a (repetitively named) Bahrain Air Airbus A320 doing its stuff with the tail of a Sukhoi Su-27 of the Russian Knights display team in the foreground.

To borrow from Spinal Tap: How much more black could it be? None more black. It's Air New Zealand's latest Boeing 777-300ER (ZK-OKQ) resplendent in the All Black colour scheme sat next to a Beech 1900D turboprop belonging to Eagle Airways at Auckland. Could it be any more awesome? None more awesome.

Credit: Peter Clark

A trip up to London yesterday and a walk along Picadilly took me past the window of Iran Air's office (sadly in the process of moving to Hammersmith Road). Displayed in said window was a model of a Boeing 747 in the old seventies livery. Although I was unable to find a picture of one in the flesh, here's another golden oldie in the shape of a Boeing 727, pictured in 1975 on its way in to London Heathrow. The aircraft - EP-IRB - continued flying until 2002, when it was parked in Tehran.

Credit: AirTeamImages

File under 'where are they now'. Pictured at London Heathrow in 1986, this freighter was operated by Iraqi Airways - essentially the Iraqi Air Force - until it was acquired by Aeroflot in 1988. Then it transferred to Uzbek firm TAPC Aviatrans in 1992 (registration UK-76821) and has since been leased to airlines including Airstars and Silk Way Airlines. Data from Flightglobal Ascend Online.

Credit: AirTeamImages

Having recently secured a multi-million cash boost from Etihad Airways - and probably made its immediate future safe - we're sure that Air Berlin, the carrier behind this festive Boeing 737-800, is celebrating the holiday period with an extra spring in its lederhosen. The aircraft ws snapped at Berlin Tegel earlier this month.

Credit: AirTeamImages

I've been looking for pictures of this Hello Kitty-themed Airbus A330-300 for a few weeks now and I can see it repelling as many as it draws in. Anyway, thank you to Taiwan's EVA Air for doing this, it's made the world a more day-glo place.

No cats were harmed during its production. Probably.

Credit: AirTeamImages

Just to keep the American Airlines Chapter 11 theme going for a bit longer, it's worth bearing in mind the carrier's huge order backlog. The consenus appears to be that the orders won't be affected by the bankruptcy, although that of course may change. Included within the tally are 141 Boeing 737NGs - not unlike this example pictured yesterday at position 3 on Boeing's Renton factory line 2.

Credit: Dominic Perry/Flightglobal

Much as the title suggests, really, given that the big news today is AA's woes. Having flown with the troubled carrier yesterday - five hours on a Boeing 737-800 - here's a shot of a 777 taxiing at London Heathrow 27L.

Image credit: flcriminal @ AirSpace

And the lucky carrier to take the 100th airplane is Tajikistan-based Somon Air. So far the 737-900ER has racked up 414 orders from 16 customers. The 737-900ER is the longest 737, typically carrying 180 passengers in a two-class layout with an exit limit certified for up to 220 passengers in a single-class configuration. This is the airline's second 737-900ER, both with the Boeing Sky Interior, and is its sixth aircraft, all from Boeing.

Credit: Boeing

Astraeus Airlines announced today that it was going into administration. As well as posing questions for a number of carriers who rely on the UK wet lease specialist, there's also Iron Maiden to consider. The band's lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, is a pilot for Astraeus and the airline also provided a 757, nicknamed Ed Force One, for its last world tour.

Credit: AIrTeamImages