16 AIRLINER WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
News Review • A s i a / P a c i fi c
China Airlines Heads to London
CHINA AIRLINES has unveiled plans to
launch non-stop flights from Taipei to
Gatwick Airport using its new Airbus
A350-900 XWBs. The jets will be
deployed on the 13-hour flights four
times per week – operating Monday,
Wednesday, Friday and Saturday – from
December 1 and are configured in a
three-class layout with 32 Premium
Business, 31 Premium Economy and
243 Economy seats. The carrier says
the new service will save between three
and seven hours on transit and stop-over
times previously experienced on its
services to Europe.
China Airlines earlier operated a thrice-weekly service between Taipei and
London/Heathrow which started in March- However, load factors struggled at
around 60% and the link was
suspended after just two years. Currently,
the Taiwanese carrier has a code-
share agreement with KLM Royal Dutch
Airlines under which it flies passengers to
Amsterdam, before transferring them to
the European carrier’s extensive network.
It is understood that despite the
resumption of the direct flights to
Gatwick, the code sharing agreement
with KLM will continue.
The timing of the Gatwick launch coin-
cides with China Airlines’ plan to take
advantage of an Open Sky agreement
with Australia that will see its Taipei-
Sydney service increased to twice-daily,
also from December 1. It is also upgrad-
ing its Taipei-Brisbane-Auckland link to
daily which, the airline says, strengthens
the connection between its Oceania and
European networks providing transit
customers with even more options.
China Airlines took delivery of its
seventh A350-900, B-18908 (c/n 121),
which was handed over on July 25. The
Taiwanese carrier expects to receive
the final four examples of its ten-aircraft
order before the end of this year.
(Photo Airteamimages.com/Chris Jilli)Airbus
Wins Major
Chinese Deal
STATE-OWNED China Aviation Supplies
Holding Company (CAS) has signed a
General Terms Agreement (GTA) with
Airbus for 140 aircraft. The deal com-
prises 100 A320 Family jets and 40
A350 XWBs.
Tom Enders (Airbus CEO) and Sun Bo
(EVP of CAS) signed the GTA in Berlin
in the presence of visiting Chinese
President Xi Jinping and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“This is a great endorsement for our
leading products in both single-aisle
and widebody segments,” said Enders.
“China is today one of the world’s
most important markets for aviation,
and we are honoured to support the
development and rapid growth of the
nation’s civil aviation with our
competitive product portfolio.”
The in-service Airbus fleet in China
numbered 1,440 aircraft at the end of
May, with A320 Family jets accounting
for 1,230 of those. The European
aerospace giant has a final assembly
line for the A320 Family in Tianjin and is
also opening an A330 cabin completions
centre in the northern Chinese city.ATR Success
in Taiwan
CHINA AIRLINES’ regional subsidiary
Mandarin Airlines is set to become a
new ATR operator after placing a firm
order for six ATR 72-600s. As part of
the $160m deal, signed in Toulouse
on July 19, the Franco/Italian
manufacturer will provide
engineering and technical support to
China Airlines and its subsidiaries as
well as help establish an in-house
capability for ATR heavy mainte-
nance, up to and including C-checks.
Christian Scherer, ATR’s CEO
remarked: “China Airlines and
Mandarin Airlines conducted a very
thorough and comprehensive
evaluation of alternative types for
their regional network, and we are
honoured they selected our aircraft.
The outcome proves once again that
when assessed competitively, the
ATR 72-600 logically prevails in the
eyes of the most discerning airlines.
We look forward to strengthening
our partnership with Mandarin in
the future.”
The new turboprops, which are
due for delivery from next year, will
be operated on Mandarin Airlines’
domestic network and will be config-
ured in a single-class 70-seat layout.Holiday Exotica
Landing in the late afternoon sun at Palma de Mallorca on June 25 was Hi Fly Airbus A330-243,
CS-TFZ (c/n 1008) operating a flight from Düsseldorf to the holiday island. The Portuguese char-
ter airline is due to lease the aircraft to SriLankan Airlines and it has already been repainted in
the carrier’s livery. JAVIER RODRÍGUEZKorean Sta r t-up
Noted passing through Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport on June 17 was this
Canadair CRJ200 on its delivery flight to Air Pohang. The aircraft, HL8203 (c/n 7391), is due
to enter service later this year flying domestic services from Pohang to Seoul/Gimpo and
Jeju Island initially. MARCO FINELLI