Comings and goings #2

Here is a quick look at some of the notable comings and goings for airlines in the Australia/New Zealand region between the last update in March and now.

Air New Zealand have reduced their Boeing 737 fleet to just two frames, with two more leaving the fleet.
ZK-NGG Boeing 737-33A deregistered 17-June-2015 and noted recently in CHC wearing N303KH
ZK-NGR Boeing 737-33A deregistered 01-May-2015
ZK-EAK Beech 1900D deregistered 17-June-2015
During the period they gained the following A320
ZK-OXI Airbus A320 registered 13-April-2015

To enable Sounds Air's expansion and its replacement of Air new Zealand on some services Sounds Air have taken delivery of the following aircraft
ZK-PLS Pilatus PC12/45 registered 16-March-2015 ex VH-KWO
ZK-PLZ Pilatus PC12/45 registered 28-May-2015 ex VH-JMU
ZK-PLT Pilatus PC12/45 not yet registered still registered as VH-MWO arrived in NZ on 04-June-2015

The departure of the former Vincent Aviation fleet continues
ZK-VAI J31 deregistered 28-May-2015 to A3-SKY with Real Tonga Airlines delivered 04-June-2015
ZK-ECO BAe 146-200 deregistered 20-April-2015 to VH-SUF with Skyforce (Pionair Australia)registered 24-April-2015
VH-VNU Saab SF340B deregistered 7-April-2015 Exported to Guam with Skydive Guam

Cobham (National Jet Express) have taken delivery of another aircraft
VH-NJU Avro RJ85 registered 10-June-2015

Jetstar continued to receive Boeing 787-8s
VH-VKJ Boeing 787-8 registered 30-April-2015
VH-VKK Boeing 787-8 registered 19-May-2015

There have been several changes to the Qantas fleets
VH-NHY EMB120R deregistered 02-March-2015 exported to South Africa
VH-OGI Boeing 767-300 deregistered 06-May-2015 exported to USA
VH-OGL Boeing 767-300 deregistered 07-Aptil-2015 exported to USA
VH-OGO Boeing 767-300 deregistered 19-June-2015 exported to USA
VH-OGT Boeing 767-300 deregistered 16-June-2015 exported to USA
VH-TJI Boeing 737-476 deregistered 27-May-2015 exported to USA
VH-TJK Boeing 737-476 deregistered 30-April-2015 exported to USA
VH-OJA Boeing 747-400 deregistered 31-March-2015 to HAARS Aviation Museum Wooloongong

The next wave of Virgin Australia deliveries have been registered but are yet to be delivered, interestingly they have returned to the YF* rego block after receiving deliveries in the YI* block, suggesting these will be domestic aircraft. 
VH-YFS Boeing 737-8FE registered 12-May-2015 not yet delivered
VH-YFT Boeing 737-8FE registered 12-May-2015 not yet delivered
VH-YFU Boeing 737-8FE registered 12-May-2015 not yet delivered
VH-YFV Boeing 737-8FE registered 12-May-2015 not yet delivered

JQ heads to China

Jetstar today have announced they will launch Gold Coast - Wuhan flights from Tuesday 29-September-2015 utilising their Boeing 787-8 aircraft.

This is the first direct Australia - China route for Jetstar, who previously offered one stop flights via Singapore.

The flights will operate twice weekly on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Jetstar have teamed up with Chinese tour operator Dalian Wanda Group to sell the flights which gives Jetstar an almost certain guarantee that the flights will be profitable.

Read more on the new service via Australian Business Traveller HERE, Australian Aviation HERE or Airline Hub Buzz HERE

LAN commence 787 service

LAN have today commenced their dedicated 787 service to Auckland and Sydney.

LA801 operated by Boeing 787-8 CC-BBA departed Santiago 39 minutes late at 00:44CLST Friday 17-April-2015 bound for Auckland and onto Sydney.

The final A330 service on the route was operated by A330 CC-CQF as LA800 and departed Sydney at 10:17AEST Friday 17-April-2015 bound for Auckland and onto Santiago.

Later this year LAN will again upgrade the LA801/800 service moving from the Boeing 787-8 to the Boeing 787-9

CC-BBA the first LAN 787-8 on LA801 departing Santiago for Auckland and Sydney

What is Nyepi Day? And why are there no flights?

Today is Nyepi the Balinese 'Day of Silence' which is celebrated as part of Isakawarsa with tomorrow being Balinese New Years Day.  Although a Hindu festival, Nyepi is observed by all in Bali, a description of it follows

Observed from 6 a.m. until 6 a.m. the next morning, Nyepi is a day reserved for self-reflection, and as such, anything that might interfere with that purpose is restricted. The main restrictions are no lighting fires (and lights must be kept low); no working; no entertainment or pleasure; no traveling; and, for some, no talking or eating at all. The effect of these prohibitions is that Bali's usually bustling streets and roads are empty, there is little or no noise from TVs and radios, and few signs of activity are seen even inside homes. The only people to be seen outdoors are the Pecalang, traditional security men who patrol the streets to ensure the prohibitions are being followed.  Although Nyepi is primarily a Hindu holiday, non-Hindu residents of Bali observe the day of silence as well, out of respect for their fellow citizens. Even tourists are not exempt; although free to do as they wish inside their hotels, no one is allowed onto the beaches or streets, and the only airport in Bali remains closed for the entire day. The only exceptions granted are for emergency vehicles carrying those with life-threatening conditions and women about to give birth.

This effects the following flights to/from Australia today/tomorrow morning

KEY:

JQ - Jetstar

VA - Virgin Australia

GA - Garuda Indonesia

QZ - Indonesia AirAsia

320 - Airbus A320

73H - Boeing 737-8FE(W)

333 - Airbus A330-300

332 - Airbus A330-200

100 - Fokker F100

788 - Boeing 787-8

Seasons Greetings

Its Christmas Eve already!  I don't know where 2014 has gone but 2015 is rapidly approaching.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has viewed this blog over the past year and wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year.

I look forward to everything the new year has to bring to the aviation world in Australia and New Zealand.

I leave you with a wonderful Christmas gesture from Virgin Atlantic in partnership with Microsoft on VS11 a Boeing 787-8 from LHR to Boston.

News round up vlog

Time for another video post, this time rounding up some of the recent news from Air New Zealand, Qantas, Scoot and LAN

JQ also have a loss

As mentioned in the Qantas Group loss post, Jetstar also had a full year loss of $116m ($AUD) down from a profit of $138m in FY13

Jetstar's domestic Australian operations were profitable as they have been every year since the launch in 2004.

The losses are attributed to unfavourable fuel costs of $86m, a $113m yield decline across the JQ group and $70m in costs for the rapid acceleration of the Jetstar Japan operation, as well as another $20m in costs for other Jetstar operations in Asia.

- Jetstar Asia is the leading LCC in Singapore
- Jetstar Japan is the fastest growing LCC in Japan
- Jetstar Pacific in Vietnam is growing and will increase its fleet from 7 to 10 by December 2014
- Jetstar Hong Kong is still stuck on the ground awaiting regulatory approval

Fleet
As mentioned in the Qantas post there have been some fleet changes with Jetstar

- JQi has received 4x B787-8 enabling it to return 3x A332 to Qantas
- JQd(AU) has sold 5x A320 on order based on the subdued outlook for domestic growth
- 21x A320 currently on order have been deferred for 4 years and converted into an order for 21x A320neo taking the total A320neo order to 99 frames
- The final 3 B787-8 of the original 14 frame have been deferred (previously announced)

The Jetstar result is buried in the middle of the Qantas group announcement and can be found in the Qantas Group FY14 Financial Results Media Release document HERE

QF group lose big

Day two of Australasian Aviation financial announcements saw Qantas announce a record $2.843 billion ($AUD) full year loss.

Qantas has reported a lower than expected full-year underlying loss before tax of $646 million, but booked a statutory loss of $2.8 billion as a result of hefty restructuring charges and writedowns to its fleet.

One of the most notable hits was the historic write down of the international fleet at $2.6b most notably due to an exchange rate of around $0.68 AUD-USD at time of purchase.

Qantas domestic had an underlying profit of just $30m for FY14 down from $365m in FY13, however Qantas International saw the biggest hit with an underlying loss of $497m compared with $246m in FY13

Jetstar had an underlying loss but I will focus on this in a separate post.

Qantas Freight made an underlying profit of $24m down from $36m in FY13, however Qantas Loyalty had the best result with an underlying profit of $286m up from $260m in FY13.

The Qantas Group expects to return to an underlying profit before tax in the first half of FY15 based on the following expectations:

• A target of $300m of Qantas Transformation benefits to be realised in the first half

• A stabilising operating environment, as market capacity growth subsides

• First half fuel costs in line with the first half of FY14

• The repeal of the carbon tax

• Reduced depreciation costs compared with the first half of FY14 

Fleet Changes

There are some interesting changes to the QF fleet coming out of this announcement.

QFi
- Gradual replacement of B747s with A330s on Australia to Asia routes including all SYD/BNE-SIN by Sept 2014
- Early retirement of 4x B747 with the remainder of the non-reconfigured B747s to leave by early 2016
- Push back the options on 50x B787 from 2016 into 2017
- Defer the delivery of the final 8x A380(previously announced)
- Defer the final 3 B787-8 deliveries for JQ (previously announced)

QFd - including QantasLink, Network Aviation, Jetstar and Jetconnect
- reduce turn time for domestic aircraft to improve utilisation
- refurbishment of B737-800 fleet to be completed by mid 2015, provides a total 3% capacity increase
- Early retirement of B767 fleet, to be gone by end of 2014!
- Retirement of Network Aviations fleet of Embraer Brasillia EMB120 effective immediately
- Retire 2x B738 due to increased utilisation, 1 to come from domestic 1 to come from Jetconnect
- Not renew lease on 2x A330-200s which will leave the fleet in early 2016
- 5x A320s ordered for Jetstar have been sold
- 2x QantasLink Q300 will be sold during FY15
- defer order for 21x A320 for Jetstar by 4 years and convert into order for 21x A320neo


Read all of the announcements to the ASX, including the media release, the CEO's address, the Investor presentation and the Fleet Update HERE

VH-VKA nears home

With Jetstar's first Boeing 787-8 VH-VKA set to touch down on Australian soil tomorrow its a great time to showcase an awesome video from Boeing (via ausbt.com.au) of the aircraft coming together.

1st Flights

 

Two new aircraft for local airlines have recently had their first flights.  Both are new Boeing 787 aircraft VH-VKA a 787-8 for Jetstar and N789EX (to be ZK-NZC with Air New Zealand) the first Boeing 787-9

photo via Airchive .com

VH-VKA took to the air for the first time on Saturday 14-September-2013 at 16:40 local time on a 1hr 33min flight to/from Moses Lake.  Read more from Australian Aviation HERE or Ausbt.com HERE

photo Boeing via Australian Aviation

The first Boeing 787-9 has taken to the air as part of the Boeing test/certification program for the model.  The frame will become ZK-NZC the third 787-9 to be delivered to Air New Zealand in 2015 after it has finished its Boeing test program.

The 789 departed Everett this morning (17-September-2013 local) at 11:02 and performed a five hour flight testing the aircraft's systems and structures.

Air India steal Australasian 787 crown

Air India has won the Australasian crown for the first commercial B787-8 flight with B787-8 VT-ANK touching down in Sydney this morning as ACI312 direct from Delhi.

The 787-8 departed Delhi 10 minutes late at 15:40 IST yesterday and landed in Sydney at 08:13 AEST almost 30 mins behind schedule.

It departed SYD as ACI311 at 10:35 AEST almost an hour behind schedule for MEL where it landed at 11:59 AEST over an hour behind schedule.

The new services mark the return of Air India to the Australian market after a sustained period of absence with the flight operating a daily service, DEL-SYD-MEL-DEL 4x weekly and DEL-MEL-SYD-DEL on the other 3 days.

Read more about the Air India service from ausbt.com.au HERE or view the flight at flight aware HERE

Air India B787-8 via Australian Business Traveller

QF fleet changes

Qantas have announced some changes in the layouts on their A330 fleet as well as the new B717s.

All 30 of Qantas’ A330s will be upgraded with Business Suites in a 1-2-1 layout with fully flat beds and direct aisle access from every seat. Ten A330-300s for Qantas International will feature new Economy seats and 20 A330-200s for Qantas Domestic will see their Economy seats refurbished.

The 5 "new" Boeing 717s being delivered to Qantas will operate as a dedicated sub-fleet on the Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane-Canberra routes and will feature a business class cabin and iPad entertainment in every seat.

“These dedicated B717 aircraft will offer excellent levels of comfort, entertainment, food and wine, delivering on our commitment to continually improve our service,” said Mr Joyce.
The five new QantasLink B717s, announced in January this year, will be introduced to the domestic fleet during FY14.  Qantas Domestic’s 13 other B717s are also being upgraded with new interiors in an all-economy configuration.

Other fleet announcements include the major announcement that as the Jetstar A330s return to Qantas Domestic coupled with further Boeing 737-800s the entire Qantas Boeing 767 fleet will be retired by mid 2015.

• Bombardier Q400 - 3 more to arrive in 1st half of FY14
• Boeing 717 - sub-fleet to be delivered during FY14 with business class
• Boeing 737-400 - all to be retired in FY14
• Boeing 737-800 - four to be delivered in FY14, 5 to be delivered in FY15
• Boeing 767-300 - all to be retired by mid 2015
• Boeing 787-8 - 1st to be delivered in Sept & in service in Nov, 2 further to be delivered by December
• Boeing 747-400 - 2 to be retired in FY14 as underperforming Frankfurt route is cut
• Airbus A330 - all will be upgraded with new seats, JQ's A330s will transfer to QF domestic as 787-8s arrive

Read more on the fleet changes at the Qantas News Room HERE

- Download the Qantas B717 pdf fact sheet HERE

- Download the Qantas A330 pdf fact sheet HERE

JQs 1st 787

Jetstar's first Boeing 787-8 VH-VKA rolled out of the Boeing paint shop late last week and they posted pics of it to their flickr account

Our first Boeing 787 in its Jetstar livery by Jetstar Airways, on Flickr

Our first Boeing 787 in its Jetstar livery by Jetstar Airways, on Flickr

Our first Boeing 787 in its Jetstar livery by Jetstar Airways, on Flickr

Our first Boeing 787 in its Jetstar livery by Jetstar Airways, on Flickr

See more pics on the Jetstar Flickr page

JQ 787 just 5 months from service

Jetstar have sparked a flurry of excitement from local spotters in Cairns, Gold Coast, Perth, Melbourne & Sydney by announcing their new fleet of 787 aircraft will debut on domestic services in November before heading into international operations in December.

Qantas’ low-cost offshoot, which takes delivery of Australia’s first 787 in late September, says that popular domestic routes from Sydney, Melbourne and Perth to the Gold Coast and Cairns “are currently being considered”.

Interestingly enough with the exception of Perth these are the destinations that JQ fly their international A330 services from, and the ports that will see the 787's when they transition over to the international routes.

Read more on the Jetstar route announcement from David Flynn at ausbt.com.au HERE

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Jetstar have also announced the seating layout of their new birds with 21 business class seats in a 2-3-2 layout, while 314 economy seats will be laid out 3-3-3 giving an all up load of 335 passengers.

The seat pitch will be comparable to Jetstar’s current A330 fleet – around 38 inches in business class and 31 inches in economy –  says  Jetstar’s 787 director Mark Dal Pra.

Read more on the seating plans including inseat USB power, and gate-to-gate IFE at ausbt.com.au HERE 

Qantas Group makes minor fleet purchase change

Qantas have trimmed their order for Boeing 787-8s for Jetstar to 14 frames, down by 1, while at the same time announcing a renewed domestic push with the leasing of 5 more Boeing 717s and the purchase of 3 more Bombardier Q400 aircraft.

On top of the 14 787s remaining on order for Jetstar, Qantas retains the option to buy up to 50 more Dreamliners in either the 787-8 or stretched 787-9 variant for delivery from 2016, to be shared between the Jetstar and Qantas fleets.

The new domestic aircraft are tipped for work in the mining rich regions of Queensland and Western Australia on both FIFO and RPT services.

In what is a clear competitve response to the announcement by Virgin Australia it is seeking to grow its regional airline portfolio through the acquisition of Skywest, the additional Boeing 717s and Bombardier Q400s will support Qantas’s defensive position on thinner regional routes, particularly in Western Australia. Qantas’s existing 717 fleet is operated for QantasLink by Cobham.

Read more on these fleet announcements from either Australian Aviation HERE or Australian Business Traveller HERE

QF 763's begin to depart

As die hard avgeek readers will know Qantas have a somewhat orphan sub fleet in their 767-300ER fleet with 7 ex British Airways Rolls Royce powered 763s.  These aircraft were registered in the VH-ZX* range.

These aircraft have always presented problems for Qantas, and they have long been flagged for retirement, but with replacement delays etc they have remained in the fleet.  Until now.  The first of the 7 to be retired is VH-ZXB which was flown from Sydney to Roswell New Mexico for desert storage.

These 7 frames are slowly being replaced by additional B738 capacity and A332s, both new A332s (see previous article) or older A332s returning to QF as JQ gets 787s

Australian Aviation has a short piece about ZXB's departure HERE

Domestic transcontinental flights

Normally when people think trans continental flights they think of LAX-JFK or similar in the USA, but Australia has its own transcontinental services between the three big east coast cities BNE, SYD & MEL and PER on the west coast.

Qantas have just taken delivery of their final Airbus A330-200 VH-EBV 'Kangaroo Island' which sports One World alliance titles, which they will operate on the domestic transcontinental flights.

Photo from Qantas Facebook page

Along with this delivery Qantas have announced that from May 2013 all week day flights on the MEL-PER-MEL & SYD-PER-SYD routes will be operated by A330-200 aircraft.  A move which has been in part to combat rival Virgin Australia who already operate their A330 fleet on all MEL-PER routes and next year also on all SYD-PER flights, these currently operate as a mix of A330 & B738 flights.

Qantas will also take delivery next year of the A332 fleet that is currently utilised by Jetstar, when Jetstar begin to take delivery of their new Boeing 787 fleet.

I hope that once these aircraft are received that all Brisbane-Perth flights will also go to all A332, (currently a mix of A332/B763/B738) but hopefully the change to A332 flights from SYD/MEL will mean all BNE-PER will be at least B763.

Read more about these services and the Qantas A332 fleets via Australian Business Traveler HERE or Australian Aviation HERE

Qantas can 787-9!

Qantas have sensationally cancelled their firm order for 35 Boeing 787-9s, in a bid to reign in costs as part of its fleet restructure.

Fifty B787-9 options and purchase rights will be retained and brought forward by almost two years, available for delivery from 2016" the airline said in a statement.

Jetstar will still receive their 15 Boeing 787-8s which will enable the return of the A330 fleet back to Qantas which will enable them to replace their aging domestic B767 fleet.

Read more about the announcement and its impact on the Qantas fleet through Australian Business Traveller (ausbt.com.au) HERE