AIR MADAGASCAR LEASES 777 FOR EUROPEAN LINK
Air Madagascar has increased capacity between Antananarivo and Paris CDG after leasing a Boeing 777-200ER from EuroAtlantic Airways to continue its European operations. The airline was blacklisted by the European Union in April this year and has had to wet-lease equipment from approved airlines to maintain its links to Europe. It initially acquired a 767-300ER from Air Italy but this was returned to the lessor at the end of August. The 777-200ER entered service on the airline’s three flights per week between Antananarivo and Paris CDG from September 1. Two of these flights operate directly and one routes via Marseille. An estimated 117,000 O&D passengers travelled between Antananarivo and Paris in the past year. Alongside Air Madagascar, Air France offers a four times weekly service to Paris CDG and Corsairfly offers four flights per week to Paris Orly.
THAI AIRWAYS TO USE 777 TO MUNICH
Thai Airways International is to introduce a Boeing 777-300ER on its daily link between Bangkok and Munich from December 1. The Asian carrier currently utilises a 747-400 on the route. The twin-engined aircraft is one of two aircraft that it is leasing from Jet Airways for a two-year period, adding to the three aircraft it acquired from the Indian airline last year. These are configured in the exact same 312-seat layout - 312 seats – eight seats in Royal First Class, 30 seats in Royal Silk Class, and 274 seats in Economy Class – and have the same in-flight product to the existing aircraft. Alongside the three leased 777-300ERs, Thai currently operates six 777-300s on flights from Bangkok to Athens, Dhaka, Melbourne, Moscow Domodedovo, Paris CDG, Phuket, Seoul Incheon, Singapore and Tokyo Narita. Thai has outlined plans to retire 50 aircraft from service over the next six years, including the five leased 777-300ERs in 2015 and two 777-200s in 2017.
AIR CHINA TO USE A330-300 ON DELHI ROUTE
Air China is to introduce its Airbus A330-300s on its flights between Beijing and Delhi during the Northern Winter schedules. The airline now has six of the type in service having first introduced the type in March 2010 and is due to add an additional two aircraft in the coming months. The airline has been mainly using them on domestic and regional flights with the type currently scheduled to fly from Beijing to Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Taipei. However, from March this year, the type was used to inaugurate a new connection to the German city of Dusseldorf. Now, in the latest update of its GDS inventory, the A330-300 is scheduled to replace a Boeing 767-300ER on Air China’s four times weekly route between Beijing and Delhi, one of only two destinations it serves in India – it also offers a three times weekly link to Bangalore from Chengdu. The airline is the sole operator on this route although both China Eastern Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines have flown between the two cities up until recently. An estimated 57,000 O&D passengers flew on the route in the past year with Air China holding a 34 per cent share of this traffic, down from 37 per cent in the previous 12 month period.
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