Finnair (Helsinki) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with BOC Aviation Pte Ltd (Singapore) to lease four new Airbus A321-200 narrow-body aircraft.
BOC Aviation is a subsidiary of Bank of China, specializing in aircraft leasing. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery to Finnair during the first half of 2017. The lease agreements have a minimum term of eight years.
The airline continued;
In November, Finnair had announced the temporary damp-lease of two A321 aircraft from summer 2016 onwards. This arrangement is intended to cover the transitional period until the delivery of the four A321 aircraft now dry-leased from BOC Aviation for the longer term.
The transactions are part of Finnair’s fleet renewal, the first phase of which consists of replacing aging long-haul A340 wide-body aircraft with modern A350s. With a view to the growing long-haul traffic, feeder capacity is increased by adding seats to existing narrowbody aircraft and replacing some smaller aircraft with larger ones over the next few years. The A321 is Airbus’ largest narrow-body passenger aircraft, and the Finnair configuration will feature 209 seats.
The sale of four surplus aircraft
In the same context, Finnair sells surplus aircraft in accordance with its fleet plan to various buyers. The agreements or MOUs concern one ATR turboprop aircraft used in regional traffic, and two Embraer E170 regional jet aircraft, which will be retired from Finnair and Norra’s traffic in January-February 2016 and subsequently delivered to the buyers.
In addition, Finnair will sell an old A340 wide-body aircraft for part-out in the first half of 2016.
The sale transactions do not have a significant impact on profit and loss.
World Airline News and/or Business Wire
KD-678 overruns runway at Kupang
A Kalstar Aviation Embraer ERJ-195, registration PK-KDC performing flight KD-678 from Denpasar to Kupang (Indonesia) with 120 passengers and 5 crew, overran the end of runway 07 while landing in Kupang at about 17:30L (09:30Z) and came to a stop on soft ground about 200 meters past the end of the runway with the right main gear collapsed. The passengers were evacuated via slides. There were no injuries, the aircraft sustained substantial damage.
The airline confirmed the aircraft was involved in an incident when the aircraft landed in Kupang in heavy rain.
The Aviation Herald
Delta Air Lines purchases 20x E-190 and orders 20x 737-900(ER)
Delta will add up to 20 Embraer 190 and 20 new Boeing 737-900ER jets acquired through a new agreement with The Boeing Co.
The agreement is part of the airline’s continued strategy to improve its efficiency by adding additional 737-900ERs and upgauging its mainline fleet with the nearly 100-seat, twin-engine E190 jets while reducing the use of small regional aircraft.
The order announced today offered Delta more compelling economics over a previously cancelled order that also included Boeing-held E190s.
“Delta continues to look for opportunities to deploy larger aircraft, which bring customer experience enhancements and improved economics, across its fleet,” said Greg May, Delta’s Senior Vice President – Supply Chain Management. “This aircraft order is another example of Delta’s unique fleet strategy to deploy a mix of new and used aircraft, maintain low capital costs, and leverage significant capacity flexibility to produce superior returns for our shareholders.”
Expected to begin flying in early 2017, Embraer’s unique cabin design in the E190 includes two-by-two seating throughout the Main Cabin, one-by-two in First Class, and large overhead bins and oversized windows.
The additional Boeing 737-900ERs will bring the total in Delta’s fleet to 120 by 2019. The aircraft features large overhead bins and audio/video seatback entertainment with 20 seats in First Class, 21 seats in Delta Comfort+ and 139 seats in the Main Cabin.
Delta Air Lines