http://www.airlinerworld.com 7News Review • Europe
Romanian start-up Just Us Air has secured
its Air Operator Certificate (AOC), paving the
way for its first services. The Bucharest-
based carrier intends to serve the growing
ACMI charter sector using former Air Astana
Airbus A319-132, YR-URS (c/n 3614). This will
be complemented by a 220-seat A321-
YR-NRS (c/n 1153, ex G-OZBN) imminently.Volotea has opened a new base in
Marseille, its 11th in total. The French hub
will now be served by two resident Boeing
717s, creating 60 jobs in the region and
opening up nine new routes – including
Biarritz, Corfu, Funchal, Mykonos and
Majorca – as well as adding frequencies on
the existing network.Flybe is set to pass control of its London
City-Aberdeen route to franchise partner
Eastern Airways. The service will
continue to operate twice-daily (plus
one rotation on Sunday) but initially will
change from the existing Bombardier
Dash 8-Q400 to a 50-seat Saab 2000
and then later to a 76-seat Embraer 170.
(Photo Eastern Airways)Grupo SATA has shortlisted Loftleidir
Icelandic as its preferred partner as
it moves to dispose of a 49% stake in
subsidiary Azores Airlines. The Portuguese
firm had invited expressions of interest in
the carrier but said its Reykjavík-based
counterpart was the only bidder “to fully
meet both prequalification requirements”.
The Icelandic company, which is also in the
process of acquiring a 51% shareholding
in TACV - Cabo Verde Airlines, is now
expected to submit a binding offer for
the Azores carrier.Maltese charter operator Maleth-Aero has
unveiled plans to add an Airbus A340-
to its fleet. The former Etihad Airways
example, 9H-PGS (c/n 1030, ex A6-EHK), will
be configured in a 316-seat layout, including
eight in first class and 32 in business, and is
expected to enter service in August.EasyJet has boosted its presence in the
south of France by opening a base at
Bordeaux. The new hub – its 30th in total
and sixth in the country after Paris Charles
de Gaulle and Orly, Lyon, Toulouse and
Nice – will be served by three based Airbus
A320s, adding 110 local jobs in the first year
of operation and opening direct links to nine
new destinations.German flag carrier Lufthansa has
launched services between its Frankfurt
base and Glasgow. The new link, which
is operated daily by an Airbus A320, is in
addition to the airline’s existing five-times
weekly connection to Munich and expands
the carrier’s network to 209 destinations in
74 countries.in brief
IAG Eyeing Norwegian Take-Over?
NORWEGIAN CEO Bjørn Kjos has
dismissed claims he could sell the
carrier amid interest from International
Airlines Group (IAG). The conglomer-
ate, which already owns Aer Lingus,
British Airways, Iberia and Vueling,
revealed on April 12 it had acquired
a 4.61% stake in the Oslo-based
operator.
A statement issued by IAG’s chief
financial officer Enrique Dupuy de
Lôme noted: “The minority investment
is intended to establish a position
from which to initiate discussions with
Norwegian, including the possibility of
a full offer for Norwegian.”
He also confirmed that “no such
discussions have taken place to date,
that [IAG] has taken no decision to
make an offer at this time and that
there is no certainty that any such
decision will be made.”
Responding to IAG’s announcement,
Kjos said he “had not envisaged any
sale. I have to underline that we have
had a lot of approaches from different
airlines.” Norwegian had earlier
claimed it had “no prior knowledge” of
IAG’s acquisition and “had not been in
any discussions or dialogue with IAGabout the matter.”
The carrier added that “interest from
one of the largest international avia-
tion groups demonstrates the sustain-
ability and potential of our business
model and global growth.”
Details of IAG’s acquisition comes
barely two months after Norwegian
posted net losses of more than £27m
for the year (see Airliner World, April
2018). The performance, which the
airline attributed to “significant costs
related to increased fuel prices, wet
lease and passenger care” increased
total debts by 5% to more than £2bn.SAS Goes All-Airbus
SAS SCANDINAVIAN Airlines will
transition to an all-Airbus fleet after
confirming an order for 50 A320neos.
The incoming aircraft, which are
scheduled for delivery between spring
2019 and 2023, will replace the Boeing
737 and A320ceos currently in service.The Star Alliance carrier said recent
investments in its product, coupled
with efficiency enhancements, have
led to improved profitability, which has
enabled SAS to place this order.
The latest order increases the carrier’s
total A320neo commitment to 80, 17of which are now in service. Deliveries
of the second batch will be split into
two, with 15 aircraft (due between 2019
and 2021) coming from lessors. The
remainder will be supplied directly from
Airbus, though SAS still holds purchase
options for a further five examples.First Neo for Primera
PRIMERA AIR has taken a step closer to
launching transatlantic services after
receiving its first Airbus A321neo. The
aircraft, OY-PAA (c/n 8145), was hand-
ed over on April 16 and is one of three
being leased from GE Capital Services
(GECAS). It will be joined by a further
five examples (including two long-
range A321LRs) supplied by anotherlessor, all of which are due for delivery
by the end of this year.
Primera Air president Andri Már
Ingólfsson commented: “We are wit-
nessing changes in aviation as long-
haul flights are becoming more
available to everyone. This change is
brought by the new narrowbody
aircraft such as the A321neo andwe are proud to operate it on our
transatlantic flights.”
The jet is configured in a two-class
layout including 16 premium and 182
economy seats. It will initially be
based in Denmark before moving to
the UK, where it will be used to open
new routes to New York, Boston and
Toronto. (Photo Airbus)TAP Neo Breaks Cover
The first three Airbus A330neos for launch customer TAP Air Portugal have broken cover at the manufacturer’s Toulouse/Blagnac facility. This exam-
ple, F-WWCM/CS-TUB (c/n 1826), wears special ‘A330neo first to fly’ markings on the rear fuselage and is largely complete, save for its Rolls-Royce
Trent 7000 engines which are still to be installed. EUROSPOT