AOC drive for Air Arabia Sudan to start early 2Q23 - CEO

Philippines' Cebu Pacific eyes 15 new aircraft in 2023

The chairman and owner of Cebu Pacific Air (5J, Manila Ninoy Aquino International) says he will spend about USD650 million on new aircraft this year. Lance Gokongwei said the airline's total fleet would grow by six aircraft in 2023 to 76, a growth rate he called both strategic and necessary.

Speaking to Forbes Asia, he said Cebu Pacific would acquire 15 additional aircraft this year but retire or return nine, leading to a net growth of six, adding: "We’re growing Cebu Air in a very manageable fashion."

Gokongwei's fleet count included ATR - Avions de Transport Régional turboprops operating for subsidiary Cebgo (DG, Manila Ninoy Aquino International). Giving some detail, he said Cebu Pacific Air would take delivery of ten "Airbus neo" this year plus a further five leased aircraft.

According to ch-aviation fleets advanced data, the airline has twelve A320-200Ns, eleven A321-200NXs, ten A321-200NY(XLR)s, and twelve A330-900Ns all on order at Airbus. It already operates these aircraft types plus A320-200s. ch-aviation has contacted...

Indonesia's TransNusa to expand to int'l ops in early 2Q23

Indonesian carrier TransNusa (8B, Kupang) will launch its first international route in mid-April. It will begin Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta - Kuala Lumpur International flights on April 14, to be followed by a roll-out of scheduled services between Jakarta and other Malaysian airports, including Johor Bahru.

The airline will use its three A320-200s and single A320-200N on the sector and operate the round-trip Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur flights 2x daily. TransNusa group chief Bernard Francis told local media that the service would help meet strong passenger demand on the route. Traffic on the Indonesia-Malaysia country pair leans heavily towards Indonesian nationals who travel to Malaysia for business, tourism, and education reasons.

According to ch-aviation capacities data, seven scheduled passenger carriers already service the route. With the biggest market share is Malaysia Airlines (23.4%), followed by Batik Air Malaysia (21.98%), Indonesia AirAsia (19.48%), AirAsia (12.98%), Batik Air (11.69%), Garuda Indonesia (5.84%), and Citilink (4.64%). In total, the airlines offer almost 39,000 seats a week on the city pair....

Thailand's Really Cool Airlines eyes Airbus widebodies - CEO

Timor-Leste's first registered jet ferried in for Aero Dili

In a significant event for Timor-Leste, Aero Dili (8G, Dili) has ferried in the first ever commercial jet aircraft to be based in the country. The A320-200 will initially begin scheduled services between Dili's President Nicolau Lobato International Airport and Denpasar before venturing into other markets.

As previously reported by ch-aviation, Aero Dili has secured 4W-AAL (msn 3672) on a two-year lease from DAE Capital. The 14.42-year-old aircraft formerly flew for Bangkok Airways as HS-PPO and went into maintenance at Kuala Lumpur International in the fourth quarter of 2022 before ferrying to Bangkok Don Mueang and onto Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta earlier this month.

On March 20, bearing Aero Dili livery, the A320 flew into Dili. This followed Aero Dili securing its certificate of registration (COR) and certificate of airworthiness (COA) from the Civil Aviation Authority of Timor-Leste (AACTL) in mid-March. While undergoing maintenance, 4W-AAL was reconfigured to seat just 165 passengers.

"Aero Dili has successfully obtained its own Airbus A320 aircraft," President Director Lourenco de Oliveira said...