Low possibilities for A350 in Oman Air fleet expansion.

Oman Air is pursuing ambitious fleet expansion and simplification as part of a plan to double its fleet and add more than 25 new destinations over the next 6 years.

Source: Jorge Guardia

The flag carrier has decided to phase out ATR turboprops and Embraer regional jets as it seeks to operate 2 or – at most – 3 aircraft types.

Oman Air plans to operate 25 widebody aircraft by the end of 2020 compared to 10 A330s currently and only 7 A330s six months ago.

Source: Airbus

It is now committed to acquiring 8 787s and is considering ordering more 787s and A330neos.

Mr Gregorowitsch said Oman Air will look at placing more 787 orders and will evaluate the A330neo as it reviews its options for reaching it target of 25 widebody aircraft.

Source: Airbus

One option to be considered will be transitioning the widebody fleet to an all 787-operation.

Oman Air is attracted to the synergies and benefits which would come with operating a simplified fleet consisting of only two families – the 737 and 787.

7 of Oman Air’s A330s are slightly older aircraft (between 4 and 6 years) and are expected to be replaced over the next few years.

Keeping only the 3 A330s which were delivered in late 2014 would not make sense although it is not likely these aircraft will be replaced until early next decade even if a decision is made to transition to an all-787 widebody fleet.

Oman Air will also consider maintaining 2 widebody types of aircraft and 3 types overall.

Under this scenario Oman Air will most likely end up with 787s, A330s and A330neos.

Source: Airbus

It plans to evaluate the A330neo but is not expected to give much consideration to the A350.

Oman Air is currently the 7th largest airline in the Middle East based on widebody fleet size.

Based on the article “Oman Air plans ambitious fleet expansion as 787s & 737s are acquired while ATRs & Embraers are axed“ published in CAPA

Every new A350 will create approx. 200 jobs at Finnair.

According to Finnair CEO Pekka Vauramo in the company’s Annual General Meeting, Finnair's fleet renewal plays a key role in the company's new phase.

Source: Airbus

In the 2^nd half of this year, Finnair will be the first European airline to operate the next-generation Airbus A350 XWB aircraft.

“The first long-haul operation with the new aircraft is at the end of October, and Shanghai, Beijing and Bangkok are the first destinations,” Vauramo said.

“On these Asian routes we get the most out of our new aircraft. The new aircraft will improve our product, decrease costs and also decrease our CO2 emissions.”

“As the fleet investment program proceeds, our long-haul will start to grow in 2016.

We seek growth in traffic and in revenue with these aircraft.

As we are now more cost-effective, thanks to our structural changes, I believe we have a strong foundation to produce results with the new fleet,”Vauramo estimated.

“Growth also creates jobs. Every new Airbus A350 XWB aircraft that grows our fleet will create approximately 200 jobs at Finnair.

Half of this is flying personnel, and the other half is in other functions,” Vauramo stressed. 

“Increasing the fleet size by 5 long-haul aircraft will create approximately 1000 jobs in Finnair in the next 5 years.”

Based on the article “Finnair CEO Pekka Vauramo at the AGM: 2015 marks a new phase for Finnair” published in Travel Daily News

A350 customer Yemenia suspends its operations «until further notice»

The security deterioration in Yemen has impacted Yemenia. The national carrier of the Yemen has announced that it is suspending its operations "until further notice" because of the combats and the airspace restrictions impossed.

During the last attacks, El Rahaba airport of Sana was damaged, both the tarmac and the terminal.

Source: Manuel Belleli

Current fleet of Yemenia consists of 7 aircraft : 3 Airbus A310-300, 2 A320 and 2 A330-200.

Source: Manuel Belleli

Yemenia has an order of 10 A350-900 after they converted last January their order of A350-800s in larger aircraft.

Other companies as Gulf Air, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad have also suspended its flights to the capital of Yemen.

Based on the article « Yemenia suspend son activité » published in Air Journal

Corruption-investigation over A350 purchase order from Sri Lankan Airlines.

The Sri Lankan government on Saturday announced a criminal investigation into the US$2.3 billion purchase of 10 Airbus aircraft for the island’s loss-making national carrier under the former administration.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office said a independent panel found gross violations of financial regulations and procurement procedures in the state-owned Sri Lankan Airlines deal, and said they warranted criminal prosecutions of former executives.

The statement from the Sri Lankan Prime Minister’s Office says:

“A Board of Inquiry has found shocking details of corruption running into billions of dollars, manipulations of service contracting, recruitment of unqualified staff and major security breaches at Sri Lankan airlines under the former government… The former government of President Mahinda Rajapakse made management changes to carry out a re-fleeting of the airline with brand-new aircraft costing $2.3 billion despite the availability of more cost effective alternatives… BOI also recommends criminal investigations on the involvement of Udayanga Weeratunga former Ambassador to Russia and Dilan Ariyawansa in several GSA appointments.”

It said the panel, headed by a former chairman of Transparency International’s Sri Lanka office, found a “culture of corruption” in the airline, which has accumulated losses of more than US$650 million.

Former CEO Kapila Chandrasena

In particular, the panel said there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the former airline chairman Nishantha Wickramasinghe — brother-in-law of former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa — as well as former chief executive Kapila Chandrasena, who resigned last month when the panel called for action against him in an interim report.

Source: Airbus

Sri Lankan Airlines ordered 6 Airbus A330 aircraft and 4 A350 airplanes in 2013. It took delivery of the first 2 A330 planes last year.

The carrier has said it expects three A350 aircraft to be delivered next year and the fourth in 2017.

The statement from the prime minister’s office said the probe also found that the national carrier had tried to “hush up” serious mistakes by pilots, but gave no details.

Soon after the new government came to power, Sri Lankan Airlines stopped flying to the island’s second international airport.

The January election was fought partly on claims of corruption and waste by the Rajapaksa administration, which is facing allegations of padding infrastructure projects to siphon off money.

Based on the article “Airline ‘corrupt’: Sri Lanka probe” published in Taipei News

A350 production ramp-up, as planned.

With pictures shown by Airbus of the MSN24 (TAM) fuselage join start last week, there are currently 17 aircraft in the Final Assembly Line.

Source: Airbus

 

The Qatar´s MSN9 is currently finishing test flights and will be delivered in coming days/weeks. The MSN8 is with the cabin furnishing as well as MSN10. All these 3 aircraft will be delivered in Q2/2015.

 

The next 3 aircraft for Qatar (MSN11, MSn12 and MSN13) are also under cabin furnishing activities and initially their delivery is planned for Q3/2015.

 

The MSN14, first aircraft for Vietnam Airlines is at C65 hangar with engine-installation and cabin furnishing has started. The Paris Air Show is a good opportunity for Vietnam Airlines to show their aircraft.

 

The MSN15-MSN16-MSN17 for Vietnam Airlines too progresses as planned and will be delivered in the Q4/2015.

 

3 aircraft for Finnair (MSN18-MSN19-MSN20) finishing the final assembly will be delivered before end of the year too. And next 2 aircraft MSN22-MSN23 will probably delivered in January 2016.

 

Source: Clement Alloing

 

 

 

MSN21, the first aircraft of the optimized configuration called batch3, is for Qatar Airways and is targeted for delivery before end of 2015.

Source: Airbus

The production ramp-up is going as planned and deliveries to airlines also, more or less, as scheduled.

Asiana agrees leasing deal for first 4 A350s with Japanese lessor.

South Korean carrier Asiana Airlines has agreed a sale/leaseback with Japanese lessor SMBC for four A350 XWB aircraft, including pre-delivery payment (PDP) financing, according to an airline source.

Source: Airbus

The tenor of the financing is 12 years. Law firm Milbank is representing Asiana on the deal.

Source: Airbus

The aircraft will be delivered in 2017. Asiana has 30 of the aircraft type on order.

Based on the article “Asiana Airlines agrees PDP-inclusive sale-leaseback for A350 XWBs” published in Airfinance Journal

Finnair´s A350s with inflight WiFi.

Finnair will launch inflight WiFi on its first Airbus A350 this year, as the first step towards a fleet-wide upgrade which will see all of the Finnish airline's jets set for sky-high surfing by 2018.

Source: Alex Cheban

The €30 million ($42 million) program will connect Finnair's nimble regional European jets as well as its international Airbus A330s and new flagship A350s, the first of which is due to begin flying later this year.

"This investment will enable us to offer a wide array of new services to our customers, ranging from in-flight entertainment to in-flight sales and ancillaries," said Finnair CEO Pekka Vauramo.

Source: Felix Gottwald

Finnair will join Cathay Pacific in using the A350 as a launching pad for inflight Internet.

Based on the article “Finnair to launch inflight Internet on Airbus A350” published in Australian Business Traveller.