Copa Airlines will drop its Panama City – Fortaleza service on
04Aug19, operated with a B737-700.Corendon Dutch Airlines [CD/CND] [Netherlands] has signed a
preliminary agreement for takeover by Triton, the owners of Sunweb,
with whom it will be amalgamated. The deal does not include the
Turkish & Malta Airlines or Corendon Hotels & Resorts.Corsair International [SS/CRL] [France] plans to operate up to 15
A330s/A330neos and add new routes to North America, according to
its new owner Intro Aviation (Germany). The first leased A330-900 is
due in September 2020, followed by two more in 1Q21, which will allow
the carrier to phase out its B747-400s.Croatia Airlines [OU/CTN] [Croatia] will cover its net loss of US$12.5
million accumulated in 2018 by dipping into its capital reserves.Cubana de Aviacion [CU/CUB] [Cuba] is acquiring two new ATR72-
600s, with the first being serial 1564. The aircraft will replace two
ATR72-500s on wet lease from Solenta (South Africa).Cyprus Airways [CY] [Cyprus] and Bulgaria Air have entered into a
codeshare partnership, connecting Larnaca to Sofia.Delta Air Lines [DL/DAL] [US] has acquired a 4.3% equity stake in
Hanjin-KAL (South Korea), the largest shareholder of Korean Air. Delta
intends to increase its equity stake to 10% over time, after receiving
regulatory approval.
CEO Ed Bastian says the carrier’s revenues between the US and
China are up 25% so far in 2019, year-on-year, despite heightened
trade tensions and a drop in Chinese visitors.
Delta Air Lines has ordered five additional A220-100s, bringing the
total number of orders placed to 95, including both the A220-100s and
A220-300s. The airline is the first to select the new increased MTOW for
its entire fleet from 2020.
The carrier is establishing a new connecting complex at Boston
Logan airport, its newest hub.
Delta Air Lines has received first A330-900 N401DZ (1915). A330-
900s wil be based at Seattle to operate to PVG, ICN & NRT.
The airline retired its last domestic B763 N1402A (25989) on
03Jun19 following flight DL1802 Salt Lake City-Atlanta; the aircraft was
subsequently flown to Blythville.
Delta Air Lines is increasing capacity on its Salt Lake City – Kahului
route in winter 2019/20 season, scheduling Airbus A330-300s, instead
of Boeing 767-300ERs. The seasonal service operates from 19Dec19 to
30Mar20.EasyJet [U2/EZY] [UK] and its pilots’ union in Spain have signed a
new agreement in force until 2022.Cebu Pacific’s A330neo aircraft will be a higher capacity version of the
A330-900, with 460 seats in single class configuration.
Cebu Pacific added a new Manila – Shenzhen nonstop route from
01Jul19, with A320.
It also launched an A321neo service on the Manila – Singapore
route on 11Jun19 and a Shenzen – Manila route on 02Jul19.
China Airlines [CI/CAL] [Taiwan] has signed an MOU with Airbus for
11 A321neos and will acquire another 14 aircraft of the type on lease.
The carrier is to drop its daily B737-800 Hong Kong – Jakarta
service on 27Oct19.
China Eastern Airlines [MU/CES] [China] added one A320neo and
one B737-800 in May 2019, ending the month with 700 aircraft. The
carrier is looking for strategic cooperation, joint ventures and equity
investment as part of its regional expansion plan.
China Eastern has formally requested compensation from Boeing
for the grounding of its 14 B737 MAX aircraft and has delayed
deliveries of future aircraft.
China Eastern began A350-900 services on its Shanghai Pu Dong
- Hong Kong route from 05Jul19; A330-200 Qingdao – Dubai services
on 29Jun19; B737-800 Kunming – Taichung pm service 26Jun19; B737-
800 Wuhan to Mandalay and Yangon in late May 2019; and B787-9
Shanghai – Budapest direct on 07Jun19.
The carrier is seeking authority from CAAC to operate from
Wenzhou to Milan twice weekly from October.
China Eastern will complete the transfer of operations to Beijing
Daxing airport for its 2020 summer schedule.
China Eastern will reposition China United as an LCC.
China Southern [CZ/CSN] [China] wants to become the world’s
biggest carrier by 2021 and does not plan to seek an alliance with any
of the industry’s major groups by then.
The carrier added one A320neo, two A321neos, one B777-300ER,
and one B787-9 in May 2019, and terminated the lease of six A320s and
one E190, ending the month with 849 aircraft. It has since taken
delivery of the first of 20 A350-900s.
China Southern and Spring Airlines (China) are reportedly
exploring cooperation in the LCC sector.
China Southern added Guiyang – Bangkok route on 11Jul19, using
a B737-800.
China United Airlines [KN/CUA] [China] plans to have about 80
aircraft to cover new destinations outside China in three to five years.
Copa Airlines [CM/CMP] [Panama] has registered La Nueva Aerolinea,
a new LCC airline unit based in Panama City, which it plans to operate
under the Wingo (Colombia) brand to Havana, Caracas, Lima, Bogota,
Cali, Medellin, Cartagena, Pereira, Barranquilla, Santa Marta, and San
Jose.
Airbus A320-251N G-UZLD (9036) on delivery to Luton on 20th June 2019. [Dave Lythgoe]