Airlines & Lessors

Lufthansa Group has taken delivery of the first Airbus A320neo following a delay from the re-engined narrowbody’s planned end-of-2015 delivery schedule.

Malaysian long-haul, low-cost carrier AirAsia X (AAX) plans to restart Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA)-Indira Gandhi International (DEL) service from Feb. 3.

China Eastern Airlines plans to open 13 international routes in the first half of this year as it speeds up its international expansion pace.

Fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 results, which most carriers begin reporting this week, should reveal that the US airline industry will once again lead the world in terms of revenues and profits, Wall Street analysts and a credit-ratings agency believe.

US Airlines ranked by complaints per 100,000 passengers, lowest to highest; contrasted with complaint rankings from the previous month, and the year-ago month.

US airlines on-time performance, ranked by percentage of flight arrivals on-time at all reporting airports at which these carriers operate, contrasted with the previous month's performance, and the year-ago month's performance.

The state property management department of Russia’s Khanty-Mansi autonomous area has received a 38.8% share in UTair Airline.

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), which reported a record 8.1% increase in passenger numbers in 2015, warned the facility could be reaching its maximum capacity.

Vienna International Airport is looking for ways to modify its terminal facility to handle Airbus A380s.

Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson said the Atlanta-based carrier is “taking a very serious look” at purchasing the Bombardier CSeries aircraft.

Delta Air Lines earned a net profit of $4.53 billion in 2015, a nearly $3.9 billion improvement from $659 million in net income in 2014.

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings has agreed to acquire Southern Air Holdings for $110 million in an all-cash transaction.

Bombardier has begun the ramp-up to full CSeries production, after completing the structural build of Swiss International Air Lines’ first CS100, which is scheduled for delivery in 2Q 2016.

Bahrain national carrier Gulf Air is planning “some major aircraft announcements” on Jan. 21, the opening day of the three-day Bahrain International Air Show (BIAS).

Hainan Airlines’ four subsidiaries have formed a partnership being hailed as the world’s first low-cost carrier (LCC) alliance.

Gulf Air said it plans to make “some major aircraft announcements” when the Bahrain International Air Show (BIAS) opens later this week.

Iran's official news agency IRNA has reported that Iran is set to order 114 commercial aircraft from Airbus. The announcement came following the official lifting of international trade sanctions on Iran.

Kazakhstan’s national carrier Air Astana has reported a jump in net profit to $47.4 million in 2015, up from $19.3 million the previous year.

Air France is proposing to add seven aircraft to its long-haul operation and expand Transavia France’s fleet to 40 aircraft, but is calling for further unit cost savings, under its revised Perform 2020 strategic plan for 2017-20.

Aircraft News-Jan. 15, 2016

FAA has proposed a $417,500 civil penalty against FedEx for allegedly operating an aircraft that was not in compliance with federal aviation regulations.

Lufthansa is to expand its inflight entertainment options with a new e-journal download service at the end of January.

Denver-based ultra low-cost carrier (ULCC) Frontier Airlines will continue to search for routes to fly only 3X- or 4X-weekly, so it can increase its footprint without committing too much capacity to unproven markets.

United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz has been released from the hospital following heart transplant surgery on Jan. 6.

LOT Polish Airlines acting CEO Marcin Celejewski says growth will be risky for Poland’s flag carrier in 2017-18 when it plans to expand its fleet and network as part of a strategy to double in size by 2020.