This week's top talking points include Air France to deploy an A380 on London-Paris; Jetstar Asia signals long-haul plans; Emirates announces its first Iraq service, Royal Brunei to lease B777s from Singapore Airlines and Tianjin Airlines considers international expansion.
London-Paris: A New A380 Route
Air France has said that it will deploy an A380 on the short sector between Paris CDG and London Heathrow - to avoid a lengthy wait in Paris, where the aircraft would otherwise spend 18 hours on the ground following arrival from Johannesburg.
The aircraft will be deployed during the summer schedule (12 June to 30 August) during which Air France believes it can capitalise on using a high capacity return link to London (from Paris) before returning to its long-haul leg back to Johannesburg.
Currently British Airways and Air France operate 116 weekly frequencies between the two airports using mainly narrow-body equipment, although BA does operate the routing 17 times a week with B767 aircraft. IATA BSP Data (Airport IS) shows that over 678,000 passengers flew between the city pairs between Feb 2009 and 2010.
Low-cost Long-haul: Coming to Singapore
Jetstar Asia will receive its wide-body A330 aircraft before the end of this year enabling the Singapore Changi-based carrier to begin serving long-haul markets.
Jetstar is currently the fourth largest operator in Singapore on the basis of flights operated. Its first deployment for the A330 could be Tokyo Narita, for which it already has traffic rights. The carrier would face tough competition on this sector from JAL, Singapore Airlines and All Nippon Airways, as well as US majors Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. IATA BSP data shows that nearly 800,000 O&D passengers flew this route between February 2009 and 2010.
Emirates' First Iraq Service
Emirates will serve Iraq for the first time, announcing non-stop scheduled services to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad from its Dubai hub. The service starts on June 1 using wide-body aircraft (A330-200) on a thrice-weekly basis.
The announcement comes after Etihad launched its first service from Abu Dhabi to Baghdad earlier this month.
Emirates will compete with Iraqi Airways, which operates a six-times weekly narrow-body service. IATA BSP data shows that between February 2009 and 2010, over 33,000 O&D passengers flew between the city pairs. The majority of leakage occurred via Bahrain with Gulf Air.
Royal Brunei Switched from B767 to B777
Royal Brunei Airlines has agreed to lease six B777-200ERs from Singapore Airlines as part of a fleet renewal programme. These will replace its current Boeing 767-300ERs and allow the carrier to expand the number of destinations that it can offer.
The first aircraft is set to arrive on May 26, while the next five aircraft will arrive between June and September this year.
Royal Brunei will deploy its first B777 to London via Dubai during the third week of June. The carrier has revealed its plans to Route Exchange to analyse more long-haul destinations.
Chinese Regional Carrier Seeks Expansion
Tianjin Airlines has applied to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for the rights to begin serving near international markets from Tianjin in north-east China. It has applied for rights for services to Hong Kong and Macau. Air China currently operates a daily service between Hong Kong and Tianjin. There is currently no year-round scheduled service between Tianjin and Macau.
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