aviation

Air China has taken delivery of its third Airbus A350-900, B-1083 (c/n 217), in a colourful livery promoting the 2019 Horticulture Expo to be held in

the Yanqing District of Beijing. The event, organised under the theme ‘Live Green, Live Better’, will run between April 29 and October 7. Eurospot

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CIVIL NEWSAir China A

6 Aviation News incorporating Jets October 2018

Dream Start

Ukrainian start-up Dream Wind Airlines

has launched commercial services. The

new carrier, which acquired its Air Operator

Certi cate in July, carried out the maiden

charter  ight between its Kiev base and the

Turkish leisure destination of Antalya on

September 9, paving the way for routes from

other domestic airports including Chernivtsi

and Lviv.

The airline has a  eet of two Boeing 737-

300s, UR-CRL (c/n 24717) and UR-CRM

(c/n 25048), both of which are dry-leased

from Estonia’s RK-Skylease. It is the second

new carrier to launch services from Ukraine

this year after SkyUp Airlines, which made

its debut in May.

More Sukhoi Superjets for Aerofl ot

Russian  ag carrier Aero ot is to operate a

further 100 Sukhoi Superjet 100s. The deal,

valued at more than $3bn, was signed at

the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok

in early September in the presence of

President Vladimir Putin.

Vitaly Saveliev, CEO of Aero ot, said:

“We have signed the largest aircraft delivery

agreement in Aero ot’s history. Including

the expected delivery of 50 [Irkut] MC-21s,

by 2026 we will operate 200 Russian-built

aircraft. Aero ot has historically been the

largest operator of domestically produced

aircraft and has helped to improve all Russian

aircraft models currently in operation.”

Yury Slyusar, president of Sukhoi Civil

Aircraft’s parent United Aircraft Corporation,

added: “We have worked with Aero ot for

many years. As the  rst and largest operator

of SSJ100 aircraft, Aero ot has signi cantly

helped the development of Russia’s aircraft

industry. The signing of this new agreement

marks the next stage of our co-operation.

We are happy to continue working with

Russia’s leading airline.”

The incoming aircraft – to be equipped

with 12 seats in business class and

75 in economy – are due for delivery

between 2019 and 2026. They will join the

existing 50-strong  eet, which are used

predominantly on domestic routes as well

as on international services to Dresden,

Vilnius, Gothenburg, Bucharest and Zagreb.

JetMagic Boeing 757-23A, 9H-AVM, departed Dublin on September 29 with U2 onboard. The

band’s eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE tour will take it to eight European cities by mid-November.

Paul Harvey – Project X Photography

U2 Jets Around Europe

First Ultra Long-Range A350 Delivered

Launch customer Singapore Airlines (SIA)

has taken delivery of the  rst A350-

Ultra Long-Range (ULR). The jet, 9V-SGA

(c/n 220) is one of seven the carrier has

on order and is con gured in a two-class

layout of 67 business class and 94 premium

economy seats.

SIA was scheduled to launch services

with the -900 on October 11, with non-

stop services between Singapore and

New York. With an average  ying time of

18hrs 45mins, they will become the world’s

longest commercial  ights.

The type will next enter service on the

carrier’s non-stop transpaci c routes to Los

Angeles and San Francisco.

Goh Choon Phong, SIA’s CEO, said:

“This is a proud moment for both Singapore

Airlines and Airbus. Not only have we again

strengthened our partnership, but also

because we have pushed the limits with

this highly advanced new aircraft, we are

extending long-range  ying to new lengths.”

SIA is one of the largest customers for

the A350XWB family, having ordered a total

of 67 A350-900s – including the seven ULRs

• and now has 22 examples in its  eet.