10 April 2014
Qingdao Airlines, a Chinese start-up airline, has taken delivery of the company’s first ever aircraft, an Airbus A320 aircraft equipped with Sharklets, on lease from Hong Kong-based China Aircraft Leasing Company (CALC). The airline will become a new operator of the world’s best-selling single-aisle aircraft and make its first commercial flight from its home base of Qingdao in Eastern China to Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan Province in Southwestern China, later in April.
Read more: China’s Qingdao Airlines takes delivery of its first A320
8 April 2014
Skymark Airlines’ first A380 has successfully made its maiden flight, following completion of the airframe assembly and system tests in Toulouse, France. The carrier’s A380 will be entering the next phase of production, covering cabin installation and painting at Hamburg, Germany.
Read more: Skymark Airlines’ first A380 completes its maiden flight
SEATTLE, April 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Air Canada have finalized an order for 61 737 MAX airplanes to lead the airline's single-aisle fleet renewal plan. The order, valued at $6.5 billion at list prices, consists of 33 737 MAX 8s and 28 737 MAX 9s, as well as 18 options and 30 rights to purchase additional 737 MAXs.
Read more: Boeing, Air Canada Finalize Order for 61 737 MAXs
24 March 2014
Singapore's Tigerair has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Airbus for the purchase of up to 50 A320neo aircraft for future fleet renewal and growth. The deal covers 37 firm orders plus 13 options. The aircraft will be powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1100 engines and will be operated by the airline across its Asia-Pacific route network.
21 March 2014
India’s newest airline, AirAsia India, has taken delivery of its first aircraft, an Airbus A320 equipped with Sharklets, becoming the newest operator of the type. Chennai-based AirAsia India will take delivery of an additional nine aircraft for its initial fleet of 10 A320s, to serve India’s rapidly growing domestic air traffic. Powered by CFM engines, the aircraft is configured in an all economy layout with 180 seats.
17 March 2014 Airbus has started final assembly of the first A320neo at its Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Toulouse (France), with the join-up of the forward and aft fuselage sections which recently arrived from St. Nazaire in France and Hamburg in Germany respectively.
Read more: Airbus starts final assembly of best-selling A320neo
Moscow, March 18. The sixth Sukhoi Superjet 100 landed in Mexico on March 16, 2014 to join Interjet SSJ100 fleet. The aircraft (MNS 95038) was rolled out from SuperJet International’s hangar in Venice (Italy) and took off from Venice Marco Polo airport for the ferry flight to Interjet facilities in Toluca (Mexico). During its ferry flight, the aircraft stopped in Keflyavik (Iceland) and Bangor (Maine, USA).
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, March 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Comair Limited announced an order today for eight 737 MAX 8s, valued at $830 million at list prices. It is the first 737 MAX order announcement for an African operator. The order was booked in December 2013 and was previously unidentified on the Boeing Orders & Deliveries website.
Read more: Boeing and South Africa's Comair Limited Announce Order for Eight 737 MAXs
Moscow, December 24. A year ago, on January 23, 2013 Yakutia Airlines performed its first commercial flight on Sukhoi Superjet 100 from its base airport in Yakutsk (the North of Russia), thus, starting operations of a new type of aircraft. From its first commercial flight from Yakutsk to Khabarovsk with passengers on board, the amount of flight hours of two SSJ100 aircraft in the air fleet of Yakutia Airlines has reached 2660 hours for 1084 flights.
While performing domestic and international flights, Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft operated by Yakutia Airlines have transported 54 002 passengers.
Read more: Sukhoi Superjet 100: One Year of Successful Operations by Yakutia Airlines
Taiwanese full service airline, TransAsia Airways collected its first new ATR 72-600 plane at a ceremony with ATR, the world’s largest manufacturer of regional turboprop aircraft, in Toulouse, France today. The plane is the first of 12 ATR 72-600s ordered by TransAsia Airways as part of its fleet renewal and growth program. Other planes, which will gradually replace the aircraft currently operated by TransAsia, are scheduled to be delivered within the next 2 years.
Read more: TransAsia Airways' first ATR 72-600 on its way to Taiwan
HYDERABAD, India, March 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] and SpiceJet announced today at India Aviation 2014 an order for 42 737 MAX 8s. The order, previously listed as unidentified on the Boeing Orders & Deliveries website, is valued at $4.4 billion at list prices.
Read more: Boeing, SpiceJet Announce Order for 42 737 MAX 8s
27 February 2014:Bombardier Aerospace and RwandAir of Kigali, Rwanda today celebrated the delivery of a dual-class Q400 NextGen turboprop airliner to the African airline. RwandAir’s order for the aircraft was announced on April 22, 2013. Jean Paul Nyirubutama, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, RwandAir, accepted the aircraft during a delivery ceremony at Bombardier’s Toronto site where the Q400 NextGen aircraft is manufactured. The ceremony was attended by Bombardier Commercial Aircraft executives and many of the employees involved in the production of the aircraft.
Read more: Bombardier Delivers Dual-Class Q400 NextGen Airliner to RwandAir
Singapore, February 13, 2014 – Embraer S.A. has signed a definitive agreement with India’s Air Costa for a firm order for 50 E-Jets E2s with an additional 50 purchase rights. The acquisition is a mix of 25 E190-E2s and 25 E195-E2s and has an estimated value of USD 2.94 billion based on 2014 list prices. The purchase rights are for an additional 25 E190-E2s and 25 E195-E2s, bringing the total potential order to up to 100 aircraft and can reach USD 5.88 billion if all are exercised. This transaction raises the total E-Jets E2 orders to 200 firm and 200 options/purchase rights since the launch of the E2 program, in June 2013.
Read more: India’s Air Costa places a firm order for 50 E-Jets E2s
Airbus has decided to increase production of its best-selling single-aisle aircraft family to 46 a month in Q2 2016, up from the current rate 42. The new higher production rate will be achieved gradually, with an intermediate step at 44 aircraft per month in Q1 2016.
“Based on the healthy market outlook for our best-selling A320 Family and following a comprehensive assessment of our supply chain’s readiness to ramp-up, we are ready to go to rate 46 by Q2 2016,” said Tom Williams, Executive Vice President Programmes. “With a record backlog of over 4,200 A320 Family aircraft and the growing success of the NEO, we have a solid case to increase our monthly output to satisfy our customers’ requirement for more of our fuel efficient aircraft.”
Read more: Airbus to raise A320 Family production to 46 a month by Q2 2016
Skymark Airlines, Japan’s third largest airline has taken delivery of the first two A330-300s out of a total of ten on lease. Skymark Airlines becomes the first Japanese carrier to operate Airbus’ market leading, A330 wide-body aircraft. Skymark Airlines’ A330s, configured in a very high comfort, all ”Green Seat” cabin with 271 seats, will start scheduled flights in April 2014 from Tokyo Haneda to Fukuoka. Skymark Airlines has also announced plans for A330-300 services from Tokyo Haneda to Sapporo and Naha at a later date.
Read more: Skymark Airlines becomes first Japanese A330 operator