Fleet Developments

Richard Maslen May 25, 2011

LUFTHANSA TO INTRODUCE A380 ON FLIGHT TO SINGAPORE

German national carrier Lufthansa is to introduce the Airbus A380 on its schedules to Singapore this winter. It currently uses its ‘Super Jumbo’ aircraft on its flights from its Frankfurt hub to Beijing, Johannesburg, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo, but from October 30 will start to use the type on its daily flight to Singapore Changi, replacing a Boeing 747-400 that currently serves the route. This will represent more than a 50 per cent increase in weekly capacity as its A380s are configured with around 180 more seats than its current 747-400 configurations – the airline has two 747-400 arrangements depending upon markets. Lufthansa competes with its Star Alliance partner Singapore Airlines on the route, while Qantas Airways offers a direct service with onward flights to Australia. An estimated 200,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route in the past year but Lufthansa secured just a seven per cent share of this traffic, although it must be remembered that with onward connections throughout Germany and across Europe, the German flag carrier would have also carried a lot of transit traffic. The arrival of the A380 on the service will enable the carrier to increase its share of the market. It already has the strongest yield of all the operators on the route; experience has shown that people are still willing to pay a premium for the chance to fly on the aircraft. Singapore Airlines currently uses 747-400s and 777-300ERs on its two daily flights and currently has no immediate plans to introduce its own A380s on the route. The introduction of the A380 will mean a minor alteration to Lufthansa’s Asian schedules. Its current flight from Frankfurt continues on to Jakarta, Indonesia from Singapore, but from October 30 it will terminate and instead, Lufthansa’s current Munich – Singapore route, operated by an Airbus A340-300, will fly on to the Indonesian city.

BMI EXTENDS REVISED FREETOWN SCHEDULE INTO WINTER

UK carrier bmi British Midland International will continue to use its Airbus A330-200 on flights from London Heathrow to Freetown, the capital of Sierrra Leone, through to the end of the 2011/2012 winter schedule. The airline revealed last month that following the return of one of its widebodied jets from lease, it would introduce the type on its flights to Almaty, Bishkek and Freetown from June 26. However, the amendments were initially only for the remainder of the summer schedules. bmi currently operates to Freetown four times weekly using an Airbus A321 with an intermediate stop in Malaga, a frequency it was expected to maintain this winter, according to its schedules. The use of the longer-range A330-200 will enable this stop to be eliminated, although frequencies will drop to three flights per week. Approximately 23,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route in the past year, up 5.3 per cent of the previous 12 month period, with bmi accounting for more than 90 per cent of this traffic. This is a high-yield route for bmi as the only operator between the two countries, with average fares of $950 each way.

INDONESIA RESTRICTS MA-60 OPERATIONS

The Indonesian Transport Ministry has temporarily banned local carrier Merpati Nusantara Airlines from operating its Xian MA-60 turboprop aircraft into three airports in East Nusa Tenggara. It claims that the operation of the aircraft at Frans Sales Lega Airport in Ruteng, an airport in Ende and Umbu Mehang Kunda Airport in Waingapu cannot be guaranteed until a further safety evaluation of the type is completed. “The three airports have high obstacle rates, and a lot of maneuvering is required to get there,” Air Transport Director Herry Bhakti Singoyuda has been quoted as saying by the Indonesian press. The ruling comes following a safety audit of the carrier after one of its Chinese-built MA-60s crashed in West Papua, killing all 27 people onboard earlier this month. The audit tested the aircraft's airworthiness, maintenance program, airworthiness documents, records of replaced components, technical problems, equipment requirements, flight logs, repair and modification work documentation, as well as other aircraft systems. As a result ten aircraft have been cleared for operation, while two others have undergone immediate maintenance. “Two of these planes are still on aircraft on ground status,” Herry Bhakti Singoyuda added.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES TO FLY ‘NEW’ A380S TO SYDNEY

Singapore Airlines is to introduce its newly configured Airbus A380s on its Singapore –Sydney route from June 20, according to the latest schedule data from the carrier. The Asian flag carrier currently operates eleven examples, but from next month will introduce its first aircraft designed in a more spacious configuration with the entire upper deck occupied by premium Business Class seating. Its current A380s are configured with 471 seats and have a lower deck with 12 First Class Suites and 311 Economy seats, while the upper deck has space for 60 Business Class and 88 Economy passengers. In the new arrangement, the lower deck remains the same, but the upper deck will have just Business Class seats, resulting in an overall capacity reduction of 62 seats, to 409. This is only two seats more than the layout of Korean Air’s A380s, the first of which is due to enter commercial service next month, and are the most spaciously configured A380s among existing operators of the type and future carriers that have announced their planned interior arrangement.