Airbus's October 2023 order book changes revealed

Hawaiian Airlines' B717s to be replaced with MAX - report

The planned USD1.9 billion buyout of Hawaiian Airlines (HA, Honolulu) by Alaska Airlines (AS, Seattle Tacoma International) could eventually see B737 MAX stock replace Hawaiian's workhorse B717-200s on inter-island routes.

The Beat of Hawaii outlet notes that the investor presentation accompanying the merger announcement earlier this week says Hawaiian's B717 fleet has nearly half its flight cycle remaining but could eventually be replaced by B737s.

Hawaiian's 19-strong fleet of B717-200s has an average age of 21.9 years. According to ch-aviation fleets advanced data, the youngest has completed just over 30,800 flight cycles, while the oldest has done almost 76,500 cycles. The aircraft link key Hawaiian airports, including Honolulu, Hilo, Kahului, Kona, and Lihue. Except for the B717s, Hawaiian is an Airbus airline, with the remainder of its fleet comprising eighteen A321-200Ns, twenty-four A330-200s, and one A330-300(P2F). It also has eight A330-300s on order.

In contrast, Alaska Airlines is a Boeing operator. Twenty-four of its 252 aircraft are Airbus types,...

S7 Group chief warns of looming engine crunch in Russia

S7 Airlines (S7, Novosibirsk) has been unable to acquire the much-anticipated Irkut-manufactured MC-21-300 narrowbody as almost all have been pre-ordered several years in advance by Aeroflot (SU, Moscow Sheremetyevo). But this is not necessarily bad, as their new PD-14 turbofan engines have such a short service life, S7 Group’s chairman of the board of directors, Evgeny Elin, said at a recent conference.

Speaking at the Russian Industrialist Forum in St. Petersburg last week, Elin said that the engines will have only 3,600 flight hours between overhauls, in contrast to the 40,000 hours of on-wing time typical of the Franco-American CFM International CFM56. This means the engines will have to be removed and sent for overhaul every year, implying more time on the ground and less commercial service.

Even the Aviadvigatel PS-90 turbofan that powers the Il-76, Il-96, and Tu-204/Tu-214 series has a period between repairs that is almost twice as long, 6,000 hours, he added.

The MC-21, for which the Russian flag carrier firmed...

Pakistan's PIA pays $13mn bill, exports A320 to Islamabad

BBN Airlines Indonesia secures funding of $6.2mn

BBN Airlines Indonesia (7B, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) has secured funding of IDR96.1 billion rupiah (USD6.2 million) from its parent company, Avia Solutions Group. The charter startup says the investment reflects the parent entity's strong confidence in the airline's success and growth potential.

"With this support, BBN Airlines Indonesia is poised to execute the company's strategic plan to operate a fleet of 40 aircraft by the end of 2027," said Martynas Grigas, Chairman of BBN Airlines Indonesia. "We are committed to delivering more diverse and high-quality services to the aviation industry in Indonesia. Moving forward, we also plan to expand our services to the commercial flight segments."

The airline, which offers freight ACMI and charter services, currently operates a pair of B737-800(BCF)s. However, BBN recently announced that it would triple its fleet and venture into passenger charter operations by adding a single B737-400(SF) and three B737-800s. Avia also recently announced the start of a Thailand-based freighter airline in the latter half of 2024. To be called BBN Airlines Thailand, that...