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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 2033.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT FLEET EXPANSION PAUL DUFFY / MOSCOW Sibir heads for Western fleet Initial acquisition heralds long-term plan to operate only non-indigenous aircraft Sibir Airlines is finalising a deal to acquire its first Western-built air craft as part of a long-term plan to move to an all-Western fleet. The Novosibirsk-based airline, which carried 1.9 million passen gers last year and is Russia's second largest carrier, says it is "close to reaching agreement for the lease of two Airbus A320s expected to enter service towards the end of the year". The aircraft are being acquired from operating lessors Ansett Worldwide and Inter national Lease Finance. Sibir's fleet comprises a mix of Ilyushin and Tupolev jet airliners, including 10 Il-86s, 32Tu-154s and two Tu-204s. Due to difficulty in sourcing suitable new-generation Russian airliners, Sibir is expected to acquire more Western aircraft. The airline's long-term fleet plan calls for it to move eventually to a single-type fleet of Western aircraft. Sibir is among a group of Russian airlines led by Aeroflot lobbying the Russian government for reduced import taxes to enable them to acquire Western airliners. But with the government encouraging air lines to choose indigenous types instead of adding Western aircraft, the subject of tax has not been resolved. Sibir has an urgent need for the aircraft, so the tax issue is not expected to hold up the deal. The airline has begun work to apply for Joint Aviation Regulations 145 approval, initially for line maintenance, and is in talks with heavy maintenance providers in Western Europe for support and maintenance services. The A320s are likely to be registered in a Joint Aviation Authorities member state. Sibir is diluting its Russian fleet, which includes ll-86s (above), with A320s REORGANISATION Buzz ups slots as KLM quits Stansted in UK rejig KLM uk is reorganising operations between the UK and Amsterdam, in a move which will see all London Stansted services operated by its low-cost affiliate Buzz. From 27 October, KLM uk will cease operating its six daily Stansted-Amsterdam Schiphoi flights, transferring the slots to Buzz, which will fly the route five times daily. KLM uk will instead increase capacity from UK regional airports to Schiphoi: flights from London City will increase from four to six times daily; from Newcastle, to seven from six times daily; and from Manchester to eight times a day from seven. KLM's UK general manager Tony Le Masurier says Stansted is "clearly now a low cost airline base. We will concentrate our focus on the main business airports serving London, which are Heathrow and London City." Meanwhile, KLM has cut fares by up to 40% on 13 short-haul routes from Schiphoi in a bid to recapture a share of the leisure market. It will also simplify the pricing struc ture on the routes to no more than eight fares per destination, down from 25. LEASING Indian Airlines looks to lease A320s to operate Hong Kong services in time for winter schedule Indian Airlines is aiming to lease six Airbus A320s in time for the winter schedule in late October, when it hopes to introduce services to Hong Kong. The leased aircraft, an addition to the airline's planned order for 43 A320 family aircraft, will be needed for up to five years. They will join the airline's 36 A320s, replacing six ageing Airbus A300s, says the state- owned domestic carrier. Indian Airlines has six A300B2s, which are at least 22 years old, and three of which may be parked. It also has three A300B4-200s, which are around 20 years old. The airline's order for 43 A320s to replace some aircraft and expand the fleet, remains on hold awaiting government approval. An initial agreement was reached with Airbus earlier this year. The Calcutta-Hong Kong route will be served twice weekly using A320s if government approval is granted, says Indian. Flights to Jeddah from Mumbai are also under consideration. Meanwhile, Indian Airlines is trying to lure more passengers with discounts for fares bought more than three weeks in advance, and an air pass valid for a week, designed to appeal to domestic tourists. • Kuwait Airways has reintro duced services to Kuala Lumpur, for the two-month peak period during the Kuwait summer sea son, with twice-weekly flights using an Airbus A340. • Belgian low-cost airline Virgin Express will launch ser vices in December from a new base at Cologne-Bonn Airport. The airline has not revealed ini tial destinations, but expects to expand the network from the German airport in its summer 2003 schedule. It foresees demand for up to 20 Germany- based aircraft by 2006. The move follows the loss of slots at London Heathrow Airport. It had used SN Brussels Airlines/ Sabena slots at the UK airport as part of of a codeshare agree ment, but SN decided not to renew the contract, and the slots have been sold to British Airways. Meanwhile, SN Brussels Airlines has agreed with British Airways to begin codesharing on Heathrow- Brussels services from October. • Air Tahiti Nui has increased the frequency of Los Angeles- Papeete services to daily, with two flights on Sunday, following delivery of a third Airbus A340- 300. • VLM Airlines will on 9 September begin a five-times daily scheduled service linking London City and Manchester using Fokker 50s. • Oman Air is to launch flights from its Muscat base to Colombo, Sri Lanka, next month. It recently started twice-weekly flights to Cairo and Karachi. • US Airways launched daily flights from Washington National Airport to Bermuda on 7 July. US Airways is hoping extend its Washington National links to Nassau, Bahamas in November. Meanwhile, US Airways Express carrier Piedmont Airlines has started four daily flights between Washington National and Toronto. • Eastern Canadian low-cost carrier CanJet has started serving Moncton from Toronto and Montreal, using a Boeing 737. • Iberia Regional/Air Nostrum has started daily flights from Barcelona to Porto, Portugal using a 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 regional jet. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 16-22 JULY 2002 17
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