Commercial Aviation News

Starlux's first Airbus A321neo...

With the historic flight between Israel and Abu Dhabi out of the way it appears that Dubai-based carrier Emirates is looking to commence flights to Israel as well. They are in the final approval stages to be able to have flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv hopefully by the start of 2021.

Boeing 777X in action...

Some commercial traffic at YVR compliments Eye Trapper.

Golden Hour Commercial stuff by Eye Trapper again.

FAA certification has been granted for the GE Aviation GE9X powerplant which will be bolted to wings of the Boeing 777X. "This milestone has been accomplished thanks to the tremendous efforts of the GE9X team and our partners," Karl Sheldon, GE9X program general manager, said in a statement. "The GE9X engine has been through a rigorous and thorough certification and testing process. We are pleased with the performance of the engine, which has been validated through extensive ground and flight testing. We are excited to deliver a mature, state-of-the-art product to operators around the world."

Airbus recently delivered the 10,000th Airbus A320 series aircraft to Middle Eastern Airlines (MEA). The aircraft was an Airbus A321neo registered T7-ME3. "We are honoured to receive the state of the art A321neo with its distinctive serial number 10,000, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of Middle East Airlines and especially after receiving MSN5,000 back in 2012", said Mohamad El-Hout, Chairman and Director General of MEA. 28 Business Class and 132 Economy Class seats comprise the layout onboard. MEA should be taking another half-dozen A321neos in the following months.

Low visibility arrivals and departures at YVR.

The new MC-21-300 undergoing water-ingestion trials.

Looks like Airbus got a new customer for its Airbus A320neo. Greek airline SKY Express made a firm order for four A320neos. The airline recently leased two A320neos so they clearly like the operations of this particular model in their fleet. "It is good news that SKY express has chosen the A320neo to expand its operations and destinations to an international European network. This is a bold step for the development of the airline and we are proud to contribute to that with the A320neo allowing for the best performance in terms of fuel burn, carbon emissions and noise as well as featuring a benchmark cabin," said Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer.

First United States assembled Airbus A220 has been delivered to its customer. The aircraft was made in Mobile, Alabama and is the larger version of the A220, the A220-300. “The delivery of the first U.S.-built A220-300 is a historic moment that highlights Airbus’ growing industrial footprint in North America and makes us all extremely proud,” said C. Jeffrey Knittel, Chairman & CEO Airbus Americas, Inc. “We look forward to seeing passengers delighted by the experience of travelling on board this brand new A220-300 proudly built in Mobile, Alabama.” Delta Air Lines is currently the largest A220 customer, with a total of 95 A220 aircraft on order, and will be the first A220 operator in the Americas to be operating both A220-100 and A220-300 aircraft types.

SAS has also taken delivery of their first A321LR on the 15th of October. It is the first of three the type that they will have on lease from Air Lease Corporation (ALC). SAS now is the newest operator of the A321LR which now takes this single aisle aircraft towards the beginning of the spectrum of long-haul travel. Onboard the first A321LR for SAS there is a three-class layout. 22 'SAS Business' class, 12 'SAS Plus' class and 123 'SAS Go' class seats for a total of 157 seats. It is the longest variant of the A321 currently in service. Airbus is trying to make this model fly even further with the ULR version.

The A321LR is back in the news once again with a very long flight operated between Montreal and Greece by an Air Transat jet. Flight TS690 flew from Montreal to Greece covering 7,652km. This apparently is a one-time flight and is not a regularly scheduled service. They A321LR made the distance in 8 hours and 20 minutes but was originally scheduled for 9 hours and five minutes. The aircraft that performed the flight is a relatively new A321LR only approximately four months old having been delivered in July. This flight is now recognized as the longest A321 commercial to date.

Since British Airways retired their Boeing 747 aircraft at least one of them will be preserved for history's sake. G-CIVB last flew for British Airways in April, MIA > LHR. The aircraft entered British Airways fleet in 1994 and flew nearly 13,400 flights in its lifetime with BA. Those flights covered nearly 60 million miles as well. This aircraft will be preserved at the Cotswold Airport. Sean Doyle, CEO of British Airways said, "It was with great sadness that we retired our two final 747s based at Heathrow earlier this month, so we’re glad Cotswold Airport is able to give one of these aircraft a new home and a new lease of life. The 747, and the Negus livery, are iconic in British Airways’ past, and we hope locals and visitors will enjoy seeing this slice of history for years to come." Photo by Sam Chui

Kuwait takes delivery of its first two Airbus A330neos. This event also marks Airbus’ first A330-800 delivery. The new generation widebody aircraft is the latest addition to Airbus’ product line, highlighting the company's strategy to keep offering its airline customers unbeatable economics, increased operational efficiency and superior passenger comfort with proven latest technology platforms. Thanks to its tailored mid-sized capacity and its excellent range versatility, the A330neo is considered the ideal aircraft to operate as part of the post-COVID-19 recovery. Kuwait Airways Chairman, Captain Ali Mohammad Al-Dukhan stated: “Kuwait Airways takes pride in its continued relationship and cooperation with Airbus for the past four decades.

Another Airbus A380 will be retired very soon. In fact this would be the second time this particular A380 has been retired. What do we mean by this? We are speaking of Hi-Fly's A380 which if you cast your minds back would have been delivered to Singapore Airlines which retired it allowing Hi-Fly to bring it back to service. Clearly this model isn't working for Hi-Fly and initially they suggested they would take the aircraft to 'try-it-out' on the Wet Lease charter market. The aircraft was taken in 2018 so it has been in service with the company for around two years. The aircraft will be retired by the end of 2020. The jet with its distinctive livery spreading awareness about the oceans and coral reefs was outfitted with 471 seats. The registration was 9H-MIP while it was in operation with Hi-Fly from 2018 and 9V-SKC with Singapore airlines in 2008.

Here is a look at the new entrance area on the Airbus A320 done by company FACC. This is the first redesigned interior entrance area done by them for the new A320 Airspace cabin. In addition to the XL bins and ceiling panels, FACC develops and produces also the entrance area of the new Airspace cabin for the A320 family. For more on this you can visit the FAAC website.

https://press.facc.com/news-new-major-airbus-contract-for-facc?id=69124&menueid=14308&l=english

AirBaltic's CEO has become the first known airline CEO to have become type rated on the Airbus A220. Martin Gauss, who began his professional career as a Boeing 737 pilot back in 1992, has maintained his commercial pilot’s license throughout his career. The Airbus A220 type rating training was performed at airBaltic Training Center in Riga, Latvia and officially completed this year on October 1.

Aviation spotting at YVR.