EZNIS AIRWAYS UPGRADES WITH AVRO RJS
Mongolian carrier Eznis Airways is to upgrade its regional route network following the purchase of two former Lufthansa CityLine Avro RJ85s, the first of which was delivered to the operator in the past few days. The jet will enter service later this week and will be joined by the second example in July. Both are configured in a six-abreast 93-seat Economy layout and have been equipped with an unpaved runway protection kit that allows operations from unsealed and gravel runways. Eznis Airways was established in 2006 by the Newcom Group, a leading investment company in Mongolia and currently operates a fleet of four Saab 340 turboprops. The larger jets will allow the company to better serve the needs of its contracted clients as well as to expand operations by increasing capacity on existing routes and potentially flying to its additional international destinations. “Deliveries of the Avro RJ85s will be another important step towards our aim to be the number one choice for regional air service in North Central Asia, by connecting Mongolia to nearby international markets,” said S Munkhsukh, Chief Executive Officer, Eznis Airways. “The arrival of this aircraft will be an important event not only in the history of our airline, but for Mongolia’s aviation industry.” Presently Eznis Airways operates its existing fleet on the largest network of domestic destinations within Mongolia and the highest flight frequencies. Its network covers 14 domestic scheduled and charter destinations, as well as two short-haul international routes to Hailar in China’s Inner Mongolia region and Ulan-Ude in the Russia Federation’s Buryat Republic. It recently signed a strategic co-operation agreement with All Nippon Airways of Japan to explore bilateral cooperation in a broad range of areas such as management, operation, and future flight services between Mongolia and Japan for long term development of air transportation between the two countries.
JAL TO DROP FIRST CLASS SERVICE TO JAKARTA
Japan Airlines is set to switch the operation of its daily Tokyo Narita – Jakarta route from a Boeing 777-300ER to a 777-200ER from the start of the Northern Winter schedules in late October. Although it is planning to use the smaller aircraft on the route there will be only a minor reduction in capacity as the 777-200ER has just one fewer seat than the 777-300ER. This is because the majority of the extra space in the larger variant is accommodated by a First Class cabin. The change will obviously mean the removal of a First Class offering on the route, although statistics suggest that demand for the premium cabin on this particular route was limited. An estimated 201,000 O&D passengers travelled between Tokyo Narita and Jakarta in the last year. JAL has the largest share of this traffic (49 per cent), followed by Garuda Indonesia (23 per cent) and Singapore Airlines (13 per cent).
DELTA BOOSTS NEW YORK – SÃO PAULO WITH 767-400ER
US major Delta Air Lines is to introduce a Boeing 767-400ER on its daily New York JFK – São Paulo route for the Northern Winter schedules. The carrier currently utilises the type during the summer months but was expected to revert back to a smaller 767-300ER for the winter. The aircraft switch will boost weekly seating capacity by 11.3 per cent compared with last winter’s schedule. The carrier and some of its rivals have applied to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to operate more flights into Brazil by the end of this year. The request follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Brazilian and US aviation authorities in March which should lead to the full liberalisation of air services between the two countries. At the moment restrictions remain in place under the transitional arrangement, but by 2013 all legislative barriers could be removed, including the opening of rights to fly to the likes of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
CHINA SOUTHERN INTRODUCES WIDEBODY ON BEIJING - CHANGSHA
China Southern Airlines is to introduce an Airbus A330-200 on one of its six daily Beijing – Changsha flights during July. The carrier currently uses a mix of Airbus A320 and A321 equipment on the domestic flight but between July 1 and July 31 will use an A330 on one of its flights. The route is a busy domestic link with Air China also offering five flights per day, Hainan Airlines two flights a day and Xiamen Airlines a single daily rotation. An estimated 1.26 million O&D passengers travelled on the route in the past year, up almost a third on the previous 12 month period. China Southern dominates the traffic on the route with an estimated 46 per cent share of passengers.
BLUE1 DROPS AVROS AND DROPS ROUTES
Finnish regional carrier Blue1 is to retire its remaining Avro RJ85s from commercial service, according to its parent company SAS Scandinavian Airlines. The regional carrier will now streamline its fleet around its recently introduced Boeing 717 fleet to boost its position in the Finnish market and improve the profitability of the company. The Avros will be retired from August at which time Blue1 will make some amendments to its network as it will focus more strongly on the domestic Finnish market. "We strongly believe this is an important step for Blue 1 in order to strengthen its position in the Nordic market. The streamlining of the fleet is in line with the SAS Group's ambition to simplify and harmonise the fleet at our home bases,” said John Dueholm, Deputy President & Chief Executive Officer, SAS Group. “This is also consistent with our Core SAS strategy to focus on the Nordic region as our home market." The refocus on the Finnish market and the opening of a new Tampere – Copenhagen link will result in the closure of a number of international routes. From the start of August flights from Helsinki to Berlin Tegel, Munich and Tallinn will be suspended, while connections to Amsterdam and Paris CDG will end from September 3. These destinations were served once or twice daily.
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