06.06.2023 - 13:48 UTC
ORIX Aviation has mandated Airstream International Group to sell the first A350-900 returned by SAS Scandinavian Airlines (SK, Copenhagen Kastrup) as a part of its ongoing restructuring.
SE-RSC (msn 391) was retired by the Scandinavian carrier in August 2022 and subsequently ferried for storage to Lourdes/Tarbes on November 29, 2022, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. It remains parked at the French airport. The 2020-vintage aircraft is configured for up to 300 passengers, including 228 in economy class, 32 in premium economy, and 40 in business.
It is one of two A350-900s retired by SAS after just two years of service in August 2022. EI-HJZ (msn 378), formerly SE-RSB, has been parked at Victorville since early January 2023. The Scandinavian airline continues to operate a fleet of four A350-900s and retains two more on firm order from Airbus, with deliveries estimated by ch-aviation for 2024.
Under its US Chapter 11 restructuring process, SAS applied to return 12 aircraft: three A321-200s, three A320-200Ns, three A330-300s, the two...
31.05.2023 - 14:14 UTC
A political tussle exists in Nigeria over a B737-300 of dormant Cally Air (Calabar), the Cross River state government-owned virtual carrier suspended by its operator Aero Contractors (N2, Lagos) in July 2022, over NGN900 million naira (USD1.9 million) in outstanding service fees.
According to This Day newspaper, in 2021, the Cross River state government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AeroContractors as the operator and IRS Airlines (Abuja) as the asset manager of two aircraft: B737-300 5N-BYQ (msn 30334) and Dash 8-200 5N-GRS (msn 547). Cally Air was created to service Calabar from Lagos, Kano, and Abuja.
Recently, outgoing Cross River state governor Ben Ayade planned to cede 5N-BYQ to IRS Airlines in a somewhat blurred agreement opposed by his successor Bassey Ottu and Aero Contractors, reports This Day. Ayade, earlier this year, had listed some of the state's assets - including Cally Air - to be ceded to private firms.
About two weeks ago, Cross River state government representatives led by...
22.05.2023 - 09:16 UTC
Niceair (Akureyri) has said in a statement that it plans to file for bankruptcy and that all claims will now go through the legal process. It placed the blame squarely on Hi Fly Malta (3L, Malta International), from which it wet-leased its only aircraft.
At the end of March, Hi Fly Malta appeared to take the step of retiring its only narrowbody, A319-100 9H-XFW (msn 3689), a twinjet that had been dedicated to the Icelandic virtual carrier since its launch in June 2022. That forced Niceair to suspend all flight operations. ch-aviation saw documents confirming that lessor Avolon had repossessed the aircraft from the production carrier. Niceair blamed Hi Fly Malta for not keeping up with its lease payments, an allegation the Maltese ACMI/charter specialist denied, instead blaming Niceair for non-compliance with the contract’s terms.
“These were in every way uncontrollable reasons. This closure is particularly tragic as there were good grounds and experience had shown that there was a basis for direct international flights through...
Editorial Comment: Added Hi Fly comment - 23.05.2023 - 11:20 UTC
18.05.2023 - 10:37 UTC
BRA - Braathens Regional Airways (TF, Trollhättan) will wet-lease an A320 from Fly2Sky (F6, Sofia) this summer to operate flights from Luleå Airport in Sweden to various destinations throughout Europe, the Bulgarian ACMI/charter specialist revealed in a statement on May 15.
Fly2Sky said that its new partnership with the Swedish carrier’s parent company, BRA - Braathens Regional Airlines (Stockholm Bromma), had been forged in cooperation with the UK-based aircraft charter broker Smart Aviation.
Starting in May and running until the end of October, Fly2Sky will provide A320-200 LZ-FSA (msn 4247) for the wet-lease operation, in a deal which the Bulgarian carrier said would “expand its route network and provide its customers with access to more destinations in Europe.” This correlates with what it has previously said is an expansion push into European markets.
LZ-FSA was ferried from Riga, where airBaltic (BT, Riga) had been wet-leasing it to support its operations during April and the first half of May, to Sofia on May 14,...
