Based on the positive feedback you provided on the two incident-summary videos we’ve already put out,
we’re trying something new again! Today’s video will go over some of the noteworthy
fleet developments that have taken place in the last few weeks. Let us know what you think of
this video and if it should also become a once or twice-monthly video, by leaving a comment
down below! With that out of the way, let’s see what has happened recently with airline fleets…
First off, throughout July, Qatar Airways has been steadily removing its Airbus A330-300
fleet from storage. The entire fleet has now been relocated from Doha International Airport
to Hamad International Airport, with 7 of the 8 aircraft already operating cargo and passenger
flights at the time of making this video. We later discovered one of the main reasons for this move,
with Qatar Airways announcing the grounding of 13 A350s due to a degradation issue with the
A350s composite fuselage. This was covered in detail in our daily video on August 6th.
In late July we found out that Air India plans to keep operating its Boeing 747s.
India’s Minister of State for Civil Aviation stated the following:
“There are four 747-400 aircraft in Air India’s fleet, and their average age is about 26 years.
Currently, three of the four 747s are under maintenance checks.
At present, Air India has no plans to phase out the operation of the Boeing 747 from its fleet.”
Singapore Airlines has been flying its A380s recently and even bringing them back home
to Changi Airport. The airline confirmed with Simple Flying that the A380 registered
9V-SKW was moved from storage in Alice Springs to Sydney for maintenance checks on July 28th,
before returning to Singapore. A spokesperson added the following statement:
“This movement is part of the ongoing management of our fleet, ensuring we remain nimble, flexible,
and prepared to deploy capacity to markets as the demand warrants.
The aircraft’s return to Singapore will allow for scheduled maintenance to be conducted.”
Also at the end of July, Fiji Airways returned two A330-200 aircraft back to lessors. The airline has
been working to reduce its costs amid the global health crisis with persistent travel restrictions
and suppressed demand. Although the aircraft aren’t needed anymore, the airline’s CEO noted
that they played a key role in mitigating schedule disruptions caused by the 737 MAX grounding.
On the topic of lease returns, Garuda Indonesia reached an agreement to return 9 737-800s to
AerCap. The aircraft are being returned ahead of schedule due to Garuda’s financial difficulties.
Previously AerCap threatened the airline with legal action
after it failed to pay for the planes. Then, on August 2nd, we reported that
Norse Atlantic Airways is taking six Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners on lease from BOC Aviation.
The Norwegian startup will receive these units in the third quarter of this year.
This is in addition to a March deal to take six used 787-9s and three used 787-8s.
On August 3rd, Lufthansa withdrew another Boeing 747-400 from long-term storage in the Netherlands.
The move comes ahead of the type’s expected reintroduction to service as the airline has
committed to bringing eight of its -400 jumbo jets back, as it patiently waits for the Boeing 777X.
On August 5th we reported that British Airways had extended its service contract with Lufthansa
Technik in the Philippines for its entire fleet of 12 Airbus A380s. This gives us a strong indication
that the superjumbos will eventually fly again with BA, perhaps as soon as November. This was
also a topic we made a video on recently. On the same day, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr
made it clear that the A380 is dead as far as he is concerned,
giving this fleet update during a conference call: “...we’ll be taking away nine sub fleets over the
next years. If you would rather confine that to long-range only, the [A]380 will obviously
not come back. The [A340-600] will only be brought back for two years to make sure we
have enough capacity in Munich including the premium cabins until that is replaced by [A]350s.”
The next day we reported that Czech Airlines had canceled its orders for seven Airbus jets.
3 of these cancelations are A321XLRs with the other 4 being A220-300s. The airline has gone
through significant restructuring, laying off all of its workforce and declaring bankruptcy.
That same week, we saw LATAM in US court seeking approval to purchase 28 new A320neo family jets.
This agreement expands LATAM’s current order for 42 narrowbodies to 70, allowing it to remain
the largest operator in South America The Chile-based company is currently
in a financial reorganization process under Chapter 11 of United States Bankruptcy Law.
The airline is in the process of designing its Reorganization Plan, which, which will
be presented to creditors in mid-September. We certainly weren’t able to cover everything
in this video, or go into as much detail as we would have liked.
As with all of our videos, there’s a more detailed corresponding article on SimpleFlying.com.
Check out the links in the description to learn more- and, as always, share your thoughts on
this video and any of the developments we covered by leaving a comment below!