Azores Airlines takes delivery of first A321 NEO

Azores Airlines has taken delivery of it's first Airbus A321-200 NEO, leased from Air Lease Corporation (US), one of six being leased from ALC. The flag carrier of the island territory of Portugal, the airline operates an all-Airbus fleet (detailed below). The airline will launch A321 service from Ponta Delgada to Boston January 12th.

Airbus A321-253N MSN 7972 F/F 12/7/17
Azores Airlines CS-TSF "Breathe" Delivered 12/15/17 [Leased from ALC]

Azores Airlines - Current Fleet
3 x A320-200
1 x A321-200 NEO
3 x A310-300
1 x A330-200
Total: 8

Talking Points

Singapore Airlines took delivery of a new A380 incorporating an all new interior (it's first new A380 delivery since September 2012)

Lufthansa has withdrawn it's bid for Niki (Austria) following the EU's indication that the deal would not be approved on competitive grounds. As expected, Niki therefore filed insolvency and will cease operations effective today, December 14th

Aurora (Russia) is in talks to take over Khabarovsk Airlines (Russia)

Swift Air (US) acquired an ex-Alaska Airlines 737-400. The airline also indicated it would not be taking delivery of 40 Mitsubishi MRJs ordered by Eastern Air Lines, an airline it acquired (and closed) recently

EasyJet Europe (Austria) leased a first ex-Air Berlin A320 (4316). All previously acquired aircraft it operates were transferred from EasyJet (UK). The airline now has 25 A319/A320s in service

AtlasGlobal (Turkey) is considering the CSeries to replace it's older A320s

Delta Air Lines is reported (by numerous sources) to be about to order a substantial number of A321 NEOs (in preference to 737 MAX 10s)

West Wind Aviation (Canada) ATR-42 (MSN 240) crashed shortly after take off from Fond-du-Lac, Saskatoon. 25 passengers were onboard. Injuries, but no fatalities were initially reported, and later confirmed (Transport Canada suspended the airline's AOC 12/22/17 for various operational deficiencies)

Southwest's 737-700 fleet reaches 500 in service

Southwest Airlines (US) now has 500 Boeing 737-700s in service, over 40% of the world's fleet of 1,183 of the type in service. The airline took delivery of it's first aircraft (as launch customer and the first delivery) December 17th 1997. 363 new aircraft were delivered from Boeing until the last delivery December 21st 2011. In the meantime, Southwest has added to it's fleet with used acquisitions (purchased and leased) since 2000. Only 9 used aircraft were added between 2000 and 2011, but this accelerated considerably thereafter. 11 in 2012, 8 in 2013, 56 in 2014, 28 in 2015, 17 in 2016 and 15 this year, of which six have yet to enter service. Southwest similarly added used 737-300s to it's fleet of new aircraft, where favorable purchase or lease opportunities presented themselves. The same is not true of 737-800s so far, the oldest of which was delivered to Southwest in March 2012. New 737-800 deliveries continue, along with 737 MAX 8s.

Boeing 737-7H4 MSN 27835 L/N 4 F/F 4/1/97
Southwest Airlines N700GS 12/17/97 - present
Original delivery colors, no winglets, 'eyebrow' cockpit windows

New colors, winglets, eyebrow windows removed, but yet to make it into latest colors

Southwest Airlines - Current Fleet
500 x 737-700
173 x 737-800
12 x 737 MAX 8
Total: 685

Neos takes delivery of first 787-9

Neos (Italy) has taken delivery of it's first Boeing 787-9, leased from AerCap, joining it's existing long haul fleet of three 767-300ERs. The 787 will initially operate from Milan Malpensa to Phuket, Mombasa and Cancun.

Boeing 787-9 MSN 38785 L/N 639 F/F 11/22/17
Neos EI-NEO Delivered 12/12/17

Neos - Current Fleet
5 x 737-800
3 x 767-300ER
1 x 787-9
Total: 9

Talking Points

Virgin Atlantic (UK) will lease two ex-Air Berlin A330-200s (msn 432/476) from DVB Bank March / April 2018

Eurowings (Germany) to introduce business class in it's A330-200s in 2018 for service to the US and other select long haul destinations

Aigle Azur (France) ordered two P&W powered A330-200s for delivery in the first half of 2018. New long haul destinations are to be announced. Established in 1946, the airline currently operates nine A320s from it's Paris Orly base

Niki (Austria) may be declared bankrupt in the event that the EU declines to approve it's acquisition by Lufthansa

Somali Airlines may be resurrected by the Government. It ceased operations in 1991

EasyJet's acquisition of certain Air Berlin assets has been approved by the EU. The airline will base 25 A320s at Berlin Tegel next year

Estelar (Venezuela) wet leased an A340-300 from HiFly (Portugal) to operate Caracas - Miami

Air New Zealand to wet lease an A330 and A340 from HiFly to cover for two engine damaged 787-9s during the busy Christmas season

Vietnam Airlines is considering the 777X or A350-1000 for it's planned non-stop routes to the US. An A350-900, with a technical stop, will be used from 2019, as neither types will be available by then

Talking Points

Blue Air (Romania) ferried two 737-400s to the United States for freight conversion. The airline's all 737 fleet includes 30 -300, -400 and -500 classics, as well as 11 737-800s

Georgian Airways leased a third ex-Air Canada E-190 from Nordic Aviation Capital

I-Fly (Russia) leased a P&W powered A330-200 from DAE Capital, joining three RR powered examples. The airline also operates two P&W powered A330-300s, and retains a sole 757-200 (of an original fleet of six of the type)

Azul (Brazil) to reduce it's fleet of Embraer regional aircraft in favor of expanding it's A320 NEO fleet

Belavia (Belarus) ordered one E-195 to replace an existing 737-500 in 2018

Cityjet (Ireland) to retire it's 13 Avro RJs by the end of 2019

T'Way Air (South Korea) plans to add eight 737 MAX 8s by 2020, plus ten wide bodies by 2025. The airline currently operates 17 737-800s

Qatar Airways A321 (A7-AIB) was damaged beyond repair after a fire broke out during routine maintenance at Doha

Air Canada commenced 737 MAX 8 service between Toronto and Calgary

Air Zimbabwe plans to lease up to 15 aircraft from Malaysia Airlines (details TBD, but includes 777s, of which at least one is fully painted)

Lufthansa to acquire the airline operation of Alitalia, with the $353M deal to close by December 19th. Approximately half of the airline's fleet will be retained. Alitalia currently operates about 100 mainline aircraft

Dynamic International Airways (US) changed it's name to Servant Air. The airline is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring

Egyptair took delivery of it's ninth and final new 737-800 leased from DAE Capital (UAE)

IrAero (Russia) seeks to lease three 777s for service to China in Spring 2018

Avianca takes delivery of first two A320 NEOs

Avianca (Colombia) has taken delivery of it's first two CFM powered Airbus A320 NEOs, joining an existing A320 family fleet of 67 aircraft, including two A321 NEOs. Sister carrier Avianca Brazil currently operates eight Pratt & Whitney powered A320 NEOs. Avianca is one of just a few airlines that operates all members of the A320 family, including the A318. (The others include Air France and British Airways, with LAN and Frontier in the past - the latter two having now disposed of their A318s).

Airbus A320-251N MSN 7887 F/F 11/27/17
Avianca N764AV 12/11/17 - present

Airbus A320-251N MSN 7928 F/F 11/30/17
Avianca N765AV 12/11/17 - present

Avianca - Current Fleet
10 x A318
15 x A319
40 x A320
2 x A320 NEO
9 x A321
2 x A321 NEO
12 x 767-8
7 x A330-200
Total: 97

Lanmei Airlines leases first A321

Lanmei Airlines (Cambodia) leased a first Airbus A321 from AerCap. A second aircraft from the same source is expected soon. The airline is a Chinese owned low cost (LCC) airline that commenced operations September 15th from Phnom Penh and Siem to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, initially with a wet leased Myanma Airways International A320.

Airbus A321-231 MSN 3522 F/F 5/20/08
Royal Jordanian JY-AYK 5/20/08 - 3/15/14
Monarch Airlines G-ZBAL 5/31/14 - 10/2/17
Lanmei Airlines XU-919 12/8/17 - current

Weekend Reading

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FlightGlobal (Opinion)

United explores investing in regional airline ExpressJet
Bloomberg

Talking Points

Qatar Airways ordered 50 A321 NEOs, plus 36 options (this replaces a previous order for A320 NEOs)

Fastjet (Tanzania) retired its last A319, and now operates two E-190s

EasyJet (UK) has now transferred 20 A319/A320s to its new Austrian based subsidiary EasyJet Europe

IndiGo's latest A320-200 NEO delivery brings its NEO fleet total to 30 (plus 118 standard A320s)

Delta has taken delivery of its 30th A321

EasyJet (UK) to commence flying German domestic routes in January

GE Capital (GECAS) took delivery of its final 737NG. The first of 170 MAX 8s will start delivering in January

Primera Air (Denmark) will sell and lease back all of its 737 MAX 9s on order to Aviation Capital Group (US)

Air Astana (Kazakhstan) to lease three new A320 NEOs from SMBC delivering 2019-2020

Travel Service (Czech Republic) ordered nine additional 737 MAX aircraft, total now 39, with first delivery in 2018

China Eastern takes delivery of first 737 MAX 8

China Eastern Airlines has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX 8, becoming the fifth Chinese operator of the new model. The airline has a further 59 on order, and 70 A320 NEOs (none delivered yet).

Boeing 737 MAX 8 MSN 61623 L/N 6542 F/F 11/16/17
China Eastern Airlines B-1383 Delivered 12/6/17

China Eastern - Current Fleet
39 x 737-700
35 x A319
83 x 737-800
1 x 737 MAX 8
74 x A321
180 x A320
28 x A330-200
20 x A330-300
20 x 777-300ER
Total: 480

Talking Points

Primera Air (Denmark) ordered two additional 737 MAX 9s, taking it's order total to ten

Aerolineas Argentinas to issue a tender in 2018 for the replacement of it's entire fleet of 26 E-190s

Colt Aviation's (Brazil) AOC was revoked in November. The airline's last aircraft, a 757-200F, was parked at Miami, FL in February, and subsequently sold

Boeing 757-200F PR-XCA seen stored at Miami, FL

French Blue is to be re-named French prior to commencing service from Papeete, Tahiti to San Francisco (to avoid any confusion with JetBlue)

CALC (China) took delivery of it's first A320 NEO, leased to Frontier Airlines (US)

Frontier Airbus A320-251N N323FR

Jet Time retires last 737-300

Jet Time (Denmark) retired it's last 737-300, leaving it with a fleet of five 737-700s. The airline operated a total of ten -300s, including two convertible passenger / freight aircraft from September 2006. Two 737-400s were also operated briefly, one in 2010 and one in 2013. Five 737-400F freighters were operated between 2013 and this year, with all now disposed of, as the airline focuses exclusively on it's passenger charter services.

Boeing 737-3L9 MSN 27834 L/N 2692 F/F 1/23/95
Maersk Air OY-MAS 2/21/95 - 11/20/98
GB Airways G-OGBE 11/23/98 - 12/24/03
BMI Baby G-OGBE 5/17/04 - 3/5/09
Jet Time OY-JTE 5/4/09 - 12/5/17 [Last Jet Time 737-300]
Stored Lasham, UK