Aviation News — February 2018

Mandarin Airlines, the China Airlines’

regional subsidiary, has taken delivery

of its  rst pair of ATR 72-600s. The

aircraft, B-16851 (c/n 1460) and B-

(c/n 1387), are part of a nine aircraft

deal the airline signed in July, with six

examples coming from the Franco/Italian

manufacturer’s production line, while the

other three are long-term leases from

Aviation PLC.

ATR has also proposed establishing

engineering and technical support to

China Airlines and its subsidiaries by

providing in-house capabilities for ATR

heavy maintenance, up to and including

C-checks.

Jenny Tsao, President of Mandarin

Airlines commented: “The ATR 72-

features several strengths, the most

important of which is its fuel efficiency.

With the type joining our  eet, Mandarin

Airlines will signi cantly increase its  ight

frequencies on each of its domestic routes

as well as the possibility of introducing

new services in the future.”

Christian Scherer, ATR’s Chief

Executive Officer, added: “It is always

a special moment when we add a new

operator into our  eet.”

A strategic partnership has been formed

between Japan Airlines (JAL) and Boom

Supersonic. The aim is to bring back

supersonic travel to air travel passengers.

Boom is developing a new generation of

aircraft, which it says, will cut  ight times in half.

The Japanese carrier is investing

$10m into the project, as well as providing

its knowledge and experience of airline

operations. It has also taken an option to

purchase up to 20 Boom aircraft through a

pre-order arrangement.

An impression of the planned new supersonic airliner. Boom Supersonic

JAL and Boom Supersonic Link

Farewell to

Darwin Airline

Swiss-based Darwin Airline has  led for

bankruptcy. The Lugano-based carrier,

which had most recently been  ying under

the Adria Airways Switzerland banner

following its acquisition by Slovenian  ag

carrier Adria Airways last July, announced

the move on December 13.

It came just two weeks after Darwin

suspended services and grounded its  eet

having  led for reorganisation under Swiss

insolvency rules.

Mandarin Receives ATRs

CIVIL NEWS

12 Aviation News incorporating Jets February 2018

One of the two ATR 72-600s that have been delivered to Manadarin Airlines. Eurospot

CIVIL ORDERS

Airline Aircraft Number Order Placed Notes

Delta A321neo 100 December 14

Qazaq Air Q400 2 December 13 Firm purchase agreement

Qatar Airways A320neo 50 December 7 Re-affi rmed earlier order

Qatar Airways A321neo 50 December 7 Firm order

Argentine MAX

Arrives

South American carrier Aerolíneas

Argentinas has received its  rst Boeing 737

MAX 8, LV-GVD (c/n 64207). The aircraft,

which was handed over to the carrier in late

November, entered service on the Buenos

Aires-Mendoza rotation.

Aerolíneas’ MAX 8 can accommodate 170

passengers and is the  rst of 12 examples

the carrier is scheduled to receive. It will

use the aircraft on regional services before

introducing them on  ights to the Caribbean

later this year.

Lufthansa Gets

Five Stars

A  ve-star rating has been awarded to

Lufthansa from airline and airport review

and ranking site, Skytrax. The German

 ag carrier becomes the  rst in Europe

to receive such an accolade – based on

passenger reviews spanning a plethora

of categories from onboard service and

seat comfort to catering and in- ight

entertainment – and just the tenth

operator in the world.

Skytrax attributed the carrier’s new

rating to “the consistency and constancy

with which Lufthansa has forged ahead

with the modernisation of its product,”

citing the airline’s recently upgraded

cabins and “restaurant service” in First

and Business Class.

10,000th Van

Aircraft Flies

David Porter’s  rst  ight of his Vans RV-

on November 25 last year was more

than just a landmark for the Martinsburg,

Virginia, man. It also marked the 10,000th

Vans kit aircraft to take to the air.

By mid-December, the worldwide total

had risen to 10,026 – the RV-6/RV-7 series

proving to be the most popular, with 4,

completed.

The 1,000th completed aircraft  ew

in 1994 and company founder Dick Van

Grundsven said a new Vans  ies on average

every 1.6 days. The original RV-3 was a

single-seater but the RV-10 has four seats,

and the other models carry two people in

either side-by-side or tandem seating.

In the UK, nearly 400 Vans kit aircraft

are currently registered with many more

under construction. Rod Simpson

10-13_civil_newsDC.mfDC.indd 12 08/01/2018 12: