news: August 2011 Archives

The Boeing 787-8 has just been officially certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Where will it fly ? You might be wondering.

Photo by Flightblogger.
The first ever Boeing 787 to enter in commercial operation, JA801A will be handed over to launch operator All Nippon Airlines on 26th September. The aircraft will be configured with 12 seats in Premium class and 252 seats in Economy class (This particular version has assigned the unique airline identifier 78P). The future long haul international version of the aircraft will feature 46 Business class seats and 112 Economy class seats, while the short haul international version will feature 42 Business class seats and 180 Economy class seats.

The 787 will operate its inaugural scheduled flight on 26th October from Tokyo Narita to Hong Kong. The return flight will be on the following day. The aircraft then moves to its new home at the Tokyo Haneda airport.
This is where it will fly !

From 1st November,  enters in domestic operations.

Tokyo Haneda - Okoyama

NH651 HND OKJ 0730 0850 78P D

NH654 OKJ HND 1015 1130 78P D

Tokyo Haneda - Hiroshima

NH683 HND HIJ 1615 1745 78P D

NH686 HIJ HND 1920 2040 78P D

Photo courtesy Flightblogger

From December, the 787 enters international operations with its first scheduled international flight to Beijing from Tokyo Haneda.

From January 2012 onwards, the 787 will begin long haul operations with Frankfurt set to become its first long haul destination.

NH203 HND FRA 0100 0525 787 146

NH204 FRA HND 1115 0645+1 787 146

The Frankfurt route will be going daily from February onwards, and will likely feature the new long haul version which seats 158 passengers - for which the exact airline specific identifier is not yet known.

The Networker will bring you the latest information about the 787's routes as they are revealed. For a more descriptive look on the technical aspects of the 787, read the Flightblogger's piece here.

Qantas Airlines today announced "New Spirit" its restructuring programme aimed at bringing back the airline to profitability.

Key points include
- Launch of a new full service carrier based in Asia, effectively to tap the Chinese market. The airline has also stated that it will be analysing the possibility of a closer relationship with Malaysia Airlines. Malaysia Airlines is now partly owned by AirAsia, the latter which is also a partner of jetStar, the Qantas' LCC arm. While this sounds like the new carrier will be based in Malaysia, it is a much bigger possibility that the carrier will actually be based in Hong Kong, which is home to oneworld member Cathay Pacific.
- Jetstar Japan will be launched in partnership with JAL and Mitsubishi Corporation. The carrier plans to launch with three A320 aircraft.
- Up to 110 Airbus A320 aircraft to be ordered to fund jetStar's expansion.
- Airbus A380 deliveries will be deferred with only two more aircraft to arrive by 2013.

Major route network changes
- Buenos Aires route to be cancelled.
- Australia-London services will be only flown via Singapore.

Keep an eye on Flightglobal for further coverage.

Air New Zealand, as a part of the fifth anniversary of its Grab-A-Seat website, operates two charter flights into Las Vegas this weekend. Both flights will operate with Boeing 747-400 aircraft and will remain at LAS till their departure on 11th August.

NZ1016 AKL LAS 1545 0905 744 7AUG
NZ1014 AKL LAS 1715 1035 744 7AUG

NZ1003 LAS AKL 2100 0515+2 744 11AUG
NZ1017 LAS AKL 2359 0815+2 744 11AUG

MarketWatch, via The Apple Daily, reports that Qantas' jetStar is planning a subsidiary in Hong Kong. The article states that the carrier is in discussions with the Hong Kong SAR's government about obtaining an AOC, citing an unnamed source.
While neither Qantas nor jetStar have confirmed this, it appears as an interesting topic with Qantas CEO Alan Joyce's statement to shareholders about Qantas' future due on 24th August. While it is entirely possible that jetStar is simply exploring the options and nothing could come out of this, or if it is simply a rumour, such a move could seriously threaten some of Hong Kong's carriers such as Hong Kong Airlines and Hong Kong Express as well as some of the China based Low Cost Carriers. And it will fit neatly with Mr. Joyce's recently stated idea of focusing on China. It must also be noted that while Hong Kong based Cathay Pacific (and its subsidiary Dragon Air) are part of the oneworld alliance, like Qantas is, jetStar is not.
Nevertheless, it would be an interesting development to watch - and I'm sure that Will Horton will keep you up to date about it at his Wings Down Under!

Given below is an overview of the SriLankan Airlines freighter network, at the time of the writing. It was almost not known to the public that SriLankan did operate freighter flights, following the returning of its dedicated freighter aircraft, as all of the following flights are operated on wet leased capacity. Only the ETA and ETD out of Colombo are listed as these flights apparently do not appear on global systems.

Bangalore
UL8171/2 1800 CMB-BLR-CMB 2300 72F 24
UL8171/2 1800 CMB-BLR-CMB 2230 72F 5

Chennai
UL8121/2 1000 CMB-MAA-CMB 1445 72F 6

Thiruvananthapuram
UL9163/4 0800 CMB-TRV-CMB 1300 IL8/ANF 13456
UL8161/2 0900 CMB-TRV-CMB 1300 72F 2

SriLankan Airlines has made minor changes to its Moscow and Zurich flight schedules.

Moscow - The day of operation has changed from Thursday and Saturday to Wednesday and Saturday. With this, the launch date moves forward to 14th September.

New flight schedule
UL531 CMB 0730 - 1030 DXB 1130 - 1640 DME 320 3
UL531 CMB 0725 - 1025 DXB 1130 - 1640 DME 320 6
UL532 DME 1740 - 2300 DXB 2355 - 0555+1 CMB 320 36

Zurich - The flight on Friday departs an hour earlier than originally planned. The days of operation and other details remain the same.
UL541 CMB ZRH 1200 1725 343 5
UL542 ZRH 1845 - 0850+1 MLE 0950+1 - 1145+1 CMB 343 5

Serbian government today invited bids from qualified investors, to form a new airline to replace loss making JAT Airways.
The tender calls for investors to already have a 5% stake in an airline to be eligible for bidding.
JAT Airways has been in discussions with Turkish Airlines for a possible stake sale for up to 51%, however none has come to fruition.
Serbia's main airport at Belgrade, has been experiencing a decrease in demand recently with many airlines pulling out of the once SFRY country.