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Queen’s reign ends Half a century of UK 747s

Small jet, BIG range We fly the A220’s longest route

HUGE mistake Britain’s biggest airliner – a cinema and pantry, but no passengers

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ello and welcome to your June 2022 edition of Airliner World, incorporating Airports of the World. After more than two years of false dawns, we’ve the clearest indication yet that the long-awaited aviation recovery is truly underway. Across the globe, pandemic-era rules and regulations are being scrapped at speed, with air travel being re-liberalised to levels not witnessed since early 2020. Some governments, and by definition airlines, are more bullish than others, although the overwhelming majority of nations – with the notable exception of China – are moving in the same positive direction. Hurrah! Whether it’s the war in Ukraine that has focused leaders’ minds or simply the early summer sun defrosting the icy grip of COVID-19 rule-makers, the net impact has been visible – sometimes all too visible. From Melbourne to Manchester, airports around the world have reported extreme surges in passenger demand, ramping up waiting times and delays. After months of enforced hibernation, this tsunami of traveller traffic, coupled with the usual seasonal peaks, employee absences due to illness and a scramble to hire (or rehire) critical staff, has resulted in ugly scenes and angry passengers as our special report on page 22 details.

H

While historians will no doubt ponder if and how airlines, airports and regulators could have prepared better for a rebound that was months in the making, we should we delighted that our beloved industry is literally back in business. However, despite the uplift, it’s unlikely you’ll hear too many champagne corks popping in aviation boardrooms. Colossal problems remain, from the hugely unpredictable and disruptive conflict in Ukraine through to soaring oil prices and supply chain problems. Longer term challenges haven’t gone away either. As many

airlines step back from the brink, expect scrutiny to intensify over the aviation sector’s role in combatting the climate emergency. With all of this in mind and with events often moving at a frantic pace, it can be tricky trying to keep on top of all the news. Consider this a timely reminder that the editorial team from Airliner World are joined by colleagues from across the Key Publishing portfolio of aviation brands at our digital home, www.Key.Aero. Updated seven days a week, this is your go-to destination for insights and analysis emerging between issues of the print magazine. Alongside breaking stories, Key.Aero – now the world’s fastest growing aviation website – is also host to a fully searchable archive of back issue content, making it a real treasure trove for any Airliner World fan. Full details about registration can be found on page 107 of this edition. Wherever you are in the world, I hope you enjoy your June issue,

Gordon Smith Editor-at-large

INCORPORATING

Gordon Smith Editor-at-large, Commercial Aviation Martin Needham Executive Editor Thomas Lee Assistant Editor Carol Randall Associate Editor, Commercial Aviation Lee Howson Andy O’Neil Carly Hurd Molly Eastwood Designers Andy Mason Advertising Manager Rebecca Antoniades Ad Production/Design

COVER IMAGE • British Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, G-ZBKB (c/n 38617), on final approach to Toronto/Pearson Airport AIRTEAMIMAGES/ADAM TETZLAFF BELOW • The first Airbus A350-900, F-WZFT / EI-IFB (c/n 270) for ITA Airways is spotted at Toulouse EUROSPOT

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06 News review 20 RecoveryWatch 22 Airports in chaos We explore why so many sites across the UK are facing extreme operational pressure

28 WhatsApp to war zone Airliner World visits AirX’s Stansted base for a rather unusual biz-jet charter

32 Going the distance Andreas Spaeth joins the cockpit team for the world’s longest scheduled A220 flight

40 A royal Argonaut In celebration of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, we uncover G-ALHK’s fascinating regal connections

44 A 737 with a difference Siddharth Ganesh discovers why ANA once launched a pioneering 737-700ER for its well-heeled corporate customers

46 End of a (jumbo) era As more than half a century of continuous 747 flying in the UK comes to an end, we pay tribute to the Queen of the Skies

50 Great expectations Stephen Skinner recounts the colossal tale of the Bristol Brabazon, the largest civilian aeroplane ever built in Britain

62 Next-generation Geneva Matteo Legnani talks to the CEO of the Swiss airport to find out more about the grand plans for the gateway

68 Tails and tribulations Remembered as one of the biggest aviation branding failures of all time, BA’s ‘World Tails’ in fact had a fruitful lasting legacy. Martin Needham explains why

78 Deliveries 86 MRO news 88 Aviation training 90 Departure Gate 92 UK Visitors 94 Air safety 96 Widebody worth the wait? Gordon Smith joins Etihad CEO Tony Douglas on board the carrier’s inaugural A350 service from Abu Dhabi to Paris

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AIRLINER WORLD JUNE 2022

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Showing its stripes

IN A dramatic move, Condor has unveiled a new brand identity that will see the airline’s entire fleet adorned in a range of colourful, stripy liveries as it “reinvents itself”. The Frankfurt-based firm has taken inspiration from holidays, with aircraft painted in schemes reminiscent of beach towels, deckchairs, beach balls and parasols. Currently, the schemes include five colours: Sunshine (yellow), Passion (red), Sea (blue), Island (green) and Beach (beige). However, the leisure carrier hasn’t ruled out adding more shades to its palette. The new design was unveiled in Toulouse in early April with Airbus A330-900, F-WWCS (c/n 1972), which

is understood to become D-ANRD on the German register. Pictured at the time without its Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines equipped on April 4, the widebody is slated to be accepted by Condor in the autumn. Condor planned to paint six existing airframes, comprising a mix of A320/ A321ceos and Boeing 757-300 narrowbodies, with the new livery ahead of the 2022 summer season. On April 5, CFM International CFM56powered A321ceo, D-AIAD (c/n 6053), had the honour of conducting the airline’s first fare-paying service in the brand-new look, during a hop to Lanzarote as Flight DE 1408 from Frankfurt – the jet had only

repositioned from Maastricht, the Netherlands, a day earlier. For aviation enthusiasts, destinations set to be frequented by the striking livery include Spain’s Mallorca and the Canary Islands, Greece, and Egypt. Around 80% of the fleet is expected to wear the new branding by 2024, with the German airline having stated a number of aircraft were already due for repainting. The rebranding will also extend to crew uniforms and accessories, such as neckerchiefs, ties and pins. The redesign will also extend to the company’s website and onboard items, such as cups, blankets and cutlery. At the airport, materials on the

ground, such as boarding passes, ID cards and signage, will also be rolled out in the new colours. Ralf Teckentrup, Condor’s chief executive officer, said: “Condor has undergone a transformation over the past two and a half years. From a subsidiary of a vertically integrated travel group to an independent airline that looks back proudly on its history and tradition, while at the same time embarking on the path to the future. We want to express this unmistakably through our corporate identity: Condor is vacation and Condor is unmistakable – like our new design, with which we are now launching into the future.” (Photo Eurospot)

PLAYing to the right tune at John Lennon ICELAND-BASED PLAY has set its sights on Liverpool, as the firm outlines plans to introduce its second UK gateway. Due to form part of its winter schedule, the John Lennon facility is slated to receive twice-weekly rotations from PLAY, starting from November 4 this year until April 10, 2023 from its Reykjavík/Keflavík hub – tickets have already gone on sale. The prospects for any extension into the 2023 summer season are currently unclear, but likely to be assessed based on the performance of its initial offering. Connection options to destinations in the United States have also been heavily marketed by PLAY, with attractive transatlantic fares offered. PLAY CEO Birgir Jónsson said: “The UK has always been a particularly important market for us, so to announce a second route within a year of launching is an exciting 6

AIRLINER WORLD JUNE 2022

milestone for the company. “We look forward to welcoming passengers from the North West region and beyond, to help them on their journey to Iceland or to the USA. We are a no-frills airline, but with our reliable and affordable flights, PLAY’s passengers can spend their hard-earned money in their holiday

destination, rather than on getting there,” he added. The ultra low-cost carrier (ULCC) already links London/Stansted with Iceland’s main gateway. The allAirbus operator is famed for its bright red narrowbodies, drawing parallels with the business model of former Icelandic ULCC WOW Air, which ceased

passenger operations in March 2019. PLAY was established in November 2019 and launched its first revenue flights in June 2021. In addition to leisure markets across Europe, the carrier also plans to have Washington, Boston, New York and Orlando on its route map this year. (Photo PLAY)

News Review • Europe

A320neo spreads its Eurowings

in brief UK-based start-up Sentra Airways has reached a deal with Air Lease Corporation (ALC) for a long-term lease placement of a single used Airbus A330-200, which is billed for a summer arrival. Bruce Fenton, executive director of Sentra Airways, commented: “We look forward to further collaborations with ALC, and completing the regulatory approvals to gain our UK AOC certification later this year.” According to the fledging firm, with its head office based on the outskirts of Bradford, it eyes niche point-to-point scheduled destinations from Manchester – outlining Accra, Ghana, as its launch city from either Q3 or Q4 this year. Additional routes to Africa as well as the USA have also been mooted.

EUROWINGS HAS officially accepted its maiden Airbus A320neo after the airframe arrived at the firm’s largest base at Düsseldorf, Germany, in April. Performing a ferry sortie (as EW 6971) from the type’s European production site at Toulouse/Blagnac in France, the jet, D-AENA (c/n 10758) – pictured – departed there on April 1 at 1159hrs. During the flight, the 180-seat aircraft initially routed northeast, then turned north passing briefly through Switzerland, overflying Geneva, then returned to French airspace via Nancy and Metz before passing into Luxembourg and then Germany – reaching an altitude of 36,000ft.

The CFM International LEAP-1Apowered A320neo – a first for the Lufthansa Group – touched down in Düsseldorf an hour and 34 minutes later, at 1333hrs, and received a customary water cannon salute upon its arrival in Germany. According to the Lufthansa Group budget airline, D-AENA was handed over to Eurowings Technik after landing. This A320neo example, which made its first flight on March 8, had undergone “the remaining upgrades” in the following weeks, as the airline is scheduled to introduce the aircraft on fare-paying services from early June. Following the latest developments,

Eurowings is slated to accept another six A320neos this year – with the second jet already identified as D-AENB (c/n 10798) – while a sole example is poised to arrive in 2024. Elsewhere, the carrier also plans to take 232-seat A321neos, with five due over the course of 2023. According to Airbus figures dating to the end of February 2022, the A320neo Family had accrued almost 7,900 orders from more than 125 customers. According to the Lufthansa Group at the time of writing, Eurowings fielded 44 A319ceos, 56 A320ceos and a sole A320neo. (Photo Airbus)

Budget behemoth Wizz Air launched its highly anticipated base in Cardiff, Wales, on April 8. The new base – which is the operator’s fourth in the UK – was supposed to open in March 2021 but was delayed due to the impact of COVID-related travel restrictions. Wizz will fly year-round from the Welsh capital and, on the opening day, kicked-off services to a pair of Canary Islands destinations: Tenerife and Lanzarote. Since then, the low-cost carrier has added Alicante, Faro, Palma De Mallorca, Larnaca and Heraklion. Corfu and Sharm El Sheikh are poised to commence from June 16 and November 1, respectively. All rotations from Cardiff are flown with Airbus A321s – a 2019built example, G-WUKK (c/n 8950), was initially based there at the time of launch. (Photo Wizz Air)

High-density A220s take shape RIGA, LATVIA-BASED airBaltic has confirmed its fleet of Airbus A220300s are currently undergoing gradual retrofitting to unlock seats that could not previously be used. The flag carrier’s roster of the -300 variant will now operate with as many as 149 seats, up from 145. The change has been made possible by new rules published by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which permit the higher capacity.

Martin Gauss, chief executive of airBaltic, confirmed that, in late February, the company received its first A220-300 certified to fly with the denser cabin: “Going forward [our] existing fleet will be adjusted to use the additional capacity, which will further drive efficiency of our operations,” he noted. At the time of the announcement on April 5, the airline had altered seating configuration for five of the company’s

then 33-strong inventory (currently now 34) of the popular narrowbody. It aims to have the bolstered capacity across its entire fleet by next summer. An airBaltic spokesperson confirmed to Airliner World that, due to different seat configuration, the first 20 jets will have 148 seats available, while the next 12 examples will have 149. They added that all airframes to be delivered between 2022 and early 2024 are expected to have 148 seats.

Boeing-bound for BAE Systems

This 21-year-old Boeing 737-800SF, G-SHRS (c/n 29984), has been acquired by BAE Systems – the jet is understood to be on lease from Aero Capital Solutions while operated by West Atlantic UK. The airframe, which had spent its entire lifespan in South Korea, initially with Korean Air before moving on to Jin Air (both as HL7565), is pictured at Shannon, Ireland, on March 29, ahead of its delivery flight to the UK AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/TREVOR MULKERRINS

Norse Atlantic Airways plans to sublease four Boeing 787s (a pair each of -8s and larger -9s) to Air Europa. The agreement will last for 18 months, subject to completion of documentation which was anticipated to have occurred “around the end of April” as Airliner World went to press. If all goes to plan, the Dreamliners are scheduled to be delivered to Spain-based Air Europa in Q2. Bjørn Tore Larsen, Norse CEO, said: “This sublease agreement with Air Europa provides a compelling opportunity to generate positive cash flow from aircraft that we were not planning to fully utilise in our start-up phase. The agreement strengthens our solid financial position as we continue to stay true to our strategy of cautiously entering the market and ramping up based on customer demand.” The Flybe brand finally returned to UK skies after it launched flights on April 13 between Birmingham and George Best Belfast City Airport. The airline currently connects the city pair with up to four daily flights. The launch was celebrated at Birmingham Airport with a double ribbon-cutting ceremony by Flybe CEO Dave Pflieger and Birmingham Airport chief executive Nick Barton. More routes will come on stream as summer schedules ramp up, for example, the following day, it started services to Glasgow/International and up to four-times daily from the Northern Irish hub. www.key.aero

7

News Review • CIS

EASA blacklists 21 Russian carriers THE EUROPEAN Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has banned more than 20 Russian airlines from flying in EU airspace. The European Commission added 21 carriers – including Aeroflot and S7 Airlines – to its Air Safety List in April. The document details those subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions in the region because they do not meet international safety standards. The commission advised that the airlines had been placed on the list because of “serious safety concerns due to Russia’s forced re-registration of foreign-owned aircraft, knowingly allowing their operation without valid certificates of airworthiness”. It stressed that Russia’s move to negate sanctions is “in breach of international aviation safety standards”. Adina-Ioana Vălean, the EU Commissioner for Transport, said: “The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency has allowed Russian airlines to operate hundreds of foreign-owned aircraft without a valid Certificate of Airworthiness. The Russian airlines concerned have knowingly done so in breach of relevant international safety standards. This is not only a clear breach of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (the

Chicago Convention), but it also poses an immediate safety threat. We are living in the context of Russia's unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine.” Regarding the EU’s blacklisting of Russian airlines, Vălean stated: “I want to make it crystal clear that this decision is not another sanction against Russia; it has been taken solely on the basis of technical and safety grounds. We do not mix safety with politics.” An updated version of the EU Air Safety List was published on April 11 and included the following Russian carriers: Aurora Airlines; Aviastar-TU; Izhavia; Yakutia Airlines; RusJet; UVT

Aero; S7 Airlines; Smartavia; IrAero; Ural Airlines; Alrosa Airlines; NordStar Airlines; RusLine; Yamal Airlines; Nordwind; Pegas Fly; Pobeda Airlines; Aeroflot Russian Airlines; Rossiya Airlines; Skol Airlines and Utair. The revised list now names a total of 117 airlines that are banned from EU skies. Alongside the 21 Russian operators, a further 90 operators certified in 15 different countries are also restricted from entering EU airspace, along with six individual airlines from other countries, due to serious safety deficiencies. North Korea’s Air Koryo and Iran Air also appear on the list, however, they are deemed to be ‘Annex B’ carriers,

which are permitted to fly in European airspace with some restrictions based on aircraft type. Just two aircraft – a pair of Tupolev Tu-204s, P-632 (c/n 1450742364012) and P-633 (c/n 1450741964048) – operated by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are allowed to fly in Europe, however, EASA’s suspension of the Tupolev Tu-204 type certificate throws Air Koryo’s ability to operate these aircraft into doubt. Iran Air, however, has much greater freedom in Europe, being able to operate its entire fleet, with the exception of its single Boeing 747200F and a trio of Fokker 100s, within EASA airspace. (Photo Airbus)

Air Astana bolsters Turkish routes THE NATIONAL airline of Kazakhstan has reinforced its network as COVID19 restrictions subside. Among the key developments is the resumption of direct services between Atyrau, in western Kazakhstan, and Istanbul from April 26. Flights to Turkey’s largest city will be operated by Airbus A320neo examples on Tuesdays and Fridays, with a departure from Atyrau at 0810hrs and arrival in Istanbul at 1020hrs. The return is scheduled to leave Istanbul at 1120hrs, landing back in Kazakhstan at 1705hrs. Atyrau becomes the third Kazakh city from which Air Astana serves Istanbul.

Private player on the scene in Uzbekistan Pictured at Tashkent’s Islam Karimov International Airport on April 5, this Airbus A320-200 belongs to Uzbekistan’s first privately owned carrier, Qanot Sharq Airlines. The 15-year-old airframe is registered UK32031 (c/n 3021) and previously saw service with Mexico’s Interjet as XA-MYR, and with Belair as HB-IOV, following its initial delivery to airberlin in 2007 as D-ABDN. (Photo AirTeamImages.com/TT) 8

AIRLINER WORLD JUNE 2022

Flights from Almaty increased to ten times weekly from April 17, while connections to/from Nur-Sultan went daily from April 25. In other developments, Air Astana has confirmed it will launch a pair of direct services to Heraklion, the capital of the Greek island of Crete, from June 1. Flights will operate on Mondays and Wednesdays from Nur-Sultan, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from Almaty, all served by the A321LR. The flag carrier noted that “additional frequencies from both cities are under consideration”. (Photo Air Astana)

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News Review • Africa/Middle East

Two's company, three's allowed FROM AUGUST 1, Emirates is set to resume operations at London/ Stansted, its third gateway to the British capital after neighbouring Heathrow and Gatwick. Initially, Stansted is poised to be flown at five-weekly frequency but is earmarked to become daily by September 1. According to Emirates, it’s responding to “sustained demand for international travel.” The Gulf giant is to deploy the Boeing 777-300ER, featuring a firstclass product which it calls a “game changer.” On the link from Dubai/ International, Flight EK 068 is scheduled

to land at Stansted at 1330hrs local time, before departing the same evening as EK 065 at 2110hrs. The Dubai-based carrier has previously served the Essex hub, although it paused operations to Stansted in March 2020 due to the onset of COVID-19. Richard Jewsbury, Emirates divisional vice president in the UK, commented: “London/Stansted is a key hub for Emirates in the East and South East of the UK and resuming operations will offer better connectivity to businesses and communities in the region, while also boosting the UK economy through scaled-up inbound travel and

additional cargo capacity. The UK is Emirates’ most important international market and bookings have continued to surge with the further easing of travel restrictions. We look forward to welcoming more people on board our premium Boeing 777-300ER aircraft later this year.” Steve Griffiths, London Stansted’s managing director, added: "The return of Emirates flights between Dubai/ International and London/Stansted is wonderful news and demonstrates the renewed confidence among airlines and passengers as we recover from the pandemic. “The route is of huge importance to London and the

East of England, providing a vital link between the two destinations and beyond, thanks to the airline's extensive onward network." This latest move will contribute to Emirates’ aim of 110-weekly rotations serving the UK by October 2022. This would include six-daily flights to Heathrow, twice-daily to Gatwick, thrice-daily to Manchester, twicedaily to Birmingham, five-timesweekly to Newcastle (currently fourtimes-weekly, but scheduled to add another rotation from July 1) and daily to Glasgow/ International. (Image Emirates)

RwandAir flying high at five THERE WAS cause for a double celebration at RwandAir as it marked five years of flying to both Mumbai, India and Harare, Zimbabwe. The Mumbai milestone was marked on April 4, a rotation for which the Rwandan flag carrier currently deploys its four-strong, 154-seat Boeing 737800s – 9XR-WF (c/n 40892), 9XR-WG (c/n 40893), 9XR-WQ (c/n 42057) and, pictured here, 9XR-WR (c/n 41357) – thrice-weekly from its Kigali home base. Gatete Christian, India country manager, said: “For the past five years we have operated flights between Kigali and Mumbai enabling our customers to connect with family and friends and travel for business. India is a very important market for

us at RwandAir, with flights helping to strengthen the strong bonds of friendship and deepen business ties between India and Rwanda.” Meanwhile, RwandAir’s fifth anniversary of flights to the Zimbabwean capital – also on

the connection from Kigali – was celebrated just a day later on April 5. Back in 2017, the airline had initially used one of their 737-800s, but today the thrice-weekly route is plied by the firm’s pair of 75-seat Bombardier CRJ900ERs, 9XR-WH (c/n 15286) and

Veteran machine, new colour scheme

10

AIRLINER WORLD JUNE 2022

9XR-WI (c/n 15287), configured in a two-class layout featuring business and economy seats. Justin Nyaga, Zimbabwe country manager, added: “Five years ago, we launched our first flight from Kigali to Harare to connect it with top destinations throughout Africa – and beyond – across our extensive network. We are very proud to be celebrating this great milestone after five successful years, which have seen us connect friends and families and strengthen Rwanda’s strong economic ties with Zimbabwe.” At the time of writing, RwandAir flies to 28 destinations across East, Central, West and Southern Africa, along with Europe, Asia and the Middle East. (Photo RwandAir) Teheran-based Saha Airlines has recently procured this 44-year-old Boeing 747-200F – currently the sole jumbo in its fleet. The rare example was spotted in the Iranian capital in mid-March. The majestic-looking, Pratt & Whitney JT9D-powered type, EP-SIH (c/n 21486), has spent its entire life in Iran, having been handed over to the country’s air force back in December 1977. Interestingly, it’s understood the airframe had already spent a lengthy spell with Saha, thought to have been between 1991 and 2017, as EP-SHB. Complementing Saha’s current inventory of Western-built jets are a trio of 737-300s: EP-SII (c/n 29056), EP-SIJ (c/n 27633) and EP-SIR (c/n 29341) AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/SHAHRAM SHARIFI

News Review • Africa/Middle East

Meeting Medsky Airways in the Mediterranean

This superb-looking Airbus A320ceo from Libyan start-up Medsky Airways was spotted coming in to land at Malta International Airport in late March, evident by the deployment of the jet’s thrust reversers on its pair of CFM International CFM56 engines. According to local sources, 9H-MSA (c/n 4349), is under lease from ALAFCO, along with 9H-MSB (c/n 4357). In addition, MAviO News has reported that the two A320s are going to be operated by the Maltese ACMI provider Malta MedAir on behalf of Medsky Airways, as noted by their Maltese registrations. MARIO CARUANA/MAVIO NEWS

Growing Ghanaian gateway A STEEL terminal structure has been shipped more than 3,300 miles to Ghana’s Kumasi International Airport after being manufactured by a Dorset, UK-based firm. John Reid & Sons (Strucsteel) (REIDsteel) provided the design, steel fabrication and supervision services for the ultra-modern new terminal building at Kumasi, as part of a multimillion-pound development to create an international aviation hub for West Africa. The aerial facility serving the major city of Kumasi is approximately 123 miles northwest of Ghana’s capital, Accra. The 130-strong business manufactured the steel structure in Christchurch, Dorset, before shipping all the component parts to Ghana. It also provided the roofing system to comply with a specific noise and thermal reduction restrictions and the

high-specification glazing, including statement curtain-walling for the elevations of the building with solar controls to help withstand extreme sunlight and temperatures. REIDsteel also provided the facility’s cladding, canopies, steel personnel doors and automated entrances. The 12,500sq² terminal – including passenger and VIP lounges, a customs zone, departure gates, baggage handling and security zones – is at the heart of the €125m airport development. On completion, Kumasi will be able to handle more than a million passengers annually. The redevelopment, which is being built by Contracta Construction UK, also includes parking, roads and an extension of the sole airstrip – Runway 02/20 – from 6,542ft to approximately 7,545ft to accommodate larger aircraft.

REIDsteel used 350 tonnes of steel, 7000m² of roofing and 3500m² of glass for the building. Steel products were sourced from REIDsteel’s primary long-term supplier base in the UK. The elevations were constructed using aluminium curtain walling with large glass panes. Detailed and fabricated by REID Glazing, these sloped out at 5° to avoid interference with the airport’s radar. More than 900 sealed glass units were used, made to an extremely high specification to achieve the necessary pane sizes, withstand wind loading and meet acoustic requirements. The largest glazing units weighed more than 300kg each. REIDsteel also provided eight large glass rooflights, each 3m wide by 42m long. Work on the Ghana Airport Company-run terminal will be completed later this year.

Nigerian newcomer spotted

Seen conducting a test sortie at Valencia, Spain on March 28, 2022, this ex-Air Nostrum Bombardier CRJ900LR – evident thanks to it still sporting a Spanish registration, EC-JZV (c/n 15117) – is now wearing the smart-looking livery of fledgling Nigerian carrier ValueJet. It’s understood the General Electric CF34-equipped narrowbody was set for imminent delivery to the Lagos-based firm as Airliner World went to press. (Photo V1Images.com/Fabrizio Spicuglia)

in brief Qatar Airways confirmed the reactivation of its strategic co-operation with India's largest airline, IndiGo, during April. The development came after the Indian government lifted the suspension of international scheduled flights. At the time of writing, the Qatari flag carrier operates 190 rotations per week to 12 destinations across India, including Delhi, Amritsar, Hyderabad and Goa. Conversely, IndiGo plies 154 weekly sorties to Doha/Hamad from eight cities. As part of an expanded codeshare agreement, Qatar Airways placed its marketing code on IndiGooperated services from Doha to Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad from April 25, with Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi and Kozhikode poised to join them by May 9. Additionally, it was also stated that members of the Qatari firm’s Privilege Club loyalty programme will soon be able to earn Avios on all codeshare, IndiGo-operated rotations. Ethiopian Airlines has inducted a pair of new De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400s. The turboprop duo, ET-AYG (c/n 4626) (pictured) and ET-AYH (c/n 4628), are leased from TrueNoord after the flag carrier signed an eight-year sale and leaseback agreement with the specialist regional aircraft lessor. During March, the airframes made marathon ferry flights from Toronto/ Downsview in Canada to Addis Ababa via Iceland, Ireland, Italy and Egypt. Mesfin Tasew, group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, said the type is the “ideal aircraft to serve our large domestic and regional network.” At the time of writing, Ethiopian Airlines fielded a fleet of 33 Dash 8-400s. (Photo TrueNoord/Ethiopian Airlines)

London Stansted has welcomed the arrival of North African firm, Tunisair. The inaugural flight touched down on March 31, using one of its Airbus A319s, TS-IMQ (c/n 3096). The 1,147-mile link is currently flown at a twice-weekly frequency on Mondays and Thursdays, departing at 1350hrs local time from Tunis and arriving into the Essex hub at 1615hrs. The return leg takes off from Stansted at 1755hrs, before landing back home at 2055hrs. The flag carrier had previously revealed it would move its flights from neighbouring London/Gatwick to Stansted, although it currently maintains a presence at Heathrow. Etihad Airways placed its first Airbus A3501000 into service almost three years after the jet was handed over to the carrier. A 2019-vintage, Rolls-Royce Trent XWBpowered example adorned with special markings, A6-XWB (c/n 290) was rostered on the type’s inaugural rotation as Flight EY37 between Abu Dhabi/International and Paris/Charles de Gaulle (see our featurelength report on this special sortie on pages 96-105). Initially, during Q2 the A350-1000s are being deployed on several short- to midrange connections such as Mumbai and Delhi, but from July they will be introduced on ultra-long-haul operations to Chicago and New York. This -1000 is the first of five A350s to be joining the UAE flag carrier over the coming months. www.key.aero

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News Review • Americas

New suitor bids for Spirit NEW YORK-based carrier JetBlue Airways has announced its intention to acquire low-cost rival Spirit Airlines in a deal worth $3.6bn. In an April 5 announcement, the company said its bid is a “superior proposal” compared to Spirit’s existing merger agreement – announced in February – with Denver-based Frontier Airlines. If the Frontier deal were realised, it would create America’s largest ultra-low fare operator. JetBlue confirmed that it has submitted an offer to Spirit’s board of directors to acquire the firm for $33 per share, which it says represents a premium versus the company’s closing share price on April 4, 2022. As part of the Spirit-Frontier deal,

the implied value of each share would be $25.83. Speaking following his airline’s bullish approach to Spirit, JetBlue chief executive Robin Hayes said: “Customers shouldn’t have to choose between a low-fare and a great experience, and JetBlue has shown it’s possible to have both. When we grow and introduce our unique value proposition onto new routes, legacy carriers lower their fares and customers win with more choice. The combination of JetBlue and Spirit – coupled with the incredible benefits of our Northeast Alliance with American Airlines – would be a game-changer in our ability to deliver superior value on a national scale to customers, crew-members, communities and

shareholders. The transaction would accelerate our strategic growth and create sustained, long-term value for the stakeholders in both companies.” At the time of writing, JetBlue plans to fund the transaction with cash – of which it reported having $2.8bn as of December 31, 2021 – and debt financing led by Goldman Sachs. While no details were immediately available regarding potential redundancies, JetBlue said the proposed transaction would deliver $600-700 million “net annual synergies” once integration is complete. In terms of aircraft portfolios, the new bid would result in a fleet of 455 aircraft, with 312 Airbus types on order, while any Frontier deal would result in a combined fleet of 283 examples.

In an April 7 update, Spirit confirmed it had started negotiations with JetBlue, while acknowledging it “remains bound by the terms of the merger agreement with Frontier, and Spirit's board has not determined that JetBlue's proposal in fact constitutes a ‘superior proposal’ as defined in the merger agreement with Frontier. In addition, Spirit notes that there can be no assurance that the discussions with JetBlue will result in a transaction.” JetBlue said it expects any deal to be completed on a timely basis and within a timeframe that was “generally consistent with the pending transaction with Frontier.” Keep up to date on this developing story on our website: www.Key.Aero (Photo Spirit Airlines)

WestJet celebrates first freighter A NEW specialist freight division at one of Canada’s largest carriers has accepted its first aircraft. WestJet Cargo welcomed the 737-800BCF (Boeing Converted Freighter) on lease from BBAM, making the Calgary-based firm the first in Canada to operate the type. The freighter arrived in Alberta on April 7 (pictured), sporting the registration 2-BPDL (c/n 34686). This followed a mammoth ferry flight from China, where it had completed conversion by Boeing at an approved MRO facility in Guangzhou. “The delivery of our first freighter to our home base gives us great confidence in the growth and development of our commercial cargo service,” said WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech. “I am eager to see our new dedicated [division] take flight as we begin providing competitive services to cargo customers across Canada.” The airframe, which is expected to be re-registered as C-FJWS after it formally joins the airline, will be used for express cargo and e-commerce freight. Data supplied by ch-aviation suggests the 16-year-old narrowbody was delivered factory fresh to German leisure carrier Hapagfly as D-ATUE in 12

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March 2006, before being absorbed into TUI Fly, where it remained until spring last year. All four BCF examples are due to be in service with WestJet before the end of the year, representing a major ramping up of the carrier’s freight capacity. Each will be powered by two CFM International 56-7B engines. The Canadian operator said it selected the 737-800 variant based

the ease of loading the jet, airport compatibility and its existing pool of experienced pilots on the Boeing narrowbody type. “BBAM is excited to partner with our long-time customer WestJet as they launch WestJet Cargo. This is our first North American placement of the Boeing 737-800BCF, [and] an important milestone for [our] industryleading freighter programme," added

Steve Zissis, president and chief executive of BBAM. The delivery is the latest phase in the development of WestJet Cargo, a subsidiary announced in June 2021. WestJet launched in 1996 with just three jets and five destinations. Prepandemic, it had grown to operate more than 180 aircraft across over 100 destinations in 23 countries. (Photo AirTeamImages/Adrian Edwards)

News Review • Americas in brief The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed that it will make its zero tolerance policy against unruly air passengers permanent. The FAA implemented the rule in January 2021 after noting a “disturbing increase” in badly behaved passengers. The no-nonsense approach sees the organisation issue fines to passengers instead of softer alternatives such as warning letters or counselling. Acting FAA administrator Billy Nolen said: “Behaving dangerously on a plane will cost you – that’s a promise. Unsafe behaviour simply does not fly and keeping our zero tolerance policy will help us continue making progress to prevent and punish [these actions].” As of mid-February this year, the FAA had referred 80 unruly passenger cases to the FBI. The policy, combined with a public awareness campaign, has helped reduced the frequency of incidents by more than 60%. Argentinian low-cost operator Flybondi reported 100% punctuality over the busy Easter weekend. All 160 of the company’s flights – comprising 14 domestic and two international destinations – took off and landed on time. Overall, 28,220 passengers were transported, representing an average load factor of 94%. Flybondi claims that 20% of its passengers are flying by aircraft for the very first time as it seeks to democratise air travel in the South American nation. The budget carrier has a fleet of five Boeing 737800NG aircraft in an all-economy, 189-seat configuration. (Photo Flybondi)

Orlando’s opening schedule revealed THE OFFICIAL opening dates for South Terminal C at Orlando International have been announced by the airport’s executive board. The new $2.75bn facility will gradually come online over a two-week period, with international operations starting on September 19, followed by domestic traffic from September 26. The news was confirmed by Kevin Thibault, CEO of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA), who explained the logic behind the move: “Although we could open before Labor Day [September 5], it is best that we transition airline operations and

our customers at a period with less passenger travel than our normal peak summer season.” The GOAA took consideration of how the volume of passengers would increase logistical challenges and the need for airline partners to maintain operational readiness. “We want to ensure that from day one, Terminal C will be ready to accommodate our growing air service demands while providing the utmost customer convenience,” said Carson Good, GOAA board chairman. Once operational, the new terminal’s 15 gates will host up to 20 aircraft and

support an additional capacity of 10-12 million passengers per year. It is the largest single expansion project in the history of the Florida gateway, with highlights including a state-of-theart radio frequency identification tote system that allows travellers to track their luggage in real-time. Screening lanes will also be upgraded from the current technology, with 100% automation for international traffic in an effort to improve efficiency. Meanwhile, incoming passengers will enjoy a top-floor arrivals experience, with streamlined luggage collection on the same level.

Maple leaf goes mainline at Manchester AIR CANADA is set to resume its non-stop seasonal service between Toronto and Manchester (MAN) from June 1. However, the five-times weekly operation – scheduled to run until September 30 – will look and feel a little different to its prepandemic structure. The flag carrier has confirmed to Airliner World that its flights to and from the northwest gateway will be served by its mainline operation, instead of its leisurefocused Rouge subsidiary. As a result, Manchester will receive Airbus A330-300 aircraft, accommodating

up to 297 passengers in a threecabin configuration. This comprises Signature Class (which features lieflat seats), premium economy and economy. Flight numbers AC808 and AC809 have been assigned for the refreshed route. Ian Costigan, interim managing director at MAN, said: “We are thrilled to see Air Canada return to Manchester Airport as we play our part in reconnecting our region with the world. The service to Toronto is fantastic news for companies large and small across the North who do business with Canada, and also for

tourism and those visiting friends and family. It is also great to see the carrier return with its mainline service, offering a high-quality product with both business and premium economy classes.” In addition to the upcoming service between Manchester and Toronto, Air Canada currently offers non-stop services from London/Heathrow to Toronto, Vancouver, Montréal and Calgary, as well as between Dublin and Toronto. Seasonal Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner services from Edinburgh are also poised to take flight this summer. (Photo Air Canada)

Alaska Airlines is resuming its full schedule from Paine Field. The Everett airport will see a total of 18 peak daily departures from June 17, the maximum allotment for the carrier at the Washington State facility. "We always knew our hometown carrier was committed to us and the region," said Brett Smith, CEO of Propeller Airports. The LATAM Airlines Group has pledged to reach 5% sustainable fuel (SAF) use by 2030. CEO Roberto Alvo noted: “South America has the potential to be a world leader in the production of sustainable fuels and make a significant contribution to climate action.”

Azul’s peeking duck

Here’s a sneak preview of the latest Disney-themed livery from Azul. The Airbus A320neo with its Donald Duck design was spotted at Toulouse sporting the temporary registration F-WWDF (c/n 10804). Upon delivery to the Brazilian carrier it will become PR-YSI and join a pair of other special jets adorned with the loveable cartoon characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse from the American animation powerhouse. (PHOTO V1IMAGES.COM/CLÉMENT ALLOING) www.key.aero

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News Review • Asia/Pacific

Qantas launches long-haul quest across Asia AUSTRALIAN-BASED GIANT Qantas has confirmed intentions to add a pair of non-stop, long-haul services from Sydney/Kingsford Smith in 2022. The flag carrier is scheduled to launch direct rotations to Bengaluru (previously known as Bangalore) in India on a four-times-weekly return basis from September 14 using its 28-strong contingent of Airbus A330 widebodies. According to Qantas, its introduction is expected to shave off almost three hours for the current fastest, non-direct times between Sydney and the southern Indian city,

which is a growing technology and financial services hub. Additionally, as part of the developments, the airline has also revealed a proposed codeshare agreement with low-cost giant, IndiGo. Under the deal, customers will have improved one-stop access to more than 50 Indian cities. Passengers will be able to transit seamlessly between both operators either at Bengaluru or in either Delhi or Singapore. Complimentary food and drinks, along with the same baggage allowance for the entire

Lessor’s largest single order GLOBAL AIRCRAFT operating leasing company BOC Aviation has signed a firm order for 80 Airbus A320neo Family jets – the largest in the Singapore-based lessor’s history. The deal comprises ten A321XLRs, 50 A321neos (example pictured) and 20 A320neo airframes, taking the lessor’s total commitments with the European aerospace giant to 453 airliners, including variants of the A330neo and A350 XWB series as well as the A320neo family. BOC Aviation confirmed that all aircraft are scheduled to be delivered between 2027 and 2029. The deal takes the company’s portfolio to 530 owned, managed and on order aircraft, with its owned and managed fleet being leased to 78 airlines in 36 countries globally. Robert Martin, managing director and chief executive officer at BOC Aviation, said: “We are proud to continue our long-standing relationship with Airbus, with whom we have partnered for more than 26 years. This is the largest single order that we have ever placed, and

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AIRLINER WORLD JUNE 2022

it will bring our total Airbus aircraft purchased since inception to 546. “It underscores our continued confidence in the A320neo Family for its reliability and operational efficiency and reflects the popularity of the [type] among our airline customers. We look forward to continuously providing our customers with such fuel-efficient and technologically advanced aircraft solutions.” To the end of March 2022, the A320neo Family has achieved in excess of 7,900 orders from around 130 customers. Since its entry into service six years ago, more than 2,100 A320neo Family examples have been delivered by the manufacturer, accounting for total emissions savings – versus older equipment – of approximately 15 million tonnes of CO2. BOC Aviation has its headquarters in Singapore but also holds offices worldwide in London, Dublin, New York and Tianjin. (Photo Flickr Commons/BriYYZ)

trip, should be present for Qantas customers travelling on IndiGo. Meanwhile, from December 10, Qantas is slated to add direct flights to Seoul/Incheon also using A330s, but it did not disclose the frequency, although Executive Traveller reports it will be four-times weekly. The carrier last served the South Korean capital on a scheduled basis back in January 2008. In a further boost for the Qantas Group, its wholly owned budget firm, Jetstar Airways, is also earmarked to serve Seoul/Incheon non-stop from

Sydney. These routes are set to begin a month earlier on November 2 on a thrice-weekly basis using the airline’s 11-strong fleet of 787-8 Dreamliners. Alan Joyce, Qantas Group CEO, commented: “These new direct flights to India and [South] Korea will make it easier for millions of people to come here. Demand for our international flights has rebounded since borders reopened, and that’s giving us the confidence to launch these new routes with the marketing support from Destination New South Wales.” (Photo Flickr Commons/Simon_sees)

Hitting half-a-century CELEBRATIONS WERE held at Korean Air on April 19 as the company notched up its 50th anniversary of serving the United States. To mark the occasion, the airline received a special proclamation from the city of Los Angeles thanking it for its contributions to the economy. At present, the South Korean flag carrier flies to 13 gateways across North America using its state-of-theart Boeing 777s and 787s. This is a world away from its initial offering in 1972 of flights to Honolulu and Los Angeles plied by the iconic 707. Korean Air’s inaugural passenger sortie to the US on April 19, 1972, saw the 171-seat quad jet departing Seoul/ Gimpo and routing via Tokyo in Japan and Hawaii’s Honolulu before arriving into Los Angeles. Twelve months earlier, the airline had launched a transpacific cargo route between Seoul and LA, also via the Japanese capital. In stark contrast, back in 1972 the passenger figures for those travelling between the US and the South Korean capital numbered

approximately 43,800 annually, while in the pre-COVID-19 era in 2019, this had risen to more than three million. Korean Air – a founding member of the SkyTeam Alliance – revealed that prior to the introduction of global travel restrictions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, roughly 1.11 million Koreans travelled on the carrier to the US annually, with spending estimated at almost $4bn during their stay. In addition, during the past 50 years, the Seoul-based firm is estimated to have created more than 100,000 jobs internationally, while having “generated an economic effect of $17bn” over the same time period – and, in the process, boosting economic, social and cultural ties between the two countries. Today, Korean Air is a major global player, serving 120 cities in 43 countries. It was originally established in March 1969, following the acquisition of state-owned Korean Air Lines. (Photo Korean Air)

News Review • Asia/Pacific

Record runway resurfacing result RESURFACING WORK on the sole runway serving Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Gujarat, India, was finished in a national record of just 75 days. The 11,500ft-long runway 05/23 was worked on for nine hours per day, allowing an average of 160 daily rotations to use the airstrip in the remaining 15 hours. During the 75 days – the quickest work time on any brownfield runway in India, according to the Adani Group that manages the gateway – the amount of asphalt laid was equivalent to a 200km-long road, while 40,000 cubic metres of concrete applied for the associated drainage system

would have been “sufficient to build a 40-storey structure.” Shortly after the Adani Group took over management of the Indian airport in November 2020, concerns were raised by Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL) – a 100% subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, a flagship company of the group – about the runway’s ride quality and drainage constraints. Consequently, initial proposals suggested that the resurfacing project was estimated for completion in two phases over three years, although this was adjusted for the whole scheme to be undertaken in a single, short period. As such, from November 10, 2021,

200 working days had been planned, however this was bought down to a 90-day target in a bid to “improve operational efficiency and reduce inconvenience to passengers”. The ultimate 75-day feat was achieved by increasing available resources. Around 600 individuals and more than 200 pieces of equipment were used for the record-breaking project. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport is just under seven miles from the Ahmedabad city centre and features four terminals and 45 parking bays. It also serves the city of Gandhinagar. (Photo Adani Group/Adani Airport Holdings)

Toki look at this

in brief Construction of a 12,139ft-long runway at Western Sydney International – also known as Nancy-Bird Walton Airport – has officially started. Set to become the only gateway in Sydney to be equipped with a CAT III-B instrument landing system (ILS), the new runway will allow aircraft to continue operating in foggy conditions, a factor that can plague air traffic in the city. Another positive feature of the airstrip is its rapid-exit taxiways that will reduce taxi/hold times, in turn preventing tarmac delays. When complete, the runway will be capable of handling all commercial types, including the Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 777X. Australia’s newest major hub is scheduled to be open for domestic, international and cargo traffic in late 2026. Air New Zealand’s North American routemap is gradually returning to strength. With pandemic travel restrictions lifting, the Kiwi flag carrier has reopened its route to San Francisco. On April 14, the carrier deployed the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered Boeing 787-9, ZK-NZL (c/n 43218) on the 6,529-mile, approximately 11-hour non-stop connection to ‘The Golden City’. The thrice-weekly rotation, operating as Flights NZ 8/7, flies on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Over following months, Air New Zealand plans to resume services to Honolulu in Hawaii (NZ 10/09) on July 4, followed by Houston in Texas (NZ 28/29) on July 7 – with both routes operating thrice-weekly from Auckland. (Photo Air New Zealand)

Malaysian-based carrier Firefly continues to restore its jet-operated services from Penang to three domestic destinations. On April 25 Johor Bahru and Kota Kinabalu flights increased to three per day (from twice-daily and daily return trips respectively). From April 29, the wholly owned subsidiary of the Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) was due to up its Kuching daily return service to twice-daily. Firefly, which operates 12 72-seat ATR 72-500s, is using a pair of CFM International CFM56-equipped, 2010-vintage Boeing 737-800s, 9M-MLG (c/n 31779) and 9M-MLH (c/n 31723), on the Penang sorties. Passengers connecting on internal flights at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Airport face an easier travel experience after the gateway launched India’s first domestic-to-domestic passenger transfer facility. The minimum connection time for transfers between onward domestic rotations is reduced, while airline operators will get added flexibility for planning flight schedules and crew rostering.

This ATR 72-600 was spotted at Toulouse/Blagnac on March 25, 2022, sporting the colour scheme of the Japanese-based regional start-up, Toki Air. The 2020-vintage turboprop, pictured with the registration F-WWEL (c/n 1620), is understood to be destined to become JA02QQ in service. This aircraft, along with another example, JA01QQ (c/n 1565), are to be leased from Nordic Aviation Capital. Toki Air, which will operate out of Niigata Airport on the west coast of Japan, had previously inked a letter of intent (LOI) with ATR – announced at the 2021 Dubai Airshow – to “improve regional connectivity” in the country (see Airliner World, January 2022). V1IMAGES.COM/CLÉMENT ALLOING

Japan's transport ministry has lifted its ban on Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered Boeing 777s. The grounding affected Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, which removed 13 and 19 aircraft from service respectively after a PW4000-equipped United Airlines 777-200ER flying from Denver to Honolulu had an uncontained engine failure on December 2, 2020. www.key.aero

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News Review • International

Embraer Q1 figures revealed IT HAS been a relatively quiet start to the new calendar year for Embraer. The Brazilian OEM reported delivery of six commercial jets in the first quarter of 2022, comprising a quartet of E175s and a pair of flagship E195E2s. Despite being part of the older generation E1 platform, the E175 remains popular, particularly among regional carriers in the United States where the jet satisfies scope clause requirements. A further 143 examples

of the E175 are currently on Embraer’s firm order backlog, almost matching the number of E195-E2 airframes on firm order (166) and dwarfing the waitlist for the E190-E2, which has just three units in the pipeline. Within the services and support segment during Q1, Embraer signed a comprehensive long-term services agreement with Air Peace to support the Nigerian airline’s fleet of E195-E2 and ERJ 145 jets.

The contract includes access to the pool programme, which includes component exchange and repair services. The OEM also inked a long-term contract extension with German Airways. On the executive front, there were eight jets (six light and two large) dispatched to customers: one Phenom 100, five Phenom 300s and a duo of Praetor 600s. Embraer further reported that it delivered 56

Phenom 300 series last year, a figure it described as signalling “product excellence and market dominance”. The 300 series has had an annual average of 50 aircraft delivered per year since entering the market in December 2009. According to the April market update, as of March 31, 2022, Embraer’s firm order backlog had reached a total worth of $17.3bn. (Photo Embraer)

German Airways set to deploy drones EUROPEAN LOGISTICS and aviation specialist Zeitfracht Group and its subsidiary German Airways are likely to be among the first companies worldwide to commercially deploy drones within the sector. In a joint letter of intent with the German manufacturer Wingcopter, the businesses have agreed to purchase 17 Wingcopter 198 delivery drones and acquire options to order an additional 115 examples in two further tranches by the end of 2023. The aircraft are due to enter service from the second half of 2024 – initially offshore, for the delivery of spare parts to wind farms, for example. As the drones must be able to land with pinpoint accuracy on a moving ship, their use will be technically demanding. German Airways and Wingcopter will work closely on the development of this feature. According to the firms, the Wingcopters will take off from Germany’s Rostock Airport, which has been part of the Zeitfracht Group since the beginning of the year and offers the development team an ideal 16

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environment for extended test flights as well as premises for measurements and the evaluation of the data collected in the process. As it holds an air operator certificate (AOC), German Airways already fulfils essential requirements to operate Wingcopter’s delivery drones in the “specific category” and, later, in the “certified category”. In addition, German Airways is also IOSA certified and thus operates according to the IATA standards.

Zeitfracht CEO Wolfram SimonSchröter said: “We are very creative and always interested in using new technologies in a market-leading way [and] believe the time is now ripe for the commercial use of drones. With German Airways, our Rostock Airport and the experience of our shipping company OPUS in delivery operations on the high seas, together with Wingcopter we have the ideal prerequisites to drive this technology a huge step forward.”

Wingcopters can carry a payload of up to 11lb and – depending on the cargo – can cover distances between 40-60nm. The drones are designed to take off vertically, without requiring additional infrastructure, and then move forward horizontally in flight, as a normal aircraft would. Thanks to their purely electric propulsion, Wingcopter delivery drones also contribute towards zero-emission efforts. (Photo Zeitfracht Group)

News Review • International

Eve and Thales in eVTOL deal EVE AIR Mobility and Thales have teamed up to support the development of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) in Brazil. The partnership involves a series of joint studies across 12 months, investigating the technical, economic, and adaptable feasibility of a 100% electrically powered aircraft. The collaboration will see Thales share its expertise in developing avionics, electric, flight control, navigation, communication and connectivity systems. “This partnership will strengthen Eve’s position as a leading player in the global market and our commitment to delivering an effective and sustainable new mode of urban transportation. Embraer [Eve’s parent company] is a leading player in aviation in Brazil (and globally) and has partnered with Thales for more than 30 years, and now Eve will leverage this partnership too,” said Andre Stein, co-CEO of Eve. Thales’ technological space centre in São José dos Campos and its

recently opened avionics centre in São Bernardo do Campo will provide support to Eve teams working on the project, which will also leverage expertise from engineers in France, Canada and the United States.

Yannick Assouad, executivevice president avionics at Thales, commented: “We are particularly proud to take a new step in Brazil, joining Eve in a project that can be a game-changer for sustainable

urban mobility worldwide. This industry is coming to stay and will bring many advantages to the country, particularly concerning the environment, due to the use of clean energy.” (Photo Thales)

New tool boosts airport accountability TRADE ORGANISATION Airports Council International (ACI) has released a first-of-its-kind guide for the industry – providing environmental, social and governance (ESG) management best practice. The new document has been designed to help airports define and strengthen their ESG reporting framework, so they are able to

position themselves for growth. As global gateways continue to recover, they are faced with the prepandemic challenge of investing in infrastructure to meet future air traffic demand, while also ensuring they design, construct and operate in a way that is economically sustainable, inclusive, and socially and environmentally responsible.

Airbus Deliveries

Growing areas of ESG interest include public health, climate, diversity, equity and inclusion. “Rebuilding airports and economies meets ESG investors and airports’ shared heightened interest in solutions that act with urgency to combat climate change and social inequities that were amplified during the pandemic,”

said ACI World director general Luis Felipe de Oliveira. “Airports should seek to define and provide the detailed, data-focused ESG disclosures that investors, creditrating agencies and accounting firms are increasingly requiring. Failing to do so could limit an airport’s future investor demand in the capital markets.”

Boeing Deliveries

Following sanctions imposed upon Russia, Airbus has undelivered a pair of A350-900s AIRBUS Airbus delivered the following aircraft in March: A220-100 2 Delta Air Lines (2) A220-300 3 Air France, Air Canada, Breeze Airways Air Lease Corporation (Vistara); Aviation Capital Group (Colorful Guizhou Airlines); Avolon; CALC (China Eastern Airlines); CALC (Sichuan Airlines); CDB Leasing; China A320neo 22 Express Airlines (Huaxia Airlines); Flynas; Frontier Airlines; Iberia; ICBC (Tigerair Taiwan); Lufthansa (Eurowings); NAS Aviation Services (Avianca); Peach; Qingdao Airlines; SAS (2); Saudia (Flyadeal); Spirit Airlines; Spring Airlines; Swiss; Volaris Aegean Airlines; Air China; American Airlines (4); Aviation Capital Group (Starlux Airlines); BOC Aviation (Scoot); BOC Aviation (TAP Air Portugal); CDB Leasing A321neo 27 (Uzbekistan Airways) (2); Cebu Pacific; Delta Air Lines; IndiGo (2); Lufthansa (2); NAS Aviation Services (Air China); NAS Aviation Services (Starlux Airlines); Pegasus Airlines; SMBC Aviation Capital (Scoot); Turkish Airlines; Volaris; Wizz Air (2); Wizz Air UK (2) A330-900 2 Delta Air Lines (2) A350-900 4 Aeroflot Russian Airlines (-2); Air China; Air France; Iberia (2); A350-1000 2 British Airways (2) Total 62 Annual total 141 to date

Singapore Airlines now fields a baker's dozen of Boeing 737 MAX 8s, having received its 13th during March AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/TEK Boeing delivered the following aircraft in March: 777 Partners; Aeromexico (6); Air Canada (2); Air Lease Corporation (2); Alaska Airlines (4); Bain Capital; BOC Aviation; Dubai Aerospace Enterprise; Flydubai; GOL (3); 737 MAX 35 Korean Air; Ryanair (7); Singapore Airlines; Unidentified customer (BBJ); Unidentified customer/s (3) 767-300F 2 FedEX Express (2) 777F 1 China Airlines Total 38 Annual total 88 to date

www.key.aero

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News Review • Business Aviation

Deep freeze for Falcon 6X

DASSAULT’S NEWEST business jet, the Falcon 6X, has successfully completed a series of cold-soak trials. The tests were undertaken in Iqaluit, Canada, alongside engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Canada. The intensive inspections subjected the aircraft to temperatures as low as -37°C. During the testing, the Falcon 6X was cold-soaked for three consecutive nights and subjected to different start sequences each morning, followed by a series of procedures, including engine ground runs and high-speed

taxiing. Following the ground analysis, a special flight was performed, during which the aircraft’s anti-icing systems and handling qualities were checked and the stability of fuel and hydraulic fluid temperatures were verified as the aircraft maintained a holding pattern below 10,000ft. Carlos Brana, the OEM’s executive vice president of civil aircraft, commented: “The Falcon 6X continues to impress us with its performance and reliability as we move through the certification process. The aircraft

operated flawlessly at the extreme temperatures an aircraft can be subjected to in the severest climate conditions. That includes engines, systems and low-temperature maintainability requirements.” This latest round of testing follows earlier cold weather trials conducted at Iqaluit in December. These comprised 50 hours of exposure to temperatures as low as -25°C. As of mid April, the wider Falcon 6X test programme has accumulated 650 hours and more than 220 flights. (Photo Dassault Aviation)

Twin Citation boost for Textron

TEXTRON AVIATION had two reasons to celebrate recently, with the sale of up to 30 Cessna Citation CJ3+ light business jets to flyExclusive and service entry of the first Citation M2 Gen2, following Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification. The Citation CJ3+ order, announced on April 6, will see the operator take delivery of the first five aircraft sometime next year, with the option to purchase additional examples for delivery in 2025. 18

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Jim Segrave, flyExclusive’s chairman commented: “This expansion launches [the company] into the fractional space. We are committed to redefining the private flying experience, providing the full suite of products for our customers, all delivering consistent, reliable and world-class service. The addition of these new CJ3+ aircraft will allow us to expand our capabilities to support our continuing growth as one of the largest private jet charter operators in the industry.”

Based in Kinston North Carolina, flyExclusive is currently the thirdlargest Part 135 charter operator in the US, with a fleet of 85 light, midsize, super-midsize and heavy business jets. The OEM has also confirmed the first delivery of a Citation M2 Gen2 to Elite Team Offices, based in Clovis, California. The Citation M2 Gen2 entrylevel light jet was launched at NBAABACE in 2021 and FAA certification occurred less than six months later. (Image flyExclusive)

BY NIGEL PITTAWAY

Perfect ten for Global 7500 VISTAJET AND Bombardier have jointly celebrated the delivery of the business aviation company’s tenth Global 7500 in Montréal. The milestone makes VistaJet the largest operator of the type, with its customers able to travel long-haul to 180+ destinations worldwide. The ceremony at Bombardier’s Laurent Beaudoin Completion Centre also marked the 100th Global 7500 to be delivered by the OEM. Marking the occasion, Thomas Flohr, chairman of VistaJet commented: “We are extremely proud of this landmark moment with Bombardier, as we grow our Global 7500 fleet and meet the growing demand for ultra-longrange solutions. “Our enhanced product offering on board the Global 7500 also guarantees that our clients, whether business or leisure travellers, are given the best and most seamless flying experience. We look forward to welcoming more members and supporting the business world as our growing fleet of Global 7500 aircraft opens a new era for longhaul private travel.” According to its latest forecasts, VistaJet intends to have a total of 17 of the type in service by the end of this year.

VistaJet to gain new edge VistaJet is set to acquire US private aviation company Jet Edge. If the deal is completed successfully, both parties expect the sale to conclude by the end of Q2 2022. The acquisition of Jet Edge will bring the VistaJet fleet to around 350 aircraft. Commenting on the sale, VistaJet chairman Thomas Flohr stated: “[This] announcement brings significant value to our clients, with access to a further 100 aircraft, expanding our fleet at a time of unprecedented demand for business aviation services. “Bringing Jet Edge, the fastestgrowing large-cabin and supermidsize on-demand company in the US, into the group scales up our presence in North America, giving Vista the opportunity to turbocharge growth in the most dynamic business aviation market. It also means expanding our offering with the largest fleet of Gulfstream aircraft available for charter.”

Air France seals A350F deal Tales from the hold

THE NEW Airbus A350 Freighter received a further vote of confidence in mid-April after Air France-KLM firmed up a four-strong order for the type. The European group, which comprises two major flag carriers plus LCC Transavia and a series of smaller interests, also has purchase rights for an extra quartet of the cargo jet. Air France will deploy the incoming freighters on services out of its Paris/Charles de Gaulle hub – the gateway is home to a state-of-the-art cargo terminal measuring 150,694sq ft. The group’s CEO Benjamin Smith said: “This order embodies Air France-KLM’s determination to strengthen its position on the buoyant cargo business. The Airbus A350 passenger version has been instrumental to the improvement of our economic and environmental performance, while proving to be a

passenger favourite. We are thrilled to be among the launch customers of its freighter version, which will significantly increase our capacity and give us the means to continue to provide the best service to our customers [worldwide].” The deal is due to enhance Air France’s cargo prowess. At present, the company’s arsenal includes a pair of General Electric GE90powered Boeing 777Fs, F-GUOB (c/n 32965) and F-GUOC (c/n 32966), complementing belly space on the flag carrier’s widebody passenger airframes. Air France also has 15 passenger-configured A350-900s in service, out of a total of 38 on order. The development formalises Air France-KLM’s Letter of Intent (LOI) for the A350F, which was placed in December 2021 – this coincided with

the group’s announcement regarding a firm order for 100 A320neo Family jets. So far, Airbus has recorded 29 orders and commitments for the A350F – which was launched last year – from five customers including Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways. Christian Scherer, Airbus chief commercial officer and head of Airbus International, added: “Airlines now have a choice, and we salute Air France joining those going for the A350F’s step change in efficiency and sustainability for the cargo operations of the future. We are gratified by the wave of early adopters who, like Air France, see the economics and environmental signature of the A350s as standing out versus alternatives, past, existing and future.” (Photo Air France-KLM)

Boost for 737-800BCF programme GLOBAL AVIATION services company, ASL Aviation Holdings, has disclosed an order with Boeing for up to 20 737800BCFs (Boeing Converted Freighters). The deal, comprising ten firm orders and the same number of purchase rights forms the latest phase of the company’s fleet renewal programme. The conversion process is earmarked to begin in Q2 of next year, with the US manufacturer confirming these 737-800BCFs are to be converted at approved MRO sites including STAECO in Jinan, China and its own facility at London/Gatwick. Dublin-headquartered ASL Aviation Holdings says the 737-800BCFs – which can fly up to 2,025nm and transport a payload, such as express cargo and e-commerce freight, up to 23.9 tonnes – will be placed with several of the group’s carriers, comprising those in Ireland, Belgium and France, along with its joint venture partners in Asia. The move is ASL’s second 737800BCF order – its initial commitment came at the 2019 Paris Air Show for ten firm, plus ten options (which were later firmed up in February 2021) – now taking its current tally (including options) to 40 for the type. At present, ASL – a major player in

ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) airline operations serving major cargo and passenger carriers – has accepted re-delivery of 11 737800BCFs from its initial commitments. Another pair are undergoing conversion while a further seven are to follow – a 20th example is poised for an “early 2023” entry-into-service according to the company. Dave Andrew, ASL’s chief executive, commented: “The aircraft has proven itself to be an excellent fit with our customer and operational requirements throughout our European network of 100 airports. The 737-800BCF offers increased reliability and performance, and equally its lower fuel burn reduces our environmental footprint. This is very important to ASL as an aviation

group committed to environmental sustainability in aviation.” Jens Steinhagen, director of Boeing Converted Freighters, added: “[We] support progress towards sustainability goals by providing operators like those under the ASL Group umbrella an economical way to replace less efficient, older-generation freighters.” ASL currently has an impressive 130-strong fleet made up of seven types, from the ATR 72 to the 747. It has six primary airlines, including ASL Airlines Ireland, ASL Airlines Belgium, ASL Airlines France and ASL Airlines United Kingdom. Additionally, ASL has joint venture and associate airlines FlySafair in South Africa and K-Mile Asia in Thailand. (Photo Boeing)

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2022

Recovery Watch

The recovery and its challenges It’s time for our regular check-in with the Cirium team. This month, we digest the latest insights on 2022’s commercial aviation rebound amid the conflict in Ukraine ew data published by Cirium in mid April shows the aviation industry recovery is well underway. It suggests there was strong global capacity growth through 2021, ending December ‘just’ 32% down compared to the end of 2019. While the recovery stalled in January 2022, due to the Omicron outbreak, it resumed once again in March and early April. Looking at specific regions, European market capacity was around one-third down over precrisis levels in January, but this has now recovered following the removal of many COVID-19 travel restrictions.

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When it comes to the conflict in Ukraine, the impact on airlines – for example, regarding the EU sanctions or the closure of Russian airspace to certain carriers, does not appear to have dented the trend towards the popularity of single-aisle aircraft in Europe. Usage was just 12% lower than in April 2019, while widebody deployment was lower, down by 27% over the same period. Looking further afield, US domestic traffic in Q1 was only marginally down, versus 2019, and the North Atlantic market is up by 22% compared to a month earlier. However, the picture is not positive across the board. For example, China was declining again in March and early April, as cases of COVID-19 rose and new travel rules were imposed. At the time of writing, flights operated in the country are down 50% compared to recent weeks and the number of cancellations is high.

Data-driven insights As the airline industry continues to forge its path out of the pandemic,

tracked aircraft and utilisation data will become increasingly important in ongoing recovery analysis and future projections. European airline capacity plans show that low-cost carriers (LCCs) are bullish on summer capacity this year, based on available seat kilometres (ASKs), according to Cirium’s scenario modelling. So far, the baseline scenario is close to what is actually being played out within the industry. Major airlines in the region are in line with the baseline scenario, while leading short-haul budget carriers such as Jet2, Ryanair and Wizz Air are planning for summer capacity that is well ahead of earlier projections. These airlines are, in fact, planning for a bumper year – bigger than 2019. Recent challenges in the UK with flight cancellations and delays means airlines and airports will need to work out plans to meet the pent-up demand in Europe, especially in the summer months. Meanwhile, many legacy carriers seem more reserved about their prospects, most likely due to the

Recovery Watch

constraints of long-haul flying due to continuing airspace closures and travel restrictions. The Cirium scenario projects global recovery will happen 12 months earlier than previously predicted in 2020. European capacity is now forecast to recover by May 2023 with global prospects following by August 2023. This, however, is under threat, due to the wider impact of the situation in Ukraine.

Russia-Ukraine focus Aircraft flying international departures to/from Russia have slumped to just 17% of 2019 levels due to sanctions being imposed on Vladimir Putin's regime following the invasion of Ukraine. Some 73 examples were tracked on Russian international flights on April 1, 2022 versus 493 on January 3, 2020. Domestic Russian departures are

also starting to fall, and more rapidly. Cirium recorded 306 aircraft on domestic flights in the country on April 1 this year compared to 426 on January 3, 2020. The Russian commercial jet fleet has fallen by 90 aircraft via lease terminations between February and April this year. Aircraft are evidently going into storage, especially the twin-aisle jets. The real impact of the conflict on aviation recovery is uncertain at this point. Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States alone are a very small part of global traffic – around 4.5% – however, the situation has the potential to derail economic recovery elsewhere in 2022. High fuel prices and increased burn from flight-time elongations will have an immediate impact on airline costs, which threaten the fragile

industry bounceback. Increased energy prices will cause widespread economic pressure, which could also slow growth and drive inflation, further exacerbating the threat to airline recovery whilst contributing to slower demand. Passenger confidence may also drop. The longer-term implications of the war in Ukraine will not be evident for some time, but it is something to monitor closely in line with the industry recovery outlook. While the sector is continuing to grow following the effects of COVID19 and residual travel restrictions, the impact of the conflict, and how long it may continue, is harder to predict. However, Cirium analysis shows there are reasons to be optimistic about the future as demand returns and airlines ramp up operations. For more insight go to cirium.com

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TRAVEL SURGE prompts UK airport chaos A perfect storm of internal and external challenges is creating real headaches for many British airports, as Gordon Smith explains

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ABOVE • The scene at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 1 on April 5 as COVID-19 checks, high passenger volumes and staff shortages meant long check-in times CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/ GETTY IMAGE LEFT • Although airports across the country have been impacted, the northwest gateway has seen some of the worst delays MANCHESTER AIRPORT

fter more than two years of subdued demand within the travel sector, airports across the United Kingdom are struggling to cope with a sharp spike in passenger numbers. A heady mix of factors has created a complicated cocktail of chaos for airport bosses. Put simply, this ain’t no holiday piña colada. The primary ingredients for this rather unsavoury scene are threefold: the wholesale scrapping of pandemicera travel restrictions for inbound travellers to the UK; a chronically understaffed airport sector, and the traditional increase in seasonal holiday traffic. Taken in isolation, our aviation gateways would probably be able to muddle through, however when swallowed in unison, and at speed, the result is a rather prolonged episode of choking and spluttering.

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Manchester madness Manchester Airport (MAN) has been one of the worst affected locations, with travellers in late March and early April reporting check-in queues of more than four hours, some even stretching outside the terminal and into the car park. Passengers have also taken to social media to express their frustration with security lines at the northwest gateway, with many claiming to have missed flights despite arriving more than three hours ahead of their scheduled departure time. The situation at MAN was serious enough for Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester to meet senior management at the airport in early April. Speaking after the meeting, Burnham expressed a degree of sympathy, but also frustration about the problem: “All airports have struggled to one extent or another with lengthy

queues caused by staffing issues arising from the pandemic, but it is clear that Manchester has faced particular challenges. Some of the issues being experienced are beyond their control, however, that is not to say that other things could not have been done differently. While the airport has been making strenuous efforts to recruit, more should have been done earlier. Communications to passengers ahead of and upon arrival should [also] have been better, as should the management of the queues.” As Burnham alluded, while the complete quashing of UK inbound – and many outbound – travel restrictions has taken some industry insiders by surprise, the sector has been aware for weeks that a surge in demand was in the pipeline. For example, a press statement dated January 31 from MAN’s parent company MAG said it was “looking to recruit more than 500 staff at Manchester Airport in passenger security roles alone, with other vacancies in areas including customer service, car parks and hospitality”. It

added that “hundreds of additional jobs are also available with more than a dozen other businesses operating at the airport”. It is therefore reasonable to deduce that there were upwards of 1,000 posts to be filled at the site as of late January. While the complex is owned by the ten metropolitan borough councils of Greater Manchester, alongside an Australian investment fund, it is run independently of the mayor’s office and at arm’s length from the local authorities themselves. Before the pandemic, MAN was the UK’s thirdbusiest airport and handled almost 30 million passengers a year with more than 210 global destinations. In a bid to manage expectations, Burnham warned that “the disruption is not going to disappear overnight”, adding that airport bosses told him the challenges will continue for at least the next two months. Presenting something of an action plan to combat the queues, the mayor revealed that there will be a boost to overtime hours for staff, with temporary personnel also drafted

Low-cost carrier easyJet has proactively cancelled flights to ensure its schedule is more reliable EASYJET www.key.aero

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in until permanent replacements can be found. Other developments include the deployment of additional police officers at the site, extra realtime information on the airport’s website along with enhanced queuemanagement procedures. The mayor said the use of agency staff as a stop-gap measure is partly down to the delays in security vetting for permanent recruits: “Manchester Airport are making huge efforts to recruit staff, but one of the issues they are facing is the length of time it is taking for security checks to be completed. Two hundred and twenty staff have been recruited and are currently awaiting clearance but the process is taking longer than usual. I am writing to the Minister for Security and Borders asking if large airports, such as Manchester,

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which are experiencing longer waits for vetting, could be prioritised for a period, to speed up the process.”

Smart moves One vacancy that will definitely need to be filled at MAN is for a new managing director. Karen Smart stepped down on April 5 after weeks of chaos for passengers at the complex. While “family reasons and new career opportunities” were cited as the official reasons for Smart’s departure – after just two years in the role – the timing has raised eyebrows among some. Ian Costigan has taken on the role of interim managing director. Responding to the news of Smart’s departure, Charlie Cornish, the chief executive of parent company MAG said: “Over the last two years, Karen has guided Manchester Airport

RIGHT • Stansted is hoping that its new baggage system will help ease pressures as the summer season ramps up LONDON STANSTED AIRPORT

BOTTOM • A shortage of airside staff has been highlighted as one of the factors behind the capacity crunch GATWICK AIRPORT BELOW • British Airways had to cancel dozens of flights in early April, due to internal and external factors BRITISH AIRWAYS

through the most challenging period of its 84-year history, having made a major contribution to MAG throughout her time with the business. I am sorry to lose Karen after her years of valuable service, but also understand her desire to return to the South for family reasons and indeed to explore new career opportunities. “While there are sure to be further challenges ahead, I am confident we will soon start to see the benefits of the recovery plans Karen has helped put in place, and look forward to working with Ian and his leadership team to drive them forward.” Although Manchester has been one of the most high-profile flashpoints, with the story making headlines in daily newspapers and nightly news broadcasts, airports across the UK have also come in for criticism about their handling of the rapid bounce-back in consumer demand. Alongside Burnham’s comments, Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) is one of those to have been vocal in its disapproval of current turnaround times for security clearance for new or re-hired airport staff. The Yorkshire site predicted passenger numbers to reach 76% of pre-crisis levels over the Easter peak, and it also warned of possible pinch points: “Due to recent changes in Home Office accreditation for airport staff, uncertainty around when pandemic travel restrictions were due to ease and ongoing staffing disruption due to COVID-19 absences,

wave of recruitment activity, travellers should still be prepared for possible disruption: “The lifting of international travel restrictions has been extremely good news for passengers and the whole of the aviation industry following the most challenging two years in our history. I want to reassure people that we are working hard to get back to where we need to be. To prepare for the summer, we began a major recruitment drive in January to fill hundreds of roles in our security operation, and partner organisations like airlines, ground handlers and Border Force have also been recruiting. While queues may be longer than people are used to at times, customers can definitely help us by arriving in good time.”

Chaos in context

a longer lead time for recruiting staff is being experienced across the aviation industry. This is resulting in some delays for passengers moving through LBA at peak times on some days.” Vincent Hodder, chief executive of LBA, said the airport was faring better than some rivals, but it was not immune to problems: “The return of some normality to international travel after the past two years is very welcome news. However, we are currently contending with industrywide issues in recruitment and staffing. Although the disruption at LBA is not as severe as other airports, [the situation] is not up to our high standards. We would like to apologise to anyone who has experienced excessive queuing in recent weeks. More staff are joining our team every week, so we do feel confident that the processes are in place to fix issues.” Meanwhile, London/Stansted Airport was expecting 1.3 million passengers to pass through its doors over the wider Easter holiday season, making it the busiest period since the start of the pandemic. The ‘peak of the peak’ was the four-day holiday weekend, when 240,000 passengers were forecast. This compares to just over 8,000 last year when robust COVID-19 restrictions were still in place. Steve Griffiths, the airport’s managing director said, despite a

Putting the scale of the problem in further perspective, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium reveals there were a total of 1,143 flights cancelled to/from the UK in the week commencing March 28. This compares to just 197 scrapped sorties during the same (pre-pandemic) period in 2019. Of the 2022 figures, 382 were cancelled over the weekend of April 2-3. Rather than broader pressures in the terminal, the Cirium numbers suggest that internal factors at individual airlines have been behind much of the problem. For example, British Airways, including its BA CityFlyer subsidiary, cancelled 662 flights to/ from the UK during the week analysed – a 2,548% leap on the same time in 2019. Low-cost giant easyJet also cancelled a total of 357 scheduled operations to/from the UK during the same timeframe. While British Airways reported IT issues with airline systems, both carriers have admitted that a short-term capacity crunch with a lack of available staff in key areas has contributed to the cancellations. Commenting on the Cirium data, Paul Charles, CEO of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: “This is a staggering level of flight cancellations caused by not having enough staff in place and COVIDinduced staff shortages. Airlines are certainly seeing a high level of demand to fly, but are simply unable to cope with that demand due to a lack of resources. It’s a nightmare situation for airlines and airports at the moment.” While airport bosses are often the high-profile lightning rods during periods of serious disruption, there are also components beyond their control that impact the wider passenger experience. Anecdotal reports suggest there is a severe industry-wide shortage of ramp agents and baggage handlers – services that are typically outsourced by individual carriers to contracted firms. Many such companies are scrambling to bolster www.key.aero

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their workforce to meet the surge in demand from their airline clients. Among these is Swissport, which, at the time of writing, was advertising for ramp agents in Manchester with unparalleled cash incentives. On top of an enhanced hourly salary, successful applicants who join the airport ground services company before the end of April were being offered a £500 probationary completion bonus. The surge in travel demand has seen airports reopen previously mothballed terminal facilities. London/Gatwick reopened its South Terminal in late March, leaping from approximately 300 to 570 flights between March 26 and March 27, as the start of the summer schedule kicked in. Bosses at the Crawley site described this as “the equivalent of opening a mediumsized airport overnight”, with the space not in public use since June 15, 2020. Heathrow has also said it will reopen Terminal 4 for regular scheduled operations by July, making it the final terminal to come back online after the pandemic disruption.

Industry warnings Willie Walsh, former CEO of British Airways and current director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) added his voice to the growing chorus of concerned stakeholders: “As the long-awaited recovery in air travel accelerates, it is important that our infrastructure providers are prepared for a huge increase in passenger numbers in the coming months. “We are already seeing reports of unacceptably long lines at some airports, owing to the growing number of travellers, and that [was] even before the surge of Easter holiday travel in many markets. The peak Northern summer travel season will be critical for jobs throughout the travel and tourism value chain. Now is the time to prepare. Governments can help by ensuring border positions are staffed adequately and background security

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ABOVE • Gatwick Airport's North and South Terminals are both in operation for the first time since June 2020 GATWICK AIRPORT

BELOW • Bosses at Manchester Airport have said the disruption could continue for two months, as recruitment and accreditation processes bed in MANCHESTER AIRPORT

checks for new staff are managed as efficiently as possible.” As Walsh suggests, the current challenges are likely to get worse before they get better, unless immediate action is taken, which is tricky given the sensitive airside nature of many of the outstanding vacancies. The latest continentwide forecasts by Eurocontrol for the remainder of 2022 predict steady growth between April and peak summer, reaching 89% of 2019 traffic by August in its ‘base scenario’, rising to 92% by the end of the year. The Brussels-based air traffic organisation suggests this sustained recovery will translate into around 9.3 million flights operated throughout Europe for 2022. In context, this represents 84% of pre-pandemic traffic, when the network saw a record 11.1 million aircraft departures, and is significantly up from the 6.2 million flights recorded in 2021. While the overall forecast is positive, Eamonn Brennan, director general of Eurocontrol, said airport bottlenecks, alongside other external factors, could hamper the sector’s revival: “Aviation has continued to recover

well over the last few weeks, and there has been a steady climb from 68% in January rising to 79% by the start of April, compared to 2019 levels, even factoring in the impact on the network and on fuel prices of the unprovoked aggression by Russia against Ukraine. “Airlines are adding lots of capacity, and some are already outperforming their pre-pandemic levels. Hitting 90% or more of 2019 traffic at peak summer moments is firmly on the cards, and we expect holiday destinations and some other parts of the network to exceed 100% of their 2019 levels. Clearly, however, there are still some downside risks related to continued geopolitical tensions that could further impact fuel prices and economic conditions, as well as the possibility of new COVID variants. We’re also seeing staff shortages in parts of the industry, particularly at airports, in key roles such as airport screeners or ground handlers, and this needs to be carefully managed.” Responding to the criticism fielded from passengers, airlines and government figures alike, the UK’s Airport Operators Association (AOA) has defended the performance of its members. The trade body’s chief executive Karen Dee said: “Airports have been preparing for this for some time but, at peak times, passengers may not have the experience they are used to. Airports are working hard to recruit more staff in a very competitive labour market, and are working with the UK government to resolve any delays in the necessary checks before staff can start work. “For many passengers this will be the first time they have travelled abroad since the beginning of the pandemic and the processes required may seem unfamiliar. The advice airports (and airlines) are issuing should help ensure passengers are as prepared as they can be. If airports and passengers work together in this way, we can get everyone on their way as smoothly and quickly as possible.”

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WARZONE Airliner World’s Martin Needham visits AirX’s base at Stansted Airport for anything but your average bizjet charter

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eaching the top of the £6,000-an-hour Embraer Lineage’s steps, I turn right and enter the cabin. The cream leather and walnut veneer are nowhere to be seen, buried beneath protective blankets, while the first officer can be seen kneeling in the aisle pushing shrink-wrapped jars of baby food under a seat. Then the captain catches my attention out of a starboard-side window as he carries boxes of nappies toward the fore cargo hold. I wasn’t sure what I had been expecting when I arrived at Stansted Airport’s Diamond hangar about ten minutes earlier, but it certainly wasn’t this. The transition from the executive surrounds of London Jet Centre to the heart of an urgent rush to get emergency supplies on board an aircraft had been enough to make my head spin. I could tell this was a business jet because my feet sank into the deep shagpile carpet at every step, but the luxurious armchair-like seats which recline into beds

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at the touch of a button had been surrounded by stacks of tinned foods and sleeping bags as I made my way toward the rear of the cabin. In charge of this near-surreal humanitarian effort was AirX chairman John Matthews and his wife, Amy, who had been prompted into action by the shocking events unfolding in Ukraine, Russia having unthinkably invaded its neighbour to the west less than three weeks earlier. In little more than a fortnight, areas of Stansted’s Diamond hangar had been transformed from an MRO facility to what more closely resembled the warehouse of a department store. Explaining this rapid metamorphosis, Mrs Matthews said: “It all started through a mothersand-babies WhatsApp group. Someone asked if we had any stuff for children as they had a man going to Poland with a van. “I shared that link and I’ve got an inability to say no, so we were quickly inundated with donations and soon realised that there was too much stuff for a van to take. A van became vans and then vans became an aircraft. We’ve now been donated too much

TOP RIGHT • Donations were placed inside the aircraft’s luxurious cabin as well as its fore and aft cargo holds ALL IMAGES KEY-MARTIN NEEDHAM UNLESS STATED

RIGHT • Items needed to be weighed individually prior to being loaded to ensure the aircraft’s weight and balance remained within limits

FAR RIGHT • The aircraft’s captain, Guy Platt, climbs a ladder to place nappies in the executive jet’s fore cargo hold

LEFT • John and Amy Matthews, the husband and wife team who spearheaded the aid flight operation

BELOW • AirX operates a trio of Embraer 190-based Lineage 1000 business jets AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/ ALEX PEAKE

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ABOVE • The aircraft was delayed slightly after missing its original slot TOP LEFT • The jet’s bespoke fixtures and fittings were buried under vital aid required in Ukraine, however the jet returned to executive charter work several hours later ABOVE LEFT • It is believed that the flight was the first of its kind using an executive jet LEFT • Job done: the AirX team in front of the executive jet prior to pushback from the Diamond hangar

stuff for the aircraft, so this is the start of something much bigger. During COVID-19, AirX flew vaccines and scientists around, but that was a matter of people telling us to do it and we did it. We’ve never done any charity work on this scale before. “I knew we could get the donations, but the issue was getting someone on the ground at the other end to take delivery of them to pass on to the distributors. We also needed to know what they needed. I got in touch with various charities including Youth With A Mission Harpenden, they put us in touch with contacts on the ground in Romania and we looked for an airport as far east and as close to the Ukrainian border as possible. “I’ve always wanted to do more things like this but, at the end of the day, AirX is an airline that struggled to stay afloat during COVID. We can’t do the charitable things if we haven’t got the business.” The private jet operator’s chairman summed up the strange but emotional mood in the vast hangar, saying: “It’s not every day that we go from business jet to freighter like this.

The initial task was just another flight with some boxes. At that stage, my mother-in-law’s garage was getting out of control. Now we’re filling a hangar and need volunteers. We asked for two and got 17. We asked about overtime, and every member of staff agreed to it.” Due to the overwhelming amount of donations made, loading the aircraft was anything but straightforward. Volunteers had sorted through thousands of items to ensure those most urgently needed were onboard the 19-seat executive jet, with each package and parcel of aid having to be individually weighed prior to being loaded to ensure the aircraft remained within its weight and balance limitations. Captaining the flight, Guy Platt explained how much aid was able to be carried: “We can carry 3.6 tonnes – that takes us to our maximum zero fuel weight. Among that, there’s 900kg of tinned food, but the highest priority is baby food, so there’s formula and nappies and things like that going out too. Once all that’s on board, we’re going to top the aircraft

up with soft items like sleeping bags and sleeping mats.” The company’s chairman added: “We’re probably doing something for the first time in executive jet history. For us as a company, it’s meaningful and there’s a real sense of this flight making a difference. I appreciate that it’s a drop in the ocean in terms of relief aid, but there aren’t too many executive jets doing this. It really is different, and there’s a really warm glow about this flight.” Following a slot delay, the Embraer Lineage 1000, 9H-FAB (c/n 19000534), departed to Suceava in Romania, where it delivered the much-needed supplies. From Suceava, it positioned to Paris/Le Bourget, from where it had been chartered for a flight to Newark Liberty in New Jersey. I’m not sure we’ll ever know if the people who hired the jet to cross the Atlantic in luxury had even the slightest clue that, just hours earlier, their aircraft had been transporting potentially life-saving aid to be distributed in war-torn Ukraine. www.key.aero

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The Airbus A220 is a hugely versatile regional aircraft that’s also well suited to longer sectors. Andreas Spaeth discusses its quirks with airBaltic’s chief pilot as they fly from Riga to Tenerife

t’s a sunny, but very cold March morning in Riga. The thermometer fell to -9°C during the night, making the airBaltic billboard promoting warm weather destinations such as Dubai and Tenerife seem an especially tempting prospect. At this time of year, you need to travel pretty far from Latvia to get some serious heat. As such, these routes to the Persian Gulf and the Canary Islands cover the greatest distances in the airBaltic network. As well as being the longest route operated by the airline, Riga to Tenerife is also currently the world’s lengthiest scheduled passenger route flown by an Airbus A220. The distance

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The A220

to Tenerife ranges between 2,530 and 2,600 nautical miles and is calculated at 2,578nm for the flight I’m about to join. This is still a longer stretch than flying Riga to Dubai, even after taking current detours into account. The distance from the Baltic Sea to the United Arab Emirates hub is about 2,333nm as the crow flies. Of course airBaltic isn’t alone in pushing the envelope of Airbus’ smallest in-production jet. Within the worldwide A220 network, a total of 14 airlines operate the type as of March 2022, with a handful of routes that are similarly impressive. Air Austral’s sortie from La Réunion in the Indian Ocean to Chennai in India – which is not currently operating due to COVID-19 –

chalks up 2,494nm, while JetBlue has announced a A220 transcontinental flight from Boston to Portland, Oregon and San Jose in California from September 2022. The first leg covers ‘only’ 2,336nm, but with a meaty block time of six hours and 39 minutes. “North American carriers Air Canada and Breeze have the longest A220 sectors on average,” airBaltic’s chief pilot Gerhard Ramcke told Airliner World ahead of the flight to the Canary Islands.

ABOVE • The Rigabased carrier is the world's first and largest all-A220 operator AIRBALTIC

The A220 pioneer Flying the flag of a relatively small country on Europe’s far eastern edge, Latvia’s national airline has emerged as the second-largest global operator

LEFT • The world’s lengthiest scheduled passenger route flown by an Airbus A220 ANDREAS SPAETH

of the Canadian-built jet, behind only Delta Air Lines. In March 2022, the Riga-based carrier had 33 aircraft in its all-A220 fleet, with a further seven A220-300s still due to join the roster. Put in context, airBaltic was the world’s first airline solely operating Airbus’ newest narrowbody, originally developed as the Bombardier CSeries. A total of 199 examples had been delivered as of mid-March 2022, from an overall order book of 740, resulting in a backlog of 541 aircraft. It’s primarily the larger -300 variant coming out of the Montréal/Mirabel final assembly line, with global customers appreciating the flexibility the stretched type allows. “During the pandemic, airBaltic was extremely well www.key.aero

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positioned with this size of aircraft, and with the recent flow of orders one can see that the airlines are warming up to the type, also because its price is far below that of any A320neo or Boeing 737 MAX,” noted Captain Ramcke. The chief pilot says aviators also appreciate the spacious and airy workplace on the A220: “It’s an entirely different story compared to the 737 cockpit that was never able to evolve and therefore suffers from being narrow and overloaded with instruments. It’s no big deal to sit on the A220 flight deck with just two pilots for over six hours sometimes.”

Crisis considerations During the recent global turmoil – resulting from both the COVID19 pandemic and now the Russian invasion of Ukraine – the A220 has proved to be a valuable asset. AirBaltic CEO Martin Gauss, an early adopter of the type, had previously told Airliner World: “It was always clear that this aircraft is well-suited in any possible crisis, as it can fly short hops equally well as long sectors.” It’s fair to say that 2022 hasn’t been short on drama to date. Between January and mid-March, 72 new orders had been received for the A220, after 30 and 38 orders respectively in the two pandemic years prior. AirBaltic makes a case for the A220’s versatility. The airline flies a hop of just 28 minutes from Riga to Palanga, a resort town in neighbouring Lithuania, as its shortest route, alongside much longer stretches to the Mediterranean and beyond. “There are quite a few sales arguments for this aircraft,” says Ramcke. “That it excels on short and long routes is one of them. It is also fuss-free, supports the pilots very nicely and offers a lot of extra safety margins. It is the only fourth-generation airliner and far more advanced than any A320 or Boeing 737 iterations. When Bombardier developed it, it was totally underrated.” The senior pilot acknowledged that, over time, several elements have

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changed on the A220: “There have been many software updates, that’s natural. There were also small system glitches, which have been spotted over time and corrections implemented, making it simpler and more reliable. But there was no need for major reworks – the aircraft [even at launch] was pretty mature.”

ABOVE • AirBaltic promotes its winter sun destinations at its Riga home AIRBALTIC RIGHT • AirBaltic was founded in 1995, with the Latvian state holding more than 97% of shares in the company AIRBALTIC

Safe pair of hands At Gate B7 of Riga’s compact airport awaits today’s ride to Tenerife. Registered YL-AAV (c/n 55071), it

airBaltic: Airbus A220-300 in numbers Quantity in fleet 33 Number of seats 145 /147 Max take-off weight 67.6 tons Max payload 16.7 tons Length 127ft (38.7m) Wingspan 115.1ft (35.1m) Cruising speed 541mph (871kph) Commercial range 2,470.3nm (4,575km) Fuel consumption 687 US Gal /hr (2,600l/hr) Engines 2x Pratt & Whitney PW 1521G Source: airBaltic Data correct as of March 2022

BELOW RIGHT• The route for YL-AAV from Riga to Tenerife crosses almost all of continental Europe ANDREAS SPAETH BELOW • In 2008, airBaltic changed its operating model from a point-topoint carrier to a network airline, making Riga a connecting hub AIRBALTIC

was delivered new to the airline in December 2019. The aircraft features 145 comfortable seats in airBaltic’s standard configuration, and although it’s not yet the school holiday seasonal peak, an impressive 143 of them are booked for Flight BT761, including several airline staff members on standby. Interestingly, airBaltic recently made moves to install more seats on its A220-300s, after Airbus secured an updated certification from EASA. This increases the maximum legal capacity of the A220 to 149 by modifying the overwing exit slides. Following this rule change, the Latvian carrier’s first new delivery in 2022, registered YL-ABG (c/n 55154), arrived in February equipped with 148 seats, three more than the original specification. “We intend to recertify our existing fleet to match the higher capacity,” Gauss said recently. “This will further drive the efficiency of our operations.” Captain Ramcke is flying us to Tenerife this morning and we’re in safe hands. The Hamburg-born aviator is the airline’s most senior pilot, having spent the last 17 years with airBaltic. He has almost 10,000 flight hours under his belt, of which 3,100 are on the A220. There is probably no other captain anywhere as experienced flying the A220 on these very long routes. Among his career highlights to date, Ramcke picked up the world’s first CS300 (as the aircraft was called then) in December 2016 at the factory in

ABOVE • AirBaltic CEO Martin Gauss is a qualified Airbus A220 pilot VIA AUTHOR BELOW • Captain Ramcke and First Officer Kalev Tarma in the flight deck of the A220

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Montréal and flew it home over the Atlantic – an epic journey in which the author of this article was honoured to have taken part. Ramcke followed this landmark sortie by piloting other delivery flights across the ocean to Latvia. On the topic of transatlantic flying on the A220, the principle was demonstrated on a test flight of a CS100 (today’s A220-100) by Bombardier in 2017. An early example flew non-stop from London/City to New York/JFK (which would be theoretically viable in a 42-seat configuration). Interestingly, airBaltic confirmed that it has also done the maths and concluded it was operationally possible to do an all-business class service direct to JFK from Riga. Alas, the airline also concluded that the route would not be viable financially. Ramcke’s A220-long-haul reputation was further enhanced by an epic demonstration tour in 2019, when airBaltic’s aircraft, registration YL-AAS (c/n 55054), was chartered by Airbus. The German pilot flew it all the way from Riga to Australia, routing via Abu Dhabi, Kuala Lumpur and Cairns. The jet then continued to Brisbane and Sydney, along with New Zealand and several other South Pacific and Asian destinations, calling at a total of nine cities in seven countries. “That was quite something, and afterwards, Qantas bought the A220!” quipped Ramcke. AirBaltic chief executive Martin Gauss is a certified A220 pilot and informally promotes the A220 on behalf of Airbus at major air shows, alongside the airline’s chief pilot.

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With overall options for up to 80 A220 examples, the CEO perhaps knows that these slots for extra jets gain value the more popular the type becomes, alongside easier availability to spare parts when an aircraft type is widely flown.

Airspace alterations

BELOW • Captain Ramcke in his A220 'office' en route to Tenerife from Riga ANDREAS SPAETH BELOW RIGHT • The route to the Canaries requires a modest detour to avoid airspace above the Russian province of Kaliningrad ANDREAS SPAETH BOTTOM • Passengers on the world's longest A220 flight are furnished with anti-COVID products to boost wellbeing ANDREAS SPAETH

Having been all the way to Oceania, this morning’s route to the Canary Islands is more routine for Captain Ramcke. Nonetheless, it now entails new challenges that come with the recent outbreak of war in Ukraine. Even the route from Riga to Tenerife, not much affected by any airspace restrictions, now includes a slight detour to avoid Russian-administered Kaliningrad airspace southwest of Riga, off limits since the start of the invasion. “It’s only a small detour for us, maybe 50 or 80km, but because we now have sometimes to fly lower or make other detours, we have taken on 300kg more fuel than usual,” the captain explained. The conflict in Ukraine has confronted airBaltic with new considerations, with its home country directly bordering Russia. The Baltic states have long seen themselves as being at risk from Moscow, but right now the airline’s biggest task is to communicate that their operations continue to run like clockwork. “Western media has presented the Baltics as being in or near a war zone. We need to emphasise that Latvia is not sharing a border with Ukraine – we are a free country, undisrupted,” Gauss said recently.

ABOVE • The author shares insights into re-routings due to the war in Ukraine VIA AUTHOR LEFT • The Latvian airline was the launch operator of the A220-300 AIRBALTIC

BELOW • The A220 has a distinctive 3-2 configuration in economy class, meaning the chance of sitting in the dreaded middle seat is significantly reduced AIRBALTIC

The CEO is fully aware how problematic it could be if inaccurate perceptions circulate among the travelling public that AirBaltic’s Riga hub is within the sphere of the war. While the route to Tenerife is only marginally impacted by the conflict, airBaltic’s service to Dubai has been more exposed, particularly on the return trip from the Gulf. Usually this flight takes around six hours, nowadays new records are being broken. Data from flightaware.com shows that on March 8, 2022, Flight BT792 from Dubai to Riga stayed aloft for an unprecedented seven hours and 51 minutes. The block time from gate-to-gate, including long line-ups common during Dubai’s morning peak hour, added up to a whopping eight hours and 23 minutes for the narrowbody. “The route currently incurs, on average, 40 minutes of detours both ways, and once you have strong headwinds, it can even be close to eight hours in total,” revealed Ramcke. The journey path has fundamentally changed since war broke out. Previously the flight to the UAE turned directly into Russian airspace shortly after take-off from Riga, passing east of the Black Sea over Georgia, Armenia and finally Iran, before landing in Dubai. Now, after a substantial rerouting, it leads over Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, over the Black Sea into Turkey and only then on via Iran to Dubai. “With Belarus, Ukraine and Russia plus the Kaliningrad airspace, a huge area we normally use is inaccessible now,” said the chief pilot. “Besides the detours and the resulting higher amount of fuel burn, our whole Russia and Ukraine business has broken away. Previously, we flew to Kyiv, Odessa, Kaliningrad, St Petersburg and Moscow.” According to data provider Cirium, these markets represented just 7% of the capacity AirBaltic was planning for February, but this should be seen www.key.aero

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within a seasonal context. “Lviv was supposed to come online as a new destination this summer,” reflected Ramcke. “These are all sources of income that disappeared, plus the fact that passengers originating from these markets wouldn’t have just flown to Riga, but also further west with us.” The challenges are manifold, both on the business and the operational side, as Captain Ramcke explained as he cautiously outlined the impact of the geopolitical situation: “On the way out of Riga through the so-called Suvalki corridor, entering Polish airspace, there is a NATO airfield where we sometimes encounter aircraft taking off to intercept Russian jets. For us that means we might face sudden airspace restrictions and have to fly lower or initiate descent earlier. Near Kaliningrad airspace we also face more and more cases of GPS jamming. It’s not posing big difficulties to us, as we then rely on other navigational means, but they lack the same precision. We

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ABOVE • The author spots Gran Canaria's main airport during the approach to Tenerife ANDREAS SPAETH

BELOW LEFT • Company figures suggest airBaltic is responsible for more than 2.5% of Latvian GDP ANDREAS SPAETH BELOW RIGHT • The flight path of YL-AAV as it approaches its destination VIA AUTHOR

get a small message on the display and have to switch modes, that happens time and again and is a symbol for the frictions there.” Airline pilots have to be prepared for a very different kind of uncertainty over Eastern Europe: “We have repeatedly had moments of surprise when military aircraft – sometimes a whole group with their own air-toair tankers – appear out of nowhere and we suddenly see them. They have their transponders switched off and so we can’t detect them on our TCAS collision avoidance radar. They have their own system and are able to see us, but we can’t see them. We rely on that and, so far, there [have been] no major conflicts.”

Take-off to Tenerife Other than the relatively modest re-routing to avoid Kaliningrad, the link from Riga to Tenerife is very straightforward, connecting the far northeast of Europe with the Canary

Islands off the African coast in an almost direct line. “The route usually has very little variation,” remarked Ramcke. The total amount of fuel for our journey comes to 14.1 tonnes, while capacity would have been 17 tonnes. Take-off weight is 63.7 tonnes, three-and-a-half tonnes below the maximum allowed. It’s obvious that the A220 has pretty long legs, with Gauss having previously told Airliner World that it could even reach Addis Ababa or Delhi from Riga. At 0849hrs local time, the aircraft rotates in Riga, setting straight onto a southwestern course. It overflies Lithuania, then crosses over Poland. After that, BT761 traverses Germany, scraping a stretch of the Czech Republic on the way. The A220 overflies Stuttgart, crossing into Switzerland, with passengers on the left-hand side of the jet treated to an alpine panorama before entering France. From there. it soars over Spain from north to south.

LEFT • A smooth flight makes for a happy captain! ANDREAS SPAETH

BELOW • While Tenerife is the longest scheduled route in the airBaltic network, recent airspace closures have extended flight times to and from Dubai in the UAE KRISTINE LIMARE

Acknowledgments The author wishes to thank AirBaltic for its co-operation in preparing this article, in particular Alise Bethere, Daniela Bergmane and, of course Captain Gerhard Ramcke.

“We are consuming slightly below 1.8 tonnes of fuel an hour, an extremely favourable amount, as A320neos or Boeing 737 MAXs would be burning significantly over two tonnes every hour, of course being slightly larger as well,” confirmed Ramcke in a midflight briefing. “That’s one of the main advantages of the geared turbofan PW1500G engines, the others being its low noise and reduced emissions.” It’s all going smoothly on the flight deck, but what about further back on the aircraft? AirBaltic crews love the Tenerife flight, said Ana, a Spanish member of the three-strong cabin crew, admitting that the Dubai flight isn’t quite as popular as it has a night leg on the outbound. “With flights that stay over seven hours in the air or more, it’s really the question of what you want to expose your passengers to on a narrowbody,” said Ramcke. So far no A220 operator has come up with a lie-flat option for premium passengers, and all airBaltic does to distinguish its business class from economy is to block out the middle or adjacent seat. American newcomer Breeze so far appears to be the only A220 airline offering a proper premium seat, or what US domestic carriers call ‘first class’. It comes with a substantial recline facility and a moveable legrest. Others like Delta simply install wider seats in a 2-2 configuration for its premium passengers. In any case, almost every airBaltic crew member is usually happy to score the Canary route. “Especially in winter, as we mostly have 48-hour layovers in Tenerife because we have four flights a week,” said Ana. After flying out over the Atlantic and keeping close to the North African coast, it’s time to prepare the approach. As the aircraft flies over Lanzarote, the northernmost of the Canary Islands, and then alongside neighbouring Fuerteventura, the cabin is readied for landing. On the horizon is the snow-capped peak of Teide, the world’s thirdhighest island volcano. Directly above Gran Canaria, Ramcke and his Estonian First Officer Kalev Tarma begin the landing sequence for Tenerife Sur Airport, turning sharply to starboard and into the final approach. At 1301hrs local time, Flight BT761 touches down after six hours and 12 minutes in the air, now weighing 52.4 tonnes. The apron is surprisingly crowded and the cockpit crew needs to ask ATC to request an Edelweiss A320 to move out of the way in order for the A220 to be able to safely taxi to its stand. Even during these uncertain times, once at the gate, Ramcke sums things up: “Welcome to Tenerife! It was a very relaxed flight in the best office in the world onboard the A220.” www.key.aero

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Atalanta’s ROYAL RESPONSIBILITIES Princess Elizabeth’s 1952 visit to Kenya has received increased attention as Her Majesty celebrates her Platinum Jubilee. Martin Needham discovers what became of the Canadair Argonaut used for the royal trip

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T

he Canadair Four – known as the Argonaut in British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) service – was a development of the Douglas DC-4. Built under licence by the Canadian firm, the type’s original quartet of Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp radial engines were swapped for four RollsRoyce Merlin in-line powerplants. As a result, the Argonaut had more than 7,000shp on take-off and a cruise speed of 230-265mph at altitudes between 15,000ft and 20,000ft. It offered a range of 3,110 statute miles. BOAC operated 22 Argonauts, each given a name beginning with ‘A’, and the propliners were deployed on services between London and South America, Africa, the Middle East and the Far East from 1949 to 1960. The decision to use an Argonaut for Princess Elizabeth’s state visit to Kenya was not without its critics. At the time, BOAC rostered its Handley Page Hermes on routes to Kenya and it

was anticipated that this might cause some ill feeling among those flying the Radlett, Hertfordshire-built type, it having been snubbed in favour of the Canadair propliner. The justification for pulling one of the carrier’s 22 Argonauts off US routes was because of Her Royal Highness’s wish to make a single stop on the flight from London to Nairobi at El Adem in Libya (now Gamal Abdel Nasser Airbase near Al Adm). A memo from J C Harrington, BOAC’s deputy operations director, to the company’s deputy chairman, Willard Whitney Straight, advised: “The stage length [from] El Adem [to] Nairobi is 2,112nm plus a further 290nm to the alternate [Entebbe]. This is practicable for an Argonaut with a payload of 2,000kgs… The Hermes unfortunately lacks the range/payload characteristics for such an operation… under all wind conditions.” Additionally, Francis St Barbe, de Havilland’s business and sales manager, asked about the possibility

BELOW • Princess Elizabeth, followed by the Duke of Edinburgh, walks down the steps of BOAC Canadair Argonaut, G-ALHK (c/n 157), at Eastleigh Airport, Nairobi, at the start of a royal visit to Kenya on February 1, 1952. The royal party was greeted by the Governor of Kenya surrounded by uniformed servicemen and police UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES

of the manufacturer’s new Comet I being deployed on the state visit. In response, BOAC chairman Sir Miles Thomas said: “Naturally we have reviewed the possibility of flying the royal party in a Comet to Kenya. There are important factors that have to be taken into consideration – among them is range necessary to ensure that landings are only made in certain places. And frankly, with Comet I, I think we should be stretching things a bit.” The Argonaut chosen for the visit, G-ALHK (c/n 157) Atalanta, was modified ahead of departure. A November 1951 memo to Harrington from J R Finnimore, BOAC’s design superintendent, detailed the 40-seater’s transformation, including fitting lightweight

armchairs and two beds in line with Air Registration Board requirements. The newly modified Atalanta departed London Airport (now Heathrow) for El Adem at 1200hrs noon on January 31, with the Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh’s planned tour due to take in East Africa, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Australia and New Zealand. It arrived in Libya seven-and-a-half hours later, before eventually touching down in Nairobi in Kenya at 0712hrs GMT the following morning. The aircraft remained in Kenya, positioning to Mombasa while the royal couple toured the East African nation in anticipation of them boarding the SS Gothic to continue their journey to Australia and New Zealand, visits which would be cancelled in the wake of King George VI’s death. News of her father’s passing reached Princess Elizabeth on the afternoon of February 6 and plans for her to return to the UK were immediately put into place. An East African Airways DC-3 transported the new Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh from Nanyuki – close to the Treetops Hotel where they had been staying – to Entebbe, Uganda. Atalanta arrived at the capital city’s airport soon after. However, a sudden electrical storm and 50mph gales kept the Argonaut on the ground until 2347hrs local (2047hrs GMT). Following the aircraft’s royal encounters, Whitney Straight wrote to Buckingham Palace in June 1952 asking if it might be possible for a plaque commemorating the trip to be installed in its cabin. This was agreed

ABOVE • Atalanta at Paya Lebar in Singapore five years after playing its important role in the 1952 royal visit to Kenya AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/ THE SAMBA COLLECTION

BELOW • Argonaut G-ALHK was sold to Overseas Air Transport following a decade of service with BOAC. It was later sold to Copenhagen-based Flying Enterprises before being scrapped in July 1965 AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/ THE SAMBA COLLECTION

by Her Majesty and a plaque was commissioned and fitted soon after. It read: “Their Royal Highnesses the Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh flew from London Airport in this aircraft to East Africa between 31st January and 1st February, 1952. Her Majesty the Queen, with the Duke of Edinburgh, returned in it from East Africa between the 6th and 7th February, 1952.” It is not known what happened to this plaque when G-ALHK was withdrawn from BOAC service in early 1959 and sold to Overseas Air Transport (OAT) on March 25, 1959. The Jersey-based company would acquire a quintet of Argonauts, using the aircraft on inclusive tour operations from the UK and West Germany to North Africa, the US and Canada. OAT’s founder, Ronald Myhill, who had earlier formed Autair (later Court Line) and Germany’s Lufttransport Union (LTU), began assisting the owners of Copenhagen-based Flying Enterprise. Two Argonauts including G-ALHK were leased to the Danish company, then later sold to it in January and April 1961 respectively. The former Atalanta was re-registered in Denmark as OY-AFB and provided Flying Enterprises with four years of service before eventually being broken up at Copenhagen’s Kastrup Airport in July 1965. Martin Needham would like to thank Jim Davies of the British Airways Heritage Centre for his invaluable assistance in the research of this article.

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Known today for its 787s, All Nippon Airways once pioneered a variant of the 737 for its well-heeled corporate customers, as Siddharth Ganesh explains

The 737-700ER Business not as usual hen an airline launches a new route or sector, its ultimate goal is to be profitable. For this to happen, the operator must consider numerous factors, complete thorough analysis and make informed forecasts. A sector is usually a defined airport pairing, whether an airline operates it with just a single flight or multiple times on the same day. The key determining factor for frequency boils down to existing and future passenger demand and is a basic part of any route-planning process. Every so often, a niche market within an established city pair opens up, with one of the most notable being the business segment, aimed almost exclusively at shuttling professionals to and from commercial megahubs. In 2007, Japanese legacy carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) spotted such an opportunity and launched a daily service between Tokyo and Mumbai, India on a

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ABOVE: The aircraft were given a special ‘ANA BusinessJet’ livery to distinguish them from other regular ANA services WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/ LKARASAWA

Boeing 737-700ER. Sounds pretty wild, huh? Let us explain…

The right equipment The service targeted a high-yielding corporate clientele, given that the two cities are global financial powerhouses. In January 2006, ANA submitted a request to Boeing to substitute two 737-700s on order with a pair of 737-700ERs, enabling the Japanese firm to fly longer distances than usual. These, of course, were the days before the 737 MAX really pushed the range of narrowbodies. In time, the OEM responded by handing the airline two long-range premium-configuration 737-700ER jets (registered JA13AN and JA10AN). These featured the fuselage of the commercial 737-700 and the wings and landing gear of the larger 737800. An extra fuel tank was also fitted, which boosted the type’s range by 2,145nm, comfortably enabling it to make the 5,000nm journey to Mumbai with some additional reserves.

In terms of seating, JA13AN (c/n 33880) featured 38 full lie-flat business-class seats and its brother JA10AN (c/n 33879), was configured with a slight twist with 44 seats in total, comprising 24 in business class and 20 in premium economy. Both the jets were given a special ‘ANA BusinessJet’ livery to distinguish them from other regular ANA aircraft. The launch route for the modified aircraft was between Japan’s Nagoya’s Centrair Airport and Guangzhou, China – a modest trip by most standards – but the ANA team had much grander plans to take the jet non-stop to India. The westbound leg typically operated as Flight NH 943. Although departure times changed over the years, takeoff from Narita was usually around midday, allowing for an evening arrival in Mumbai around 1900hrs. A key benefit of the lower passenger count meant a speedy turnaround of just an hour was the norm, meaning the aircraft could be back in the air as

NH 944 within 60 minutes, landing back in Japan around 0800hrs the following morning. One of the few exceptions to this schedule was during the winter months, when the westbound leg would have a quick refuelling stop at Nagasaki or Fukuoka, due to increased headwinds, while the eastbound journey remained non-stop. Menus were specially designed for the Indian palate and curated by one of Tokyo’s top Indian restaurants. Japanese passengers would also get a taste of home on board, with all meals accompanied by a bowl of miso soup and a speciality branded rice from Hokkaido in northern Japan. In 2008, now-defunct Indian carrier, Jet

Airways, announced a codeshare agreement, placing its flight code, 9W, on ANA’s daily BusinessJet flights between Mumbai and Tokyo with both airlines also linking their frequent-flyer programmes. Speaking at the time, Mineo Yamamoto, ANA’s then-president and CEO, stated: “We are delighted to work with Jet Airways in this way, to bring together the people of India and Japan. Our two countries, located at opposite ends of Asia, represent the diversity and dynamism of our region, and Jet Airways, with its famed high quality of service and remarkable growth, itself typifies those qualities.”

Hitting turbulence In 2016, the BusinessJet’s business plan began to unravel. While passenger demand increased between the

The fact that the ANA’s BusinessJet service lasted for nearly a decade and even survived the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007-8 goes to show how meticulous the forecast and planning was from the airline...

two cities, it was much more focused on cost-sensitive economy traffic. ANA was left with little choice but to discontinue this special service and replace the 737-700ER with a 787-8 Dreamliner, which continues to operate to this day. Reflecting on the decision, Yasuo Taki, ANA’s former country manager for India said: “There has been a significant shift in the profile of the customer, especially on the Mumbai-Narita route. [In 2015] we changed the aircraft type from a very small Boeing 737 to a new Dreamliner 787. We have four times the number of seats than we did before. There has been a very big jump in the number of travellers from India, and those from Mumbai have dramatically increased”. The fact that ANA’s BusinessJet service lasted for nearly a decade and even survived the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 20078 goes to show how meticulous the forecast and planning was from the airline. As these unusual 737s were of no more use to the airline, both JA10AN and JA13AN were flown to Tucson, Arizona, the year after the project ended and have since been scrapped. Other 737-700s have found alternative uses, however, including in the freighter sector. ANA wasn’t alone with notable allpremium flights during this period. British Airways 001, an all-businessclass Airbus A318 service from London/City to New York/JFK and PrivatAir’s 737-800 BBJ from Frankfurt to Pune, India, were among the quirkier highlights. However, ANA will be remembered as being the only operator of the heavily modified 737-700ER variant, and for that it will go down in aviation history.

BELOW: JA10AN (c/n 33879) is dwarfed by JA8958 (c/n 25641) on the apron at Tokyo/Narita in 2010 WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/ KENTARO IEMOTO

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Russian rules end

QUEEN OF 52-year reign

Sanctions imposed against Russia have ended more than five decades of 747s flying in the UK. Airliner World’s Martin Needham looks back at British Boeings

S

anctions imposed against Russia following its military invasion of Ukraine have brought about the end of more than 50 years of continuous Boeing 747 operations in the United Kingdom. Just two jumbos were in UK service at the start of 2022 – both flown by CargoLogicAir – following the expedited retirements of British Airways' and Virgin Atlantic's fleets due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the East Midlands-based freight operator is part of the Volga Dnepr Group, which is most famous for its Antonov An-124s and Ilyushin Il-76s, and it also owns CargoLogic Germany and AirBridgeCargo. Several Russian airlines have been wary of operating aircraft owned by lessors seized by the state for fear of

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jeopardising relationships with lease providers should there be a thawing of international relations between Russia and the West. In line with this, AirBridgeCargo parked its entire fleet at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport at the beginning of March and has kept its jets grounded since then. The carrier has reportedly been looking at all possible ways of complying with sanctions while continuing to operate. As this does not appear possible, the airline is considering major staff cuts, leaving just a handful of pilots on the payroll. Volga-Dnepr had initially launched the airline in 2015 following the closure of Global Supply Systems (see below) because the Russian company had identified a gap in the market where there was no UK-based main-deck cargo airline operating

aircraft larger than the Boeing 767300ER. Initially operating a Boeing 747-400F on lease from AirCastle, the airline accepted a 747-8F – which offered the ability to transport cargo in temperature-controlled zones – at the 2016 Farnborough International Airshow. Another 747-400F was taken on lease – this time from AerCap – in April 2017, citing it had ambitions to operate a five-strong fleet. However, with a downturn in cargo during 2019, the ‘8F was passed to sister company AirBridgeCargo. Eventually, the carrier would hand its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) to the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in early February 2020. However, within two months, the company requested its AOC be reinstated due to the outbreak of COVID-19, with the pair of 747-400s being quickly

THE SKIES’

placed back into service to operate cargo flights on behalf of the National Health Service (NHS). The duo continued to fly throughout 2020 and 2021, with plans to double its fleet to four jets in the first half of 2022. These plans have since been shelved and it is not clear when, or if, CargoLogicAir will restore its freight links.

BOAC and British Airways While Britain has been one of the countries imposing sanctions on Russia, its aviation industry marked the drawing to a close of more than 50 years of continuous Boeing 747 operations, which had commenced with the arrival of the British Overseas Airways Corporation’s (BOAC) maiden 747-100 example, G-AWNA (c/n 19761), on April 22, 1970.

After resolving crewing issues with the type, BOAC would eventually operate 15 examples of the 747-100, before merging with British European Airways (BEA) to form British Airways (BA) on April 1, 1974. The new carrier would continue its predecessor’s association with the jumbo jet, with it becoming the airline’s flagship until the Airbus A380 appeared in Chatham Historic Dockyard colours in July 2013. The Heathrow-based heavyweight would operate 101 747s – comprising 19 ’100s, 25 ’200s and 57 ’400s – before the type was finally forced into early retirement due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Global Supply Systems BA wasn’t the only British company that flew jumbo jets with the Union Flag on its tail, as London/Stansted’s

Global Supply Systems operated a trio of 747-400Fs on dry lease from Atlas Air under the British Airways World Cargo banner. The ’400 series jets were retired in late 2011 and early 2012, making way for a trio of 7478Fs, again on lease from the New York state-based cargo specialist. However, after less than two-and-a-half years flying the 8F, BA wrapped up its deal with GSS in April 2014 and the jets were returned to the lessor.

MAIN IMAGE: BOAC received its maiden Boeing 747-100 in April 1970, placing it into service the following year BRITISH AIRWAYS

Virgin Atlantic Airways Virgin Atlantic had been a jumbo jet operator throughout its entire history until it too became an airline whose 747s were consigned to the history books by the coronavirus. The carrier’s first aircraft, former Aerolineas Argentinas 747-200, G-VIRG (c/n 21189), joined the www.key.aero

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RIGHT: CargoLogicAir had been the UK’s sole remaining Boeing 747 operator prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 AIRTEAMIMAGES/JAN SEVERIJNS

RIGHT: Global Supply Systems’ sourcing of 747-400Fs from Atlas Air is evident from this livery AIRTEAMIMAGES/DEREK PEDLEY

company in June 1984 and would be the first of 28 examples fielded by the carrier, including multiple ’200s and ’400s, along with a sole 747100, G-VMIA (c/n 20108), which was initially named Spirit of Sir Freddie to thank airline boss Sir Freddie Laker for the advice he had provided to Sir Richard Branson during the formative years of Virgin Atlantic.

British Caledonian Airways RIGHT: British Airways operated more than 100 Boeing 747 examples between 1974 and 2020, the majority of which wore its iconic Landor livery MARTIN NEEDHAM

British Caledonian Airways became only the UK’s second Boeing 747 operator – and the country’s first privately owned carrier to fly the type – when it accepted G-BDPZ (c/n 19745) on lease from Aer Lingus in October 1978. While its first example was returned to the Irish flag carrier after just five months, a further quintet would join the Gatwick-based airline before it was acquired by British Airways in April 1988. Among them was the appropriately registered G-HUGE (c/n 21252), which was named Andrew Carnegie – The Scottish American Philanthropist as a way of affirming the link between its destinations on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Highland Express Highland Express is the shortestlived British carrier on this list. It started services from London/ Stansted to Newark/Liberty Airport via Glasgow/Prestwick Airport in June of 1987 with a Boeing 747-100, G-HIHO (c/n 20108), leased from Citicorp. The airline had been formed some three years earlier, but a series of RIGHT: Global Supply Systems' Boeing 747-8Fs all wore Chatham Historic Dockyard colours AIRTEAMIMAGES/PHILIPPE NORET

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issues – including the late delivery of their sole 747 and delays receiving a route licence to operate to Toronto – had meant the carrier’s jumbo first took to the skies carrying farepaying passengers on June 30, 1987. The Stansted-Prestwick-Newark service ran four times weekly and was supplemented by a thrice-weekly link between Birmingham, Prestwick and Newark. There was little reprieve for the former American Airlines jet as it was expected to cross the Atlantic twice daily every day of the week, so the aircraft positioned to Brussels, Belgium for some TLC with Sabena

each Monday. However, passenger numbers failed to meet the airline’s expectations and, with mounting debts, G-HIHO was seized while undergoing maintenance at Brussels during November 1987 and the company ceased trading soon after.

Travel City Direct Arguably the least obvious name on this list, Travel City Direct had initially chartered American Trans Air Lockheed L-1011 TriStars for its holidays to the United States. In 2002, the company switched to European

Aviation and its Bournemouth-based Boeing 747s acquired from British Airways. It later opted to use a leased 747-300, TF-AME (c/n 23032), from Air Atlanta Icelandic on routes from Manchester, Glasgow/International, Cardiff and London/Gatwick to Orlando/Sanford. Following the collapse of parent company XL Airways in September 2008, the company was swept up by Virgin Holidays, with its capacity needs met

by Virgin Atlantic’s own services. However, the Travel City Direct name soldiered on as a tour operator until 2018, when it was amalgamated into Virgin Holidays.

European Aviation Air Charter Paul Stoddart, the owner of Bournemouth-based European Aviation, is well known for his practise of acquiring depreciated airframes and large spares packages, which enable

him to operate at a much lower rate than other carriers fielding newer aircraft, despite the higher operating costs. European Air Charter was initially popular for its continued use of BAC One-Elevens into the early 2000s, while it also acquired a baker’s dozen of 737-200s from then-Belgian flag carrier Sabena around the same time. In 2002, British Airways began selling off its Boeing 747-200s and European Aviation Air Charter quickly snapped up seven examples, later adding an eighth from Cathay Pacific. Six of the ex-BA jets were pressed into service, with the seventh, G-BDXO (c/n 23799), being used as a source of spares. The sextet were quickly repainted and placed into service on links from UK airports to New York/JFK, Chicago/ O’Hare and other US and Canadian destinations. However, despite having partnerships with tour operators Travel City Direct and Palmair, the carrier began losing money in 2004 and the jets were disposed of. While, incredibly the Boeing 747 is still in production – albeit only for a few more months – the venerable jumbo still has a few decades of working life before she disappears from the UK completely. However, whether one reappears among the ranks of a British carrier remains to be seen. Here’s hoping this isn’t the end, just a short break in the nation’s association with its other ‘Queen’.

ABOVE: Virgin Atlantic operated 28 747s between 1984 and 2020, leasing others from Martinair Holland and Air Atlanta Icelandic MARTIN NEEDHAM

LEFT: British Caledonian flew six Boeing 747s, including one example briefly leased from Aer Lingus AIRTEAMIMAGES/CARL FORD

LEFT: Travel City Direct’s jumbo is unique in being the only 747-300 to serve for a UK operator. A regular fixture at Manchester, TF-AME (c/n 23032) was affectionately known as ‘Tee Fame’ due to its registration AIRTEAMIMAGES/CHRIS SHELDON

LEFT: European Aviation Air Charter’s ex-BA Boeing 747s initially wore this striking black and white livery, with each aircraft being given a different coloured accent on both the mid-fuselage and engine cowlings AIRTEAMIMAGES/SIMON WILLSON

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Great expectations Mighty statistics punctuate every twist and turn of the Bristol Brabazon story but, as Stephen Skinner recounts, the aircraft never quite measured up to its commercial rivals

onger than an Olympic swimming pool, and nearly three times wider from wingtip to wingtip, the Bristol Brabazon was the landplane colossus of its day. On September 4, 1949, the first prototype behemoth G-AGPW – captained by pilot Arthur John ’Bill’ Pegg, accompanied by nine test crew – lifted off from the Bristol Aeroplane Company’s Filton runway, after a run of only 1,200ft, and slowly started to climb into the air. During an interview after its 27 minutes aloft, Bristol’s chief test pilot was asked how the huge machine handled in the air. He laconically replied: “We just fly the cockpit and the rest of it trails along behind.” Lord Nathan, Minister of Civil Aviation at the time, reflected public excitement, going on record to declare the titan “one of the high adventures of British civil aviation… it

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will cross the Atlantic at 350mph, seven miles above the sea…the Brabazon should be well ahead of its rivals, and we look ahead to it with great expectations as a new Queen Elizabeth of the air,” he enthused. Punching a weight equal to 157 Ford Prefects – the popular small family car of the era – and lifting a 177ft-long fuselage, the giant’s second flight came just three days after its maiden outing and the next day it made a flypast at the Farnborough Airshow. “Surprise ‘Brab’ flight,” was the Daily Mail’s front page headline a day after the maiden flight – the aircraft had been expected to make more fast taxi runs and a few hops first.

Though generally enthusiastic about the massive new British landplane, the newspaper also commented that “Britain’s £12m Bristol Brabazon airliner cost five shillings [25p today] for every man, woman and child in the country”.

Airliners by committee ABOVE • The piston-engine intercontinental airliner celebrated its maiden flight on September 4, 1949, at Filton aerodrome ALL PHOTOS KEY COLLECTION UNLESS STATED

During one of the darkest times of World War Two, the British government had the foresight to set up the Brabazon Committee to advise on the airliner types that would be needed in post-war Britain. This was deemed necessary as the UK and USA had agreed that, during the war, Britain would concentrate on building combat aircraft, giving the USA the advantage of producing new transport types. Under the chairmanship of the famous pioneer

aviator Lord Brabazon, the committee first met on December 23, 1942. In the short-term, wartime bomber designs were converted in a rudimentary fashion for passenger service. So, the Avro Lancaster begat the Lancastrian and the Handley Page Halton came from the Halifax. The Vickers Viking, which flew in June 1945, used elements of the Wellington bomber but proved its worth and earned appreciable sales success. The Handley Page Hermes was a similar by-product of the Halifax but, in this case, only 25 aircraft entered airline service. The Brabazon Committee continued to meet until November 1945, and recommended nine

types. Unfortunately, the group became known for some spectacular failures that tended to overshadow the successful designs produced by its deliberations. However, the Vickers Viscount and de Havilland Dove proved to be highly successful and made substantial sales, remaining in production until the 1960s. The de Havilland Comet deserved to succeed but was only a moderate success, owing to metal

fatigue, which caused a lengthy hiatus in production. The committee’s Type 1 was a long-range, pistonengined, intercontinental airliner that could fly from London to New York (3,450 miles) in the most adverse conditions. Bristol bid for this contract with its Type 167 – capitalising on its experience in designing a wartime 100-ton heavy bomber – even though the RAF had not selected the design for production. On March 11, 1943, it was announced Bristol would build the Type 1. The Ministry of Supply contracted Bristol to construct two prototypes with the possibility of a contract for ten

BELOW • The Brabazon appeared at Farnborough airshows for three successive years from 1949

We just fly the cockpit and the rest of it trails along behind Arthur John ‘Bill’ Pegg

production aircraft to follow. In November 1944, the design was finalised for what was the largest landplane ever built at the time. Its 177ft-long pressurised fuselage was only 20ft shorter than the Boeing 747100 (launched in 1966) and the 230ft wingspan just a little greater than the Boeing 747-8 (which had its first flight in 2010). Weighing in at a maximum of 290,000lb, the Brabazon had a range of 5,460 miles and could cruise at 250mph. While the larger Hughes Hercules, better known as the Spruce Goose, would emerge in 1947, it was a flying boat and made just one flight with Howard Hughes at the controls. It is preserved in an Oregon museum.

Dream design Conceived in an era when passenger flight was the preserve of a moneyed elite, the Brabazon was a form of travel viewed in the same light as the ocean liner or an airship. British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) considered that passengers would find a lengthy non-stop flight almost intolerable and would require 200ft³ of space for comfort and 270ft³ for luxury. Cruising at a height of 35,000ft, it was one of the first airliners to be pressurised and air conditioned. The perfectly circular cross-section fuselage was designed with a twodeck cabin that could accommodate 80 passengers with sleeping berths, a bar and promenade area. Alternatively a spacious seating www.key.aero

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Men of mark 1 • Arthur John ’Bill’ Pegg Age: 43 Job title: Chief test pilot Career profile: Entering the RAF in 1921 as an engineering traineat the age of 15, Pegg became a pilot four years later. Singled out as an RAF pilot ”with exceptional ability”, he went on to be a test pilot at the Aircraft & Armament Experimental Establishment at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk. He joined BAC in 1935 as a test pilot, becoming chief test pilot when C F Uwins stepped down in 1947. He led the Brabazon test programme and its successor – the Britannia turboprop airliner, for which Bristol had high hopes – taking the Britannia on its maiden flight in August 1952. Pegg retired from flying in January 1957.

2 • Walter Gibb Age: 30 Job title: Co-pilot Career profile: An ex RAF wing commander, DSO, DFC, he was one of the firm’s younger test pilots. Joining the RAF in November 1940, he largely flew Mosquitos and Beaufighters. Joining Bristol test pilot staff after the war, he had flown 74 different types of aircraft, logging 3,200 flying hours.

BELOW • The Brabazon lands over a metal replica of ‘Cody’s Tree’ at Farnborough on September 8, 1949. Early flight pioneer Samuel Franklin Cody measured the thrust of his first aeroplane between 1908-9 by tying it to the original tree at the airfield

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layout for 150 passengers could be adopted. Fourteen cabin crew would cater to the needs of the Brabazon’s passengers within the dimensions of an airframe that, today, might accommodate 350 passengers, served by a team of ten. At first glance, the prototype appeared to be four-engined but buried within the 6ft-thick wing

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were eight 2,360hp, 18-cylinder, two-row, air-cooled sleeve valve Bristol Centaurus 57 piston radials. The Centaurus came into service in 1942 and was well proven, but not in the unique, unflown arrangement chosen for the Brabazon. To minimise the already lengthy wingspan, the Centaurus engines were paired and mounted at 64° to the

By 1949, he had flown nearly 50,000 miles as a pilot of demonstration – which involved touring Bristol freighter aircraft around the world.

3 • L D Atkinson Age: 37 Job title: Chief flight engineer (engines) Career profile: Joined BAC in 1937 before moving to the engine installation department in 1939. He had considerable experience of flying as test observer during engine development programmes and on the company’s air sea rescue prototype motor vessel Celerity. His engineering career began in 1927 as a marine engineer apprentice with a Falmouth shipyard. In the merchant service for five years following his apprenticeship, he spent two years at RAF Farnborough as the resident Bristol technician observing its engines during flight tests.

4 • M J Peniston Age: 35 Job title: Chief flight observer (aircraft) Career profile: Joined the company’s flight research department in August 1947. He was in the Royal Corps of Signals for six years.

centreline, extension shafts met at a gearbox and drove counter-rotating propellers via a co-axial drive shaft. The result was the Y-shaped Centaurus XX, so radical it was regarded as a brand-new powerplant. The engines were almost hidden within the deep wing and the wing centre-section introduced a large obstacle between the front and rear passenger cabins.

RIGHT • The 177ft-long fuselage starts to take shape on October 1, 1946

FAR RIGHT • The giant nose of the prototype dominates this shot during production on September 22, 1947. The chief designer was noted as Mr A E ‘Archie’ Russell

Meanwhile, the fuel tanks were positioned in the outer wings. The short landing gear had twin nosewheels and four wheels on each main undercarriage leg. Owing to the aircraft’s size, the hydraulic and electrical systems were suitably complex. It was the first aircraft to have both fully powered flying controls and electrically signalled engines controls. However, the pressurisation system was never fully evaluated, as it was not installed on the prototype.

Inside story RIGHT • September 1947 and the Brabazon fuselage starts to take shape in Flight Shed No 2 while technicians work on the outer wing in the foreground

Interior designers were involved in creating fabrics to trial in the wooden fuselage mock-up, much to the irritation of the test pilots, who felt it was best to see if the Brabazon could

Befitting the luxury travel proposition, meals would be taken in the dining compartment over the wing centresection and there was a separate lounge and cocktail bar and a bullion store RIGHT • The extended 1½ mile runway led to public protests, not least because it led to demolition of the nearby village of Charlton. Ironically, the runway and surrounding land has been repurposed for residential development (again with opposition)

an interim type, the Avro Tudor, was introduced but, though similar in size to the Boeing Stratocruiser and Lockheed Constellation, it was designed for just 12 passengers. The two American rival types could carry 100 and 45 passengers, respectively, and were far smaller and lighter than the Brabazon. The large areas dedicated to the comfort of an uneconomically small passenger load were not viable.

Interestingly, from 1947-52, BOAC Constellations were maintained at Filton, which had a long runway and ample hangarage, unlike the emerging Heathrow airport.

Building and testing begin Construction, funded by the Ministry of Supply, started on the aircraft at Filton in October 1945, with the government department also financing substantial development of

fly stably first before fussing over the décor of the bar area. One proposed layout divided 100 passengers over three separate cabins, the rear cabin having a cine projector and a chart to illustrate the Brabazon’s stately progress across the Atlantic. Befitting the luxe travel proposition, meals would be taken in the dining compartment over the wing centresection, and there was a separate lounge and cocktail bar and a bullion store for passengers to use. Sadly, the committee and the manufacturers were quite out of touch with market conditions. Until the Brabazon was ready for service, www.key.aero

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BRISTOL TYPE

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2a 3 4

7 8

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Instrument panel Aileron, rudder and elevator rods (electric-runs are on the starboard side) Nosewheel steering jacks Crew’s ladder to upper deck Door guide rail – door slides along to close, then moves out sideways into jamb (5) with registering spike-holes (6) Seat-backs convertible to bed Go downstairs either side to men’s and women’s dressing rooms on ground floor (level with base of wing spar) Come upstairs to dining saloon on upper floor over wing Staircase that drops you down over edge of wing rear spar to aft saloons Arched frame at front-spar with heavy member changing from angle-section (12) at top and bottom to square (13) at sides

14/15 Wing twin skins across fuselage, with stringers between them. Stringers anchored to centreline rib (16). Repeat at bottom surface. Skin (15) is made ‘one-piece’ with fuselage side (17) to form pressurised box open to the shippressure through doors (18) 18 Crew’s access doors from dressing rooms to electric-distributioncentre in wing box 19 Space between skins 14 and 15 provides pressure-balance (across the fuselage) between atmospheric-pressured wings. Skin 15 ends at 17 20 Rear-spar frame with heavy ring (21) changing from thin-tee (top and bottom) to thick-tee (at side) 22 Rear-spar boom change-over from front to back of web 23 Access door in tail pressure bulkhead 24 Vertical and horizontal tail-spreaders 25 Fin front and back-spar fixes 26 Tailplane front and back spars 27 Box-spar axis (rudder and fin) 28 Elevator and rudder power-control unit (drawn ‘simplified’) 29 Elevator and rudder operating jacks in 28 30 Two suspension points 31 Controls from pilot

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32

Fixed rudder base

(Eight 2,500 b.h.p. Centaurus

WING 33 34 35 36

39 40 41 42

Warren girder front spar (firewall plated) pin-jointed throughout Engine and oil cooling air intakes (outboards feed anti-icing system) Faired operating jacks for the intake shutters Reduction-gearbox couples the pair of engines and has auxiliarydrive (37) to accessory gearbox (38) driving alternators, hydraulic pumps and cabin blowers Universal joint with electromagnetic torque recorder Rubber-bushed flexible coupling Three-point engine suspension Twin oil coolers

43 44

Prop gearbox oil cooler Access doors in front spar firewalls (one to each engine cell) 44a Strut fireproof-sheathed 45 Not used 46 Top and underside covers (front-hinged) seal down onto engine baffle plate hinged for engine removal 47 Air shutter. (Similar on the lower surface) 48 Main undercarriage leg hinge. 49 Air outlets from wing 50 Engine exhaust-outlets (forward of front spar) on underside 51 Strong leading-edge box structure carries the 5,000shp stalk 52 Continuous stringering (extruded Z-section) 53 Outline of a man to show scale 54 Oil tank 55 Wing spar fixing 56 Hollow ribs with access holes along fuel section 57 Boom change-over 58 Rotating control shaft to aileron power control unit

ANTI-ICING 59 61

Twin heaters taking air from engine cell at 60 Hot air along leading edge, over inner noseplate (62), through spar, across wing and out at trailing edge

A number of detail sketches accompanied an article in The Aeroplane of July 26, 1946 (while the Brabazon prototype was under construction), including this sketch of the engine installation. The Centaurus 20 radials were mounted obliquely in pairs, their shafts meeting in a gearbox that incorporated the constant-speed, feathering accessory box and reduction gear

167 MK. I BR ABAZON 20 radial engines in coupled pairs)

The same issue of The Aeroplane included this illustration of the primary wing structure, indicating the stroll the inspectors could take through the main torsion-box in order to check the ailerons and multiple fueltank bays – provided the bag-type tanks were deflated first, of course

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62 63 64 65 67

Dimpled surface at rivet points Screw adjustment for hot air gap at back edge of 62 Heater combustion fumes outlet under wing Air intake to fin and tailplane heaters (66) Hot air flow

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PRESSURISED SYSTEM 68 68 72

77 78 80

Air intake for direct ventilation, through filter 69 and into fuselage system through silencer 70 and on Also cooling-air to cooler 71 then out into wing. This is when pressurising is in action Air through filter 72, to blower 38, through silencer 73, cooler 71 (cooled by 68), silencer 70, into heater 74. Outlet 75 serves rear fuselage via duct 76 Serves centre fuselage Serves front fuselage via ducts 79 Inward relief valve and ground connection

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Air into cabins, out of ducting 76 and 79. It passes up the space between glassfibre lagging 82 (inside stringers and frames) and moquette furnishing 83 Moquette cloth facing, non-porous up to top of window height. Above that, the air seeps through into cabin and is extracted at 84 into ducting 85 and runs back to recirculating fans 86 in the collector tube 87. Ducts 85 connect into 87. This completes the circuit back to heater 74 Air to galley and toilets is extracted through floor louvres and passed out of aircraft at 89, through rear discharge valve and general pressure safety-valve 90, through midship discharge valve and inward relief valve 91 and forward discharge valve and inward relief valve 92

FIREGUARD SYSTEM

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95 96

Fuselage Four inertia switches in nose, four amidships at G. Two hand extinguishers (forward fuselage), two extinguishers forward fuselage, two centre, two rear Four automatic extinguishers for heater (external and internal) with nine finned head unit detectors (94) around heater Six auto extinguishers (three each side of tail anti-icing heater fuel tank) Three unit-type and three capillary-type flame detectors to tail heaters (66)

Wings Four auto extinguishers for twin anti-icing heaters (59) – external and internal guard – with four unit and four capillary detectors (98 and 99). Repeat on starboard wing

Engines Eight auto extinguishers per pair of engines, serving air intakes 34, and each engine first and second shot. Thirteen detectors in each engine cell (three in front of engine, ten to rear) 100 Engine spray rings 101 To air intakes 102 Eight extinguishers Flap Pilot’s press-button operates an electric actuator at rear spar. Actuator push-pulls the rod 103 (through a spring drive). Rod 103 is linked to hydraulic follow-up valve 104 to open it and so pass operating oil to hydraulic jack 105 which works the flap. Flap motion closes oil valve through link 106. (There are four valves, links and jacks in wing) www.key.aero

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Bristol’s facilities and infrastructure at the site. The company had intended to build the two Brabazon prototypes at its Weston-super-Mare factory but the subsoil was unsuitable for the lengthy runway needed. Construction of a new 8,062ft (1½ mile) runway involved an extension west from the original 2,000ft and led to much local recrimination, not least because it involved demolishing the small village of Charlton in a nearby ancient parish. Most of the village – including a pub, large houses and cottages – was compulsorily purchased on the land between Filton and today’s out-of-town shopping and leisure complex at Cribbs Causeway.

Is the project too great an advance in size and achievement to be attempted at the present time? Will development take so long that the design will be out of date before production aircraft can be put into regular service? ‘Flight’ magazine, 1946

The Bristol Brabazon's size is indicated by this trio of profiles depicting the Bristol-built behemoth alongside a Douglas DC-7, a contemporary airliner that could also transport 60 passengers across the Atlantic in a first class cabin, and a British Airways Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which has a four-class, 216-seat cabin ROLANDO UGOLINI

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Construction firm McAlpine developed a three-bay, eight-acre assembly hall – known since as the Brabazon Hangar – for the colossus and its production line. No expense was spared in ground testing the engines, structure and components. An engine ground rig, complete with leading edge air intakes and the twin-props, was extensively trialled but a flying test bed was impractical and the performance of the Centaurus XX could only be verified on the real airframe. A Bristol Buckmaster trainer trialled de-icing heaters, a half-scale wing was trialled to destruction and a complete fuselage was pressure-

ABOVE • An overhead view of G-AGPW at Heathrow with a BOAC Stratocruiser ahead of it. In June 1950, the Brabazon visited London Airport to great acclaim and made two demonstration flights ABOVE, LEFT • The scientific section of the airliner’s interior with various devices, including a duplicate engineer’s station with a camera to monitor the instruments

ABOVE • One of the eight 2,360hp Bristol Centaurus 57 piston radial power units with special slinging gear

Bristol Brabazon Mk 1 Specifications Type and c/n

167 Brabazon Mk l/G-APGW Eight coupled 2,500hp Bristol Centaurus XX engines Wingspan 230ft Max weight 290,000lb Passenger capacity 80-150 in different proposed layouts Crew 14 Max speed 300mph Cruising speed 250mph Max range 5,460 miles Powerplant

tested at Farnborough. Dunlop trialled the behemoth’s new tyres on several redundant bombers with the pilots instructed to treat the tyres roughly. Even as manufacture progressed, the aircraft was not without its detractors. In 1946, Flight magazine queried: “Is the project too great an advance in size and achievement to be attempted at the present time? Will development take so long that the design will be out of date before production aircraft can be put into regular service?” The partially completed, unpainted prototype was rolled out for formal naming as the Bristol Brabazon on 8 October 1947. A further 14 months passed before the aircraft appeared for engine runs. Following extensive ground trials, it was readied for its maiden flight and the test pilots faced the double challenge of handling both a new airframe and engines – an unenviable combination. In training himself for the task ahead, Bill Pegg had spent several weeks in the USA flying the huge ten-engined Convair B-36 Peacemaker bomber, which was only a slightly smaller airframe. After its maiden flight, the aircraft focused on its flight-test programme, fitted with 14 auto observer panels and recording cameras. On January 16, 1950, a major hydraulic leak during a flight caused a problem in lowering the undercarriage. However, after a struggle, Bill Pegg’s deputy, Walter Gibb, lowered the gear and made a

ABOVE, LEFT • The aircraft looked to have four engines but buried within the 6ft-thick wings were eight 18-cylinder, two-row, air-cooled sleeve Bristol Centaurus power units

The Brabazon’s tailplane span alone was 75ft and the tip of the fin rudder soared 50ft above the ground www.key.aero

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LEFT • A UK Ministry of Supply team visited during drop test rig investigations on the wheels, which stood at around 5ft 2ins from the ground up

RIGHT • Man-and-machine scale is illustrated in one of the hangar’s bays. A Lancaster bomber, positioned on the port side between the nose and wing of the Brabazon, dwarfed by the latter’s fuselage

In Numbers safe, though flapless, landing at Filton, where the use of reverse-pitch of the propellors brought the huge airliner to a safe halt. A number of problems – such as fatigue cracks appearing in propeller mountings – prevented full airworthiness certification for the prototype. Airframe life was assessed at only 5,000 hours, which was unacceptable for a production airliner, although, if the aircraft had gone into production, this issue would have been overcome. After an initial period of flight tests, a luxury passenger cabin with 30 BOAC recliner seats was fitted in part of the capacious fuselage. Between June 15-16, 1950, the aircraft visited London Airport (which became London Heathrow 16 years later) to great acclaim and made two demonstration flights. The Brabazon also appeared at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget in June 1951, at Belfast and then Prestwick for two days that August and it was then statically displayed at Farnborough that September. All who flew in the massive airframe were impressed with its quiet and smooth performance. Its last flight was only a year later, on September 20, 1952, making a total of 164 flights and 382 hours in the three years since it had first taken to the skies. Yet airline interest was only ever muted. British European Airways (BEA) considered leasing the aircraft fitted with 180 seats to fly between Heathrow and Nice, while BOAC continued to state that “it would operate it when the time comes”.

Death of a giant The second prototype, G-AIML, already under construction at Filton was due to be powered by eight turboprop Bristol Proteus engines in twin mountings. However, in March 1952, work was suspended, by which time the turboprop Bristol Britannia was already being built and would later fly that August.

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6.5m Project cost by 1952 Equal to £200m today

£10,000 Brabazons’ scrap value in 1953

164 Brabazon flights

382 Hours aloft

BELOW • In October 1953, both Bristol Brabazon airframes were broken up in the hangar in which they were created and fetched a scrap value of £10,000. In the foreground is the nameplate from G-AGPW

Bristol saw a strong future for the Britannia and was eager to use all its resources to promote it, while dispensing with the Brabazon. So, in July 1953, the whole project was cancelled. Both the prototype and its successor were broken up in the Brabazon hangers in October 1953 by R J Coley & Son, which had specialised in scrapping aircraft since 1919. The scrap value was £10,000. Today, little remains – while tyres from the Brabazon are on display at Aerospace Bristol and the Midland Air Museum the fuselage section with “Bristol Brabazon 1” painted on it (crudely cut from the aircraft’s nose when it was scrapped) was displayed in the Bristol Industrial Museum until it closed in 2007 and is currently stored. It was an ignominious end to a misguided project that has been labelled a ‘white elephant’ while also a facilitator for giant steps in later aviation progress.

Much comment has been made about the huge cost of the project but roughly half of its £6.5m (equivalent to £200m in 2022 values) contributed to the runway and the hangarage used in producing the Britannia, Concorde, and in conversion programmes on the VC10 tankers, USAF F-111 and Airbus A300 freighters. Attempts to redevelop the airfield as an airport were quashed amid local opposition, and BAE Systems eventually sold it, along with the runway, to developers in 2012. While the evocative sound of propellor-powered airframes and jet engines is no more on the old airfield, the Brabazon title lives on in the shape of Bristol’s newest neighbourhood. Brabazon’s latest residents have just moved into the first of more than 2,700 homes (see p59-60) and, in a tribute to Britain’s biggest airliner, the first of the futuristic-looking residential areas is fittingly called the Hangar District.

Hangar’s future built on the past

The record-breaking size of the Brabazon Hangar on the former Filton Airfield makes it ideal for its new role as a multi-media entertainment venue, as Carol Randall discovers

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onstruction will soon begin on repurposing the massive assembly hall at Brabazon – fronted by “the largest door man has yet built” as promoted in 1948 – into a 17,000 capacity multipurpose arena due for completion by 2024. Created by owners YTL Developments, the site covers an area of 30,140sq ft – just over the size of two standard football pitches – and is to house three zones for sport and leisure activities. In keeping with a legacy of eyewatering statistics, the YTL Arena Bristol will be the fourth largest venue of its kind in the UK after the new Co-op Live Arena in Manchester (23,500), the AO Arena (21,000) and London’s O2 (20,000). The arena is part of the Brabazon neighbourhood of 2,675 homes with a revised masterplan recently submitted by YTL for further properties in North Bristol. It’s a far cry from the rural airfield, built in 1910, that would become synonymous with cutting-edge aviation technology in Britain, from Supermarine Spitfires in

The interior of the Brabazon Hangar today. Construction work is due to start within months on a 17,000-capacity arena in the repurposed assembly hall RYAN HISCOTT/JMP

At 177ft long and with a wingspan of 230ft, the Bristol Brabazon was housed in the world's largest aircraft assembly hall VIA THE AUTHOR

the 1940s to the Bristol Brabazon and the first flight of Concorde 002 on April 9, 1969. Built in 1947, the original Brabazon Hangar stands parallel to the former East-West Runway and between the North Filton railway station to the east and Filton Golf Club in the south. The largest aircraft assembly hall in the world was 1,052ft wide and 420ft deep. B I Callender’s Cables, the London firm that supplied and installed more than 5,000 yards of high-tension wiring for the hangar’s power system and lighting, trumpeted its dimensions. Its advertising Specialists B I Callender’s Cables advertised the 7½ acres that would be home to the prototype AVIATION ANCESTRY

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“In just two minutes the vast electrically powered door can be opened, assisted by an antifreeze solution circulated by a master pump, which soaks each main hinge with the mixture as required” exclaimed it was “wider than the length of the Queen Mary or the Houses of Parliament”. The hangar has the world’s largest folding and sliding door at 1,045ft long, 65ft high and weighing 22 tonnes. As it would be exposed to all weather conditions, the door was made of aluminium and extruded marine alloys to provide high resistance against corrosion. The materials were chosen for strength and lightness across a construction of six sections. In just two minutes, the vast electrically powered door can be opened, assisted by an antifreeze solution circulated by a master pump, which soaks each main hinge with the mixture as required. Fast-forward to the mid-1980s and the cavernous hall hosted servicing and maintenance for numerous aircraft types, including General Dynamics F-111 Aardvarks operated by the USAF, until their withdrawal from RAF Lakenheath and RAF Upper Heyford the UK in 1993. Conversion of VC10s to air refuelling tankers for the Royal Air Force was undertaken within its walls and A300s were converted to freighters by BAE Systems Aviation Services. Industrial paint specialist Sprayavia International plied its services from the Brabazon Hangar and Ghanabased, but UK-registered, MK Airlines serviced part of its fleet of 747s there. MK airlines ceased trading in 2010 and the vast workplace fell silent. In 2016, YTL Corporation began surveys of the empty buildings with a view to transforming them into the proposed arena. Internal demolition is due to start this summer to prepare for the main construction in late 2022. The steel frame of all three aviation bays will be repurposed, to save 18,600 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

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ABOVE • Engineers Esavian boasted that the hangar featured the largest 'slide and fold' door built by man AVIATION ANCESTRY

ABOVE RIGHT • A nose for the extraordinary: the first prototype Brabazon G-AGPW inside the huge assembly hall. At the bottom of the third panel from the left is an average size door KEY COLLECTION

An artist's impression of the Brabazon Hangar transformed into the YTL Arena Bristol YTL DEVELOPMENTS

An artist's impression of the new elevated railway station at that will emerge at Brabazon on the former Filton airfield site. It will serve a new community and bring visitors to the revamped Brabazon Hangar (visible to the rear) YTL DEVELOPMENTS

Each of the areas of the proposed development is designed to operate independently or else be interlinked for events across multiple venues. The central zone will become YTL Arena Bristol, while the east hangar will be an an exhibition centre and the west hangar will become a community hub for leisure activities. Today, as on December 21, 2012 – when the final aviation operators of the hangars, BAE Systems Aviation Services, closed for business – a glimpse of the past can still be discovered. BAE sold some buildings

and land to Airbus, which built new offices and refurbished one of the original listed buildings, Pegasus House, where Airbus Operations UK is located today. Other aerospace companies have grown up around the neighbouring Brabazon Business Park, including Nova Systems, GKN Aerospace and Rolls-Royce. Aerospace Bristol, the air and space museum, is also within walking distance to attract enthusiasts to a corner of the West Country steeped in aviation history but with an eye to the future.

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Including prototypes, just 114 Comets were produced but despite early problems and three highly publicised accidents, it redefined global travel expectations and went on to remain in commercial use until the early 1980s. It also spawned a military variant, the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod, which continued to serve the RAF in the maritime patrol role until 2011.

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GENEVA 22 27 52 70 4A LW 20

Once a quirky hodgepodge of terminal design, the Swiss facility is currently undergoing transformative works, as Matteo Legnani reports

Next-generation

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LEFT: A busy day on the apron at Geneva Airport in 1958 GENÈVE AÉROPORT FAR LEFT: The site has been a centre for aviation in the region for more than 100 years GENÈVE AÉROPORT BELOW: In 2021, Geneva welcomed 5,923,035 passengers, a 67% drop on pre-crisis levels, but an improvement on 2020 MATTEO LEGNANI

alking through Geneva Airport (GVA) today is akin to travelling through five decades of passenger terminal evolution, but this fascinating setup won’t last for much longer – a major part of the existing building will be replaced by 2032. Until then, it’s a real feast for aviation buffs. Before we hear from the chief executive of the Swiss gateway, let’s familiarise ourselves with the facility with a walk-through tour. The moment you enter the ground floor departure area (arrivals are one floor below), you find yourself thrown back to the late 1960s. This isn’t entirely surprising given the site was inaugurated on May 17, 1968 and retains many elements of that altogether simpler age of air travel. For example, the building is very narrow if you consider the distance between the main doors and check-in desks, but very long if

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you walk from left to right; airline counters are positioned in a single row facing the entrance, many of them recently renovated while some are original specimens, a few even feature the former name and logo of the airport operator. However, perhaps most noticeable is how low the ceiling is, although plenty of natural light flows into the building through the enormous glass windows on the landside elevation. All things considered, the space offers a degree of intimacy that has been lost at many airports around the world and yields a rare charm, making it a must-see for the aviation enthusiast. For all the nostalgia, it isn’t the most practical check-in hall. Spaces can be confined and often get cramped when a busy long-haul departure operated by a widebody jet is being handled. The only exception to this constricted feel is the far western end of the hall, where the ‘time machine’

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flings you 40 years forward to 2009, when an extension of the original terminal was opened to host easyJet. As you might expect, this much more modern addition offers wider spaces and a higher ceiling. This newer section continues one floor above in the form of a food court, hosting several eateries and a charming outdoor terrace in view of the 1985-vintage ATC tower. Venture beyond the food court and you return to 1968, with outdated spaces playing host to the security and luggage screening area. Immediately beyond that, things change again. Passengers find themselves in a large retail area so beautifully adorned that it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where they enter the avant-corps inaugurated in 2000. From here, travellers can turn left to access a 1990-vintage zone fitted with both contact and bus gates, which is rather grey and dull, but ultimately practical. The alternative is to proceed straight on, into the underground walkway that leads to the three round midfield satellites.

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These were opened in 1968 together with the main terminal building, and reportedly inspired the ‘roundabouts’ that surround T1 at Paris/Charles de Gaulle. Among airport aficionados, these are considered to be the most distinctive pieces of architecture at GVA. Two of the satellites feature a quartet of boarding bridges, which allow departing aircraft to move away from the gates without being pushed back (a bonus for airlines), while the third allows passengers to walk to the aircraft parked at the four stands nearby (this is the preferred operating model of low-cost airlines such as easyJet). A few feet to the right of the underground walkway, a door with a sign indicating ‘Gates E/F’ leads to the French Sector of the terminal. Before Switzerland's integration into the Schengen Area in 2008, this part of the building was used exclusively for passengers arriving from, or departing to destinations in France. It features two jet bridges and four bus gates and is the result of an agreement between France and

ABOVE: In May 1947, a Swissair DC-4 provided the first Geneva-New York link. The grand opening of the East Wing in December 2021 coincided with the reintroduction of the JFK service MATTEO LEGNANI TOP LEFT: The western portion of the check-in hall has higher ceilings and affords more natural light MATTEO LEGNANI TOP RIGHT: The project came about through a collaboration of companies, using specialists based in the UK, France and Switzerland GENÈVE AÉROPORT TOP FAR RIGHT: While modernised, the main check-in hall still reflects the architectural design language of the late 1960s MATTEO LEGNANI BELOW: The unusual satellite buildings allow for speedy turnarounds of aircraft MATTEO LEGNANI

the Canton of Geneva dating from 1956. This permitted an extension of the runway to almost 4,000m in length, and enables travel between the immediate neighbouring region of Pays de Gex and the airport while bypassing Swiss territory and customs. Although passport control and immigration checks have since been dropped as part of the Schengen arrangements, the French area continues to be available to passengers arriving from French destinations who wish to exit directly into the European Union.

The next generation Until the evening of December 13, 2021, our tour of Geneva Terminal 1 would have ended here. However, on the morning of December 14, the largest addition to the building since 1968 opened its doors to passengers. Accessed through a corridor built just to the right of one of the ‘French Sector’ entrances, the East Wing (Aile Est) resembles a spaceship when compared with the older parts of the building.

First announced in 2012, construction works began in 2016 with an aim for the project to be complete in time for the airport’s 100th anniversary in 2020. Alas, the pandemic slowed the progress of the scheme and it wasn’t until late last year that the new facility came online. December 14 was selected to coincide with the restart of Swiss International Air Lines’ nonstop service to New York/JFK following a 22-month hiatus due to COVID-19. Dedicated exclusively to long-haul, non-Schengen flights, the state-ofthe-art building incorporates passport control facilities for departures and arrivals, plus six boarding gates fitted with jet-bridges. Speaking exclusively to Airliner World from his office overlooking the runway and snow-capped Alps, André Schneider, the airport’s CEO, explained that the East Wing is unique within the patchwork of the airport piers as its floor stands 20ft above ground level: “The design of the facility was driven by the confined surface available, as we had existing buildings a few yards to the south of the apron. Also, we did not want to consume apron surface, as here in Geneva we have little opportunity to grow on that side, since we have the French border immediately to the north of the runway and several

buildings, including cargo and hangars surrounding it to the east and to the south. Plus, by elevating the East Wing we have been able to accommodate a service road, vehicles and several functions underneath.” The CHF335m (£276m) pier extends for 1,700ft on an east-west axis, across a total floor surface of 131,200sq ft. It has a polygonal shape where vertical sides are slanted at different angles. “We like to describe it as an exoskeleton because, apart from the floor, only steel and glass have been used to build it,” said Schneider. This not only guarantees excellent views of apron and runway operations, but also leverages natural light. In fact, the whole project by Rogers Stirk Harbor + Partners was born to maximise the airport’s energy performance. Triple-glazed facades ensure thermal insulation and solar protection, heating and cooling are supplied by high efficiency pumps that produce and store energy through 110 geothermal probes, while electricity is provided by 3,400 photovoltaic panels. Inside the new zone, arriving passengers take stairways and elevators to an upper floor that runs on both sides of the parallelepiped while departing travellers use the ground floor, which hosts a small number of shops and a bar-restaurant.

Geneva Airport Statistics IATA code: ICAO code: Location: Elevation: Runway: Frequencies:

Website:

GVA LSGG 46°14′N 006°06′E 1,411ft (430m) 04/22 – 12,795ft (3,900m) ATIS: 135.575 Approach: 136.255 Departure: 119.350 www.gva.ch

Copyright © 2022 Jeppesen All rights reserved. The charts are available to the flight simulation community via Navigraph Charts, http://www.navigraph.com. (Not for airborne/operational use)

The industrial-inspired steel feet of the East Wing can withstand loads of around 550 tonnes each MATTEO LEGNANI www.key.aero

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“We opted to enhance the gate and seating areas by limiting the number of outlets available to passengers. The idea behind this is that most of them will spend time shopping and eating in the main terminal building, only to access the East Wing for boarding,” explained Schneider. Each of the six contact gates is distinguished by a different colour adorning seats, ceilings and stairways. No automated walkways have been installed, so time and energy are needed to reach the farthest of the gates, notably C61 and C63. Two premium lounges are also available at a mezzanine level: the Marhaba Lounge and Swissport Horizon Lounge. The East Wing represents a huge step forward for passenger experience, with plenty of travellers able to enjoy it: the pier can accommodate nearly 2,800 people per hour at departures, and up to 3,000 in arrivals, taking the heat away from other pinch-points within the wider complex.

That’s not all… While the long-awaited Aile Est has now been formally inaugurated, plans are already under way for the next major project. As Schneider

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described laconically: “The original terminal building is approaching its limits and it’s time to replace or renew it. It was built 54 years ago for five million passengers, while in 2019 we managed almost 18 million!” Phase one of the next-generation development is due to be completed by 2032, with a price-tag of between CHF550-580m (£450-475m). “In order not to interfere with the ongoing activity of the airport, we will take away the upper floor of railway station, which is currently only used by a restaurant, to create a platform on top of the station for public transport. This will improve the connectivity between the railway, buses and airport. It will also free space in front of the terminal to create an entirely new extension to the main building dedicated to checkin and security operations,” revealed Schneider. Looking even further ahead, this scheme will be followed by phase two when the remaining parts of the existing terminal will be replaced by 2040. It isn’t just initiatives decades into the future either. Three less highprofile, but important improvement projects are also currently under way: these include the replacement of the

ABOVE: The airport has special infrastructure to reflect its geographical position immediately beside the French border MATTEO LEGNANI TOP LEFT: Despite its lowcost model, easyJet has grown to become a major player at the Swiss gateway MATTEO LEGNANI

BELOW: The airport boasts a fantastic observation deck with views across the apron and towards the Alps GENÈVE AÉROPORT

baggage delivery system by 2024 (the outgoing design was conceived in the 1990s for nine million annual passengers). There will also be an extension of the airport’s ‘Satellite 10’ bus gates, as well as a connection to the GeniLac network, to use water from Lake Geneva (a couple of miles away from the airport) to heat or cool the terminal through a 100% renewable energy source: this final project is due for completion by 2027. That’s not all, the airport CEO revealed there are also plans afoot to revamp the three round-shaped satellites: “When they opened back in 1968, aircraft could carry 80-100 passengers. Today the A320s and A321s which normally use them can carry 180-235. So, if you have three or four flights scheduled to leave from the same satellite in the span of 20-30 minutes, the situation can get quite tight. Considering the confined apron surface we have here in Geneva, our idea is not to enlarge, but to rethink them and possibly add a floor. For example, by concentrating all the operations connected to boarding, such as checking boarding cards and IDs, on one of the two floors, while dedicating the other to the actual boarding of the planes…”

Pandemic legacy In the aftermath of COVID-19, capacity does not seem an issue at GVA, at least in the immediate term. Since 2019, the airport has lost approximately 12m travellers, chalking up 5.6m in 2020 and 5.9m in 2021. This appears to be an anomaly – considering that last year almost all European airports registered more substantial growth over 2020 – but Schneider easily explained it: “In 2020 we had a huge ski season until midMarch. Conversely, in 2021 we had no ski season and the good summer performance ended with the arrival of the Omicron variant in November, that’s why numbers do not differ too much from one year to the other.” The airport chief executive said the pandemic brought on an evolution of traffic types: “Business remained stable at around 25% in 2019, 2020 and 2021, while leisure went down from 62% to 31% and then soared to 57% last year, while ‘friend and relatives travel’ was up to 44% in 2020 from 12% in 2019 and ended 2021 at 19%.” As passenger numbers plummeted

ABOVE: How the arrivals hall could look following the next stage of transformation works GENÈVE AÉROPORT TOP RIGHT: André Schneider was appointed CEO of the airport in 2016 GENÈVE AÉROPORT

BELOW: By the end of 2021, 20 non-European destinations were served from Geneva, including seven long-haul city pairings MATTEO LEGNANI

from 70,000 a day to just 500 each day in spring 2020, the financial toll of the pandemic was also huge: “Revenues went down to zero from a week to the other. We stopped hiring, cut down on investments, cancelled external contracts, reduced our workforce through state-paid partial unemployment and not replacing retirements. But that is not enough if your revenues collapse from CHF490m (£400m) down to CHF190m (£146m). “The result was a loss of CHF130m (£106.5m) in 2020, which we have been able to reduce to some 90m (£73.7m) in 2021. For 2022, as we did in 2021, instead of a single budget, we have worked with multiple budgets according to the scenarios that may occur during the year,” acknowledged the GVA boss. As for airlines, this summer will see easyJet – one of the two leading carriers at the Swiss site – operating 90% of its 2019 schedule. Elsewhere, Qatar Airways returned on March 27, while Air China is expected to be back before the end of the year.

Asia and Latin America are the regions where GVA management is looking to boost its network of airlines and destinations in the next couple of years: “We are a highyield destination and that’s why we are good for the likes of legacy carriers such as Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines, which are in the process of rethinking their network in the aftermath of a pandemic which substantially stopped them for two years. We would also like to gain a second city in China,” noted Schneider. “Regarding other regions, we are studying North America, where the acquisition of the Airbus A321LR and A321XLR by the likes of Delta and JetBlue may open new opportunities for smaller European markets like ours. “All considered, I would be happy if in the next couple of years we managed to gain five or six intercontinental destinations and a similar number of new long-haul carriers.” It's no exaggeration to say that over the last couple of years, GVA is among the few airports in the world whose infrastructure actually grew. This eye on longer term goals is a sure demonstration of resilience and confidence that will set the pace for the decade to come, when what we could describe today as a vintage terminal (Aile Est apart) will be transformed into one of the most innovative in Europe.

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Tails and tribulations A quarter of a century after British Airways unveiled the first of a planned 50 ‘World Images’ across the tailfins of its fleet, Martin Needham looks back at a period almost airbrushed from the carrier’s history rom 1984, British Airways’ (BA) fleet of more than 200 aircraft spent 13 years connecting the UK with the world dressed in ‘Landor’. It is arguably BA’s most easily recognisable livery – that famous fin poking up from the fuselage like a pocket square from the breast pocket of a Yuppie’s C&A pinstriped suit. It’s easy to imagine that back in the 1980s BA’s litany of Landor-liveried ‘liners had Filofaxes for flight logs and baggage trailers towed to the loading belt by Ford Escort XR3is. Speaking to Airliner World in 2019, Peter Knapp, Landor group chairman, said that the key to the 1984-1997

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British Airways' Landor livery had served the carrier well during the 1980s, but had lost its shine by the early 1990s MARTIN NEEDHAM

livery’s enduring appeal was because it “stood for something special for that time and place. It was synonymous with a time when [the UK] was becoming a successful country again. BA’s success was seen to run in parallel with the country’s and so it became symbolic of that era.” But by 1992, BA was starting to notice that the Landor-designed livery was losing relevance and echoing aggressive Thatcherite values – as well as its own underhand aggressiveness following the ‘dirty tricks’ scandal of the early 1990s, which saw BA facing Virgin in court. It had become a decade with a much softer, liberal feel. The carrier conceded in an internal document from June 1995 that “[while] the current identity is still highly regarded, our competitors have managed to close the gap we had established, in some cases by imitating many of the basic ideas which we introduced in 1984.” What was to come next was much bigger and bolder, and justifiably so. The rebranding had been in

development for two years by 1997, and a number of the company’s aircraft had been repainted in a hybrid colour scheme for several months ahead of the big reveal. Discussions involved staff being sworn to secrecy while a privileged few were ushered into darkened rooms to be given sneak peeks of the company’s new corporate identity, seen through stereoscopic image viewers. The idea, according to one of the company’s internal documents from the time, was to “present BA as an airline of the world, born in Britain but with a community of people passionately committed to serving the communities of the world”.

Boeing 777-200ER, G-RAES (c/n 27491) was delivered to British Airways on June 10, 1997 to coincide with the unveiling of the World Images rebranding RICHARD VANDERVORD

Grand designs Having previously opted to employ the services of safer bets such as Negus & Negus, and Landor – both of whom had a wealth of experience working with airlines, BA instead decided to work with design consultants Newell and Sorrell, who had earlier undertaken work for WH

It’s hardly surprising that the company didn’t dust off ‘Benyhone Tartan’ or ‘Chelsea Rose’ for its centenary back in 2019 RICHARD VANDERVORD

Smith and Royal Mail but had never worked with an airline before. Defending the carrier’s decision to work with Newell and Sorrell, thenBA chief executive Bob Ayling stated: “It was the only one of four groups we saw that really understood what we wanted,” explaining the complexity of the task by adding: “Our challenge is, how do we relate to the rest of the world if over half our customers come from outside Britain. How do you represent the best of Britishness and be part of the wider world?” To create an image of ‘an airline of the world, born in Britain’, Newell and Sorrell opted to restrict BA’s Britishness to the fuselage. They updated the stylised ‘Speedwing’ from the Landor livery to create the red and blue ‘Speedmarque’ above the titles – produced in a softer, rounder typeface designed by Rodney Mylius – on the forward fuselage. The tails, however, were for the world, a move seemingly in keeping with Blair’s Britain and involving creative, innovative designs that spoke of a more diverse and multicultural country.

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Illustration of the Chatham Historic Dockyard livery showing how the design would be represented across British Airways’ fleet BRITISH AIRWAYS HERITAGE CENTRE

Maersk Air also joined in on the act, with their Boeing 737s and Bombardier CRJs being painted in a series of the liveries RICHARD VANDERVORD

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review of our mission, our values and our corporate goals.”

The great unveiling

BA and Newell and Sorrell scoured the globe in search of art which represented many of the carrier’s key destinations and markets, borrowing Qantas’ Wunala and Nalanji Dreaming liveries along the way. Designs came from some of the carrier’s most important markets – key European destinations in France, Germany, Scandinavia and the Netherlands as well as Commonwealth nations in Africa and Oceania and business hotspots such as the USA and Canada. The result was a colourful collection of abstract artworks that became a big hit with the aviation enthusiast, offering a vast array of aircraft type

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and colour scheme combinations to collect. But would it be as well received by the wider public, both at home and away? John Sorrell, a design consultant on the project, explained: "We were looking for a degree of difficulty to make it hard or impossible to copy… British Airways can own and evolve this idea for a very long time if it's done with integrity." In a telling quote, Ayling detailed just how big an undertaking revitalising the BA brand had been: “It goes much deeper than the paint on the aircraft or the ink on our publications. It is the physical manifestation of a fundamental

It was appropriate, with the 1990s being a decade of excess, that BA had gone all in, especially as the carrier was looking far beyond some new stationery and repainting its aircraft, buses and tugs. The big day – Tuesday, June 10, 1997 – involved a roll out of signage, travel shops, ticket wallets, baggage tags and timetables as well as a staggering series of worldwide events, the most ambitious of which was the streaming of a simultaneous broadcast to 200 audiences in 63 nations that was viewed by 14,000 guests and employees globally. There were also unveilings of aircraft at Heathrow, Glasgow, Manchester, Belfast and Birmingham, while other reveals were conducted in the USA, South Africa and Germany to tie in with the delivery of a Boeing 777-200ER, G-RAES (c/n 27491), and franchisee partners Comair and Deutsche BA. Additionally, a flotilla of traditional barges with sails reflecting some of the new tail designs sailed up the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, while a similar move was made in Dubai as a dhow – a traditional Arabian boat – sporting a Middle Eastern world image was sailed down Dubai Creek from Ras Al Khor into the Persian Gulf. A traditional dragon dance was performed in Hong Kong, while the airline also conducted India’s first charity telethon and unveiled the Chatham Historic Dockyard colours, revealed on a half-scale model in New York’s Times Square. Oh, and there was an advertising campaign off

the back of it too, declaring that “the world is closer than you think”. Defending the airline’s move away from the uber-patriotic Landor to a more worldly view, BA’s thenmarketing director Martin George told the press: “In the past, Britishness was represented by the Royal Family and the class system… New Britain is about a multicultural society and the country as a leader in arts and fashion. I think our identity represents that. I think it updates the image of Britain.” He added: “Today, 50% of British Airways passengers come from outside the UK, where the feedback on the identity has been positive.

When you make a radical change, it is inevitable some people will respond negatively, but the majority of feedback has been positive.” But that same day, 8,000 of BA’s 55,000-strong workforce threatened strike action, undermining the rebranding’s efforts to reverse impressions that the company had become uncaring in its first decade following privatisation. The storm in a teacup began to settle down over the next few months, although far-fetched stories suggesting that British Airways pilots at Heathrow were having difficulty distinguishing company aircraft from those of other operators while taxiing

ABOVE • Virgin Atlantic reponded to criticism of the BA World Images schemes by adding the Union Flag and 'Britain's Flag Carrier' titling to all of its aircraft AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/ ISMAEL JORDA TOP • Wales was the sole home nation not to be represented with a World Images tail BRITISH AIRWAYS HERITAGE CENTRE

LEFT • Sir Terry Frost's painting Colour Down The Side was only ever applied to a single De Havilland Canada Dash 8-300, but there were plans for it to appear on other aircraft BRITISH AIRWAYS HERITAGE CENTRE

LEFT • New Zealand-born artist Jan Barwick provided the proposed design for BA's Caribbean planes BRITISH AIRWAYS HERITAGE CENTRE

to and from the terminal buildings made it into the national press. Rolling out the new designs wasn’t limited to BA’s mainline fleet, with subsidiaries BA Cityflyer, Air Liberte and Deutsche BA all getting in on the act along with franchise partners Sun-Air of Scandinavia and South Africa’s Comair. Documents seen by Airliner World also suggest that, had a planned acquisition of Hungarian airline Malév gone through, it too would have joined the World Images gang; its livery would have very closely matched that of its would-be purchaser, with the blue underside swapped for a dark green, while the airline’s titles would have been applied in the same typeface with the Speedmarque resting above them. Some 50 different designs were set to have been rolled out by 2000, incorporating artwork from around half a dozen European nations as well as markets further afield. It is not known how many different artworks were selected for the programme in total, however in researching this article, Airliner World was shown around a dozen different concepts from artists in Norway, the Caribbean, the United States, the Seychelles and the UK which were never applied to the fleet – among them one produced with involvement from former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney. However, it would be Lady Margaret Thatcher – the Prime Minister who had sold off the carrier ten years earlier – who would thrust BA’s troublesome tails back into the spotlight. The lady may not have been for turning, but her www.key.aero

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stomach was upon sight of British Airways’ exhibition at the October 1997 Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool. Rifling through her handbag in full view of the press, the former Prime Minister described the new liveries as “absolutely terrible”, adding that BA should “fly the British flag, not these awful things you are putting on tails” as she draped a handkerchief over the back of a 747 model to hide its tail. The following day, the front page of the Daily Mail declared: “Maggie puts BA into a tailspin,” while Virgin Atlantic leapt at the chance to take a shot at their rivals like a tramp on hot chips, capitalising on the Heathrow heavyweight’s misfortune by hastily applying the Union Flag and ‘Britain’s Flag Carrier’ titling to its Airbus A340s and Boeing 747s. In response, BA stopped World Tails in its tracks. Half the fleet was repainted into Chatham Historic Dockyard before the programme was quietly abandoned in 2001. However, some aircraft managed to hold on to their different tail designs until as late as 2005.

A question of timing? It’s difficult to know whether there would have been a better time and place for Britain to have welcomed a flag carrier being so openly global in its outlook as well as its route network. As I began researching this article, I felt that had British Airways unveiled its World Images 20 years later, the reception wouldn’t have been so polarising. However, a little less than

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BELOW • First introduced on the Concorde fleet in 1997, Chatham Historic Dockyard has become British Airways' longest serving livery, flying for more than twice as long as Negus and almost double the amount of time Landor was around MARTIN NEEDHAM

Proposed artwork from the Seychelles, the USA and Norway were among those that never reached the paint shop ALL BRITISH AIRWAYS HERITAGE CENTRE

two decades after BA beamed its brand-new brand to the world via the web, there was a similar, albeit much more heated debate about Britishness. The 2016 referendum on the UK’s European Union (EU) membership, or Brexit as it became known, created a tension between those desperate for the UK to assert its national identity against those who wanted the country to embrace its diversity and the wealth of different cultures that call the UK home. Now, a quarter of a century since World Tails was unleashed on the world and with the UK out of the European Union – Prime Minister Boris Johnson having ‘got Brexit done’ – it seems implausible that the finest litmus test we had for the 2016 EU referendum was a then-twodecade-old BA rebranding. Chatham Historic Dockyard is now the carrier’s longest serving livery – having outlived Landor and lasted more than twice as long as the initial Negus & Negus design. As International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) has rebranded its two other legacy airlines – Iberia and Aer Lingus – within the past few years, a revitalising of the BA corporate identity must surely be on the cards, if not on the drawing boards. Should that be the case, any future facelift will almost certainly be nowhere near as radical as that unveiled in the Summer of 1997.

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AROUND THE WORLD IN

34 TAILS This red and black Benyhone tartan pattern proved to be one of the most popular and appeared on 15 different types, ranging from the Britten-Norman Islander to the Boeing 747-400. This design was created by weaver Peter McDonald.

1 • Animals and Trees; Botswana

Airbus A320ceo: G-BUSE; ATR 72-200: G-BWTM; 727-200: ZS-OBO; 737-200: G-BGDL; B737-400: G-BVNO, G-DOCA, G-DOCJ, G-DOCV; 747-400: G-BNLI, G-CIVO, G-CIVW, G-CIVZ; 757-200: G-BIKL, G-BIKO; 767-300ER: G-BNWF, G-BNWT; 777-200ER: G-VIIJ, G-VIIR; Bombardier Dash 8-300: G-BRYU; BAe 146-200: G-GNTZ; ATP: OY-SVI; Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander: G-BLDV; Saab 340: G-GNTE, G-LGNA; Short 360: G-BPFN

5 • Blomsteräng/Flower Field; Sweden ALL PICS RICHARD VANDERVORD EXCEPT WHERE NOTED A painting of wild jackals resting under a tree by an oasis in the Kalahari Desert painted by Cgoise, an artist of the Ncoakhoe tribe. One of the first schemes to be unveiled and widely used throughout the fleet. Embraer ERJ145: G-EMBD; Avro RJ100: G-BXAS; Boeing 737-200: G-BGDT, ZS-SBR; 737-400: G-DOCD; 747-400: G-BNLZ; 757-200: G-CPEL; 777-200ER: G-VIIK

2 • Avignon; Germany AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/CARL FORD This Swedish design featuring hearts and flowers was created by Ulrica Hydman-Vallien, who normally decorates glass bowls. 727-200: ZS-NOU; 737-400: G-DOCE; 747-200: G-BDXG; B757-200: G-BMRI; 767-300ER: G-BNWU; BAe Jetstream 31: OY-SVJ; ERJ145: G-EMBH

6 • Bavaria; Germany One of the zaniest schemes came courtesy of Berlin-based artist Jim Avignon. Also known as The Men Who Sold The World For Fun, it was adapted from one of his most celebrated paintings and shows twodimensional figures under a Berlin night sky. The livery was applied exclusively to Deutsche BA aircraft. Boeing 737-300: D-ADBA, D-ADBB, D-ADBD, D-ADBI, D-ADBQ, D-ADBT, D-ADBU

3 • Blue Poole; England

AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/HAMFIVE Another of the four designs allocated exclusively to Deutsche BA, Herbert Reiger's Bavaria replicates quill embroidery used to decorate traditional leather belts and handbags. It incorporates symbols representing good luck and fertility, such as the edelweiss alpine flower. This painting by Sally Tuffin of Poole features dolphins and seagulls. Such scenes are normally seen on items manufactured by Poole Pottery. Two Boeing 757s – G-BIKA and G-CPEM – received different variations of this scheme applied, of which one is a much lighter shade than the other.

737-300: D-ADBC, D-ADBF, D-ADBG, D-ADBH

7 • Calligraphy; Germany

British Aerospace ATP: G-MAUD; 737-200: G-BKYB, ZS-NNH; 737-400: G-DOCC, G-TREN; 737-500: G-MSKA; 747-200: G-BDXD; 757-200: G-BIKA, G-CPEM

4 • Mountain of the Birds; Scotland

AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/WOLFGANG MENDORF This Deutsche BA-only livery was designed by Gottfried Pott, a professor of calligraphy. It is intended as a tribute to Johannes Gutenberg, the pioneering 15th-century printer 737-300: D-ADBM, D-ADBN, D-ADBO, D-ADBP

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8 • Chelsea Rose; England

A later scheme which fast became a favourite. This textile design of a single red rose by Pierce Casey was judged the winner in a competition run by British Airways and the Sunday Times newspaper. Along with Mountain of the Birds and Colum, Chelsea Rose was one of the most widespread designs. 737-400: G-BNNL; 747-200: G-BDXK; 747-400: G-BNLA, G-BNLL, G-BYGA, G-BYGB, G-BYGC, G-BYGF; 747-400F: N495MC; 757-200: G-BIKB, G-BMRD; 767-300ER: G-BNWB, G-BNWE, G-BNWR; 777-200ER; G-VIIO, G-VIIS; Bombardier CRJ: G-MSKN; Dash 8-300: G-BRYI; Avro RJ100: G-BZAV; Jetstream 41: G-MAJL

13 • L'espirit Liberté; France

Air Liberté unveiled the first two of four new schemes on October 6, 1998. This design featured text from the 1789 French declaration The Rights of Man by Olivier Vinet. The text reads: "Mankind is born free, lives free and has equal rights." Fokker 100: F-GIOG, F-GIOI; McDonnell Douglas MD-83: F-GFZB, F-GHEB, F-GRML; DC-10: F-GPVA

14 • Colour Down The Side; England

9 • Golden Khokhloma; Russia

Sir Terry Frost's painting was inspired by the light and landscape of Cornwall. One of the first designs unveiled, it was used very sparingly, adorning just one Brymon Airways Dash 8. However, the scheme was also used on some items aboard Concorde. This Russian-inspired scheme first appeared in mid-1998 on a 757-200, G-BIKH (c/n 22179). The pattern represents a Khokhloma folk art design of flowers and fruit applied to wooden utensils in the mid-Volga region. The scheme displayed here was designed by Taisia Akimovna Belyantzeva, the most respected artist at a factory in the village of Seminov, the largest producer of Khokhlomaware in Russia.

Dash 8-300: G-BRYT

15 • Grand Union; England

737-300: G-XMAN; 757-200: G-BIKH; 767-300ER: G-BNWJ

10 • Nalanji Dreaming; Australia

Another winner in the competition sponsored by British Airways and judged by the Sunday Times is Grand Union. It was designed by Christine Bass and was based on similar schemes worn by narrowboats on the Grand Union Canal.

Nalanji Dreaming is the third of the Australian designs to be introduced. This kaleidoscopic creation features flowers, fish and turtles on a blue and turquoise background. The scheme was first applied to a Qantas 747300, VH-EBU (c/n 23223), in 1995. 757-200: G-BMRH; 747-400: G-BNLN

737-300: G-XBHX; 737-400: G-DOCH; B757-200: G-BMRJ; CRJ: G-MSKP; Dash 8-300: G-BRYP; ERJ145: G-EMBF;

16 • Kogutki Lowickie/Cockerel of Lowicz; Poland

11 • Ngapa Jukurrpa/Water Dreaming; Australia

Danuta Wojda produced this intricate circular design using shears, incorporating the motifs of cockerels, peacocks and flowers in symmetrical designs. This scheme appeared on several aircraft, whereas Wojda's other tail scheme, Mazowieckie Kwiatki (see page 76), appeared on just one: 737-300 G-OGBC (c/n 29109). This Aboriginal mosaic of dots was created by Clifford Possum, a member of the Anmatyerre people from Tjapaltjarri in Australia's Northern Territory. It represents a dream in visual form, with the complex series of dots helping to obscure sacred symbols from the uninitiated. The circles represent waterholes, while the wavy and straight lines depict footpaths.

A320ceo: G-BUSB; 737-200: G-BGDG, ZS-SBO; 737-400: G-DOCF; 757-200: G-BPED; B747-400: G-BNLT; Dash 8: G-BRYW; EMB145: G-EMBC; SD360: G-BNMT

17 • Colum; Ireland

A320ceo: G-BUSJ; 737-200: G-BKYE; 747-400: G-BNLK; 757-200: G-BMRF; ERJ145: G-EMBG

12 • Paithani; India

Irish calligrapher Timothy O'Neill produced this colourful, intricate design, with ‘colum’ being Gaelic for ‘dove’. This proved a popular design and was noticeably different on some of the various tails it adorned. Later adaptations on 737-400 G-DOCX and 767-300ER G-BNWK featured more white than earlier renditions. Textile artist Meera Mehta produced this scheme from designs used in hand woven saris. To date, only two aircraft have been applied with this design, which features shrub motifs on a rich gold background. The base colour appears to change in hue under different light conditions. 747-200: G-BDXO; 757-200: G-BMRA; ERJ145: G-EMBI

727-200: 737-200: G-BGDR; 737-300: G-OGBB; G-OMUC; 737-400: G-DOCX; 737-500: G-MSKB; 747-400: G-BNLC, G-BYGB, G-CIVP; 757-200: G-CPEP; 767-300ER: G-BNWK, G-BNWT, G-BNWV; 777-200ER: G-VIIP; Dash 8-300: G-BRYV; ATP: OY-SVT; RJ100: G-BZAU; Jetstream 31: OY-SVO, OY-SVZ; Jetstream 41: G-MAJC; BN-2: G-BJOP; SD360: G-BNMU; ERJ145: G-EMBA

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18 • Ndebele; South Africa

Emmly Masanabo is one of two sisters of the Ndebele people of Southern Africa chosen have their work displayed work on a jumbo jet tail. The Ndebele women paint their homes and decorate objects in bold geometric patterns, inspired by the intricate beadwork used in traditional dress. One of the first schemes unveiled, it looks virtually identical to that of her sister Martha's (see below), but look closely... 747-400: G-BNLO; 757-200: G-BIKC; 767-300ER: G-BNWD; CRJ: G-MSKL

19 • Ndebele; South Africa

22 • Crossing Borders; Egypt

This striking Egyptian design by Cairo resident Chant Avedissian was influenced by the wall hangings that decorate the inside of tents in North Africa. This scheme only appeared on four aircraft but, when comparing that which appears on the Boeings to that on the A320, one could be forgiven for concluding they are different designs. This reiterates that you have to imagine that each tail design comes from a different portion of a picture or wallpaper. A320ceo: G-MEDD; 737-300: G-OGBE; 737-400: G-DOCT; 757-200: G-BIKT; CRJ: G-MSKO

23 • Delftblauwe Dageraad/Delftblue Daybreak; the Netherlands

...and you will note that the design by Emmly’s sister Martha Masanabo (see above) features subtle differences in the colours and geometric shapes. Martha’s scheme was depicted on the tails of seven different aircraft types, compared with the three that wore Emmly's design. 737-200: G-BGDA; 737-300: G-OGBD; 737-400: G-DOCL, G-DOCB; 747-400: G-BNLJ, G-BNLM; 757-200: G-BIKW; Jetstream 41: G-MSKJ

20 • Mazowieckie Kwatki/Flowers from Mazowsze; Poland

Artist Hugo Kaagman's image is based on traditional Delft ceramics. This is another scheme which, it you look closely, can differ quite a bit from aircraft to aircraft. Look or the windmills and, in British Airways livery, it will be serving Heathrow in addition to its current Gatwick slots. The Airways Flying Club at Booker/ Wycombe Air Park even applied the schemes to its fleet of Piper Cherokees and Tomahawks. 727-200: ZS-NOV; 737-200: G-BGDF; 737-300: G-OHAJ; 737-500: G-MSKE; 747-400: G-BNLD, G-CIVC, G-CIVN, G-CIVT; 757-200: G-BIKX; 777-200ER: G-RAES, G-VIIU; Avro RJ100: G-BXAR; Jetstream 31: PH-KJG; SD360: G-BNMW

24 • La Pyramide du Louvre; France

The second design by Polish artist Danuta Wojda was displayed on just one aircraft: GB Airways 737-300 G-OGBC. This scheme is just as colourtul as her other artwork, Kogutki Lowickie (see page 75), but here the peacock tail feathers are more clearly visible. 737-300: G-OGBC

21 • Nami Tsuru/Waves and Cranes; Japan

The glass pyramid at the Louvre, one of the largest museums in the world, is reproduced in this design. McDonnell Douglas MD-83: F-GPZA

25 • Rendezvous; China

This painting by Japanese artist Kayama Matazo features silver coloured cranes in flight over waves represented by black and white stripes. In certain light conditions the cranes were almost invisible, but if conditions are right they really stand out. One of the first batches of schemes to be introduced, Nami Tsuru proved popular and was featured on nine different types, including three 747-400s. A320ceo: G-BUSK; ATR 72-200: G-BVTJ; 737-200: G-BGDJ, G-BKYP, ZS-NLN; 737-300: G-ODUS; 737-400: G-OGBA; 737-400, 747-400: G-CIVM, G-CIVR, G-CIVX; 757-200: G-BPEC; 767-300ER: G-BZHC; 777-200ER: G-VIIM

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Hong Kong calligrapher Yip Man-Yam produced this design, which is a poem about a Chinese tea ceremony. One of the first schemes unveiled, it was reproduced widely throughout the fleet. One 757 featured the artwork on a cream background instead of white. A320ceo: G-MEDB; 737-200: G-BGJE; 737-300: G-OAMS; 737-400: G-DOCM, G-DOCW; 747-400: G-BNLR, G-BYGD, G-BYGE, G-BYGG, G-CIVV; 757-200: G-BIKI, G-BIKN, G-BMRE, G-BMRG, G-CPEU, G-CPEV; 767-300ER: G-BNWC, G-BNWP; 777-200ER: G-VIIT, G-ZZZC; Dash 8-300: G-BRYY; ATP: G-MANO; Jetstream 31: OY-SVP, OY-SVR

26 • Sterntaler/Fairytale; Germany

31 • Wunala Dreaming; Australia

This Bauhaus-inspired geometric design by artist Ante Bruggemann was the first Deutsche BA design to be released. Unlike the other three schemes produced tor the German carrier, Sterntaler is used on mainline BA aircraft, but has yet to be applied to any widebodied types.

The bright red Wunala Dreaming scheme was also worn by a pair of Qantas 747-400s in all-over liveries, and made its first appearance at the 1998 Farnborough Air Show to coincide with a replica Vickers Vimy re-enacting a flight to Australia. To mark BA's alliance with Qantas, this vibrant scheme was first applied to the tail of B747-400 G-BNLS, and later to a 757.

A320ceo: G-BUSG; 737-200: G-BGDE; 737-300: D-ADBE, D-ADBK, D-ADBL, D-ADBR, D-ADBS, D-ADBV, D-ADBW, G-OFRA, ZS-NNG; 757-200: G-CPET; CRJ: G-MSKM; ERJ145: G-EMBB

27 • Primavara/Spring; Romania

This scheme by Morag Dumitru was a winner in a British Airways staff competition to design a tailfin, a competition that attracted more than 400 entries. The design represents a traditional floral tablecloth that’s given to visitors as a present. To date it appears on just one 757, G-BIKY.

747-400: G-BNLS; 757-200: G-BIKF

32 • Youm Al-Suq/Market Day; Saudi Arabia

757-200: G-BIKY

The latest scheme to be unvelled is based on an abstract painting by Shadia Alem. It represents a visit to the market by the Qahtani Tihama, the last tribe in the region of Asir which retains its traditional identity. It currently appears on only one B737-400 G-GBTA.

28 • Vinger/Wings; Denmark

737-400: G-GBTA

33 • Teaming Up For Britain; United Kingdom

Danish artist Per Arnold’s abstract painting depicts seagulls in flight. This scheme is used extensively by Danish franchise carrier Sun Air, but is also widely seen within the British Airways fleet. The design was used on two consecutively built new B757s (G-CPER and G-CPES) based at Gatwick – this was a understood to have been a cost-saving measure because Boeing charges a lot of money to apply an image to the tail. A320ceo: G-BUSI; 737-400: G-BUHL, G-DOCB; 747-400: G-BNLH, G-CIVU; 757-200: G-CPER, G-CPES; 767-300ER: G-BZHA; 777-200ER: G-VIIL; CRJ: G-MSKK; ATP: OY-SVU; Jetstream 41: G-MAJK, OY-SVW

29 • Waves of the City; USA

This livery was applied to a trio of jets in support of the Great Britain Olympic Team ahead of their participation at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. A320ceo: G-BUSC; 737-200: G-BKYG; 757-200: G-BMRC

34 • Union Flag/Chatham Historic Dockyard; United Kingdom

New York artist Jenifer Kobylarz produced this modern abstract of sinuous organic lines. It was one of the batch of 15 unveiled on day one and is used extensively throughout both the British Airways mainline fleet and that of the franchise carriers. 737-400: G-BNNK, G-DOCR; 737-500: G-MSKC; 747-400: G-BNLV, G-BNLX; 757-200: G-BIKJ; 767-300ER: G-BNWG, G-BNWH; 777-200ER: G-VIIA; Dash 8-300: G-BRYS; Avro RJ100: G-BZAT; Jetstream 41: OY-SVF; ERJ145: G-EMBE

30 • Whale Rider; Canada

This stylised rippling version of the Union Flag should appease those who have complained about the lack of national identity on British Airways aircraft. The Union Flag incorporates the cross of St Andrew, St George and St Patrick and this design is based on a banner from the Flag Loft in Chatham Royal Dockyard in Kent. It was applied exclusively to the Concorde fleet. Concorde: G-BOAA, G-BOAB, G-BOAC, G-BOAD, G-BOAE, G-BOAF, G-BOAG

Have your say! This artistic painting of a wooden carving titled Whale Rider is the work of Joe David of the Tia O Qui Aht people of the Pacific Northwest coast of Canada. It features a whale and mythological creatures from native folklore, although the full effect is not always obvious on smaller aircraft, being better represented on large types such as the 747. A320ceo: G-MEDA; ATR 72-200: G-BXTN; 737-200: G-BGDO; 737-500: G-MSKD; 747-400: G-BNLG, G-CIVS, G-CIVY; 757-200: G-CPEO; 777-200ER: G-VIIN

What’s your opinion – was World Images one of the biggest rebranding failures of all time or is it an unfairly maligned, misunderstood marketing campaign well ahead of its time? Get in touch with us via [email protected]

Martin Needham would like to thank Jim Davies and the British Airways Heritage Centre team for their invaluable help in researching this article. www.key.aero

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The latest commercial aircraft deliveries from manufacturers and lessors Aeroflot has placed its fleet on the Russian civil aircraft registry after its aircraft were expelled from the Bermudan equivalent. This Airbus A321ceo, VP-BTG (c/n 5790), has been reregistered RA-73163 MARTIN NEEDHAM SalamAir [OV/OMS ‘Mazoon’] A4O-XB

A321-253nx 10627

LATAM Cargo Chile [UC/LCO ‘Lan Cargo’] ex D-AYAC, ff 16.02.22, dd 24.02.22, lsd fr NAS Aviation Services

Air China [CA/CCA ‘Air China’] ex B-007Y, ff 15.12.21 as D-AZAU, dd 16.02.22, lsd fr NAS Aviation Services ex D-AVZJ, ff 24.02.22, dd 28.02.22, lsd fr NAS B-327T A321-251nx 10529 Aviation Services China Eastern Airlines [MU/CES ‘China Eastern’] B-324X A350-941 489 ex B-005U, ff 22.04.21 as F-WZGA, dd 22.02.22 China Express Airlines [G5/HXA ‘China Express’] B-328S A320-271n 10670 ex B-007V, ff 14.02.22, dd 24.02.22 B-329G A320-271n 10644 ex F-WWDT, ff 25.01.22, dd 25.02.22 China Southern Airlines [CZ/CSN ‘China Southern’] B-327G A321-253nx 10614 ex D-AYAR, ff 10.01.22, dd 17.02.22 B-327H A321-253nx 10864 ex D-AZWQ, ff 04.02.22, dd 17.02.22 B-328A A319-153n 10239 ex D-AVWG, ff 02.08.21, dd 17.02.22 B-328C A319-153n 10288 ex D-AVWI, ff 07.02.22, dd 17.02.22 Loong Air (Zhejiang Loong Airlines) [GJ/CDC ‘Loong Air’] ex D-AVWH, dd 31.03.22, lsd fr Cinda Financial B-305L A319-115 8616 Leasing Ruili Airlines [DR/RLH ‘Sendi’] ex N266GE, dd 18.03.22, lsd fr AerCap, (N266GE B-222A B737-86N 43407 canx 18.03.22) Sichuan Airlines [3U/CSC ‘Sichuan’] ex B-007U, ff 30.01.22, dd 18.02.22, lsd fr B-328L A320-271n 10636 BoComm Leasing Greater Bay Airlines [HB/HGB ‘Greater Bay’] ex OE-IER, dd 15.03.22, lsd fr ICBC Financial B-KJP B737-800 42279 Leasing China Airlines [CI/CAL ‘Dynasty’] ex D-AZWG, ff 31.01.22, dd 15.02.22, lsd fr Air B-18103 A321-271nx 10608 Lease Corp Starlux [SJX ‘Starwalker’] ex F-WWCN, ff 22.10.21, dd 18.02.22, lsd fr Air B-58301 A330-941 2003 Lease Corp UNI Airways [B7/UIA ‘Glory’] ATR 72-212A B-17017 1351 ex F-WWEK (600) B-326X

Due to a production error, last month’s Deliveries section was inadvertantly republished. Our thanks go to Mr Leslie Webb for bringing this to our attention and we apologise to any other disappointed readers. If you wish to receive an electronic copy of May’s information, please get in touch with us via airlinerworld@ keypublishing.com

A321-251nx

10606

Air Canada [AC/ACA ‘Air Canada’] C-FIUA

B777-233LR 35239

C-FPWE

A320-211

C-GHLV

B767-333ER 30852

Key to Abbreviations a/c als awys bf b/u canx cls cn cnvrtd dbf dbr dd ex ff frtr lrf lsd fr lsd to msn ntu oo op pax pwfu reg’d reg’n ret fr ret to rr rts sb scr st std tba unk wfu w/o

78

aircraft airlines airways bought from broken up/scrapped cancelled colours manufacturer’s construction/serial number converted destroyed by fire damaged beyond repair delivery date previous reg'n first flight freighter last revenue flight leased from leased to see cn not taken up on order operated passenger permanently withdrawn from use registered registration returned from returned to re-registered return to service sold by scrapped/broken up sold to stored to be advised unknown withdrawn from use written off/destroyed

175

ferried Victorville – Vancouver 25.03.22 after storage for ret to service ferried to Marana 06.04.20 for storage (I was pwfu), ferried Marana – Trois-Rivieres 05.03.22 for work prior to ret to service ferried Kansas City MCI – Tel Avivfor cargo conversion in Rouge cls

Air Canada Rouge [RV/ROU ‘Rouge’] C-FIYE

B767-33AER 33422

C-FJZK

B767-3Q8ER 29386

C-GHLK

B767-35HER 26388

Air Tunilik C-FNME Cessna 208 Buffalo Airways [BFL ‘Buffalo’] Beech C-GUUW UE-59 1900D Cargojet Airways [W8/CJT ‘Cargojet’] B767C-GAAJ 25449 323ER(F) Evasion Air Elite C-FKAE Cessna 208 Harbour Air [YB ‘Harbour Express’] Cessna C-GHAN 208B5458 208B/EX Heli-One Canada C-GWVO S-92A 920022 Seair Seaplanes C-GSSC Cessna 208 SkyCare Air AmbulanceOntario Inc) C-FIOH SA227-AC AC-432B C-FJXR Pa.31 350 VIH Helicopters C-FDOH S-61N 61704

AIRLINER WORLD JUNE 2022

reg’n canx 21.03.22, N111DP assigned 01.03.22, std Marana ferried to Shannon 09.04.20 for storage, Shannon – Maranafor continued storage reg’n canx 10.03.22, rr N206CM to Cargo Aircraft Management 11.03.22, std Marana ex N208JL, reg’d 15.03.22 ex ZS-PVV, reg’d 18.03.22

repainted into DHL colours 02.22

cnvrtd to B767-316ER(BCF) 03.22 at Singapore, CC-CXE B767-316ER 35696 ferried Singapore – Miami EuroAtlantic Airways [YU/MMZ ‘Euro Atlantic’] CS-TKT B767-36NER 30853 N118DP ass-igned 30.03.22, parked Beja Portugalia (TAP Express) [NI/PGA ‘Portugalia’] ex N295NA, dd 03.22, lsd fr Nordic Aviation ERJ190CS-TPZ Capital, ferried Macon – Alverca as N295NA& 100AR reg’n canx 14.03.22 Springjet [5K/HFY ‘Sky Flyer’] CS-TRJ A321-231 1004 lsd to/op for Jet2.com Western Air [WU/WST ‘Western Bahamas’] ex N11544, ferried Kingman – Freeport as C6-GAR Emb-145LR 145557 N11544 Air Hamburg Private Jets [AHO] D-ANXA Emb-135BJ 14501165 reg’d 05.11.21 EAT Leipzig [QY/BCS ‘Eurotrans’] D-AJFK A330-343(F) 1477 reg’d 14.10.21 Eurowings [EW/EWG ‘Eurowings’] ex LY-NVW, dd 26.03.22 Vilnius – Stuttgart, lsd 9H-AMH A320-232 2173 fr/op by Avion Express Malta ex OE-IGH, dd 25.03.22 Vilnius – Stuttgart, lsd 9H-AMI A320-232 3409 fr/op by Avion Express Malta ex OE-IGI, dd 25.03.22 Vilnius – Stuttgart, lsd 9H-AMJ A320-232 3531 fr/op by Avion Express Malta ex HA-LWF, dd 25.03.22 Vilnius – Stuttgart, lsd 9H-AMK A320-232 3562 fr/op by Avion Express Malta ex TC-ODD, dd 26.03.22 Vilnius – Stuttgart, lsd 9H-AML A320-232 2594 fr/op by Avion Express Malta ex 2-CODE, dd 25.03.22 Castellón de la Plana – 9H-AMP A320-232 2663 Stuttgart, lsd fr/op by Avion Express Malta ex EI-GVI, dd 25.03.22 Châteauroux – Stuttgart, 9H-AMU A320-232 4174 lsd fr/op by Avion Express Malta ex LZ-AWH, dd 25.03.22 Châteauroux – 9H-AMV A320-232 2914 Düsseldorf, lsd fr/op by Avion Express Malta ex OE-LCW, dd 25.03.22 Châteauroux – 9H-AMX A320-232 4421 Düsseldorf, lsd fr/op by Avion Express Malta ex OE-LDO, dd 26.03.22 Vilnius – Düsseldorf, lsd 9H-MLB A320-232 4645 fr/op by Avion Express Malta Eurowings Discover [4Y/OCN ‘Ocean’] ex D-AUBS, dd 22.03.22 & ferried Frankfurt – D-AIUZ A320-214 7625 Norwich for painting Lufthansa [LH/DLH ‘Lufthansa’] ex D-AYAD, ff 20.10.21, dd 22.02.22, named D-AIEL A321-271nx 10715 Laupheim ex D-AAEU, dd 10.03.22 Shannon – Munich, D-AIVC A350-941 243 named München Lufthansa Cargo [LH/GEC ‘Lufthansa Cargo’] ferried Munich – Bratislava 06.03.22 for D-AEUC A321-211(F) 3504 painting, ret to Munich 11.03.22 after paint, named Hello Europe D-ALCC MD-11F 48783 reg’n canx 26.10.21, became N783SN Lufthansa CityLine [CL/CLH ‘Hansa Line’] D-AIBK A319-112 2131 reg’d 05.11.21 D-AIBL A319-112 2174 reg’d 07.10.21 D-AIBP A319-112 2547 reg’d 10.12.21 TUIfly.com [X3/TUI ‘Tuifly’] D-AMAA B737-8 44612 reg’d 04.11.21 Binter Canarias [NT/IBB] ATR 72-212A EC-NSG 1636 ex F-WWEE, ff 17.03.22, dd 30.03.22 (600) Iberia [IB/IBE ‘Iberia’] EC-NSC

A350-941

483

EC-NTI

A320-251n

10706

ex N343EH, reg’d 22.03.22 ex N380TA, reg’d 29.03.22 (see under Textron) ex LN-OQD, reg’d 04.03.22 reg’d 15.03.22 ex SE-LIL, reg’d 29.03.22, (SE-LIL canx 29.03.22) ex N329JX, reg’d 31.03.22 ex N704WK, reg’d 17.03.22

ex F-WZFO, ff 23.10.21, dd 23.02.22, named Hola Madrid ex F-WWBK, ff 01.09.21, dd 16.02.22, named Juan de la Cierva

Iberia Express [I2/IBS ‘Iberexpres’] EC-ILR A320-214 1793 Wamos Air [EB/PLM ‘Pullman’]

ex F-WWIM, dd 22.03.22

EC-NTX

ex 9V-SSE, dd 21.03.22 Marana - Madrid, lsd fr AerCap & reg’d to Wamos Air, rr EC-NTX 29.03.22

A330-243

1597

Aer Lingus [EI/EIN ‘Shamrock’] EI-EIL

A330-302

893

ferried to Nimes 14.06.21 for storage, Nimes – Dublin 16.03.22 after storage for ret to service

ASL Airlines Ireland [AG/ABR ‘Contract’] ATR 72-212A ex OK-GFS, cnvrtd to ATR 72-212A (500)(F) at EI-HAD 679 (500)(F) Toulouse 02.22

OE-IEC

B737-82R

35701

ex TC-CCJ, reg’d 10.03.22 to ASL Aircraft Investment (No.6 Ltd), std Kaunas

Emerald Airlines [EA/EAI ‘Gemstone’] EI-FSL

ATR 72-212A 1339 (600)

EI-GPO

ATR 72-212A 1315 (600)

ATR 72-212A 1464 (600) Ryanair [FR/RYR ‘Ryanair’] EI-GZW

EI-HES

B737-8200

62306

EI-HET

B737-8200

62310

EI-HEV

B737-8200

62309

EI-HGW

B737-8200

65085

ex OY-YDU, reg’d 22.03.22 & ferried Toulouse LFBF – Dublin 27.03.22, lsd fr Nordic Aviation Capital ex G-FBXD, reg’d 14.03.22 & ferried Exeter – Dublin 22.03.22, lsd fr Chorus Aviation, named St. Foillan / Foillan ex OY-YCM, reg’d 25.03.22, lsd fr Nordic Aviation Capital, ferried Toulouse LFBF – Exeter – Dublin ex N3134C, N1786B, ff 01.11.19, dd 17.02.22 & reg’d same day ex N3134C, ff 07.11.21, dd 10.02.22 & reg’d same day ex N3134C, ff 07.11.19, dd 15.02.22 & reg’d same day ex N4022T, ff 11.01.22, dd 02.02.22 & reg’d 01.02.22

SAS Connect [SL/SZS ‘Spinnaker’] EI-SIJ

A320-251n

10752

Shirak Avia [SHS ‘Shirak’] EK-SHB B737-86Q 30294 Chabahar Airlines [IRU] EP-CBH DC-9 82 53170 Pouya Airlines [PYA[ EP-

B747-412

ex SU-BSA, dd 30.03.22 ex UR-BXI, dd 03.22 ex T7-145, dd 18.03.22 Chabahar – Tehran as T7-145

Emb-145LR

Qeshm Airlines [QB/QSM ‘Qeshm Air’] EP-FQQ A320-214 611 Saha Airlines [IRZ] EP-SIH B747-2J9F 21486 Varesh Airlines EP-VLQ A320-212 1416 EP-VLR A320-212 1402 Terra Avia [TVR ‘Terravia’] ER-

ex F-WWBO, ff 19.01.22, dd 08.02.22 & reg’d same day, named Siv Viking

28029

rr EP-FQH 03.22 ex EP-SIP, dd 03.22 ex D-AICK, dd 19.03.22 Minsk – Mashad ex D-AICJ, dd 20.03.22 Minsk – Mashad ex N289EF, dd 29.03.22, lsd fr Aquiline International, (N289EF canx 29.03.22) parked Teruel

NyxAir [OJ/NYX ‘Nyx Air’] ex G-LGND, dd 23.03.22, (G-LGND canx 04.03.22) SmartLynx Airlines Estonia [MYX ‘Tallinn Cat’] ex VP-CBM, dd 15.03.22 Newquay – East Midlands, lsd fr AerCap, ferried East Midlands ES-SAA A320-214 3631 – Birmingham 25.03.22 all white, lsd to/op for TUI Airways ex OE-IET, dd 24.03.22, lsd fr Jackson Square ES-SAY A320-232 2689 Aviaton, ferried Istanbul ISL – Tallinn 31.03.22 ferried Tallinn – Birmingham 25.03.22 all white, ES-SAX A320-214 3954 lsd to/op for TUI Airways Xfly (Regional Jet ou) [EE/EST ‘Reval’] ex OY-JZB, dd 02.03.22 Billund – Stockholm ATR 72-212A ES-ATG 1121 ARN, lsd fr Nordic Aviation Capital & reg’d to NAC (600) Aviation 2 A/S Ethiopian Airlines [ET/ETH ‘Ethiopian’] AerCap, st Aergo Capital 03.22, still lsd to ET-ATV B737-8Q8 30705 Ethiopian ET-AYG DHC-8 402 4626 ex C-GPQD, ff 01.12.21, dd 02.03.22 Air France [AF/AFR ‘Air France’] ex C-FOVX, ff 09.02.22, dd 25.02.22 & reg’d 28.02.22, named Provins, st Harfang Finance F-HUZG A220-300 55155 DAC & reg’d 08.03.22, ferried Montreal YMX – Paris CDG 02.03.22 ex C-FOVG, ff 05.03.22, dd 23.03.22 & reg’d to F-HZUH A220-300 55157 Sky High 130 Leasing Co Ltd 25.03.22, named Rocamadour Transavia France [TO/TVF ‘French Soleil’] ferried Nimes – Paris ORY 25.02.22, entered F-HUYF B737-8JP 38881 service 05.03.22 ex VP-CGU, dd 23.03.22 Montpellier – Nimes, F-HUYG B737-8JP 40544 lsd fr Aviation Capital Group ES-NSK

Saab 340B

340B-169

F-HUYL

B737-86N

38037

F-HUYM

B737-86N

39397

ex LN-RGE, dd 28.02.22 Shannon – Nimes & reg’d to Danke Holdings Co Ltd 10.03.22, ferried Nimes – Paris ORY 24.03.22 for entry into service ex LN-RGA, dd 11.03.22 Woensdrecht – Nimes, lsd fr Fuyo General Lease & reg’d to FGL Aircraft Ireland Ltd 25.03.22

British Airways [BA/BAW ‘Speedbird’] G-XWBJ

A350-1041

490

ex F-WWXL, ff 19.01.22, dd 25.02.22 & reg’d same day, ferried Toulouse – Heathrow 01.03.22

We welcome any feedback on this listing

DHL Air [D0/DHK ‘World Express’] G-DHLA

B767323ER(F)

29603

G-DHLY

B777-F

67138

M-DMMR

A330-343E

1453

ex N396AN, reg’d 24.03.22, lsd fr Cargo Aircraft Management, ferried Wilmington ILN – East Midlands 25.03.22 ff 22.01.22, dd 07.02.22 & reg’d same day ex 9H-TAJ, reg’d 11.03.22, std Dresden for cargo conversion

easyJet Airline [U2/EZY ‘Easy’] YL-LCU

A320-214

1762

YL-LDI

A320-232

4323

YL-LDJ

A320-232

4351

ex HB-IJX, dd 30.03.22, lsd fr/op by SmartLynx Airlines ex OE-ISW, dd 29.03.22, lsd fr/op by SmartLynx Airlines ex OE-ISY, dd 31.03.22, lsd fr/op by SmartLynx Airlines

(The listing is alphabetical with reference to the registration of the country of origin. Columns indicate the registration, type, construction number and notes.)

Jet2.com [LS/EXS ‘Channex’] CS-TRJ

A321-231

1004

G-DRTK

B737-8KN

40260

ex EI-FDP, dd 29.03.22 Beja – Stansted, lsd fr/op by Springjet ex EI-GYE, reg’d 16.03.22, lsd fr JP Lease, ferried Shannon – Manchester 18.03.22 still in flydubai colours, (EI-GYE canx 16.03.22)

Loganair [LM/LOG ‘Logan’] G-LMTD

ATR 72-212A 1237 (600)

ex 2-HOPY, reg’d 23.03.22, lsd fr Nordic Aviation Capital, ferried Toulouse LFBF – Aberdeen as 2-HOPY 18.03.22 & reg’n canx 23.03.22

TUI Airways [BY/TOM ‘Tomjet’] ES-SAA

A320-214

3631

ES-SAX

A320-214

3954

G-TUIL

B787-9

64053

Zimex Aviation [XM/IMX ‘Imex’] ATR HB-AFW 419 72-202(F) SATENA [9R/NSE ‘Satena’] HK-5399

ATR 72-212A 969 (600)

ex VP-CBM, dd 25.03.22, lsd fr/op by SmartLynx Estonia ex VQ-BCN, dd 25.03.22, lsd fr/op by SmartLynx Estonia ex SE-RFF, reg’d 03.03.22, lsd fr Yamasa Aircraft Leasing ex EI-SLZ, reg’d 30.03.22 ex OY-YCF, dd 08.03.22, lsd fr Nordic Aviation Capital, ferried Montpellier – Billund as OY-YCF 12.03.22 prior to lease. Billund – Bogotáas HK-5399

Ultra Air [ULS ‘Air Ultra’] ex N293CL, dd 08.03.22, lsd fr Carlyle Aviation Partners, ferried San Bernardino – Bogotá as N293CL 06.03.22 & reg’n canx 08.03.22 Viva (Fast Colombia) [VH/VVC ‘Viva Colombia’] ex F-WWDS, ff 20.01.22, dd 03.02.22, reg’d HK-5390 A320-251n 10691 09.02.22 to Bluesky 35 Leasing Co Ltd Korean Air [KE/KAL ‘Korean’] ex N1786B, ff 18.04.19, dd 11.02.22 & reg’d HL8348 B737-8 63436 same day Copa Airlines [CM/CMP ‘Copa’] HP-9915CMP B737-9 44177 HP-9916CMP B737-9 44175 flyadeal [F3/FAD ‘Adeal’] HZ-FAS A320-251n 10702 ex F-WWBC, ff 12.10.21, dd 07.02.22 flynas [XY/KNE ‘Nas Express’] HZ-NS46 A320-251n 10760 ex F-WWCI, ff 04.02.22, dd 18.02.22 Air Dolomiti [EN/DLA ‘Dolomiti’] ERJ190I-JENB ex D-AEBC, dd 25.03.22 Munich – Verona 200LR Aliscargo Airlines [CP/LSI ‘Alis’] ex I-DISD, 24.02.22 Rome FCO – Milan MXP, lsd EI-ISD B777-243ER 32860 fr Aircraft Purchase Corp ITA Airways [AZ/ITY ‘Itarrow’] ex F-WWIV, dd 27.03.22, lsd fr ICBC Financial EI-DTI A320-216 3976 Leasing HK-5402

A320-214

2930

DHL Air UK has pressed its maiden Boeing 777F into service NICK SHEEDER/ V1IMAGES.COM

www.key.aero

79

The latest commercial aircraft deliveries from manufacturers and lessors

Japan Airlines' latest Airbus A350-900, JA15XJ (c/n 543), wears oneworld titles CLEMENT ALLOING/V1IMAGES Japan Airlines [JL/JAL ‘Japanair’] JA15XJ

A350-941

543

ex F-WZNL, ff 14.01.22, dd 14.02.22 & reg’d 15.02.22

Peach [MM/APJ ‘Air Peach’] JA207P

A320-251n

10502

JA813P

A320-214

6107

ex F-WXAW, ff 01.02.22 as D-AVVV, dd 22.02.22, ferried Hamburg XFW – Osaka KIX as F-WXAW reg’n canx 21.02.22, became OE-LDI, adds to last month's section

Flyr [FS/FOX ‘Greenstar’] LN-FGF

B737-8

43324

ex N4022T, ff 01.02.22, dd 18.02.22, lsd fr Air Lease Corp, reg’d 21.02.22 to ALC B378 43324A LLC

N204BZ

A220-300

55137

N206BZ

A220-300

55143

Castle Aviation [CSJ ‘Castle’] Saab N353SA 340B-351 340B(F) Delta Air Lines [DL/DAL ‘Delta’] N144DU

A220-100

50064

N145DQ

A220-100

55065

N412DX

A330-941

1994

Norse Atlantic Airways [NBT ‘Longship] ex EI-HCT, dd 06.03.22, lsd fr AerCap, reg’d 07.03.22 to AerCap Ireland Capital DAC, named Dartmoor, G-CKWB canx 02.03.22, rr EI-HCT 02.03.22 to AerCap Ireland Capital DAC & ferried Shannon – Oslo 06.03.22 & reg’n canx 08.03.22 Norwegian Air Shuttle AOC [DY/NOZ ‘Norseman’] ex OE-IPV, dd 22.03.22, lsd fr Babcock & Brown LN-NIK B737-8FZ 29659 & reg’d to Horizon Aviation 4 Ltd same day ex OE-IPU, dd 12.03.22, lsd fr Babcock & Brown LN-NIL B737-8KN 40237 & reg’d to Horizon Aviation 4 Ltd 13.03.22, ferried Woensdrecht – Oslo 16.03.22 ex OE-IPT, dd 06.03.22, lsd fr Babcok & Brown LN-NIM B737-8KN 40240 & reg’d to Horizon II Aviation 3 Ltd same day, ferried Woensdrecht – Oslo 11.03.22 ex 2-VIDZ, dd 26.03.22 Riga – Copenhagen, lsd YL-LDD A320-232 3264 fr/op by Smart Lynx Airlines Flybondi [FO/FBZ ‘Bondi’] ex N720MQ, dd 09.03.22, lsd fr Macquarie LV-KCE B737-8Q8 30720 AirFinance, (N720MQ canx 09.03.22), ferried Goodyear – Buenos Aires EZE BH Air [BGH ‘Balkan Holidays’] ex VT-IKB, dd 11.03.22 Amman – Sofia, lsd fr LZ-DBT A320-232 2908 DAE Capital Air Transport International [8C/ATN ‘Air Transport’] ex N1611B, dd 14.03.22 lsd fr Amazon.com & op B767N641AZ 30595 for Prime Air, ferried Wilmington ILN – Cincinatti 332ER(F) 15.03.22 for entry into service Alaska Airlines [AS/ASA ‘Alaska’] ex N40221, N4022T, ff 19.01.22, dd 14.02.22 & N928AK B737-9 44099 reg’d 17.02.22 Alaska Seaplanes [J5] Cessna US Leasco st Kalinin Partners LLC & reg’d N336JP 208B5036 208B/EX 08.03.22 Cessna N438JP 208B5038 as N336JP 208B/EX American Airlines [AA/AAL ‘American’] ex F-WZMA, ff 07.02.22, dd 18.02.22 & reg’d N445AA A321-253nx 10728 same day, fleet # ‘445’ ex F-WZMZ, ff 11.02.22, dd 22.02.22 & reg’d N447AN A321-253nx 10705 same day, fleet # ‘447’ ex F-WZMB, ff 19.02.22, dd 28.02.22 & reg’d N448AN A321-253nx 10738 same day, fleet # ‘448’ Amerijet International [M6/AJT ‘Amerijet’] dd 24.11.21 lsd fr AerSale, cnvrtd to B757-223(F) 09.21 at Goodyear, AerSale st Wilmington Trust N172AJ B757-223(F) 32400 Co Trustee 24.11.21 & reg’d 15.03.22, parked Miami not yet entered service dd 15.12.21 lsd fr AerSale, cnvtrd to B757-223(F) N192AN B757-223(F) 32386 12.21 at Goodyear dd 28.03.22 Goodyear – Miami, lsd fr AerSale, N193AN B757-223(F) 32387 cnvrtd to B757-223(F) 03.22 at Goodyear Breeze Airways [MX/MXY ‘Moxy’] ERJ190ferried Norwich – San José SJOfor work prior to N140BZ 200LR entry into service ERJ190ferried Norwich – San José SJOfor work prior to N143BZ 200LR entry into service LN-FND

Key to Abbreviations a/c als awys bf b/u canx cls cn cnvrtd dbf dbr dd ex ff frtr lrf lsd fr lsd to msn ntu oo op pax pwfu reg’d reg’n ret fr ret to rr rts sb scr st std tba unk wfu w/o

80

aircraft airlines airways bought from broken up/scrapped cancelled colours manufacturer’s construction/serial number converted destroyed by fire damaged beyond repair delivery date previous reg'n first flight freighter last revenue flight leased from leased to see cn not taken up on order operated passenger permanently withdrawn from use registered registration returned from returned to re-registered return to service sold by scrapped/broken up sold to stored to be advised unknown withdrawn from use written off/destroyed

AIRLINER WORLD JUNE 2022

B787-9

38788

ex C-GPOS, ff 02.11.21, dd 28.02.22 & reg’d 03.03.22 to Bank of Utah Trustee, ferried Mobile BFM – Tampa 04.03.22 ex C-GPMU, ff 03.12.21, dd 30.03.22 & reg’d to Bank of Utah Trustee same day, ferried Mobile BFM – Tampa 01.04.22 ex C-FSPB, dd 23.02.22 Sioux City – Akron ex C-FOWF, ff 24.02.22, dd 07.03.22 & reg’d same day, fleet # 8144’, ferried Montreal YMX – Minneapolis 08.03.22 ex C-FOUY, ff 19.03.22, dd 31.03.22 & reg’d same day, fleet # ‘8145’, ferried Montreal YMX – Minneapolis 01.04.22 ex F-WWCX, ff 24.01.22, dd 28.02.22 & reg’d 02.03.22, fleet # ‘3412’, ferried Toulouse – Tokyo NRT 04.03.22 for post dely work

FedEx Express [FX/FDX ‘Fedex’] ATR ex EI-FXI, reg’d 01.03.22, op by Mountain N818FX 294 72-202(F) Air Cargo Interjet West [ILW ‘Jet West’] N569TR B737-3T0(F) 23569 ex G-JMCO, reg’d 24.03.22 N578TR B737-3T0(F) 23578 ex G-JMCP, reg’d 25.03.22 JSX Air (Delux Public Charter) [XE/JSX ‘Bigstripe’] ex PT-SZT, dd 01.03.22, ferried Kingman – Great N26545 Emb-145LR 145558 Falls 18.03.22 Kalitta Air [K4/CKS ‘Connie’] B767Wells Fargo Trust Co st UMB Bank NA Trustee & N284DH 28040 304ER(F) reg’d 26.02.22, std lsd to Kalitta via DHL Northern Pacific Airways ex N631AU, Aersale st Float Alaska Holings N200UU B757-2B7 27809 25.01.22. std Fort Worth Alliance SkyWest Airlines [OO/SKW ‘Skywest’] ERJ170ex PR-EAH, ff 14.02.22, dd 25.03.22 & reg’d N407SY 200LR same day, Alaska Airlines colours ERJ170ex PR-EEB, dd 28.03.22 & reg’d same day, N408SY 200LR Alaska Airlines colours ERJ170ex PR-EAQ, dd 28.03.22 & reg’d same day, N409SY 200LR Alaska Airlines colours Sun Country Airlines [SY/SCX ‘Sun Country’] Wells Fargo Trust Co st UB Bank NA Trustee & N820SY B737-8FH 39951 reg’d 01.03.22, still lsd to Sun Country ex D-ATUM, reg’d 07.03.22, parked Birmingham N844SY B737-8K5 37240 BHX, ferried Birmingham – Paine Field 11.03.22 prior to entry into service ex OE-LCE, reg’d 07.03.22, lsd fr CDB Aviation, N845SY B737-82R 40727 parked Prague, ferried Prague – Paine Field 16.03.22 prior to entry into service N846SY B737-8JP 39025 ex LN-NGN, reg’d 01.04.22, parked Kemble N847SY B737-8JP 39028 ex LN-NGP, reg’d 01.04.22, parked Kemble N848SY B737-8JP 41128 ex LN-NHC, reg’d 01.04.22, parked Kemble N849SY B737-8JP 41131 ex LN-NHD, reg’d 01.04.22, parked Kemble N879SY B737-73V 30247 ex PR-VBO, reg’d 08.03.22, parked Marana Talkeetna Air Taxi Cessna N91AC 208B5296 purch off lsd fr N91AC LLC & reg’d 05.03.22 208B/EX UPS – United Parcel Service [5X/UPS ‘Ups’] N632UP B747-8F 65775 ff 04.01.22, dd 18.02.22 & reg’d same day USA Jet Airlines [UJ/JUS ‘Jet USA’] cnvrtd to MD-88(F) 03.22 at Dothan, ferried N966DL MD-88 53115 Dothan – Willow Run 25.03.22 using new reg of N834US, was rr to N834US 01.04.22 Wright Air Service [8V/WRF ‘Wright Flyer’] Cessna N755RV 208B5299 reg’d 15.03.22 208B/EX KLM Cityhopper [WA/KLC ‘City’] ERJ190ex PR-EEA, ff 22.02.22, dd 24.03.22, fleet # PH-NXI 400STD ‘NXI-064’

Blackstone Airlines ex N289TM, dd 02.03.22, lsd fr Kahala Aviation, (N289TM canx 02.03.22) My Jet Xpress Airlines [N7/NEP ‘Warisan’] ex B-2608, dd 01.03.22 Hangzhou – Kuala PKB737-36Q(F) 28662 Lumpur KUL as B-2608 in basic YTO Cargo colours Super Air Jet [IU/SJV ‘Prosper’] ex OE-ITR, dd 09.03.22 Kuala Lumpur – Jakarta PK-SHS A320-232 2334 CGK, lsd fr Avolon Aerospace PK-SJG A320-232 5076 ex OE-ITG, dd 15.03.22, lsd fr Avolon Aerospace PK-SJW A320-232 5158 ex LZ-MDR, dd 16.03.22, lsd fr DAE Capital GOL Transportes Aéreos [G3/GOL ‘Gol Transportes’] ex N1786B, ff 01.07.19, dd 01.02.22 & reg’d PR-XMI B737-8 43994 07.02.22 to UMB Bank NA Aeroflot Russian Airlines [SU/AFL ‘Aeroflot’] VP-BAC A320-214 7215 rr RA-73174 VP-BAD A320-214 7240 rr RA-73180 VP-BCB A320-214 7279 rr RA-73170* VP-BCD B737-8LJ 41215 rr RA-73093* VP-BCF B737-8LJ 41216 rr RA-73094* VP-BCG B737-8LJ 41217 rr RA-73095* VP-BEO A320-214 7038 rr RA-73171 VP-BET A320-214 7071 rr RA-73181 VP-BFC B777-300ER 65312 rr RA-73141* VP-BGB B777-3M0ER 41679 rr RA-73140* VP-BGC B777-3M0ER 41680 rr RA-73139 VP-BGD B777-3M0ER 41681 rr RA-73138* VP-BGF B777-3M0ER 41686 rr RA-73137 VP-BGG B737-8LJ 41222 rr RA-73096* VP-BGI B737-8LJ 41223 rr RA-73097* VP-BGN B737-800 41225 rr RA-73098* VP-BHA B777-300ER 65307 rr RA-73150 VP-BIL A320-214 8234 rr RA-73172* VP-BIP A320-214 8276 rr RA-73173* VP-BIX A320-214 8319 rr RA-73168* VP-BJW A320-214 6954 rr RA-73179* VP-BJY A320-214 6963 rr RA-73175 VP-BKA B737-800 41239 rr RA-73099* VP-BKE B737-800 41240 rr RA-73129* VP-BKF B737-800 44440 rr RA-73100* VP-BKJ A321-211 8147 rr RA-73178* VP-BKK B737-800 41243 rr RA-73102* VP-BKN B737-800 44441 rr RA-73101* VP-BKZ A321-211 8205 rr RA-73161* VP-BMB B737-800 41231 rr RA-73103* VP-BMF B737-800 44443 rr RA-73104* VP-BMI B737-800 44433 rr RA-73105* VP-BML B737-800 44434 rr RA-73106* VP-BMM B737-800 44439 rr RA-73107* VP-BMO B737-800 41233 rr RA-73108* VP-BNC B737-800 41234 rr RA-73109* VP-BNP B737-800 44438 rr RA-73110* VP-BNQ B737-800 44432 rr RA-73111* VP-BOC A321-211 5720 rr RA-73165* VP-BOE A321-211 5755 rr RA-73162 VP-BON B737-8LJ 41200 rr RA-73112* VP-BPF B737-800 44436 rr RA-73113* VP-BPG B777-300ER 41693 rr RA-73147 VP-BRF B737-8LJ 41195 rr RA-73114* VP-BRH B737-8LJ 41196 rr RA-73115* VP-BRR B737-8LJ 41197 rr RA-73116* VP-BSB B737-800 44442 rr RA-73117* VP-BTG A321-211 5790 rr RA-73163 VP-BTL A321-211 5881 rr RA-73160 VP-BTR A321-211 5913 rr RA-73164 VP-BXA A350-941 428 rr RA-73154 VP-BXC A350-941 437 rr RA-73152 VP-BXD A350-941 429 rr RA-75153 VP-BXP A350-941 441 rr RA-73151 ex F-WWBW, ff 21.01.22, dd 22.02.22, VP-BYF A350-941 466 rr RA-73156 VP-BZA B737-8LJ 41198 rr RA-73118* VP-BZB B737-8LJ 41199 rr RA-73119* VQ-BFK B777-300ER 65308 rr RA-73158 VQ-BFL B777-300ER 65309 rr RA-73146 VQ-BFN B777-300ER 65310 rr RA-73143 VQ-BFO B777-300ER 65311 rr RA-73142 PK-MBS

B737-3Q8(F) 28200

VQ-BFY A350-941 383 rr RA-73157 VQ-BFZ A350-941 414 rr RA-73155 VQ-BHB B737-800 41218 rr RA-73120* VQ-BKT A320-214 4712 rr RA-73176* VQ-BMX A330-343E 1299 rr RA-73159 VQ-BQB B777-3M0ER 41687 rr RA-73136 VQ-BQC B777-3M0ER 41688 rr RA-73130* VQ-BQD B777-3M0ER 41682 rr RA-73131 VQ-BQE B777-3M0ER 41683 rr RA-73132 VQ-BQF B777-3M0ER 41684 rr RA-73133 VQ-BQG B777-3M0ER 41689 rr RA-73134* VQ-BQM B777-3M0ER 41694 rr RA-73149 VQ-BTT A321-211 8363 rr RA-73166* VQ-BTU A321-211 8378 rr RA-73177* VQ-BTW A320-214 8418 rr RA-73167* VQ-BTX A320-214 8452 rr RA-73169 VQ-BUA B777-3M0ER 41685 rr RA-73135* VQ-BUB B777-3M0ER 41690 rr RA-73144 VQ-BUC B777-3M0ER 41691 rr RA-73145 VQ-BVO B737-8LJ 41203 rr RA-73121* VQ-BVP B737-8LJ 41204 rr RA-73122* VQ-BWA B737-8LJ 41207 rr RA-73123* VQ-BWB B737-8LJ 41209 rr RA-73124* VQ-BWC B737-8LJ 41210 rr RA-73125* VQ-BWD B737-8LJ 41211 rr RA-73128* VQ-BWE B737-8LJ 41213 rr RA-73127 VQ-BWF B737-8LJ 41214 rr RA-73126 Aurora [HZ/SHU ‘Satair’] VQ-BBD A319-111 3838 rr RA-73673* Aviastar-TU Airlines [4B/TUP ‘Tupolevair’] VQ-BBU B757-223(F) 25696 rr RA-73351* VQ-BCB B757-223(F) 27056 rr RA-73356* VQ-BGG B757-223(F) 27051 rr RA-73353 VQ-BKK B757-223(F) 25731 rr RA-73352* VQ-BON B757-223(F) 27054 rr RA-73355* VQ-BSX B757-223(F) 27053 rr RA-73354* Azur Air [ZF/AZV ‘Azur Air’] VP-BVI B767-3Q8ER 24746 rr RA-73030* VQ-BSX B767-306ER 27612 rr RA-73034* VQ-BSY B767-306ER 27614 rr RA-73032* VQ-BZE B757-2K2 26330 rr RA-73029* E-Cargo [RF/ERF ‘Gulliver’] VP-BHM B757-222(F) 25368 rr RA-73092* Izhavia [I8/IZA ‘Izhavia’] VP-BUU B737-85R 39069 rr RA-73184 * VQ-BBQ B737-8KN 40242 rr RA-73185 * NordStar Airlines [Y7/TYA ‘Taimyr’] VP-BKT B737-33R 28871 rr RA-73259* VQ-BAA B737-86N 36813 rr RA-73253* VQ-BDN B737-8K5 32905 rr RA-73257* VQ-BDO B737-8K5 32906 rr RA-73258* VQ-BKR B737-8AS 33559 rr RA-73254* VQ-BNG B737-86J 37747 rr RA-73256* VQ-BPM B737-8AS 33812 rr RA-73255* VQ-BQT B737-8AS 33561 rr RA-73252* VQ-BVW B737-8AS 34990 rr RA-73251* Nordwind Airlines [N4/NWS ‘Nordland’] VP-BDP B737-8AS 40309 rr RA-73311* VP-BDQ B737-8AS 40311 rr RA-73312* VP-BDW B737-82R 35700 rr RA-73313* VP-BJJ B777-2Q8ER 32719 rr RA-73347* VP-BJL B777-35EER 32639 rr RA-73342* VP-BOW B737-8Q8 30040 rr RA-73269* VP-BSC B737-8KN 40233 rr RA-73314* VP-BSE B737-8KN 40236 rr RA-73315* VP-BSK B737-82R 35984 rr RA-73316* VP-BSO B737-82R 40874 rr RA-73317* VP-BSP B737-82R 40872 rr RA-73318* VP-BUC A330-243 635 rr RA-73270* VQ-BDC B737-800 42059 rr RA-73319* VQ-BJA B777-212ER 28520 rr RA-73340* VQ-BJC A321-253n 7694 rr RA-73222* VQ-BJD A321-253n 8085 rr RA-73323* VQ-BOE A321-211 1219 rr RA-73273 VQ-BRO A321-231 3575 rr RA-73271* VQ-BRT A321-231 7674 rr RA-73326* VQ-BVY B737-8Q8 32841 rr RA-73321*

We welcome any feedback on this listing (The listing is alphabetical with reference to the registration of the country of origin. Columns indicate the registration, type, construction number and notes.)

Uzbekistan Airways has begun inducting Airbus A321neos into its fleet DIRK GROTHE/V1IMAGES.COM

www.key.aero

81

The latest commercial aircraft deliveries from manufacturers and lessors

This Aeroflot Boeing 777-300ER, RA-73136 (c/n 41687), was one of the first of the carrier's jets to be photographed with a Russian registration. It had previously been placed on the Bermudan registry as VP-BQB AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/ ALPHA ROMEO

Key to Abbreviations a/c als awys bf b/u canx cls cn cnvrtd dbf dbr dd ex ff frtr lrf lsd fr lsd to msn ntu oo op pax pwfu reg’d reg’n ret fr ret to rr rts sb scr st std tba unk wfu w/o

82

aircraft airlines airways bought from broken up/scrapped cancelled colours manufacturer’s construction/serial number converted destroyed by fire damaged beyond repair delivery date previous reg'n first flight freighter last revenue flight leased from leased to see cn not taken up on order operated passenger permanently withdrawn from use registered registration returned from returned to re-registered return to service sold by scrapped/broken up sold to stored to be advised unknown withdrawn from use written off/destroyed

Pegas Fly [EO/KAR ‘Kras Jet’] ERJ190VP-BZC 100AR ERJ190VP-BZG 100LR ERJ190VP-BZH 100AR ERJ190VP-BZI 100LR ERJ190VP-BZJ 100AR VP-BZU B737-9GPER 35715 VP-BZV B737-9GPER 35718 VQ-BUD B777-2Q8ER 27608 Pobeda [DP/PBD ‘Pobeda’] VP-BFB B737-800 41219 VP-BGQ B737-800 41227 VP-BGR B737-800 41228 VP-BOD B737-800 41238 VP-BOH B737-800 41244 VP-BPJ B737-800 61800 VP-BPK B737-800 61788 VP-BPL B737-800 61789 VP-BPS B737-800 61801 VP-BPT B737-800 63405 VP-BPU B737-800 61792 VP-BPV B737-800 61793 VP-BPX B737-800 63409 VP-BQB B737-800 64862 VP-BQC B737-800 64863 VP-BQE B737-800 64864 VP-BQG B737-800 64865 VP-BQH B737-800 64866 VP-BQJ B737-800 64867 VP-BQM B737-800 64868 VP-BQQ B737-800 64869 VQ-BAW B737-8MA 43666 VQ-BHC B737-800 41220 VQ-BHD B737-800 41221 VQ-BHQ B737-800 41226 VQ-BHR B737-800 41230 VQ-BHT B737-800 41235 VQ-BHU B737-800 41229 VQ-BHV B737-800 41237 VQ-BHW B737-800 41241 VQ-BHX B737-800 41242 VQ-BTD B737-8MA 43664 VQ-BTE B737-81D 39441 VQ-BTG B737-8FZ 41992 VQ-BTH B737-8LJ 39947 VQ-BTI B737-8LJ 39948 VQ-BTJ B737-8LJ 39950 VQ-BTS B737-8FZ 41991 VQ-BWG B737-8LJ 41205 VQ-BWH B737-8LJ 41206 VQ-BWI B737-8LJ 41208 Red Wings [WZ/RWZ ‘Remont Air’] RA-89157 RRJ100-95B 95170 RA-89158 RRJ100-95B 95171 Rossiya Airlines [FV/SDM ‘Rossiya’] EI-GES B777-31HER 32706 EI-GET B777-31HER 32709 EI-GEU B777-31HER 32710 EI-GFA B777-31HER 32715 EI-GFB B777-31HER 32730 EI-UNL B777-312 28515 EI-UNM B777-312 28534

AIRLINER WORLD JUNE 2022

rr RA-02739* rr RA-02740 rr RA-02741* rr RA-02743* rr RA-02744 rr RA-73344* rr RA-73343* rr RA-73272* rr RA-73238* rr RA-73242* rr RA-73243* rr RA-73248* rr RA-73234* rr RA-73306 rr RA-73302 rr RA-73303 rr RA-73307 rr RA-73308 rr RA-73304 rr RA-73305 rr RA-73309 rr RA-73225* rr RA-73226* rr RA-73227* rr RA-73228 rr RA-73229 rr RA-73230* rr RA-73231 rr RA-73232* rr RA-73295 rr RA-73239* rr RA-73240 rr RA-73241* rr RA-73245* rr RA-73246 rr RA-73244 rr RA-73247 rr RA-73249* rr RA-73250 rr RA-73294 rr RA-73296 rr RA-73299 rr RA-73300 rr RA-73297 rr RA-73301 rr RA-73298 rr RA-73235* rr RA-73236* rr RA-73237* 97010, ff 09.09.18, dd 21.03.22 97015, ff 01.10.18, dd 14.03.22 rr RA-73274 rr RA-73275* rr RA-73276* rr RA-73277 rr RA-73278 rr RA-73279 rr RA-73280*

EI-UNN B777-312 28517 EI-UNP B777-312 28516 EI-XLC B747-446 27100 EI-XLD B747-446 26360 EI-XLE B747-446 26362 EI-XLF B747-446 27645 EI-XLG B747-446 29899 EI-XLH B747-446 27650 EI-XLI B747-446 27648 EI-XLJ B747-446 27646 EI-XLM B747-412 28028 EI-XLP B777-312 28531 VP-BIQ A319-111 1890 VP-BIT A319-111 1761 VP-BIU A319-114 649 VP-BIV A319-115 3065 VP-BNJ A319-111 2241 VP-BOA B737-800 41232 VP-BOB B737-800 41236 VP-BOI B737-800 41224 VP-BQK A319-111 3179 VP-BUS B737-8MC 44435 VP-BWG A319-111 2093 VP-BWH A320-214 2151 VP-BWI A320-214 2163 VP-BWJ A319-111 2179 VP-BZQ A320-214 3627 VP-BZR A320-214 3640 VQ-BAQ A319-111 1560 VQ-BAR A319-111 1488 VQ-BAS A319-111 1863 VQ-BAT A319-111 1876 VQ-BAU A319-111 1851 VQ-BAV A319-111 1743 VQ-BBA A319-111 3794 VQ-BCO A319-112 3942 VQ-BCP A319-112 3998 VQ-BOX A319-111 2465 VQ-BPX B737-8Q8 35278 VQ-BRV A320-214 5967 VQ-BSE A320-214 5989 VQ-BSG A320-214 6017 VQ-BSH A320-214 6022 VQ-BSR B737-8AS 33622 VQ-BSS B737-8AS 33602 VQ-BUE B737-8LJ 34900 VQ-BUF B737-8GJ 34897 VQ-BVU B737-8LJ 41202 VQ-BVV B737-8LJ 41201 VQ-BWJ B737-8LJ 41212 RusJet [RSJ] VP-BNB Emb-1135BJ S7 Airlines [S7/SBI ‘Siberian Airlines’] VQ-BKW B737-8ZS 37085 VQ-BYI

A321-271nx

10307

Smartavia [5N/AUL ‘Dvina’] VP-BBD B737-8AL 39063 VP-BEV B737-89P 30681 VP-BOS A320-251n 7523 VQ-BBI B737-752 35785 VQ-BBV B737-86N 36817 VQ-BBW B737-86N 36818 VQ-BBY B737-86N 36819 VP-BQA

A320-251n

10712

rr RA-73281 rr RA-73282* rr RA-73283* rr RA-73284* rr RA-73285 rr RA-73286 rr RA-73287 rr RA-73288 rr RA-73289 rr RA-73290 rr RA-73291 rr RA-73292* rr RA-73222 rr RA-73204 rr RA-73210 rr RA-73215 rr RA-73212 rr RA-73211 rr RA-73209 rr RA-73223 rr RA-73219 rr RA-73208 rr RA-73220 rr RA-73207 rr RA-73214 rr RA-73205 rr RA-73197 rr RA-73214 rr RA-73221 rr RA-73202 rr RA-73199 rr RA-73206 rr RA-73200 rr RA-73201 rr RA-73198 rr RA-73186* rr RA-73216* rr RA-73203 rr RA-73218 rr RA-73196 rr RA-73213* rr RA-73194 rr RA-73195 rr RA-73191 rr RA-73193 rr RA-73188 rr RA-73192 rr RA-73189 rr RA-73187 rr RA-73190* RA-02736* rr RA-73664* ex D-AVYM, ff 04.02.22, dd 17.02.22, lsd fr Aviation Capital Group rr RA-73655* rr RA-73659* rr RA-73663* rr RA-73651* rr RA-73654* rr RA-73653* rr RA-73660* ex F-WWDK, ff 25.01.22, dd 17.02.22, lsd fr CDB Aviation

Ural Airlines [U8/SVR ‘Sverdlovsk Air’] VP-BBQ A320-214 2278 VP-BFM

A321-251nx

10632

VP-BIH A321-211 4728 VP-BJV A319-112 1603 VP-BSY A321-231 7375 VQ-BKG A321-211 991 VQ-BLO A320-214 1751 VQ-BOB A321-211 1905 VQ-BFW A320-214 2327 VQ-BTP A319-112 3834 UTair Aviation [UT/UTA ‘Tjumavi’] VP-BAG B767-224ER 30435 VP-BAI B767-224ER 30437 VP-BAL B767-224ER 30439 VP-BFS B737-524 27532 VP-BVL B737-524 28926 VP-BVN B737-524 27540 VP-BVZ B737-524 28925 VP-BXQ B737-524 27315 VP-BXR B737-524 27316 VP-BXY B737-524 27328 VP-BYL B737-524 29820 VP-BYM B737-524 28917 VQ-BAD B737-524 27331 VQ-BFF B737-8AS 32778 VQ-BHZ B737-46M 28549 VQ-BIC B737-45S 28478 VQ-BID B737-45S 28477 VQ-BIE B737-45S 28476 VQ-BIF B737-45S 28474 VQ-BIG B737-45S 28473 VQ-BJG B737-8AS 32779 VQ-BJH B737-8AS 32780 VQ-BJJ B737-8AS 29936 VQ-BJL B737-524 28913 VQ-BJM B737-524 28912 VQ-BJN B737-524 28911 VQ-BJT B737-524 28900 VQ-BJS B737-524 28901 ATR 72-212A VQ-BLC 942 (500) ATR 72-212A VQ-BLD 945 (500) ATR 72-212A VQ-BLE 950 (500) ATR 72-212A VQ-BLF 951 (500) ATR 72-212A VQ-BLG 952 (500) ATR 72-212A VQ-BLH 953 (500) ATR 72-212A VQ-BLI 963 (500) ATR 72-212A VQ-BLJ 965 (500) ATR 72-212A VQ-BLK 975 (500) ATR 72-212A VQ-BLL 976 (500) ATR 72-212A VQ-BLM 980 (500) VQ-BLN VQ-BMA VQ-BMB VQ-BMD VQ-BPP VQ-BPQ VQ-BPR VQ-BQP

ATR 72-212A (500) ATR 72-212A (500) ATR 72-212A (500) ATR 72-212A (500) B737-524 B737-524 B737-524 B737-8GU

981

rr RA-73804* ex D-AZAC, ff 03.02.22, dd 15.02.22, lsd fr SMBC Aviation Capital rr RA-73792* rr RA-73811* rr RA-73797* rr RA-73794* rr RA-73808* rr RA-73793* rr RA-73807* rr RA-73810* rr RA-73081* rr RA-73082* rr RA-73083* rr RA-73063 rr RA-73043* rr RA-73039* rr RA-73042 rr RA-73035* rr RA-73036* rr RA-73037* rr RA-73041* rr RA-73040 rr RA-73038* rr RA-73084* rr RA-73064* rr RA-73069* rr RA-73068* rr RA-73067* rr RA-73066* rr RA-73065* rr RA-73085* rr RA-73341 rr RA-73087* rr RA-73048* rr RA-73047* rr RA-73046* rr RA-73044* rr RA-73045* rr RA-67683* rr RA-67684* rr RA-67685* rr RA-67686* rr RA-67687* rr RA-67688* rr RA-67689* rr RA-67691* rr RA-67692* rr RA-67695* rr RA-67696* rr RA-67697*

983

rr RA-67682*

984

rr RA-67690*

990

rr RA-67698*

28906 28907 28908 37553

rr RA-73049* rr RA-73061* rr RA-73062* rr RA-73088*

VQ-BQQ B737-8GU 37552 rr RA-73089* VQ-BQR B737-8GU 36386 rr RA-73090* VQ-BQS B737-8GU 36387 rr RA-73091* UVT Aero [RT/UVT ‘Tat Jet’] VQ-BOM CRJ.200ER 7707 rr RA-67155* VQ-BOQ CRJ.200ER 7613 rr RA-67153* VQ-BOR CRJ.200ER 7313 rr RA-67157* Yakutia Airlines [R3/SYL ‘Air Yakutia’] VP-BDG B737-8Q8 30669 rr RA-73260* VP-BIO B737-7CT 30710 rr RA-73262* VP-BNS DHC-8 314 443 rr RA-67268 VP-BVE B737-86N 29889 rr RA-73261 VQ-BIP B737-76N 32684 rr RA-73263* VQ-BVH DHC-8 314 402 rr RA-67269 VQ-BVI DHC-8 314 381 rr RA-67271 VQ-BVJ DHC-8 314 379 rr RA-67270 Yamal Airlines [YC/LLM ‘Yamal’] VQ-BSA CRJ.200ER 7910 rr RA-67134 VQ-BSM A321-231 1967 rr RA-73310* Norweigan Air Sweden AOC [D8/NSZ ‘Rednose’] ex N575AE, lsd fr AerCap & reg’d 07.03.22 to SE-RXA B737-84P 35757 Bank of Utah, (N575AE canx 04.03.22) ferried Oslo – Bergen 11.03.22, Bergen – Marana SE-RYF B737-8 42829 16.03.22 for continued storage & ret to Arctic Aviation after lease ferried Lleida -Bergen 14.03.22, Bergen – Marana 16.03.22 for continued storage & ret to SE-RYG B737-8 42831 Arctic Aviation after lease, reg’n canx 28.03.22, rr OE-ISM to AAA Max 2 Malta Ltd 29.03.22 SAS Scandinavian Airlines [SK/SAS ‘Scandinavian’] ex D-AZAS, ff 10.12.21, dd 23.02.22, lsd fr Air SE-DMS A321-253nx 10500 Lease Corp & reg’d same day to ALC A321 10500 LLC, named Finn Viking West Atlantic Sweden [SWN ‘Air Sweden’] ex N858AM, reg’d 11.03.22 to Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A, ferried Malmö – Madrid SE-RLJ B737-8Q8(F) 30671 11.03.22 for entry into service, ferried Dothan – Malmöas N858AM & reg’n canx 02.03.22 Kush Air D6-MOH Fokker 50 20129 ex VH-FND, seen Juba 06.12.21 in service Marathon Airlines ERJ170ex OE-IZZ, dd 23.03.22, lsd fr Blackbird Capital, SX-ASK 200STD ferried Lleida – Athens as OE-IZZ 08.03.22 Pegasus Airlines [PC/PGT ‘Sun Turk’] TC-RBJ A321-251nx 10639 ex D-AZAZ, ff 10.02.22, dd 28.02.22, named Idil Turkish Airlines [TK/THY ‘Turkish’] TC-LGF A350-941 496 ex F-WZHJ, ff 14.01.22, dd 18.02.22 Air Atlanta Icelandic [CC/ABD ‘Atlanta’] ferred Jeddah – Sharjah 01.04.22 for continued TF-AAM B747-4H6 29900 storage PLAY (Fly Play) [OG/FPY ‘Player’] ferried Ostrava – Keflavik 02.03.22 after TF-PPB A320-251n 10134 painting, adds to last month's section Fly ZeJet ex F-WTAG, dd 25.03.22 Toulouse LFBF – TJ-ZBS Emb-145MP 145178 Douala, named Zingana Karinou Airlines [KRN] TL-AET Fokker 70 11559 ex ZS-SKA, dd 09.21 Afrijet [J7/ABS] ATR 72-212A ferried to Toulouse LFBF 31.03.22 for cargo TR-ATR 833 (500) conversion Tunisair [TU/TAR ‘Tunisair’] ex F-WWIZ, ff 27.01.22, dd 10.02.22, named TS-IMY A320-251n 10631 Sbeitla San Marino Executive Aviation [SMF ‘Smea’] T7-SERES A330-343 356 Uzbekistan Airways [HY/UZB ‘Uzbek’] ex D-AZAB, ff 03.02.22, dd 11.02.22, lsd fr UK32101 A321-253nx 10507 CDB Aviation Air Astana [KC/KZR ‘Astanaline’] ERJ190P4-KHC rr EI-KHC to Artemis Funding Ltd 15.03.22 300STD

We welcome any feedback on this listing (The listing is alphabetical with reference to the registration of the country of origin. Columns indicate the registration, type, construction number and notes.)

China Southern has received its first two Airbus A319neos, making it the first airline to operate the type DIRK GROTHE/V1IMAGES.COM

www.key.aero

83

The latest commercial aircraft deliveries from manufacturers and lessors

Korean Air has accepted its initial Boeing 737 MAX 8 from an order for 30 examples placed in November 2015 PRESTON FIEDLER/ V1IMAGES.COM ERJ190P4-KHD 300STD FlyArystan P4-KBG A320-232 6029 Air Link [LZ] VH-TWR Pa.31-350 Alliance Airlines [QQ/UTY ‘Unity’]

a/c als awys bf b/u canx cls cn cnvrtd dbf dbr dd ex ff frtr lrf lsd fr lsd to msn ntu oo op pax pwfu reg’d reg’n ret fr ret to rr rts sb scr st std tba unk wfu w/o

aircraft airlines airways bought from broken up/scrapped cancelled colours manufacturer’s construction/serial number converted destroyed by fire damaged beyond repair delivery date previous reg'n first flight freighter last revenue flight leased from leased to see cn not taken up on order operated passenger permanently withdrawn from use registered registration returned from returned to re-registered return to service sold by scrapped/broken up sold to stored to be advised unknown withdrawn from use written off/destroyed

Thanks to Dave Richardson and LAASI Aviation for the above

84

AIRLINER WORLD JUNE 2022

ERJ190100AR

MedSky Airways 9H-MSA

rr EI-KBG to SAF Leasing II (AOE 1) Ltd 16.03.22 ex N27228, reg’d 22.03.22

ex N961UW, ferried San José SJO – Los Mochis 01.03.22, Los Mochis – Honolulu Honoluu – Brisbanein Qantaslink colours & reg’n canx 31.03.22 Cobham Aviation / National Jet Express [NC/JTE] ERJ190ex B-16829, lsd fr AerCap & reg’d to AFS VH-ULH 100AR Investments I Inc 21.03.22 Hinterland Aviation Cessna VH-JES 208B2125 ex ZS-TJR, reg’d 18.03.22 208B Network Aviation [NWK ‘Netlink’] VH-ZYT Fokker 100 11452 ex D-AOLG, reg’d 10.03.22 to Qantas Airways Strong River Seaplanes VH-UOZ Cessna 208 ex PK-TVW, reg’d 28.02.22 Virgin Australia Regional [XR/OZW ‘Ozwest’] ex OE-IMY, lsd fr Avolon & reg’d to CIT Aerospace VH-VNR A320-32 3986 LLC 21.03.22, ferried Clark – Melbourne as OE-IMY 14.02.22 ex OE-INN, reg’d 07.03.22, lsd fr Avolon VH-VKQ A320-232 4053 Aerospace & reg’d to CIT Aerospace LLC same day Longtail Aviation [6T/LGT ‘Longtail’] ex PH-BFT, dd 19.03.22 Kansas City MCI – Ft VP-BYK B747-406 28459 Lauderdale IndiGo [6E/IGO ‘Ifly’] VT-IIS A320-251n 10766 ex F-WWBT, ff 01.02.22, dd 16.02.22 VT-IMG A321-251nx 10647 ex D-AZWK, ff 26.01.22, dd 10.02.22 Westair [WV/WAA ‘Westair Wings’] ex N824HK, dd 28.03.22, lsd fr Avmax Aircraft V5Emb-145LR 145498 Leasing, ferried Great Falls – Windhoek as N824HK& reg’n canx 28.03.22 Aeroméxico [AM/AMX ‘Aeromexico’] ex N1780B, N3134C, ff 02.06.19, dd 07.02.22, lsd XA-DAH B737-8 60455 fr DAE Capital ex N5573B, N3134C, N1786B, ff 12.05.19, dd XA-DAI B737-8 43798 04.02.22, lsd fr DAE Capital ex N4022T, ff 28.01.22, dd 18.02.22, st Clover XA-JGQ B737-9 43717 Aviation Capital & lsd back Viva Aerobus [VB/VIV] XA-VBX A321-271nx 10694 ex D-AZXC, ff 10.02.22, dd 25.02.22 ex EI-HCX, ff 12.10.21, dd 05.03.22, lsd fr SMBC XA-VBZ A321-271nx 10675 Aviation Capital, ferried Woensdrecht – México City as EI-HCX 05.03.22 & reg’n canx 10.03.22 SmartLynx Airlines [6Y/ART ‘Smart Lynx’] ferried Tallinn – Gatwick 30.03.22, lsd to/op YL-LCU A320-214 1762 for easyJet ex VP-CYC, dd 23.03.22 Newquay – Riga, lsd YL-LDF A320-214 4061 fr AerCap Conviasa [V0/VCV] YV3533 A340-642 376 ex EP-MMF, dd 15.03.22 Teheran – Caracas Estelar Latinoamerica [ES/ETR ‘Eastelar’] YV3527 B737-2Q3 22367 ex CC-CVI, dd 06.09.21 Rutaca [5R/RUC ‘Rutaca’] YV3521 DC-9 83 49909 rr YV646T 26.08.21 YV3522 MD-88 49763 rr YV648T 30.08.21 YV-3523 DC-9 83 53347 rr YV647T 26.08.21 YV3524 MD-88 49766 rr YV649T 30.08.21 Airwork New Zealand [AWK ‘Airwork’] OE-IFE B737-3S1(F) 24834 rr ZK-TLE 09.03.22 Eswantini Air 3DC-EAA Emb-145EP 145043 ex F-WTBU, dd 03.22, lsd fr ACIA Aero Leasing Silk Way West Airlines [7L/AZG ‘Silk West’] 4K-BCH B747-467F 30807 ex VP-BCH, dd 03.22, lsd fr Boeing 4K-BCI B747-467F 32571 ex VP-BCI, dd 03.22, lsd fr Boeing Air Georgia [AGF ‘Air Georgia’] ex OE-IEZ, dd 04.03.22 Naples – Tbilisi, lsd fr 4L-GKL A330-343E 1157 Global Knafaim Leasing FitsAir [8D/EXV ‘Expoavia’] ferried Ciudad Real – Colombofor entry into 4R-EXS A320-232 4552 service VH-

Key to Abbreviations

rr EI-KHD to Artemis Funding Ltd

A320-214

4349

ex M-ABNM, dd 26.03.22 Shannon – Malta, lsd fr Alafco

Tus Airways [U8/CYF ‘Tus Air’] 5B-DDN A320-214 3868 ex VP-CXO, dd 09.03.22, lsd fr AerCap Max Air [VM/NGL ‘Maxair Nigeria’] 5N-DBK B747-4B5 26403 ferried Kano – Maranafor storage Cargo2Fly 5Y-CCE F-27 500F 10370 seen Mogadishu 10.12.21 in service Kenya Airways [KQ/KQA ‘Kenya’] ERJ1905Y-FFL ret fr Congo Airways lease 100LR ERJ1905Y-FFM as 5Y-FFL 100LR Renegade Air 5Y-JWB Fokker 50(F) 20197 ex OE-IJT, dd 03.21 5Y-RNG Fokker 50 20120 ex SE-LEB, dd 17.12.20 5Y-SMI DHC-8 311 404 ex C-FJGZ dd 01.21 5Y-SMQ Fokker 50 20202 ex PH-FZG, dd 01.21 Silverstone Air Services [K5/SLR ‘Silverstone’] 5Y-MMA Fokker 50 20145 lsd to/op for Salaam Air Express, named Jamila 5Y-SMS Fokker 50 20112 lsd to SOM Express Airways Daruro Airways ex TF-JMR, seen Mogadishu 11.12.21 in basic 5Y-WFB Fokker 50 20243 Flugledir colours Jubba Airways [3J/JUB ‘Jubba’] 5Y-JAF Fokker 50 20261 rr 6O-JAF 01.22 Royal Air ex VH-FNI, seen Mogadishu 11.12.21 all white 5Y-CHK Fokker 50 20114 with titles & logo SOM Express Airways ex PH-KPB, lsd fr Silverstone Air Services, seen 5Y-SMS Fokker 50 20112 Mogadishu 11.12.21 all white with titles Star Aviation [DST] 7TDHC-6 400 984 ex C-GVVA, dd 07.03.22, (C-GVVA canx 07.03.22) Fly Air41 Airways [BER ‘Berlin’] ex EI-GYG, reg’d 22.03.22, lsd fr Aircaslte, ferried 9A-ZAG A319-111 3443 Castellón de la Plana – Bremen as EI-GYG 14.03.22 after storage, Sundair billboard titles Trade Air [C3/TDR ‘Trade Air’] ex TF-GOF, reg’d 03.22 to Olympus Leasing 9A-BTK A320-214 2569 2569 Ltd Air CM Global [RJR ‘Melita’] ex C-GVDO, dd 07.03.22, lsd fr Avmax Aircraft 9H-UNI DHC-8 102 318 Leasing, (C-GVDO canx 07.03.22) Avion Express Malta [MLH ‘South Wind’] ex OE-LDO, dd 23.03.22 Ljubljana – Vilnius, lsd 9H-MLB A320-232 4645 fr Air Lease Corp, lsd to/op for Eurowings Corendon Airlines Europe [XR/CXI ‘Touristic’] ex A6-FEL, dd 22.03.22, lsd fr SMBC Aviation 9H-CXF B737-8KN 40263 Capital Malta Air [AL/MAY ‘Blue Med’] 9H-VUW B737-8200 62338 ex N4022S, N4022T, ff 04.02.22, dd 28.02.22 9H-VUX B737-8200 62337 ex N4022T, ff 14.02.22, dd 25.02.22 Mel Air [5M/MDO ‘Kuda’] ATR 72-212A ex EC-NFU, dd 23.03.22 Castellón de la Plana 9H-NFU 1261 (600) – Ljubljana SmartLynx Malta [2N/LYX ‘Malta Cat’] ex LZ-DAV, dd 17.03.22 Prestiwck – Châteauroux, 9H-SMG A330-343E 1533 lsd fr DAE Capital FlyFirefly [FY/FFM ‘Firefly’] 9M-MLH B737-8FZ 31723 ex N1786B, dd 22.03.22, lsd fr Babcock & Brown Buddah Air [U4/BHA ‘Buddah Air’] ATR 72-212A ex M-ABMF, dd 09.03.22, purch fr Aergo Capital, 9N-ANP 841 (500) (M-ABMF canx 09.03.22) Scoot [TR/TGW ‘Scooter’] ex D-AVZV, ff 04.01.22, dd 10.02.22, lsd fr SMBC 9V-NCI A321-271nx 10492 Aviation Capital Singapore Airlines [SQ/SIA ‘Singapore’] ex N1782B, N1786B, ff 18.08.19, dd 11.02.22 in 9M-MBK B737-8 44255 Silkair colours ex N1786B, ff 30.09.19, dd 24.02.22 in Silkair 9M-MBL B737-8 44256 colours Caribbean Airlines [BW/BWA ‘Carribean Airlines’] 9Y-BAR B737-8 62893 ff 18.10.21, dd 24.02.22

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The latest news from maintenance, repair and overhaul providers

EFW gets P2F green light Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) has been awarded Supplemental Type Certification (STC) by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for its first conversion of an Airbus A320 passenger airliner to freighter (P2F). The initial example is owned by the leasing arm of Singapore’s ST Engineering and will be the first of several destined for aviation solutions and services company Vaayu Group. EFW, which is owned by ST Engineering and Airbus. Upon completion, the aircraft is due to become the first A320P2F conversion in the world.

Andreas Sperl, CEO of EFW, said: “With this STC we have added another first in the world to our family of Airbus P2F platforms and it is a great complement to our other conversion programmes. Airlines which employ different Airbus freighters to meet their needs will enjoy improved operating economics due to the commonality across these platforms. Being a newer-generation freighter, it also offers greener fuel burn outcomes for its operators.” The A320P2F can accommodate ten containers and one pallet on the main deck and 17 containers in the lower deck.

EFW calculates that it will be able to handle a gross payload of up to 21 tonnes at a maximum range of 1,850nm with a total usable containerised volume of 5,603ft3. EFW already holds STC for A321P2F, A330-200P2F and A330-300P2F conversions and in partnership with ST Engineering is establishing new conversion sites in the US and China this year to meet rising global demand. By 2024 the company forecasts that it will have in excess of 60 conversion slots available per year, across its product range. (Photo EFW) MRO News by Nigel Pittaway

LHT expands 5G footprint Lufthansa Technik (LHT) is expanding its 5G campus network in Hamburg to include a second engine overhaul workshop. The German MRO established the platform more than two years ago based on the latest mobile telecommunications standard. As a result of the expansion, customers can now monitor their engine layovers remotely via the company’s AVIATAR system. LHT has been operating its 5G campus network in its CFM56 and V2500 engine workshop in the northern port city since

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AIRLINER WORLD JUNE 2022

2020, allowing the reliable use of highresolution video streaming during visual inspection of engine parts, known as a Virtual Table Inspection (VTI). The COVID-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions have seen the campus network grow from a test project to business-critical infrastructure in a short period of time. A company spokesperson told Airliner World: “As this offering quickly became indispensable in daily operations, Lufthansa Technik fully integrated the 5G-powered VTI into its AVIATAR Digital Operations Suite in 2021. Recently, the network and services have now been extended to the second engine shop where LEAP and CF680 engines are overhauled. The latter’s operators can now also interact remotely with the mechanics on-site in Hamburg, saving time and money while making important repair decisions for their engines.” To continue operating its independent network and cater for further expansion, LHT has obtained a ten-year licence from the German Federal Network Agency (BNetzA).

The company says interference between the 5G network and aircraft operations, which is causing concern in the US, has been ruled out in this instance because of the different bands in use in Europe. The frequency used by Lufthansa Technik is between 3.7-3.8 GHz, compared with the public 5G band of 3.7-3.98 GHz in the US. It says the safety margins used by commercial aircraft radio altimeters (4.2-4.4 GHz) are twice as wide in Europe than in the United States. Stephen Drewes, head of information management at Lufthansa Technik, commented: “We are very pleased with the opportunities 5G offers us and with the successful implementation. Of course, we will only roll out this technology further and configure it to fit the specific requirements on-site where 5G demonstrably brings a technological or economic advantage over other wired or radio-based technologies, such as Wi-Fi 6. In this regard, we place particular trust in the competent partnership with Lufthansa Industry Solutions.” (Photo Lufthansa Technik)

Magnetic Group marks major milestone Magnetic Group has celebrated the 20th anniversary of the first C-Check to be performed at its base at Tallinn International Airport in Estonia. The first maintenance audit was performed on a Boeing 737-500 operated by Estonian Air, for which the company was then the in-house maintenance provider, serving 737 Classic and Fokker 50 airliners. Today, the company has more than 50 customers across Europe, including Austrian Airlines, SAS and Volotea, and has grown its MRO and

painting facilities. By the end of 2021, Magnetic had completed 700 C-Checks and says it has plans to further expand its operations by four new servicing bays over the next five years. Sergei Shkolnik, head of base maintenance, said: “We started performing [these] tasks with aircraft manuals in hard copies and microfilms; there were hardly four or five computers and two printers for the whole unit. Today we use cloud solutions, smartphones, tablets, and other hardware and software – today's aircraft

engineers and technicians are also IT specialists. Thanks to new technologies, including those in the non-destructive testing area, we can perform things that we couldn't even dream of 20 years ago.” In other news, Magnetic Engineering has announced that its Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation has achieved expanded certification from Estonia’s Transport Administration, with the addition of new types including the 737 MAX, 747-400, Saab 340 and 2000 and Embraer 190. (Photo Magnetic Group)

The latest news from maintenance, repair and overhaul providers

Kastrup in line maintenance boost Line maintenance service provider Direct Maintenance reopened its station at Copenhagen’s Kastrup Airport in March 2022 as part of the company’s strategic growth plans to provide support for a wider range of aircraft. Initially this will focus on narrowbody examples, including the Airbus A320ceo/neo, ATR 42/72, Boeing 737NG/ MAX and Embraer 170/190. The company says it will soon expand its capabilities at Kastrup to include Airbus A330/A350 and Boeing 777/787 widebodies.

Mandeep Rana, head of sales at Direct Maintenance, said: “We are glad to be coming back to Denmark and restarting our operations and support to customers here. Copenhagen will be a long-term station and serve airlines in various segments with a wide range of services.” In recent months, the company has also announced the opening of line maintenance stations across Germany, including facilities at Frankfurt, Munich and Hannover airports. (Photo Direct Maintenance)

Asiana extends CF6-80 contract Quickstep wins confident that [they] will always do their Jetstar account very best to keep us flying.”

South Korean carrier Asiana Airlines and Lufthansa Technik have signed a contract extension. The deal covers the repair and overhaul of the GE CF6-80 engines powering the airline’s fleet of Boeing 747400s and 767-300s. The five-year non-exclusive extension covers Asiana’s roster of 17 747 and 767 widebody jets, with the German MRO acknowledging that the work will strengthen its business in the region and generate a stable workload for its CF6 product line over the period. Hoon Bae, general manager of aircraft and supplies purchasing at Asiana, commented: “There were numerous good reasons to choose Lufthansa Technik as our preferred MRO partner once again. With the seamless support and services that have been delivered, we are very

Lufthansa Technik also provides component maintenance services for Asiana’s Boeing 777 fleet, integrated Total Component Support (TCS) for its Airbus A320F and A350 fleets and CF6 engine support and heavy maintenance on the carrier’s Airbus A380s. (Photo Asiana)

Australia’s Quickstep Holdings has been awarded a long-term maintenance contract by Jetstar Airways covering maintenance of the V2500 engine nacelles fitted to the airline’s Airbus A320 and A321 fleet. For the tender response, Quickstep partnered with Triumph Aviation Services Asia and was awarded the contract following a competitive international tendering process carried out by Jetstar, a Qantas Group carrier. The three-year agreement covers scheduled and unscheduled maintenance of Jetstar’s fleet across the Asia-Pacific region and Quickstep Holdings’ work scope is estimated to be worth in the region of between AU$30m-35m (£17m-20m). www.key.aero

87

Training starts with French connection The latest training aids available for the aviation professional

Pilots in the making help celebrate the exclusive training partnership between Ryanair and Astonfly at the AéroClub de France in Paris ASTONFLY/HRVPROD

Low-cost carrier Ryanair is entrusting French flight school Astonfly to select and train its pilots of the future. The two businesses recently signed a contract to recruit 500 pilots over the next four years, announcing the agreement at a ceremony in the AéroClub de France in Paris. With the signing, Astonfly becomes the airline’s exclusive partner in France under the Ryanair Mentored Programme. The carrier anticipates that 98% of students will become Boeing 737 co-pilots at the end of their two years of training at the campus based near Paris at the Toussusle-Noble airport. Airline pilot Charles Clair, the president of Clair Group and founder of Astonfly, and Patrick Milward, CEO of Astonfly and Ryanair's operational and recruitment management, finalised the agreement after more than a year of discussions and technical audits. Charles Clair said that Astonfly was proud of having been selected for the programme: “This is a unique

opportunity for our alumni, current and future students to get their first job as an airline pilot, right after graduation." Mark Duffy, Ryanair's deputy director HR – head of talent acquisition noted that the Ryanair group has a fleet

of 500 aircraft and is targeting 225 million passengers for 2026: “We were impressed by the quality of the ab initio pilots already trained by Astonfly who are now Ryanair pilots. We look forward to working more closely with Astonfly.”

Newton’s shape of things to come Pupils pledge to work for a greener future as the UK's first Newton Flight Academy opens GLASGOW SCIENCE CENTRE

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tries out a simulated flight around Glasgow during opening of the Newton Flight Academy at the city's science centre GLASGOW SCIENCE CENTRE

System mix: the Airbus A320 Flight Training Device (FTD) Level 2 BAA TRAINING SPAIN

Schoolchildren joined Scotland’s First Minister in making pledges for a greener aviation future as the first Newton Flight Academy in the UK – complete with three full-motion flight simulators – opened at the Glasgow Science Centre. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was among guests at the launch and was treated to a special tour of the new facility, trying out one of the simulators on a virtual flight around Glasgow, while secondary school pupils from the region committed themselves to a written ecological promisethrough-learning endeavour. Made possible through an investment from Boeing, the academy features a permanent classroom to teach students aviationrelated STEM concepts and aims to inspire engineers and scientists to develop ideas and technologies that will shape more sustainable aircraft and aviation. One of only two Newton Flight Academies worldwide, with the other based in Norway, it will encourage 12-15 year olds to study themes including space, biofuels and advanced materials and manufacturing in real-world challenges, working alongside industry professionals.

Referring to the pledges made at the COP26 climate change conference in the city last year, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon commented: “Decarbonising air travel is essential to keeping that commitment alive, and I have no doubt the future engineers and scientists inspired through this academy will have an important role in addressing that challenge. I am delighted to be here to help launch it today.”

Chance to train in Spain A state-of-the-art Airbus A320 Flight Training Device (FTD) Level 2 is ready for students at BAA Training Spain, based near Barcelona-El Prat Airport. One of only a few devices of its kind in Europe with Level 2 certification, it offers highfidelity training functionality, with the cockpit, visual system and software identical to a full flight simulator (FFS) bar a hydraulic motion system. 88

AIRLINER WORLD JUNE 2022

BAA Training Spain, which also operates similar facilities in Lithuania, Vietnam and China, states that the equipment mix (FFS and FTD) will guarantee more attractive training prices when it replaces the standalone FFS system for trainees looking to complete multi-crew co-operation, jet orientation and other aviation or skills refresher courses after time away from the flight deck.

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Information for the traveller.

RICHARD VANDERVORD

Letters to the editor Dear editor, I was interested to read the excellent article about the Convair880/990 published recently in Airliner World. This aircraft was very much the Cinderella of the first generation of jet transports and has played a small but memorable part in my 47-year aviation career. My father enthused about his first flight on a jet, on board a Swissair Convair 990 to Geneva in 1963. He was no stranger to flying, his previous trip being on a Lufthansa Convair Metropolitan (440) from Frankfurt. His description and knowledge of the 990 helped cement my dreams as a 12-year-old in becoming a pilot. I believe the 990 he flew was destroyed seven years later by a bomb. His return flight on that trip was by a Swissair Caravelle, which sadly crashed some months later in 1963 after take-off at Zurich. My Dad said never fly on an aircraft after he had been on it! In 1969, our aerodynamics tutor at flying college highlighted the 990 with its anti-shock bodies, which we referred to as Küchemann carrots (after the Royal Aircraft Establishment aerodynamicist) rather than Whitcomb bodies (the NASA aerodynamicist), discussing the theory of area rule. Our propulsion tutor highlighted the 990 engines with their unusual aft fan design. Just as the author of your article described, during advanced twin training at Bournemouth we would watch in awe as a real 990 would come, transit and then go in a cloud of dense smoke. I was disappointed

not to be able to climb on board to have a look. The picture in the article of a number of Spantax 990s awaiting disposal at Palma reminded me of my arrival there on my final command check before promotion aboard a Lockheed Tristar. My concentration was interrupted at trying to look at the sad line of redundant aircraft, just as they appeared in the picture. I was pleased to have passed the check! My final connection to the 990 was during my final years of flying with easyJet. Quite often in a queue for departure at Runway 24R at Palma I would direct my young or not so young F/O’s attention to the four-engined jet in an open hangar near the old control tower and ask if they knew what it was. I never had a correct answer. During a quiet period on our way back to Gatwick I would explain how that aircraft or at least the 880 was as far as I was aware the second fastest civilian aircraft to have flown, beaten only by Concorde. Richard Westray, Dorset Dear editor, Your article in the April issue on the Convair jetliner programme was excellent. However, you failed to mention the two or three airline training accidents caused by inadequate hydraulic boost to the rudder when an outboard engine is throttled back on take-off. The resultant yaw toward the ‘failed’ engine could not be counteracted by reverse rudder authority, resulting in a stall of the affected wing with

insufficient altitude to effect a safe recovery. This occurred with a Delta 880 at the Atlanta airport in 1960 when I was a freshman in college there. Chris Skillern, San Diego Dear editor, I have always held a fascination for all things aeronautical, so perhaps you might allow me to indulge in recounting a memorable day as a 15-year-old avid plane spotter. My friend and I, on a weekend, would frequently camp out at Birmingham Airport for hours on end, patiently anticipating the arrival of something more interesting than the ubiquitous BEA Viscount. Of course in those days, the late sixties, not much did appear. I started to dream – I announced my intention to start saving my pocket money up and purchase a return ticket to that air nerd Shangri-la, London/ Heathrow. In due course, dropped off at BHX by my concerned father, I found myself boarding a Vickers Vanguard bound for my dream destination. In less than 30 minutes, without getting out of the clouds, we broke cover and lined up for 28R and landed. In those times, visitors were welcome on top of the Queens Building and that is where I spent a wonderful day noting exotic aircraft from around the world, the smell of aviation fuel intoxicating me – a world away from lowly BHX. I was now finally in airliner heaven. After a while I teamed up with another likeminded lad who had

Get in touch with Airliner World Do you have a historical tale, burning question or comment about the magazine to share with our global audience? Get in touch via [email protected] with the subject ‘Letters to the Editor’, or drop us a message on Facebook.com/ AirlinerWorld, on Twitter @_AirlinerWorld or join the debate on our Key.Aero forum. As we return to the editorial office, we are also able to welcome letters once again – the postal address is: Airliner World, PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1XQ

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done the same thing from Manchester Airport, or Ringway as it was then. We got on like a house on fire. At last it was time to return to the terminal to get my plane home. A relieved parent collected me from the arrivals gate at Elmdon, asking how the trip went. I replied that it was the best day of my life! Fast-forward one year. My Dad’s business was doing well enough to afford our family a holiday in an

up-and-coming holiday resort by the name of Palma de Mallorca. Nothing bored me more than sitting on a beach, so I trekked every day to the airport, as you do… Again the unusual aircraft mesmerised me. I allowed myself a waiter-delivered Coca-Cola every hour to stave off the extreme heat. It was during one of these intervals that a fellow spotter sat down next to me enjoying his own refreshment.

I thought he looked familiar, then I realised who it was – the lad from Manchester who I’d met at Heathrow the year before! Now, 50 years on, I look back with fond memories and wonder what the chances are of that now grown-up kid reading the ‘letters to the editor’ section of Airliner World magazine in 2022 and maybe, just maybe, recognising himself? Rob Cole, Warwickshire

Information for the traveller.

Emergency upgrade approved! Dear editor, I read with interest your article about South African Airways (February 2022 edition) and thought that I would share a memory of the route. I travelled with my parents when I was a young boy to see my sister in South Africa in 1971. We flew out on a BOAC Vickers VC10 including a nine-hour stop in Frankfurt due to a hydraulic fluid leak. We travelled back with SAA on a Boeing 707 with a stop in Luanda before embarking on the 12-hour

flight around the bulge of Africa. It was late in Luanda when we arrived and the aircraft’s air conditioning failed. It naturally became the hottest place ever. My Dad decided to go for a breath of air and his pathway to the terminal was a phalanx of armed Portuguese soldiers on both sides. The airport’s electricity lights then failed, and the runway was lit by paraffin flares. The aircraft was extremely full of fuel for the long flight to Lisbon and we only just became airborne before the end of the

runway. The flight made me travelsick after so many hours in the air and I needed the toilet, but men were beautifying themselves interminably for the arrival in Lisbon. I needed to go urgently, and my mother asked if I could use the first-class cabin loos. The unfriendly crew said no, whereupon my Mum declared: “Well then, you can clean the mess up!”. Needless to say, I was allowed to use the first-class toilets. Thank you for an excellent magazine. Andy Coulson, Isle of Man

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/CLIPPERARCTIC

Shows & events Enthusiast shows and events worldwide may be listed here for free. Organisers are invited to send any correspondence to the editorial department via email: [email protected] May 22, 2022 Gatwick Aviation Enthusiasts Fair K2 Centre, Pease Pottage Hill, Crawley [email protected] June 23-25, 2022 Airliners International 2022 ORD Hilton Rosemont /Chicago O'Hare www.AirlinersInternational.org July 18-22, 2022 Farnborough International Airshow Farnborough Airport, Business Aviation Centre, Farnborough www.farnboroughairshow.com July 23-24, 2022 Manchester Airport Aviation Memorabilia Fair Concorde Hangar, Runway Visitor Park, WA15 8XQ www.tasmanchester.com/aviationfair September 17-18, 2022  (rescheduled from February) Amsterdam Aviation Collectors Fair Vanzantenhal, IJweg 1415, 2152 NB Nieuw-Vennep www.aviationfair.com October 9, 2022 Midland Aviation Museum Aviation Fair Midland Aviation Museum, Rowley Road, Coventry www.aircraftenthusiastfair.co.uk November 20, 2022 Heathrow Aircraft Enthusiasts Fair Kempton Park Racecourse, Staines Road East, Shepperton, Sunbury-on-Thames www.aircraftenthusiastfair.co.uk Events are subject to late change without Airliner World’s knowledge. Please check details prior to travel and adhere to any local COVID-19 regulations.

Still flying the flag? Dear editor, With travel getting back to usual, I recently found myself on my first transatlantic flight since 2019. I flew roundtrip from Newcastle to London and onwards to Miami. My ticket was purchased through British Airways, with three of the four sectors operated by BA. The only exception was the return from Florida to Heathrow, which was on American Airlines’ metal as a codeshare for the oneworld alliance partners. With jetlag and other factors in the mix, I stayed awake for both oceanic journeys and can safely say that the passenger experience is now so homogenised that I couldn’t tell the difference between AA and BA. Of course, there is nuance if you go looking for it, but there is so little in terms of meaningful differentiators, particularly for an economy class passenger like me. With everyone flying the same twin-engine jets,

in the same boring liveries with the same dreary service on board, is it any wonder that the bygone era of flying, that we once took for granted, seems so appealing? I know budgets need to be kept, but would it really bankrupt these businesses to add a little personality and provenance to their product? Mike Jenson, North Shields

British Airways' first Boeing 787 Dreamliner arrives at London Heathrow on June 27, 2013 NICK MORRISH/ BRITISH AIRWAYS

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UK Visitors

UK Visitors We present a selection of images of visiting aircraft from airports around the UK. For the most part they’re commercial jets, but almost all of them are unusual types, wearing new or unique liveries, or first visits by an airline or airliner to a particular airport. If you see something out of the ordinary while on your travels, please send in your pictures. Photos can be emailed to: [email protected] Please ensure you provide full details with the images, particularly the date, location, airline name and aircraft identity London/Heathrow

Honeywell’s eye-catching, sole Boeing 757-200 flying testbed was seen by ‘Airliner World’ reader Benjamin Silver on March 8 departing for a sortie around the south coast of England, returning to Stansted later. At 39 years old, N757HW (c/n 22194), was one of the first 757s built, delivered to Eastern Air Lines in February 1983 (N504EA) then served with UK-based Airtours and MyTravel (G-JALC). Since 2005, Honeywell has used the jet for testing BENJAMIN SILVER

Manchester

This Bombardier CRJ200PF made an appearance at Glasgow’s Prestwick gateway early on April 2, before departing for Iceland’s Reykjavík/ Keflavík and later stored in Calgary, Canada. The 1996-built airframe, 5Y-SVS (c/n 7118), had plied its trade with Silverstone Air Services in Kenya since 2018 – it was understood to have been the firm’s first jet at that time, joining a fleet of turboprops – leased from Avmax Group SH

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Adding a splash of retro colour to London/Heathrow, this sophisticated-looking, special Boeing 777-300ER was seen on March 18 moments from touchdown on Runway 09L, operating as Flight QR 007 from Doha. The General Electric GE90powered widebody, A7-BAC (c/n 36010), was dressed in its new retro livery the previous month in February; the two-class, 358-seat airliner had worn the firm’s standard colours since it joined factory-fresh back in August 2008 CLIVE GRANT

London/Stansted

The maiden Airbus A321P2F for Lufthansa Cargo, operated by Lufthansa CityLine as part of a wet lease agreement, was seen at Manchester on March 23, just over a week after entering freight service. The 14-year-old narrowbody, D-AEUC (c/n 3504) ‘Hello Europe’ was previously a passenger airliner; handed over to Austrian-based Niki in 2008. Based in Frankfurt, the type – featuring a gross payload of 28 tons – is to be joined by a second example, D-AEUA (c/n 1988) soon NIK FRENCH

Glasgow/Prestwick

UK Visitors

Manchester

This 186-seat, 2019-vintage Airbus A320neo, EC-NDC (c/n 8945), of Vueling has received a new, striking, special livery to promote this year’s Eurovision Song Content, which was scheduled to have taken place in Turin, Italy during May. Seen at Manchester on April 9 after arriving on a scheduled sortie from Barcelona, Spain, the Pratt & Whitney PW1100Gequipped jet had only exited the paint shop adorned in its new colours just a day earlier MARTYN CARTLEDGE Spotted on a very damp, but rather mesmerising Glasgow/International apron was this brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8 bound for Oman Air. Having originally departed the US manufacturer from Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, on March 11, the single-aisle airframe, A4O-MI (c/n 63359), was seen here in Scotland the day after, before arriving in Muscat on March 13 – completing a mammoth 8,274-mile journey. Days earlier, sistership A4O-MF (c/n 63358) had also passed through the Glaswegian gateway. At the time of writing, the Omani flag carrier fielded ten MAX 8 examples SH

Glasgow/International

Doncaster Sheffield

The flydubai colour scheme made a rather surprising appearance at Manchester recently, although ironically the jet was no longer serving with the Gulf budget carrier, but instead was Jet2.com’s latest Boeing 737-800 acquisition. The 2013-built airframe, formerly A6-FEH (c/n 40260), had served with flydubai its entire life. Having been stored at Shannon since August of last year, the now 189seat aircraft arrived into Manchester from Ireland on March 18 and registered in the UK as G-DRTK GEOFF EASTHAM

Making a welcome change from traditional commercial aviation traffic at Doncaster Sheffield was this ubiquitous-looking Lockheed C-130H Hercules, sporting serial 747 (c/n 382-4723). This example from the Hellenic Air Force arrived at the Yorkshire gateway on March 9 on a jaunt from Elefsina Air Base in Greece – it was understood that it had been collecting supplies to take back to the air base. The US-built military transport aircraft returned back home later that same day GLENN BEASLEY

Manchester

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Reports and details of recent incidents

The turboprop involved, VH-QOY (c/n 4288), was built in 2009 and is configured with 74 seats FLICKR COMMONS/ AERO ICARUS

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Cabin crew alert QantasLink pilots to gear down at 15,000ft A report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has found that a QantasLink Dash 8 crew failed to retract the aircraft’s landing gear after take-off and only realised when a member of the cabin crew flagged up the error. The incident involved de Havilland Canada Dash 8-400, VH-QOY (c/n 4288) – pictured – which was operating a flight between Sydney and Albury, New South Wales, on July 12 last year. The ATSB found that both pilots were heavily focused on aircraft performance in the period immediately after lift-off, which resulted in subsequent ‘positive rate’ and ‘gearup’ calls not being made. Several minutes later, a second opportunity to catch the error was missed, when during the after-take-off checklist, the pilot monitoring (captain) provided the ‘landing gear challenge’ and the pilot flying (first officer) incorrectly called ‘up, no lights’ in response. The captain told the investigation that they had observed that the three green landing gear lights were illuminated, but did not recognise this was problematic for this stage of flight. The ATSB said that it was likely that the crew had a strong expectancy that the landing gear had been retracted after take-off. The captain noted that during the landing phase, three green lights was the correct indication for the equivalent checklist item. The first

AIRLINER WORLD JUNE 2022

officer later reported that they could not recall what they saw on the landing gear panel at that time. According to the report, following the after-take-off checklist, the crew noted that the turboprop was noisier than normal with a vibration also notable. They also said there did not seem to be a problem with the aircraft’s performance during the climb and that the noise and vibration were uniform and not problematic, but somewhat distracting. The ATSB report said the first officer then recalled thinking the flap or gear were still extended. They looked at the landing gear panel at this time and noticed the three green lights, but did not recognise that this was an abnormal indication. They remembered consciously looking for red lights that may indicate a problem, but did not see any. The captain advised the first officer that the noise and vibration was likely related to a propeller balance maintenance log entry and suggested reducing the climb speed as this would normally reduce such effects. The co-pilot agreed and the speed was reduced to 185kts, which decreased the noise and vibration and, according to the ATSB, appeared to reinforce the crew’s assessment of the source of the problem. Later, during the climb, the first officer spoke over the PA system and, following this, the cabin crew contacted the flight deck to ask if it

was normal for the landing gear to still be extended at this time. The pilots immediately looked at the landing gear panel and identified that the handle was down with three green lights. The flight crew confirmed the aircraft’s speed was below the maximum landing gear operating speed (200kts) and then, after six minutes in the air, retracted the landing gear. While believing they had not exceeded any operating limits for the gear, the pilots retracted the system at 15,900ft, which was above the 15,000ft altitude limit for flight with gear extended. The aircraft continued climbing to its cruise level of 24,000ft and on reaching it, the crew contacted the operator’s maintenance department to advise them of what had happened. The pilots were subsequently asked to conduct a precautionary return to Sydney and landed in the New South Wales capital around one hour after departure. In response to the incident, QantasLink advised the ATSB that both flight crew underwent additional simulator and human factors training, which focused on threat and error management techniques. The airline also published an article describing the incident and said it had initiated a programme of focused risk monitoring for its operational ramp-up out of COVID-19.

Reports and details of recent incidents

Pitot-static system malfunction resulted in 737 pitch-up

A preliminary report issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has determined that a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Boeing 737-800 unexpectedly pitched up after the aircraft’s pitot-static system indicated a false speed. The crew elected to return to their departure airport – Kuala Lumpur International – following the incident. The eight-year-old narrowbody, 9M-MLS (c/n 39333), was operating flight MH 2664 between the airline’s Kuala Lumpur base and Tawau on the island of Borneo on April 3 when the incident occurred. According to the Malaysian aviation authority’s report, in which it had stated that it had “reviewed the initial safety investigation and engineering reports”, the regulatory body advised that it had “determined that a technical issue occurred during flight due to malfunction to the pitot-static system, the instruments that measure pressure differences to determine air speed and altitude”. The CAAM explained that the malfunction “produced a false speed indication on board, resulting in the aircraft to pitch-up and deactivate the autopilot”. Initial investigations

Date

Reg'n

c/n

Mar-09 Mar-21 Mar-30 Apr-02 Apr-07

N903JT B-1791 D-FLIC N877W HP-2010DAE

42000224 41474 20800274 45-496 29610

Apr-08 HK-5016

by CAAM, as well as from FDR data, deemed the flight crew’s initial actions, plus their execution of the abnormal recovery checklist in line with standard operating procedure, was “sufficient”. Following the pitch-up, the pilot in command took corrective manoeuvres, with safety data having shown “an abrupt input” in an effort to regain positive control of the jet, resulting in “pitch and altitude changes” – all while flying in poor meteorological conditions. After managing the technical issue with the pitot-static system, MH 2664 diverted safely back to Kuala Lumpur, arriving at 1703hrs local time. CAAM confirmed the airframe involved has since been grounded “until further notice” and was pending technical analysis from Boeing. After the April 3 rotation, Malaysia Airlines submitted a Mandatory Occurrence Report, which was officially confirmed by CAAM two days later in a statement. Subsequently, in response to the events, the carrier was instructed immediately by CAAM to implement several requirements. These comprised enhancing its Upset Prevention and Recovery Training

Type

Honda HA-420 HondaJet Boeing 737-800 Cessna 208 Caravan I Learjet 75 Boeing 757-200PCF Aero Modifications AMI 25546/14101 DC-3-65TP

(UPRT) programme to emphasise initial reaction and time taken to respond to issues, and distributing an enhanced Safety Memo to mandate the need for improved initial action, reaction, and reinforcing compliance to the abnormal recovery checklist. MAS will also review analysis from the aircraft manufacturer of the failure and troubleshoot root causes with enhanced corrective actions to improve an already compliant maintenance programme. It will also liaise with CAAM on the reliability report to focus on similar faults reported for recorded in-flight issues for the Boeing 737-800 fleet. The operator has also agreed to complete a Pitot Static inspection that covers all disciplines including probe heating and resistance test on all its 737-800s. At the time of writing, the Malaysian flag carrier fields an 81-strong aircraft inventory, including 45 examples of the 737-800. CAAM added it would “issue additional requirements” as it ensures all areas are “carefully addressed” in line with the adherence to the best safety practices and to always uphold public safety.

Malaysia Airlines currently has 45 Boeing 737-800s FLICKR COMMONS/AERO ICARUS

Operator

Fatalities

Location

Notes

Jet It LLC China Eastern Airlines Operating for Skydive Costa d'Argento Georgia Crown Distributing Co. DHL Aero Expreso

0 132 1 0 0

USA China Switzerland USA Costa Rica

Runway excursion on landing Impacted mountainous terrain en route Impacted mountainous terrain en route Runway excursion on landing Runway excursion on landing

ALIANSA Colombia

0

Colombia

Runway excursion on landing www.key.aero

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A WIDE More than a decade after its initial order, Etihad has finally welcomed the Airbus A350-1000 to its long-haul fleet. Gordon Smith joined chief executive Tony Douglas on board the maiden flight

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O

n March 31, the departure of Etihad Airways Flight EY37 silenced the cynics and drew a very welcome line in the Arabian sand for the UAE national carrier. Alongside the vast majority of smooth deliveries and entries into service, every so often there is an order which seems to experience just a little more turbulence. A quick flick through the customer backlog of any major OEM will uncover at least a handful of examples where either the lessor or airline is not quite ready – or able – to induct the new aircraft into commercial operation. The result is typically a short wait while these issues are ironed out. However, in extreme cases the new products will fail to join the fleet altogether in the aviation equivalent of ‘return to sender’. Over the past decade, some industry watchers have

grown increasingly concerned that Etihad’s Airbus A350-1000 might be heading for the proverbial postbox – but why? Put simply, they cited the airline’s protracted history with the jet as reason to doubt it would ever take flight with the company. The flag carrier’s first foray into the world of the A350 XWB was for an initial order of 25 examples (plus options) placed as part of a bumper Farnborough deal in 2008. Yet by 2012 this figure had been cut by more than half as revisions were made, pouring cool, if not cold water over the scale of the growth prospects at the ambitious Abu Dhabi firm. However, the naysayers were robustly rebutted barely 18 months later in the most extraordinary fashion with a blockbuster deal for 40 A350-900s and ten of the larger -1000 variant at the 2013 Dubai Airshow, putting the carrier firmly back on the map,

ABOVE • Etihad's first commercial service with the A350-1000 was operated by the 'Sustainable50' ALL IMAGES VIA ETIHAD AIRWAYS UNLESS STATED

RIGHT • (From left) H E Xavier Chatel, Ambassador of France to the UAE, Mikail Houari; Airbus President of Middle East and Africa, Tony Douglas, Group CEO at Etihad Aviation Group; H E Faisal Lutfi of the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

EBODY worth the wait?

exactly a decade after it was founded. But this wasn’t the end of the saga, a well-documented cash and capacity crunch soon put the brakes on much of Etihad’s once dizzying growth, with a new management team, led by current chief executive Tony Douglas, slashing the airline’s order book in a painful but pivotal transformation plan to right-size the business. Where once Etihad had more than 60 of Airbus’ flagship widebodies in the pipeline, by 2019 the CEO would only publicly commit to accepting five from the Toulousebased manufacturer, with further negotiations under way behind the scenes. Even when the first of the widebodies rolled off the final assembly line in the second half of 2019, their destination wasn’t Abu Dhabi. Instead, the jets were bound for a site near the French city of Bordeaux where they would be safely stored pending a strategic decision www.key.aero

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about their future. Throw in the devastating pandemic which saw the airline halt almost all commercial flying in spring 2020 and it’s fair to say that the journey towards Flight EY37 has been a rocky one.

Brighter skies As dawn broke over the airport apron in the UAE capital, the distinctive silhouette of the

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ABOVE • The premium cabin is home to 44 'Business Studios' with sliding doors

BELOW • The sun breaks over the apron at Abu Dhabi International Airport ahead of the inaugural flight

A350-1000 grew clearer. By the time the first rays of sunshine hit the terminal a short time later, Etihad’s new flagship, A6-XWB (c/n 290) was visible in all her glory, resplendent in a special livery (see top panel opposite). Despite a 0400hrs wake-up call for most, the energy at Abu Dhabi’s Gate 33 in the early hours of March 31 was palpable. After a topsy-turvy 14-year relationship with the A350 and a gruelling two-year battle with the

COVID-19 pandemic, Etihad finally had reason to celebrate. The choice of destination for the inaugural commercial flight wasn’t London, New York or a regional spot within the Gulf – it was Paris. Asked if there was a particular reason for selecting the French capital, Douglas revealed: “It’s a sign of respect from the Etihad family to the Airbus family – it’s as simple as that. [They] supported us when we endured some particularly tough times. Great relationships and great families get stronger when the going gets tough, and Airbus certainly helped us when we’ve had some of those challenges.” On completion of formalities in the lounge, it was soon time to board ahead of our 0730hrs departure from the UAE. While tickets for the maiden service could be booked by the general public, the vast majority of those aboard were VIPs, dignitaries and other distinguished guests, creating a buzzing atmosphere. Media from around the world were also invited for this special sortie, including some on assignment from as far afield as the United States, Australia and China. While this was never going to be ‘just another inaugural’, for many aviation journalists on board, the rotation from Abu Dhabi’s Runway 31L was especially emotive – a timely

reminder that the industry we know and love had cause to be cheerful after more than 24 months of pain.

What’s the ‘Sustainable50’ all about?

Vital statistics Once the seatbelt sign was switched off and cruising altitude established, it was time to check out the aircraft. With no overhead luggage units in the centre of the business class cabin, my privileged position in seat 14G, second from the rear bulkhead, let me appreciate the cavernous space holding the 44 premium suites. The ceiling measures 95in – the highest in its class – which in addition to nearvertical sidewalls, offers a genuinely roomy environment that feels less ‘aeroplane-like’ than most. In a break from Etihad’s former flagship product, currently found on the Boeing 787-9 and -10 Dreamliner, all seats – or “studios” in marketing-speak – face forward in a 1-2-1 configuration. The slightly modified Collins Aerospace Super Diamond offers a 20.25in-wide reclining seat which converts to a fully flat bed of 79in. There is also a sliding door, which is unlocked for use after take-off, in addition to extra privacy divider screens for the pairs of seats in the middle of the cabin, allowing

The aircraft used for the inaugural commercial flight, A6-XWB (c/n 290), is named Sustainability50. It carries a special livery with the number 50 as the focus. This has a double meaning, the first to recognise the 50th anniversary of the federation of the United Arab Emirates. The second highlighting Etihad's commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Last year an industry partnership was formed that paved the way for the A350 to be used as a flying testbed for new initiatives, procedures and technologies aimed at reducing carbon emissions. According to Etihad's Tony Douglas, this will build on learnings derived from the carrier’s wellestablished ‘Greenliner’ programme on its Boeing 787. “We designed our sustainability programme as a vehicle for collaboration, and our strategic partnership with Airbus allows us to harness the sustainability credentials of the A350 through the Sustainability50 programme, as we work towards our joint objectives to reduce aviation’s impact on the environment,” said the Etihad CEO.

Etihad Airbus A350-1000: in numbers 44

Business class ‘studios’

EY37

First revenue flight number

327

Economy class seats

95in

Ceiling height of cabin

>50%

Reduced noise footprint

16.7m

LED colour combinations

13.3in

HD screens in economy

Five

A350s in fleet this year

Source: Etihad Airways /Airbus

TOP • Flight EY37 to Paris/Charles de Gaulle was a scheduled revenue service, albeit with a few special tweaks

Fast facts: The first flight Departure

Destination

ABOVE • The jet is a platform for Etihad’s newest cabin interior, which is inspired by its Abu Dhabi home and hub

Date Equipment Registration Callsign Distance travelled Maximum altitude Maximum speed Flight time

Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) 0759hrs – Runway 31L Paris/Charles de Gaulle (CDG) 1254hrs– Runway 26L Thursday March 31, 2022 Airbus A350-1041 A6-XWB (c/n 290) ETD47K 3,263 miles 36,025ft 574mph Six hours, 55 minutes

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greater flexibility depending on who (if anyone) you’re travelling with. As regular readers of Airliner World will attest, privacy within business class seats has become a hot topic in recent years. Etihad has now joined the likes of Qatar Airways and British Airways in opting for fully closing doors. This compares with Virgin Atlantic’s A350, which has a hybrid ‘half closed’ offering, and in complete contrast to Finnair’s brand new premium product, which has done away with a door completely in favour of a more organic ‘cocoon’ (see Airliner World, April 2022). While we’re in refinement rather than revolution territory, the new Etihad proposition for its well-heeled passengers is slick, and a strong platform for the airline’s wider brand. The jet may have been in storage since 2019, but the interiors were only installed earlier this year in Abu Dhabi, ensuring a factory fresh finish. Highlights include an 18.5in HD screen alongside a second video touch screen control, decorative sconce lighting, wireless countertop charging and generous storage. Add to this the famous Etihad onboard hospitality and it quickly becomes a highly competitive product befitting a Gulf national carrier. Alongside Tony Douglas on board the special flight was Terry Daly, the airline’s executive director of guest experience, brand and marketing. Asked how this new flagship product would transfer to the narrower fuselage on the carrier’s Boeing 787-9 and -10 Dreamliners, Daly was confident a solution will be found: “It’ll be no trouble at all – we’re well advanced in all of that and it really is just a matter of doing the hard work looking at the layouts and establishing what if any compromises

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have to be made. It [the 787 update] is looking great and will be very similar in feel to the A350.” The branding chief acknowledged that although a wholesale upgrade of the current roster of widebody jets to the new A350 specification is not on the cards, there are smaller changes in the works: “We’re currently undertaking an exercise looking at our existing aircraft, and while a full retrofit might not be possible right now, we’re looking at how we can uplift the look and feel so that the thread is even stronger across the fleet.” Even in its downsized form, Etihad is still best known internationally for its long-haul network. That said, the firm also has a notable short-haul portfolio of A320 Family examples, plying leaner regional routes. What are the prospects for any roll-out for the A350’s little brothers? “We are looking at what we do there, but I don’t have the answers just yet. It is about how clever you are in translating things from a widebody to a narrowbody. Of course it is more of a challenge but it’s entirely possible,” noted Daly.

Economy insight While we were lucky enough to be seated in the premium cabin for the inaugural flight, the vast majority of passengers will of course experience the new aircraft as economy passengers. Options here comprise five rows of ‘Economy Space’ seats with up to 35in pitch, alongside 282 in standard economy with 31in. Both boast a 17.4in width and eye-catching fixed-wing headrest, alongside a five-inch recline and shelf for resting mobile phone or tablet devices. Those preferring the in-built IFE can look forward to a 13.3in HD screen, with Bluetooth headset-

ABOVE • Tony Douglas joined Etihad Aviation Group as group CEO in January 2018 ABOVE RIGHT • Prior to joining Etihad, Terry Daly was divisional senior vice-president service delivery at Emirates Group

BELOW • The new A350-1000s are being deployed on short- to mid-range routes in Q2 ahead of their ultralong haul launch in July

pairing connectivity, and 12in in-arm monitors for bulk-row seats. There has been plenty of talk about how the seats measure up against rivals, but Daly contended that there’s more to consider: “Seat pitch has become less relevant over the years – it is about the living space you have within the seat, particularly here in economy. “With the materials and design techniques, parts of the seat have become slimmer, there’s a cut-out for knee space, the cross braces underneath have been lifted, and you don’t have the IFE boxes which used to be at your feet.”

The business class and economy cabin finish is excellent, something you might think is a given on an inaugural flight but isn’t guaranteed. Etihad Engineering – a part of the wider Etihad Aviation Group, but at arms-length from the airline itself – fitted out the interiors, with a vast amount of the work being performed in-house at its headquarters on the fringes of the UAE capital’s main gateway. “They’re on our doorstep and it’s all part of ‘Team Abu Dhabi’ – they’ve got the capability and we’ve

ABOVE • Guests on board the inaugural service were treated to a special menu inspired by the flavours of France KEY-GORDON SMITH ABOVE RIGHT • An 18.5in HD screen powered by Panasonic Avionics provides a cinematic experience KEY-GORDON SMITH

been working incredibly closely with them, not only on this aircraft but on the aesthetics, interiors and refurbishment of our existing fleet while they were grounded during the pandemic. It’s been a really successful programme,” reflected Daly. Throughout all cabins there is full LED ambient lighting, with 16.7 million different colour combinations possible, alongside what Airbus likes to call “customisable, dynamic lighting scenarios” – in essence, these allow the crew to help reduce fatigue by changing the mood of the cabin to reflect the time of day at the destination. Taking time out to speak to Airliner

World aboard the inaugural, Tony Douglas shared his thoughts on the new jet and the message it sends: “I am genuinely struggling for words – excitement, humility and energy for what for us is a very, very special moment in time. “This product is not the sort of thing we could have presented to this level three or four years ago. For us, this was something that was really important, a chance to redefine our new offering. “Of course, the pandemic then came along and got in the way of everything. Today you'll see a level of excitement with our cabin crew,

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ABOVE • The jet is the first of five A350s set to join Etihad’s fleet over the coming months

BELOW • The aircraft touched down in the French capital at 1254hrs, six minutes ahead of schedule

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for two years we've had, like everyone in commercial aviation, one hell of a tough time. “To be able to come back to the normality and excitement of what this industry is all about – flights like today – is really special.” Asked if the long-awaited ‘return to normality’ was premature given the extreme uncertainties that remain within the sector, Douglas revealed that it wasn’t just forward bookings but current travel patterns that were encouraging. He said: “Yesterday [March 30] we were at an 84% load factor across the whole of the Etihad route network. “To put that in perspective, it was busier than the same day in March 2019. Overall we had a 76% load factor for March, and we’re probably going to have the best first quarter in the history of Etihad. Everybody wants to travel.”

AIRLINER WORLD JUNE 2022

Premium pinch-point? While there is little doubt about the spike in consumer demand across many major city pairings, the question of how people wish to travel rumbles on. Etihad’s new two-class flagship lacks a formal premium economy product. With almost all competitors – even Dubai-based rival Emirates – introducing this middle-market cabin, will Etihad’s relatively modest Economy Space be enough to close the gap? “What we haven’t done is put a lot of cost in, with another level of differentiation in terms of bulkheads, curtains and parts of the service offering. Instead, what we’ve tried to do is give [the passenger] the trade-up opportunity of more space, which when we listen to our guests is what they tell us they really want, without adding unnecessary complexity,” said Douglas.

With the A350 due to fly on ultralong haul routes after an initial familiarisation period, it remains to be seen if the airline has missed an upsell opportunity. Might discerning globetrotters look elsewhere for a true premium economy product for these mammoth trips? One area where there seems to be greater agreement is the omission of first class. Once a feature of almost every legacy carrier worth its salt, today it is becoming an increasingly niche provision. Etihad has first class on a handful of its Dreamliners, but the vast majority of its Boeing widebody fleet are two-class. Asked if there was ever a temptation to include it on the A350-1000, Douglas was assured in his reply: “It is very, very difficult to make a profitable first class, especially with ticket prices as they are. The amount of space that is consumed is sub-economical and,

in our opinion, what I’d describe as our ‘business plus’ offering is the way forward. Its economics work, it is efficient in the space that it uses, it gives all of the comfort and functionality of what was our previous-generation first class and, as a consequence, it is commercially but also environmentally sustainable.” In the clearest indication yet that the Airbus double-decker’s days with Etihad are absolutely over, Douglas added: “I go back to our Airbus A380, which we love – or rather loved in the past tense. It had economy, Economy Space, business, first and even The Residence – it had five different classes of product. The complexity and cost of all of that simply doesn’t make economic sense in this day and age. So what we’ve tried to do is simplify down and differentiate with what the customer really wants.” In a refreshingly honest assessment, and

perhaps a nod to the difficulties faced by Etihad in its bullish ‘expansion at any cost’ years, Douglas quipped: “In the past there’s been not only ourselves, but a number of other airlines, that have found it very difficult to make money from first class. We’re red-blooded capitalists and not a registered charity and we’re driven by that as an ambition...” After “learning curve” flights to short- and medium-haul destinations such as Mumbai and Istanbul, this summer will see the A350 launch on core routes to and from North America, primarily Chicago/O’Hare and New York/JFK. Describing these ultra-long haul links as a “key part of the network”, Douglas highlighted that there are a high number of American Green Card holders with links to the Indian Subcontinent, and Abu Dhabi is one of only four locations in the world with US pre-

clearance facilities. This allows customs formalities to be handled in the UAE, with passengers arriving in the US as de facto domestic travellers. Such an asset is a major differentiator in the competitive market linking the two huge markets and seen by the airline as a key asset as intercontinental travel ramps up.

ABOVE • The A350 offers 45 Economy Space seats that include an additional 4in of legroom ABOVE LEFT • Etihad’s economy cabin is configured with 327 seats in a 3-3-3 arrangement

Next steps Alongside a letter of intent for seven A350Fs signed at the 2022 Singapore Airshow, Etihad has a commitment with Airbus to acquire a dozen A350-1000s, with options on a further eight. Douglas disclosed that discussions are currently under way to convert two of these options, bringing the confirmed orderbook up to 14 examples. “We’re looking to put five of them progressively into service this year, it might be four, but we’d like five. We do this carefully

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ABOVE • While noisecancelling headphones are provided, they aren't really needed as the cabin is the quietest in its class, and up to 50% less noisy in the cabin versus previous generation examples

as we map the recovery postpandemic, and the means by which we want to rebuild our network.” With the first five jets destined for the US, Douglas was asked where later deliveries might be: “I think what you’ll see when we introduce aircraft number six through 12, is the likes of Australia and some of northwest Europe.” However, the charismatic chief executive said this came with a caveat, noting that such deliveries were at least another year away: “I’ve been involved in commercial aviation for 30+ years. I remember when network planning was an annual event when budgets were set. Then it happened twice a year, for the winter and summer schedules. At Etihad, we used to do it on a monthly basis, and I can tell you that as a result of COVID-19 – maybe one of the ‘gifts’ of the

pandemic – our network planning is so dynamic now, it quite often meets two or three times a week. “The reason I share that is that it is impossible for us to discern exactly where we will deploy [the second batch of] A350s this far out, other than to say it will be on profitable routes that have got market demand and yield on the ticket.” Continuing to look ahead, the British-born CEO said there were reasons to be cheerful, but also warned that plenty of challenges remain: “I think there are so many uncertainties still out there – not least oil prices – so we are naturally cautious and driven by growing in a profitable way. What the pandemic has taught all of us in aviation is the need to be far more agile than we ever were in the past and be able to pivot when uncertainty emerges.

“What we have done at Etihad as a result of a transformation programme that we started three years before the pandemic, is to strategically target what I describe as a ‘two-horse stable’ – that’s the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350-1000. That will be our fleet going forward, and we’re absolutely delighted with that.” Asked by Airliner World if the A350900 is a prospect for future orders, particularly considering that two versions of the 787 are in harmonious operation with the airline, Douglas said the current focus is on the largest Airbus widebody: “At the moment we’re landed on the -1000, because it’s designed to replace the 777300ER we currently have in our fleet. It’s at that scale with 371 seats, with the 787-9 and -10 one step below this [in capacity]. At the moment the -900 isn’t something that we’re actively considering. However, we’re as flexible and nimble as we can be. We would never say never, but at the moment there’s a clear rationale around the 787-9, -10 and the -1000.” The business case for the A3501000 was cemented by Daly, who said that despite being a long time in the making, the arrival of the XWB fills an important gap in Etihad’s armour: “There’s no doubt this is the perfect long-haul aircraft for us. It’s got a great range and a great capacity. Everything we’re doing right now is part of the wider transformation programme, making sure we deploy the right aircraft at the right time. The A350 also fits so beautifully with all the work we’re doing on sustainability.” But it was a final insight from the ever-pragmatic Douglas that set the day’s festivities in the best context. Calling on his three decades in the aviation business, the CEO suggested anyone waiting for the perfect time to do anything in this industry would be hanging around for a while: “At the turn of 2019 into 2020 there were the

Key Aero Exclusive! Don't miss our special video tour around Etihad's A350-1000 on Key Aero: https://www.key.aero/article/etihad-a350-video-tour

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biggest bushfires in Australasian history, volcanic ash-clouds in the Philippines and a Ukrainian aircraft mistakenly shot down over the Gulf, on top of a whole manner of commercial problems going on in other parts of the world – and that was three months before the pandemic. “One constant in our collective line of business is that the need to be agile is ever present, I think that is something that’s been reinforced – to make sure that having great performing aircraft with a flexible mindset about how you deploy them – is the key to success going forward.”

Heads up! In the July issue of Airliner World we go behind the scenes at Etihad HQ in Abu Dhabi

ABOVE • The state-ofthe-art flight deck of Etihad's new flagship RIGHT • The Etihad team kitted out the aircraft with some special touches for the inaugural sortie KEY-GORDON SMITH

BELOW • Tony Douglas has hinted that the new jet may serve the UK once further deliveries arrive from Airbus

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On sale June 9* The JULY 2022 issue of Airliner World includes: The Cowes Cruiser

Leading from the front

FREE Antonov An-225 poster

We take a close look at the Spartan Cruiser, one of the Isle of Wight’s lesser-known aircraft types and a pioneering airliner while in service with the predecessors of EgyptAir and Jat Airways

It’s not unusual for an airline CEO to fly on an inaugural service, but not in the captain’s seat. We sit down with Eurowings Discover’s Wolfgang Raebiger to learn more about the German leisure start-up

We celebrate the life and times of what was once the world’s biggest transport aircraft with a giant A2-sized poster befitting the huge airliner’s proportions and recordbreaking airlift abilities

PLUS Airliner World’s comprehensive 20+ pages of global aviation news (Contents are subject to change) * UK scheduled on-sale date. Please note that overseas deliveries are likely to be after this

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Head of Publishing: Finbarr O’Reilly Group Production Editor: David Taylor Publisher, Aviation: John Sootheran Production Editors: Sally Hooton, Angharad Moran, Suzanne Roberts, Sue Rylance Ad & Ed Production Manager: Debi McGowan Head of Design: Steve Donovan Print Procurement Manager: Helen Holmes Head of Marketing: Shaun Binnington Head of Operations & eCommerce: Karen Bean Head of Finance: Carol Pereira Group CEO: Adrian Cox EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING OFFICES: Airliner World, PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincs, PE9 1XQ, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1780 755131 Fax: +44 (0)1780 757261 Email: [email protected] web: www.key.aero

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The entire contents of Airliner World is © copyright, and no part of it may be reproduced in any form or stored on any form of retrieval system without the prior permission of the publisher: John Sootheran. All items submitted for publication are subject to our terms and conditions. These are regularly updated without prior notice and are freely available from Key Publishing Ltd or downloadable from www.keypublishing.com Airliner World (ISSN: 1465-6337), is published monthly by, Key Publishing Ltd, P0 Box 300, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1NA, UK We are unable to guarantee the bona fides of any of our advertisers. Readers are strongly recommended to take their own precautions before parting with any information or item of value, including, but not limited to, money, manuscripts, photographs or personal information in response to any advertisements within this publication.

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This book contains some 200 colourised photographs of downed enemy aircraft, showing the rare spectacle of new colour from the Battle of Britain. Code: KB0010

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/luftwaffecolourx

BRITISH INTERWAR AIRCRAFT

Code: KB0105

Paperback, 128 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/britishinterwarx

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/starlifterx

£15.99

ALLIED AIRCRAFT OF D-DAY This title features many of the aircraft that were involved in the Normandy invasion, including the aircraft that flew on D-Day itself.

Code: KB0058

Paperback, 144 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/ddayaircraftx

RRP: £17.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£15.99

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

LOCKHEED C-141 STARLIFTER

Exploring British aircraft types that were active between World Wars One and Two, focusing on modern-day survivors and replicas, this volume tells the Code: KB0118 story of aviation during the period. Covering civil and military aircraft types, the story is told with over 200 images RRP: of surviving, replica and restored aircraft.

£17.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£16.00

FALL OF THE LUFTWAFFE IN COLOUR

RAF AIRCRAFT OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN The Battle of Britain story is told using over 150 Code: KB0005 photographs of surviving and restored aircraft in the air, on the ground and in unique formations. RRP:

RRP: £20.00 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

First entering service in the mid1960s, the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter made a huge contribution to every campaign from Vietnam through to the Gulf War. This highly illustrated volume looks at this contribution. RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

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COMMERCIAL AVIATION AIRLINERS OF THE 2000s

LLOYD AÉREO BOLIVIANO

With over 300 colour photographs and extended, informative captions, this book details the aircraft flown by the air transport industry during the first decade of the millennium.

Code: KB0162

Paperback, 160 pages AVAILABLE MAY 2022 For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/airliners2000x

RRP: £17.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

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A history of Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano, the flag carrier of Bolivia, which was formed in 1925 and only ceased operations in 2010.

Code: KB0147

AVAILABLE Paperback, 96 pages MAY 2022 For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/bolivianox

VARIG

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/brazilx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

£13.99

BRITISH MIDLAND AIRWAYS

Illustrated with over 140 photographs, this book details Varig’s origins, its growth and the reasons it went out of business in 2006.

Code: KB0156

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

With over 140 images, this book charts the rise and fall of British Midland Airways, which was absorbed into British Airways in 2011. Code: KB0100

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/britmidlandx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

AIRLINERS OF THE 1990s

AVRO 748

With over 300 colour photographs and informative captions, this book reflects the many ways in which the airline industry changed during the 1990s.

Illustrated with over 100 photographs, many of which have not previously been in the public domain, this book dives into the history of the Avro 748.

Code: KB0088

Paperback, 160 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/airliners90x

RRP: £17.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£15.99

Code: KB0076

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/avro748x

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

BOEING 707

SOVIET-ERA AIRLINERS

This book provides a fascinating portfolio of images depicting a wide range of Boeing 707 variants in service around the world.

Illustrated with 220 photographs and supported by many anecdotes, facts and figures, this book conveys the nostalgia and wonder of soviet aviation history.

Code: KB0078

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/boeing707x

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0064

Paperback, 128 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/sovietairx

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COMMERCIAL AVIATION

Code: KB0133

FINNAIR

LOT POLISH AIRLINES

Established in 1923 and initially flying domestically and to the Nordic and Baltic regions, Aero Oy, later rebranded as Finnair, is one of the oldest surviving airlines in the world. With over 140 images, this book charts Finnair’s history and shows how it has RRP: survived through the years.

In 1928, Aerolot, together with two other Polish airlines (Silesian Air Society and Aero), was nationalised and merged to form LOT Polish Airlines. Illustrated with over 140 photographs, this book details the history of LOT from its inception to the present day.

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/finnairx

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£13.99

AVAILABLE Paperback, 96 pages MAY 2022 For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/polishx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES

GARUDA INDONESIA

Illustrated with over 100 images, this book demonstrates how Ethiopian Airlines has remained the powerhouse of African aviation.

This book looks at Garuda’s turbulent history from its involvement in Indonesia’s post-war struggle for independence to the present day.

Code: KB0086

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/ethiopianx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0060

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/garudax

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

WATER BOMBERS

TURKISH AIRLINES

Fully illustrated with over 240 photographs, this book looks at the many different types of aeroplanes and helicopters that take on the dangerous task of putting out forest fires.

Turkish Airlines’ origins go back to 1933, and although the airline has faced many challenges over the years, it has managed to expand and today is one of the largest airlines in the world. This book details its fascinating history.

Code: KB0120

Paperback, 128 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/waterbombersx

RRP: £16.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£14.99

NORTH KOREAN AVIATION This volume gives a fully illustrated look at North Korea’s aircraft, both military and civilian, and then goes on to give a pictorial look at the country itself. Code: KB0101

Paperback, 80 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/northkoreanx 10

Code: KB0166

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£12.99

Code: KB0114

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/turkishairx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

QANTAS AND THE EMPIRE FLYING BOAT Containing over 160 stunning illustrations, this book details the history of Code: KB0055 the Empire flying boats as they went from luxurious carriers to military service. Paperback, 128 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/qantasboatsx

For more great titles, visit shop.keypublishing.com/booksx

RRP: £17.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

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FURTHER READING FROM As Europe’s leading transport publisher, we also produce a wide range of commercial aviation magazines, which are available for subscription.

For our latest subscription deals, visit: shop.keypublishing.com/subscat22 or call +44 (0)1780 480404

MODERN MILITARY AVIATION

Code: KB0139

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE

KA-52 HOKUM

Travis Air Force Base is the ‘Gateway to the Pacific’, handling more cargo and passengers than any other American military air terminal and is the transportation hub for the West Coast. With over 150 images, this book documents the aircraft, the technology, the airmen, and the behind-theRRP: scenes operations at Travis. £15.99

In 2011, the Ka-52 was first delivered to Russia’s military units. This book explores the history of the Ka-50 and Ka-52, their development, setbacks and successes, designs, armament and combat capabilities.

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/travisx

SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0175

Paperback, 96 pages AVAILABLE MAY 2022 For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/kahokumx

AIR FORCES OF LATIN AMERICA: COLOMBIA

Paperback, 96 pages AVAILABLE MAY 2022 For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/latinamericax

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

FRENCH NAVAL AVIATION

Code: KB0134

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/frenchnavalx

BRITAIN’S GUIDED WEAPONS

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

Paperback, 96 pages AVAILABLE MAY 2022 For full details, visit £13.99 shop.keypublishing.com/britainsweaponsx

£13.99

Code: KB0129

From modest origins with biplanes delivering supplies to the massive Globemasters delivering hardware a century later, transport aircraft have played a key role in Britain’s wars. With over 130 photographs, this book describes the evolution of the aircraft that provided the airlift capacity for Britain’s armed forces RRP: wherever they served. £15.99

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/raftransportx

SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

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AIR FORCES OF LATIN AMERICA: ARGENTINA

US NAVAL AIR POWER: WEST COAST 2010–20

This book looks at the Argentine Air Force, Naval Aviation and Army Aviation, as well as the paramilitary forces of the Coast Guard, Gendarmerie and Presidential Flight.

Illustrated with 220 photographs, this book delves into the carrier air wings, aircraft and training that together make US Naval Aviation the formidable force it is today.

Code: KB0081

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/argentinax 12

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

RAF TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT

Guided weapons have always been the cutting edge of military technology. This book, which includes 145 images, explores the history of Britain’s guided weapons. Code: KB0187

£13.99

Aéronautique Navale has grown into a powerful force equipped with a large inventory of naval aircraft and helicopters. Its well-trained crews perform a wide range of missions over land and sea, in France and abroad.

With over 180 images, this book provides a look at the history, organisation, deployment, missions and aircraft of Colombia’s Air Force, Army, Navy and National Police. Code: KB0135

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0048

Paperback, 128 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/navalairx

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RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

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MODERN MILITARY AVIATION SPANISH AIR FORCE AIRCRAFT: 1939–2021

AIRCRAFT OF RED FLAG

Illustrated with over 180 stunning photographs, this book covers the aircraft of the Spanish Air Force from its inception to the present day.

Illustrated with over 140 full-colour photographs, this stunning collection looks at the multitude of aircraft involved in the Red Flag exercises in Nevada.

Code: KB0029

Code: KB0098

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/spanishairforcex

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Paperback, 128 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/redflagx

AMARG: AMERICA’S STRATEGIC MILITARY AIRCRAFT RESERVE

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/amargx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Containing over 200 full-colour images, this book charts the final year in French service of the popular Westland Lynx.

Code: KB0028

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/lynxx

SU-57 FELON

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/felonx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£12.99

AIR-TO-AIR REFUELLING AIRCRAFT

Detailing the implementation of the Su-57 into series production, this highly illustrated book also details the design, characteristics and combat capabilities of this fifthgeneration fighter. Code: KB0043

£15.99

LYNX: FINAL YEAR IN FRENCH SERVICE

As well as bringing the reader up to date with recent activities at AMARG, this book presents new images that provide a visual tour of the ‘Boneyard’. Code: KB0063

RRP: £17.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

This book details the history of take over air-to-air refuelling and celebrates the key role played by tanker aircraft in the application of air power around the world. Code: KB0070

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/refuelx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

BRITAIN’S MILITARY HELICOPTERS

DASSAULT SUPER ÉTENDARD

This highly illustrated volume details the evolution of the helicopter in British service, from their beginnings with the Sikorsky R-4B to the latest Merlin Crowsnest, Chinook and Apache Guardian.

With over 160 images, this book looks at the history of the Super Étendard and its impact on aviation.

Code: KB0091

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/britcoptersx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0097

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/dassaultx

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RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

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CLASSIC VEHICLE BOOKS MILITARY JEEPS

LAND ROVER SERIES III: 1971–85

Illustrated with over 220 photographs, this book provides an up-to-date view of Jeeps within the military vehicle preservation scene.

Code: KB0113

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/militaryjeepsx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

This book looks fondly at the numerous Land Rover Series III models that were produced successfully against an uncertain backdrop. Code: KB0068

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/series3bookx

CLASSIC BRITISH MOTORCYCLES

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/britcyclesx

£13.99

LAND ROVER SERIES II/IIA This highly illustrated book offers a portrait of these much-loved vehicles, including many variants and the events they attend.

This book explores the rise and fall of the British motorcycle industry, detailing its history over the years and telling the story of these amazing machines. Code: KB0059

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0019

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/series2bookx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

LAND ROVER SERIES ONE

MAKING THE RANGE ROVER LEGEND

The Land Rover was a post-war marvel, and today the Series One is a cherished and sought-after classic. This book offers a portrait of these much-loved vehicles and the events they attend.

This book includes stories from expedition members alongside previously unpublished photographs, decorative maps and commemorative postal covers.

Code: KB0003

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/series1bookx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0046

Paperback, 128 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/rangeroverx

£12.99

BRITISH SPORTS CARS

2/3 July 2022 LOWER FARM, SKILLINGTON Code: KB0126

clrgathering.com

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

Britain has been responsible for some of the greatest and most varied sports cars ever built. This book charts the history of the UK’s most magnificent machines, from their primitive, pioneering days through to today’s modern sports cars. With over 180 photographs, this is the fascinating story of the world’s love affair RRP: with the British sports car. £15.99

SUBSCRIBER Paperback, 96 pages PRICE: For full details, visit £13.99 shop.keypublishing.com/britishsportscarsx

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15

MILITARY HISTORY BOOKS THE PARAS IN AFGHANISTAN

THE PARAS IN IRAQ

In 2021, the British Army’s 20-year engagement in Afghanistan ended. The Paras had been involved since the earliest days of conflict. In 2008, 2 and 3 Paras were deployed to Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban, and this book, illustrated with over 200 photos, shows the soldiers, their equipment, weapons RRP: Code: KB0130 and vehicles. £15.99 Paperback, 128 pages SUBSCRIBER PRICE: For full details, visit £13.99 shop.keypublishing.com/afghanistanx

Paperback, 128 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/parasiraqx

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£12.99

HUNGARIAN ARMS AND ARMOUR OF WORLD WAR TWO

This illustrated guide book examines the surviving World War Two tanks and armoured vehicles currently on display in the Ardennes, covering their location and history.

This brief history of the Hungarian Army, focuses on the main armament of the land forces: armoured vehicles, artillery pieces, infantry weapons RRP: and vehicles.

Paperback, 112 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/ardennestanksx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0066

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/hungarianx

£15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

SURVIVING D-DAY TANKS IN NORMANDY

GERMAN TANKS OF WORLD WAR TWO

This guide book examines the surviving World War Two tanks, tank turrets and other armoured fighting vehicles currently on display in Normandy.

This collection of stunning colour illustrations details the development, design differences and modifications of German World War Two armour.

Code: KB0051

Paperback, 112 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/ddaytanksx

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£12.99

BRITISH AVIATION: THE FIRST HALFCENTURY With over 170 period images, carefully colourised, this highquality book chronicles the wide variety of aircraft produced in Great Britain before 1950, portraying them in RRP: their full glory £25.00 once more. SUBSCRIBER

Hardback, 192 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/britaviationx 16

Code: KB0022

SURVIVING WORLD WAR TWO TANKS IN THE ARDENNES

Code: KB0116

Code: KB0117

Written by an ex-Para, this book shows the reality for British forces in a modern-day war, with insights into the Regiment’s equipment and operations in Iraq.

PRICE:

£20.00

Code: KB0021

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/germantanksx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

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FURTHER READING FROM As Europe’s leading transport publisher, we also produce a wide range of historic and military magazines, which are available for subscription.

For our latest subscription deals, visit: shop.keypublishing.com/subscat22 or call +44 (0)1780 480404

RAILWAY BOOKS

Code: KB0123

RAILWAYS OF SOUTH AND WEST SCOTLAND

IRISH RAILWAYS: THE LAST SIXTY YEARS

The WCML and the line from Kilmarnock to Gretna were both built to ensure that services from Scotland would connect to cities in England. The changes to motive power, liveries and services over the last 30 years are reflected in RRP: over 170 photos. £15.99

With over 200 images, this is a visual journey around the Emerald Isle, showing the various traction, locomotives and stations that have made Ireland’s railways what they are today.

SUBSCRIBER Paperback, 96 pages PRICE: For full details, visit £13.99 shop.keypublishing.com/railwayssouthwestx

Code: KB0124

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/irishrailwaysx

In the mid-1980s, Foster Yeoman agreed a deal with General Motors to provide a replacement for the disappointing Class 56s. This book shows the resulting Class 59s through the years.

With over 200 images, this volume provides a visual journey of the Class 47s in 1985–86.

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/class47doverx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0119

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/class59sx

WEST COAST MAIN LINE LOCO HAULAGE

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/wcmlhaulx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0122

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/westscotlandx 18

£15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

£13.99

CLASS 37s

Code: KB0104

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/class37sx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

LIVERIES OF THE WR DIESEL HYDRAULICS

WEST OF SCOTLAND RAILWAYS: TWO GENERATIONS OF PHOTOGRAPHY This book, with more than 170 images, will look at how things in South West Scotland have changed during the periods of 1960–80 RRP: and 2001–21.

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

The English Electric Type 3 (later Class 37) was introduced from the late 1950s to the 1960s. With over 200 images, this book is a celebration of these iconic trains.

With over 110 images, this allencompassing history of locomotive haulage on the WCML gives a flavour of its many varieties of locomotive and other rolling stock. Code: KB0095

£13.99

CLASS 59s

CLASS 47s: INVERNESS TO DOVER WESTERN DOCKS

Code: KB0042

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

WR diesel hydraulic locos have always exercised a special fascination for the modern traction enthusiast. This book is an invaluable reference for modellers and enthusiasts alike. Code: KB0102

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/wrdieselx

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RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

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RAILWAY BOOKS RAIL FREIGHT: SCOTLAND

CLASS 442s: THE WESSEX ELECTRICS

With over 160 photos, this volume looks at the changing face of rail freight in Scotland. It details the changes in traction, rolling stock and railway infrastructure over four decades.

Introduced in the late 1980s, the Class 442s were like nothing that had been seen before in terms of Southern Region electric multiple units. This book is a tribute of more than 200 images to what was the best electric unit to have worked on the Southern RRP: Region electrified lines. £15.99

Code: KB0125

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/freightscotlandx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0128

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/class442x

SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

NORFOLK RAIL

HIGHLAND RAILWAYS

Norfolk enjoyed loco-hauled passenger trains for many years, and a wide range of locos were used. This title celebrates the ‘short set’ workings over a 25-year period.

This book illustrates the Highlands’ fascinating passenger and freight trains, railway infrastructure, stations and signalling over a 40-year period.

Code: KB0092

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/norfolkx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0083

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/highlandx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

DEVON’S RAILWAYS

CLASS 60s

This book records many of the changes that have taken place over the last 35 years to both Devon’s railway infrastructure and trains.

Illustrated with over 190 photographs, this volume looks at the Class 60s from their early days in the 1990s through to the end of the 2010s.

Code: KB0090

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/devonrailx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0089

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/class60sx

CLASS 70s

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/class70sx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

£13.99

RAILWAYS OF THE SOUTH EAST: KENT

This book is a collection of over 190 images showing every Class 70 locomotive, except the ill-fated 70012, over the last decade.

Code: KB0075

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

Over 180 colour photographs, the majority of which have never been published before, illustrate the surprising variety found in this beautiful corner of the country. Code: KB0074

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/kentrailx

For more great titles, visit shop.keypublishing.com/booksx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99 19

RAILWAY BOOKS CLASS 67s

RAILWAYS IN NORTHERN LINCOLNSHIRE: FOUR DECADES OF CHANGE

Containing 220 images, this book covers all 30 Class 67 locos during their first 20 years in service.

Code: KB0137

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/class67x

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0138

SUBSCRIBER Paperback, 96 pages PRICE: For full details, visit £13.99 shop.keypublishing.com/northlincolnshirex

RAILWAYS OF CENTRAL SCOTLAND 2016-2020

BRITISH MULTIPLE UNITS This fully illustrated volume details the history of the major unit types that have operated on the UK’s rail network.

This volume looks at the sweeping changes that have taken place on the ever-changing railways of Central Scotland in the last five years. Code: KB0071

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/scotland2016x

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0061

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/britishunitsx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

HSTs: THE WESTERN REGION

DIESELS IN EAST YORKSHIRE

This book details the varied Western Region locations, some off the beaten track, where the HSTs could be seen operating.

This photographic journey illustrates East Yorkshire’s fascinating passenger and freight trains, railway infrastructure, stations and signalling over a period of 40 years.

Code: KB0069

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/hstwesternx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0056

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/sussexrailx

RAILWAYS OF THE SOUTHEAST: SUSSEX AND ITS SURROUNDS

Code: KB0053

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/railwaysussexx

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£12.99

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£12.99

SCOTLAND’S RAILWAYS: LAST 15 YEARS This book details the huge variety of trains, ranging from the everyday to the unusual, that have been seen on Scotland’s rails in the last 15 years.

Illustrated with over 180 colour photographs, this first of two volumes covering the railways of the South East concentrates on locomotive-hauled traffic.

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Taking the reader on a fascinating journey through norhern Lincolnshire, this book contains over 180 historic photos. It shows how services have grown or declined and how the infrastructure has evolved over 40 years to meet the RRP: needs of the modern era. £15.99

Code: KB0041

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/scotland15x

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RAILWAY BOOKS BRITAIN’S PRESERVED RAILWAYS

Code: KB0142

The preserved heritage museum railways of Britain are thriving, and this book contains information to help the reader find and enjoy these lines. It includes the statuses and current liveries of rolling stock, expansion plans and refreshment facilities and is a vital guidebook for anyone looking to explore RRP: Britain’s preserved railways. £16.99

SUBSCRIBER Paperback, 128 pages PRICE: For full details, visit £14.99 shop.keypublishing.com/preservedrailwaysx

GRAND CENTRAL Beginning operations in 2007, Grand Central runs along the ECML. With over 200 images, this book illustrates the wonderful landscapes of Grand Central’s routes, the types of trains operated, including the iconic HSTs, and rare locations not often seen by the public. Code: KB0144

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/grandcentralx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

RAILWAYS OF CENTRAL SCOTLAND: 2006–15

WESTERN CLASS LOCOMOTIVES

Illustrated with over 150 colour images, this book looks at the transformation of the main route network in Central Scotland, over a ten-year period.

Illustrated with full-colour photographs of all 74 of the Western Class locomotives, this nostalgic volume gives a portrait of a much-loved class.

Code: KB0050

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/scotland2006x

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£12.99

Code: KB0027

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/westernlocox

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£12.99

CORNISH RAILWAYS: SALTASH TO ST AUSTELL

CLASS 47s: INVERNESS TO PENZANCE

This, the first of two volumes covering the railways of Cornwall, follows the railway through the changing landscapes of the county.

This book records the years 1982–85 and the many days spent trying to travel behind all 507 of the Class 47s that were still in traffic.

Code: KB0009

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/cornishrail1x

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

Code: KB0018

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit £12.99 shop.keypublishing.com/class47invernessx

BR: FROM GREEN TO BLUE

CORNISH RAIL: ST AUSTELL TO PENZANCE

This book aims to portray the many varied livery styles worn by British Rail’s locomotives, units and coaching stock from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s.

This, the second of two volumes covering the railways of Cornwall, follows the railway through the landscape of the west of the county.

Code: KB0017

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/brgreenbluex

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0025

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/cornishrail2x

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RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99 21

RAILWAY BOOKS CLASS 66/0

GERMANY’S RAILWAYS

Class 66s have now been in service for over 20 years and have proved very reliable and capable locos. This volume covers the Class 66/0s from their early days up to the present at various locations around the UK.

This book, illustrated with over 130 photographs, most of which have never been published before, traces the development of the unified German rail network and new national operator Deutsche Bahn.

Code: KB0160

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/class660x

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit £12.99 shop.keypublishing.com/germanrailwaysx

RAILWAYS OF CENTRAL SCOTLAND

LOCO-HAULED PASSENGER TRAINS

The railways of Central Scotland in 2005 had transformed almost beyond recognition. This book illustrates how things were and how they had changed. .

This highly illustrated book looks at loco-hauled trains over four decades and features a wide variety of locomotive types on a great range of passenger duties.

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

Code: KB0007

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit £13.99 shop.keypublishing.com/scotlandandcentralx

Code: KB0004

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/loco1980x

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

RAIL FREIGHT: SOUTH WEST ENGLAND

RAIL FREIGHT: WALES AND THE BORDERS

Illustrated with over 160 carefully chosen photographs, this volume looks at the changing face of rail freight in South West England.

Illustrated with over 150 stunning photographs, this volume looks at the changing face of rail freight in Wales and the Borders

Code: KB0080

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/freightswx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

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Code: KB0039

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/freightwalesbx

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RAIL FREIGHT: NORTH WEST ENGLAND

THE LAST OF THE WELSH COAL TRAINS

This book details the changing face of rail freight in North West England over 40 years. A period during which the traction and wagon fleets were almost completely replaced.

This book looks at the last of the coaling operations in South Wales from 2013 to early 2020 and features 195 colour images of the scenic South Wales Valleys.

Code: KB0006

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/freightnwx 22

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

Code: KB0026

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0008

Paperback, 128 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/welshcoalx

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BUS BOOKS BRITISH BUSES SINCE 1950

LOW-FLOOR DOUBLE DECKERS

This history of Britain’s buses since the 1950s, focuses on those that set the trends – including those that were successful, some that were ahead of their time and others that never sold in any great number.

This book tells the story of low-floor double-deckers for the first time and is illustrated with many previously unseen colour images.

Code: KB0146

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/britishbusesx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit £13.99 shop.keypublishing.com/lowfloordeckersx

YORKSHIRE DALES BUSES

LONDON TRANSPORT 1970-84

Featuring the buses of the Yorkshire Dales, this is a captivating collection of more than 170 historic bus photographs taken from the 1950s to the 1970s by some of the finest photographers in their field.

This book covers the gently declining years of London’s bus operations. This is a paperback reissue of the much-loved original.

Code: KB0087

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/yorkshiredalesx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£13.99

Code: KB0052

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/london1970x

THE LEYLAND ATLANTEAN

Code: KB0044

Paperback, 112 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/atlanteanx

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£12.99

Code: KB0045

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/goaheadx

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

£12.99

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

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BRISTOL LODEKKA This book gives a colourful look at the life and times of the Bristol Lodekka. This is a paperback reissue of the much-loved original.

This book tells the story of the stage bus companies, including Hopes Motor Services and Hutchinson Brothers, that operated from the west of York.

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/yorkindie2x

£12.99

This book looks at the first 25 years of Go-Ahead, which began life after the privatisation of the National Bus Company in 1987. This is a paperback reissue of the much-loved original.

YORK INDEPENDENTS: WESTERN OPERATORS

Code: KB0033

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

THE GO-AHEAD GROUP

This title looks back at the development of the Leyland Atlantean from its origins in the 1950s. This is a paperback reissue of the much-loved original.

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RRP: £15.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

Code: KB0112

Code: KB0023

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/bristollox

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BUS BOOKS YORK INDEPENDENTS: EASTERN STAGE OPERATORS

LEDGARD OF LEEDS BUSES Focusing on the 1950s and 1960s, this nostalgic look at the iconic Ledgard of Leeds buses takes the reader on a trip down memory lane.

This book tells the story of stage bus companies, including Everingham Brothers, Baileys and Milburn that operated from the east of York. Code: KB0015

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/yorkindie1x

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

RRP: £14.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

Code: KB0011

Paperback, 96 pages For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/leedsx

£12.99

£12.99

DAIMLER COACHES IN COLOUR With over 100 colour images, this title provides insight into the history of the Daimler Company throughout the years. RRP: £17.99 Paperback, 128 pages Daimler Coaches in Colour

SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

Mid-Engined

£15.99 Daimler Coaches in Colour

ABOVE LEFT: CTS 256 passed to Heaps Tours, Leeds in March 1956, later passing to C W further south south to to Miller Miller Blankley, (Gem Coaches), Colsterworth, Lincolnshire with 41 seats. Moving further year. Brothers at Foxton, Cambridgeshire in October 1964, where it stayed for a year. (The Bus Archive, digitally altered and coloured by Garry Luck)

Front-Engined

ABOVE RIGHT: D650HS 25059, HBO 700, PLAXTON Venturer II, (2141), C39C One of a pair (HBO 699–700) new to E R Forse, Cardiff in April 1953. Forse was was taken taken over over by by Collection) Western Welsh in April 1956 and the pair were withdrawn in 1962. (Author’s Collection) RIGHT: D650HS 25251, LCE 800, PLAXTON Venturer II, (2127), C41C and delivered delivered to to Plaxton Plaxton in in To ensure early delivery, a second Freeline chassis was ordered and January 1953. The price had increased to £2,445, and the body to £2,523. LCE 800 was delivered delivered years sterling sterling service, service, to Burwell in March, in good time to enter service in May 1953. After 14 years allowance, driven driven to to it was part-exchanged for a Harrington-bodied AEC Reliance with a £50 allowance, Loughborough on trade plates and subsequently scrapped. (Author)

D650HS 25041, CTS 256, PLAXTON Venturer II, (2004), C39C Exhibited on the Plaxton stand at the 1952 Commercial Motor Show, it was delivered to R Dickson Junior, Dundee in November 1952, fleet no. 5. Built to a luxurious specification for Dickson`s Continental Tours, special features included fold-out steps from the front off-side emergency door for kerb access. It was advertised for sale in January 1953 at £5,400, but eventually entered service in February 1953. Dickson’s Tours later sold out to Wallace Arnold Tours in 1963. (The Bus Archive, digitally coloured by Garry Luck)

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48 4

Daimler_Coaches_in_Colour_Final.indd 48

Code: KB0073 For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/daimlerx

09-07-2021 19:56:43

Daimler_Coaches_in_Colour_Final.indd 49

09-07-2021 19:56:45

CVD6 14525, BMS 415, BURLINGHAM, (2883), C33F, Fleet no. D20 One of a batch of 29 (D2–30) that was new to Walter Alexander, Falkirk, in March 1948. D1 had been new in May 1947 and D31–5 followed in March 1949. When Alexander split into regional companies in May 1961, the coaches were dispersed throughout the group. Four of this batch were transferred to Alexander (Northern) and remained in service until 1970, when three of them eventually passed into preservation and survive in varying conditions. BMS 415 is seen here at the Dunbar Bus Rally in 1983. (Geoff Stainthorpe)

CVD6 17407, JVC 4, BURLINGHAM, (4507), C33F The first of four consecutively numbered coaches for Red House Motor Services, Coventry, new in May 1950. JVC 4 and 7 both passed to Leon Motor Services, Finningley, Nottinghamshire in January 1960. They were both withdrawn in 1966. JVC 4 is seen here in July 1963. Leon were keen Daimler operators, with three other CVD6 coaches bought new and another second-hand. They also ran a CVD6 double-decker on their stage-carriage route in to Doncaster and purchased a new Burlingham Seagull-bodied Freeline in 1954, PNN 788. (Geoff Mills, digitally coloured by Garry Luck)

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09-07-2021 19:56:19

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09-07-2021 19:56:20

LONDON BUS ROUTE BOOKS

Code: KB0077

Code: KB0096

Code: KB0115

Code: KB0127

Code: KB0131

These books provide a potted history of each route, accompanied by routeing details and images of the buses that operate on that route. With over 190 photos in each volume, these books represent a snapshot of the modern London bus scene in autumn 2021. For full details, visit... • shop.keypublishing.com/londonroutes1-100x • shop.keypublishing.com/londonroutes101-200x • shop.keypublishing.com/londonroutes201-300x • shop.keypublishing.com/londonroutes301-969x • shop.keypublishing.com/londonroutesa10x

All Paperback, 96 pages

For more great titles, visit shop.keypublishing.com/booksx

RRP: £15.99 SUBSC RI PRICE BER :

£13.99

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2022 EVENTS DON’T FORGET... Key Publishing also organise a range of transport events.

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2/3 July 2022 LOWER FARM, SKILLINGTON

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MARSHALL ARENA, MILTON KEYNES SYWELL AERODROME, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

JOIN US AGAIN IN 2022

8/9 OCTOBER 2022

AUGUST 10am-4pm, SUNDA Y

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BOOKAZINES BATTLE FOR THE FALKLANDS Code: SPECFALK

BOEING 787 (RE-ISSUE) RRP: £8.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

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For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/battlefalklandsx battlefalklandsx CHURCHILL

MODELLING BRITISH RAILWAYS VOLUME 5

Departmental Coaches and Track Machines • Bespoke models in two scales • Ready-to-run conversions • Modifying kits and scratchbuilding • Hints and tips from the experts

PRACTICAL GUIDES

£6.99

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Code: SPECCROSSLNR

Why?

£6.99

■ COLOSSAL ENGINEERING

22 ISBN 978-1-913870-17-1

MAGAZINE’S BOOK OF THE YEAR

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Publishing

BUSES YEARBOOK 2022

YEARBOOK 2022

Code: SPECBYB22

IMAGES INSIDE

Code: SPECQUEENPLAT

21

NAVIGATING THE TROUBLES

CLEANER AIR IN THE CAPITAL

SUPER SIX-WHEEL GIANTS

CROSS BORDER IN 1970S IRELAND

LONDON FLEET GOES ELECTRIC

BUSES WITH EXTRA PRESENCE

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FIRST BRITISH MONARCH TO REACH THE MILESTONE

magazine yearbook BUILDING THE

GREAT

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Modelling preservation’s only doubletrack main line in ‘OO’ gauge

WE SHOW YOU HOW!

PHANTOM SURVIVORS AIRCRAFT RESTORATIONS AND ON DISPLAY

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How Victors and Vulcans teamed up for the fightback £8.99

LANCASTER 80 [RE-ISSUE]

FR0M THE MAKERS OF

80TH ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR I SSU E CELEBRATING BRITAIN’S GREATEST BOMBER

LANCASTER 80

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TALLBOYS TOPPLE TIRPITZ HOW 9 SQUADRON FINALLY SANK THE PRIDE OF THE GERMAN NAVY ROY CHADWICK UNDERSTANDING THE LEGACY OF AVRO’S DESIGN GENIUS WHAT’S STILL FLYING? PROFILES OF 80 LANCS INCLUDING THE SURVIVORS LANCASTER 80

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9 781913 870768

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HEROES OF WORLD WAR TWO

130 TALES OF VALOUR FROM 1939 - 1945

HEROES OF WORLD WAR TWO EUROPE • THE PACIFIC • AFRICA • THE ATLANTIC

Code: SPECHEROWW2 THE LADY LEGIONNAIRE How a British nurse won the Croix de Guerre

TWO VICTORIA CROSSES!

SURVIVORS AND SPIES Not all WW2 heroes carried guns

For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/heroestwox BRITAIN’S RAILWAYS

BRITAIN’S IN THE 1950S RAILWAYS IN THE 1950s

Code: SPECBR50

STEAM TRACTION? ISBN 978-1-80282-011-9

22

UK£7.99 BRITAIN’S RAILWAYS IN THE 1950s UK £8.99

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· NATIONALISATION: THE FIRST DECADE · THE BIRTH OF BR’S STANDARD TYPES · BRITAIN’S POST-WAR MODERNISATION · THE END FOR 9 781802 820119

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The Colditz vet awarded the highest honour twice

’5 C 2 0s LA 3 IM SS 5 AG IC ES

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Walkarounds of all three types

FALKLANDS FINALE

WHO’S THE DADDY? HEAD TO HEAD WITH THE HALIFAX BOMBER

DEFENDING THE ISLANDS AFTER THE WAR

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22 ISBN 978-1-80282-166-6

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B R I TA I N ’ S N U C L E A R S H I E L D

80TH ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR ISSUE

FIRST-HAND COCKPIT ACCOUNTS

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Everything you need to know about three amazing jets

FLYING THE PHANTOM

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BOMBERS V-BOMBERS

DRAWING BOARD TO DEPLOYMENT

From the makers of

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EXPERT ANALYSIS OF THE UK RAIL INDUSTRY

V

BRITISH PHANTOMS [RE-ISSUE] PHANTOMS THE F-4 IN UK SERVICE Code: SPECPHANTOM SOUVENIR 30TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

BRITISH

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ROGER FORD ON: ■ RAIL’S GREEN CREDENTIALS ■ THE NEW TRAIN BUILD FAMINE ■ HOW TRAVEL PATTERNS ARE CHANGING

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9 781802 821901

MODERN RAILWAYS REVIEW 2022

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TRACKPLANS TEST TRAINS TORNADO Inspirational stabling point designs for you

RRP: £9.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

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Collector’s Edition NATIONAL COLLECTION IN MINIATURE Discover the full story of Locomotion Models

BRITISH PHANTOMS

NE

2022 AND

No. 14

Originally published in 2017

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W OPINION • REFERENCE • REVIEW

HORNBY MAGAZINE YEARBOOK 2022

HORNBY

2022

SPECIAL EDITION

RRP: £8.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

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FULL SURVEY: NEW MODEL GUIDE FOR 2022

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70 years since The Queen took her place on the throne

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+ 170 ROYAL

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59

The Life and Times of Elizabeth II

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■ EXCITING NEW STATIONS

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■ RADICAL NEW TRAINS

CROSSRAIL

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EXPERT INSIGHT From the team behind

QUEEN: HER MAJESTY’S QUEEN THE PLATINUM JUBILEE

The

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Three years late!

■ STAFF AND DORMITORY STOCK

22

Why this megaproject will transform UK rail travel

■ BREAKDOWN RESCUE TRAINS

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W NE

£18BN CAPITAL REVOLUTION

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RECREATING THE REAL RAIL WORLD IN MINIATURE

PLATINUM JUBILEE COLLECTOR’S EDITION

H I S T O R Y | O P E R A T I O N S | A N A LY S I S

LONDON’S NEW RAILWAY

MODELLING BRITISH RAILWAYS ISBN 978-1-80282-193-2

THE QUEEN

CROSSRAIL CROSSRAIL:

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BOOKAZINES MODELLING BRITISH RAILWAYS: PARCELS AND MAIL TRAINS RRP: Code: SPECMODB

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AMERICA’S MULTIROLE NAVAL JET

GROWLER EDUCATION

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MARINE CORPS HORNETS MANAGING THE ROUTE TO F/A-18 RETIREMENT

INSIDE THE US NAVY’S ELECTRONIC ATTACK SCHOOL

AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW RADARS - SENSORS - MUNITIONS

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F/A-18 HORNET | F/A-18 SUPER HORNET | EA-18G GROWLER 1 Cover_HornetBookazine_UK.indd 1

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BRITISH RAILWAYS THE BRITISH RAILWAYS PRIVATISATION YEARS REVIEWING 25 YEARS OF CORPORATE CONTROL

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BATTLES THAT MADE BRITAIN RRP: £8.99 SUBSCRIBER PRICE:

THE PRIVATISATION YEARS WHAT WENT WRONG? Why rail is back in government hands

WHERE NEXT FOR RAIL?

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Great British Railways – the new chapter

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TOP TIPS Expert advice for all

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UK £8.99

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B52 STRATOFORTRESS: RRP: AMERICA’S FIRST STRATEGIC £8.99 BOMBER [RE-ISSUE] SUBSCRIBER PRICE: Code: SPECB52R £6.99 For full details, visit shop.keypublishing.com/b52x

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The Largest Tank Battle Since World War Two

GULF WAR

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How Kuwait Was Freed War by Air, Land and Sea

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GULF WAR: THE BIRTH OF MODERN WARFARE

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FROM RAILTRACK TRAIN OPERATING TO NETWORK RAIL COMPANIES ASSESSED

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21

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RAF SALUTE D-DAY: 70TH ANNIVERSARY

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● ● ● ●

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MODELLING BRITISH RAILWAYS ISBN 978-1-913870-95-9

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02 2

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Remember the lost

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Why Japan attacked a sleeping giant

30

“TORA! TORA! TORA!”

THE USS ARIZONA

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A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY - 80 YEARS ON

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UNDER S AND OVER THE WAL L

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THE CONFLICT GOES GLOBAL

1941

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