aviation - the past, present and future of flight

LOT to Open

London City Route

LOT Polish Airlines has outlined plans

to launch services to London City

Airport, the 100th destination in its

network. The twice-daily link – from

Warsaw – will start on January 7 next

year and will be operated by four 106-

seat Embraer 190s that will be acquired

from Nordic Aviation Capital by the end

of this year.

A  ve-year capital investment plan

of £1.11bn has been announced by

Gatwick Airport. The new money brings

the total investment to more the £3bn

since the airport’s acquisition by Global

Infrastructure Partners in late 2009

and is to be spent on supporting airline

growth as well as enhancing the airport

for passengers.

Unveiling the strategy, CEO Stewart

Wingate said the spend will run up to 2023,

with £266m planned for 2018-2019 as

Gatwick continues to explore how it can

make best use of its existing infrastructure.

With the planned growth of long-

haul operations at Gatwick, the airport

is predicting passenger numbers will

increase to nearly 53 million by 2023, up

from 45.6 million in 2017. Various wide-

ranging projects have been identi ed

across the site, some of which will be

started this year. These include an

extension to Pier 6 and work on Pier 5,

widening and recon guring a taxiway

to accommodate Airbus A380s, a new

domestic arrivals facility and baggage

reclaim in the South Terminal plus a

mezzanine-level extension in the North

Terminal departure lounge. It will also see

the completion of the road system and

taxiway entrance to the new Boeing aircraft

hangar to connect it to the air eld.

Commenting on the latest investment,

Wingate said: “By committing to spend

another £1.11bn, Gatwick can continue

to grow sustainably, attract new airlines

and offer more global connections. Our

continued growth and ability to attract

new long-haul carriers is vital to the

health of the UK economy, particularly

in a post-Brexit world. Looking beyond

this capital investment programme, we

welcome the government’s support for

airports making best use of their existing

runways and we will plan for our longer-

term future by developing a masterplan

later this year.”

Textron Drops

Citation X+

Textron Aviation has announced it is

discontinuing production of the Cessna

Citation X+ business jet, which has been

its  agship model since introduction

in 1996. To date, 338 examples of the

Citation X (and improved Citation X+)

have been produced, but its sales have

declined. It is now being replaced by the

new 12-passenger Citation Longitude.

Rod Simpson

Gatwick Airport is investing heavily to support new growth. Gatwick Airport

Gatwick Set to Increase Growth

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 7

China’s fast-growing carrier Xiamen

Airlines has received its  rst 737 MAX 8

from Boeing. The aircraft, B-1288, is also

the 200th Boeing jet to be delivered to the

southeastern China-based airline, which has

doubled its  eet size in less than  ve years.

Che Shanglun, Xiamen Airlines’

chairman, said its  eet will double again

to 568 aircraft by 2035 as it plans to

serve more domestic and international

destinations. It currently operates 400 routes

across China, Asia, Europe, North America

and Oceania with an all-Boeing  eet of 737s,

757s and 787 Dreamliners.

Boeing 737 MAX 8 B-1288 in its Xiamen

Airlines livery. Boeing

Chinese Airline Expands

CIVIL ORDERS

Purchaser Aircraft Number Order Placed Notes

FedEx Express 767F 12 June 19 See news story

FedEx Express 777F 12 June 19 See news story

Aegean Airlines A320neo 20 June 22 Firm order placed following a Memorandum of Understanding

signed in March 2018

Aegean Airlines A321neo 10 June 22 As above

Bamboo Airways 787-9 20 June 25 Commitment to buy, with deliveries starting in April 2020

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