Armenian Airlines launches scheduled operations

South Korea's Jeju Air to acquire second freighter

Jeju Air (7C, Jeju) plans to push on with its expansion into the cargo business despite a downturn in the global air freight market, telling South Korea's News2Day that it would induct another dedicated freighter this year.

This follows the low-cost carrier leasing a B737-800(BCF) from Aviator Capital in mid-2022. At the time, then-CEO Lee-bae Kim said its introduction would help diversify the airline's revenue streams which until then were almost entirely sourced from passenger flights. The freighter, HL8295 (msn 30694), has since settled into a steady pattern of flying between Seoul Incheon and Hanoi and Tokyo Narita.

A Jeju Air spokesperson said this week that the performance of its single freighter was "not bad" and that this was behind the decision to secure a second one. While global freight volumes (and airfreight prices) are down from their pandemic peaks, the volume of airfreight in and out of South Korea across February 2023 was up 5.5% compared to February 2019. ch-aviation has contacted Jeju Air for comment regarding its...

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Armenian Airlines takes first A321-200

Armenian Airlines (JI, Yerevan) took delivery of its first aircraft, an A321-200, on December 7, 2022, although it has yet to secure its Air Operator's Certificate.

OE-ISO (msn 5382), a 10-year-old aircraft formerly operated by Asiana Airlines and owned by Air Lease Corporation, was ferried from maintenance at Ljubljana to Tbilisi. Despite sporting Armenian Airlines' livery, it remains registered in Austria and flew using a generic callsign as Armenian Airlines has yet to obtain its own code.

Armenian Airlines plans to take three A321s and operate a network of scheduled flights, targeting Russia as its main market. Its initial plan was to launch in October 2022.

The carrier is backed by businessman Ararat Sargsyan and is unrelated to former state-owned flag carrier Armenian Airlines (1991), although it uses a nearly identical logo. Sargsyan was also among the founders of Armavia, which went bankrupt; Alliance Air (Armenia), which never launched (and was linked to Russia's Nordwind Airlines); and FlyArmenia Airways, which has rebranded as...