Talking Points

China Aircraft Leasing (CALC) ordered 50 A320 NEOs, and is finalizing an order for 15 more in January. Total now ordered 202

Indigo Partners (US) firmed up it's order for 430 A320 NEO family aircraft announced in November at the Dubai Air Show. The aircraft will be operated by Wizz Air (Hungary, UK), Frontier Airlines (US), JetSMART (Chile) and Volaris (Mexico). Indigo owns Frontier and JetSMART, and has investments in Wizz Air and Volaris

Qatar Airways first A350-1000 delivery will be delayed 'until the New Year'

Egyptair confirmed an order for 12 CS300s, plus 12 purchase rights. This is the first CSeries order in 18 months

Blue Air (Romania) took delivery of it's twelfth (used) 737-800, this being the fifth ex-Pegasus Airlines aircraft leased from Air Lease Corporation Inc (US)

IAG (UK) acquired Niki (Austria) for $24M. The acquisition will be by a newly created subsidiary of IAG's low cost carrier Vueling Airlines (Spain), with it's future branding and route network to be announced

Turkish Airlines ordered a further three 777Fs. It now has two in service, one delivered last month and the most recent last week

VietJetAir takes delivery of first A321 NEO

VietJetAir (Vietnam) has taken delivery of it's first (of 31) Airbus A321 NEO, powered by Pratt & Whitney GTF engines. Hanoi based VJC commenced service, domestically initially, on December 25th 2011, and now operates an all A320 family fleet of 53 throughout South East Asia. The first of 100 737 MAX 200s will start delivering in 2019. Airbus has now delivered 17 A321 NEOs to SriLankan (3), ANA (2), Avianca (2), Hawaiian (2), Novair (2), Azores Airlines (1), Virgin America (4) and WOW Air (1)

Airbus A321-271N MSN 7991 F/F 12/18/17
VietJetAir VN-A646 Delivered 12/29/17

VietJetAir - Current Fleet
27 x A320
26 x A321
1 x A321 NEO
Total: 54

New Year Weekend Reading

Five standout themes from 2017...
Air Transport World

Boeing, Embraer mull combination that could reset OEM industry
Aviation Week

The great jetliner ramp-up in perspective
Aviation Week (Contributor Opinion)

10 Best aviation apps for pilots
Travelingaap.com

Boeing 747 'party plane' ready for weddings
The Sun

The top 13 airline moments of 2017 (best and worst)
aviationfigure.net

Forget the high-speed rail fiasco: whisper-quiet electric airplanes will transform travel in America
The Daily Beast

The mystery of flight...the secret price of a jetliner
Aviation Republic

Buyers driving hard bargains with Boeing, Airbus
24/7 Wall St.

First Class on American...Mint Class on JetBlue
Inc.com (flight comparison)

Embraer tops Boeing's list of options for CSeries response
FlightGlobal (Analysis)

How Boeing, Embraer benefit from a combination
Leeham News and Comment

Five things analysts are saying about a potential Boeing-Embraer deal
bizjournals.com

Boeing and Airbus orders are spiking again in December
The Motley Fool

Top 10 stories of 2017
Airways Magazine

Airline start-ups and failures in 2017
FlightGlobal (Analysis)

10 aviation stories of the year...
Leeham News and Comment

In memoriam: the airlines we lost in 2017
Airways Magazine

Five memorable moments from 2017
Aviation Week

Happy New Year!
Rob @ JetTrak

Talking Points

Lucky Air (China) took delivery of a new RR powered A330-300, adding to it's single example operated on lease from parent Hainan Airlines

Lucky Air A330-343 B-1059 (MSN 1838) wearing Lucky Air colors, whereas it's existing leased aircraft wears a hybrid scheme based on Hainan's colors

Royal Air Maroc ordered four 787-9s, all were previously listed as undisclosed orders. The airline currently operates five 787-8s and four 767-300ERs in it's long haul fleet

Air Zimbabwe will not be resurrected or revived for now, after failing to secure airline equity partners and other investors

EasyJet's first A321 NEO will be delivered July 2018. Meanwhile, two A321s delivered new to Air Berlin (but never operated) are expected to be leased (to EasyJet Europe [Austria]) soon. EasyJet last operated A321s between 2008 and 2011, having inherited a fleet of eight from it's acquisition of GB Airways (UK) [Update/Correction: the two A321s referenced above are now (as of 1/7) believed to be assigned for lease to LATAM (Chile) as of 2/18]

IAG is in exclusive talks to acquire Niki (Austria)

Titan Airways (UK) will shortly acquire a second 737-400 (ex-British Airways) for passenger charter flights in 2018. In October, the aircraft will be converted to a freighter and join Titan's dedicated cargo fleet

AerCap exercised 50 A320 NEO options into firm orders. Total now 270

FlyBondi (Argentina) delayed it's start of operations to late January

Eurowings (Germany) to wet-lease an A330-200 from AirTanker (UK) between January 22nd and March 8th to operate it's Cologne to Punta Cana route

Talking Points

Modern Logistics (Brazil) took delivery of a second 737-400F

Modern Logistics 737-400F PP-YBA (it's first - delivered 2/16)

Platinum Services took delivery of a 727-100 ex-Basel to Doha, currently registered in Guernsey as 2-MMTT

727-176 Platinum Services 2-MMTT looking in great shape at Basel 11/24/17 (this aircraft is 4 months older than me - delivered to TAA - Trans Australian Airlines as VH-TJD "Gregory Blaxland" delivered 8/9/66)

Japan Transocean Airlines took delivery of a sixth new 737-800, in special 'Sakura Junbei' colors

JTA 737-8Q3 JA06RK

British Airways' London City based subsidiary BA CityFlyer took delivery of it's 15th Embraer E-190, it's fourth used acquisition. 11 were delivered new between 2010 and 2014, with the used aircraft added from 2015

Alliance Airlines (Australia) has taken delivery of it's latest Fokker 100 in special '90th anniversary first ever Transpacific flight' colors. The regional airline now operates 31 F70 / F100s

Alliance Airlines F100 VH-FGB (MSN 11446)

Arkia (Israel) took delivery of it's third E-195AR. The airline also operates three E-190s and two 757-300s

Embraer E-195AR Arkia 4X-EMF (staging through Gran Canaria Las Palmas on delivery 12/24/17)

Korean Air is reportedly considering parking / storing one or more A380s in 2018. The airline currently operates 10 of the type

VIVA Air confirmed a commitment made at the Paris Air Show to order 50 A320s. 15 will be current standard models, plus 35 NEOs. The aircraft will be distributed between VIVA Colombia and VIVA Air Peru

Belair (Switzerland) employees were reportedly not paid in December, with the airline possibly facing bankruptcy

Talking Points

Spirit Airlines (US) took delivery of it's 25th Airbus A321

Air Peace (Nigeria) will shortly take delivery of the first (of two) ex-Emirates 777-200ERs. The aircraft are being acquired for new international routes to Dubai, London, Guangzhou, Mumbai and Johannesburg

Malaysia Airlines took delivery of it's second A350 in special "Negaraku" colors

A350-941 Malaysia Airlines 9M-MAC (MSN 165)

Corendon Dutch Airlines (Netherlands) to add three 737-800s and one 737 MAX 9 to it's fleet from April

Hainan Airlines (China) took delivery of three 787-9s December 20th (1) and 22nd (2). It now has 17, plus ten 787-8s

LTyou (Germany) plans to become the successor to LTU, targeting new long haul Germany - US service (details and dates TBA)

Med-View Airlines (Nigeria) seeks to acquire two 777s in first quarter 2018. The airline currently sub-leases one from EuroAtlantic (Portugal)

SAS Scandinavian Airlines launched new operations under it's Irish AOC, with nine A320 NEOs, five based at London Heathrow, and four at Malaga

IAG (UK) made a bid for Niki in it's entirety (and has been mooted as the frontrunner), other finalist bids include Thomas Cook (UK) and Niki Lauda. A decision is due Friday December 29th

Garuda takes delivery of first 737 MAX 8

Garuda Indonesia has taken delivery of it's first Boeing 737 MAX 8, the first of 50 on order. Traditionally a Boeing operator for it's narrowbody requirements, the company's low cost subsidiary Citilink operates A320s and A320 NEOs.

Boeing 737 MAX 8 MSN 62093 L/N 6713 F/F 12/5/17
Garuda Indonesia PK-GDA Delivered 12/21/17

Garuda - Current Fleet
16 x ATR-42/72
18 x CRJ-1000
73 x 737-800
1 x 737 MAX 8
7 x A330-200
17 x A330-300
10 x 777-300ER
Total: 142

Korean Air takes delivery of first CSeries

Korean Air has taken delivery of it's first Bombardier CSeries at a delivery ceremony hosted at Montreal Mirabel, where both the aircraft and the Pratt & Whitney GTF final assembly takes place. KAL becomes the third operator of the CS300 (after AirBaltic and Swiss), with Bombardier having now delivered a total of eight CS100s and 15 CS300s.

Bombardier CS300 MSN 55018 F/F 10/2/17
Korean Air HL8092 Delivered 12/22/17 (Additional pictures below)

Korean Air CSeries CS300 HL8092

Korean Air - Current Fleet
1 x CS300
15 x 737-800
16 x 737-900
6 x 737-900ER
8 x A330-200
21 x A330-300
5 x 787-9
16 x 777-200ER
11 x 777F
4 x 777-300
20 x 777-300ER
4 x 747-400
9 x 747-400F
7 x 747-8F
10 x 747-8I
10 x A380
Total: 163

West Air takes delivery of first A320 NEO

West Air (China) has taken delivery of it's first Airbus A320 NEO, powered by Pratt & Whitney GTF engines. Five Chinese airlines have now taken delivery of a combined total of 20 A320 NEOs, all of which have been powered by P&W thus far.

Airbus A320-271N MSN 7795 F/F 12/7/17
West Air B-8867 Delivered 12/21/17

West Air - Current Fleet
4 x A319
25 x A320
1 x A320 NEO
Total: 30

Christmas Weekend Reading

The Year in Review: 2017's top stories in aerospace
FlightGlobal (Analysis)

The statistics that show why Norwegian has rattled BA - and why the A380 is falling from favour
The Telegraph

New Airbus commercial boss Faury is a strong choice for role
FlightGlobal

Delta's history with the Queen of the Skies
Delta.com

Assessing the Delta-Airbus order
Leeham News

Airbus facing leadership changes amid turmoil, corruption probes
Aviation Week

Time is fast running out to avoid a Brexit aviation crisis
Air Transport World

Delta Air Lines sends off its 747s with grand farewell tour
USA Today

US 747s bow out with final Delta flight
FlightGlobal

LAX's long-standing history with inter-terminal underground tunnels
Airline Geeks

Qatar A350-100 flies formation photo-shoot with -900
FlightGlobal

Three months that shook Ryanair...
Reuters

The amazing story of the 747 in 12 photos
The Points Guy

Talking Points

Pegasus Airlines (Turkey) ordered 25 CFM powered A321 NEOs, and took 25 options. The low cost airline previously ordered 57 A320 NEOs (of which 13 have now been delivered) and 18 A321 NEOs

FlyDubai ordered 175 737 MAX aircraft, plus 50 options. The airline previously ordered 75 737 MAX 8s, of which five have now been delivered

FlyDubai 737 MAX 8 A6-MAX...the first of many to come

Boeing and Embraer confirmed they are in talks regarding a possible merger, while noting there's no guarantee such an outcome will occur

Air Belgium (a start up) plans to operate from Brussels Charleroi from March with an ex-Finnair A340-300

Air Corail (Comores) plans to start operations March 5th with a CRJ-100ER. Plans call for a 767-200ER to be in service by June for long haul service

FlyEgypt to lease two 737-800s from ALC, delivering this month and January. The airline currently operates three 737-800s and one A320

Danish Air Transport acquired four MD-80s from an undisclosed Italian airline (most likely Meridiana)

Lufthansa received EC approval for it's partial take over of Air Berlin, and full acquisition of LGW. The latter will add 20 Q400s and 13 A320s to Lufthansa's Eurowings low cost subsidiary

Mauritania Airlines takes delivery of first 737 MAX 8

Mauritania Airlines International has taken delivery of it's first Boeing 737 MAX 8, joining a mostly all Boeing fleet. Commencing operations in 2010, following the demise of former national carrier Mauritania Airways, the airline has become the de-facto flag carrier operating short to medium haul service within West Africa. This is presently MAI's sole order for a 737 MAX 8, and is planned to be operated to Paris and Jeddah.

Boeing 737 MAX 8 MSN 64299 L/N 6704 F/F 12/7/17
Mauritania Airlines International 5T-CLJ Delivered 12/20/17

Mauritania Airlines - Current Fleet
1 x ERJ-145
2 x 737-500
1 x 737-700
1 x 737-800
1 x 737 MAX 8
Total: 6

Talking Points

Delta Air Lines' final regularly scheduled 747-400 flight operated from Seoul to Detroit. The aircraft is now engaged on employee farewell flights and sports charters until year end

N674US at Atlanta 12/19/17 engaged in Delta's 747 Farewell Tour

AerCap sold a portfolio of 21 aircraft (a mix of narrowbodies and widebodies) to Peregrine Aviation Company (Saudi Arabia)

Karun Airlines (Iran) took delivery of a first 737-500

Zambia Airways may be resurrected under a joint venture with Ethiopian Airlines. The airline last operated in 1995

Azur Air Ukraine leased an ex-Lion Air 737-900ER from DVB Bank

Boeing 737-9GPER Azur Air Ukraine UR-AZB MSN 35712/2349

Eurowings (Germany / Austria) to add 30 A320s to it's fleet by summer 2018