Cover Photo: ET-ARI, one of six Boeing 777/F in the Ethiopian Airlines Cargo fleet, is seen departing from Los Angeles this past February.

AeroMexico Connect (LVQF) will

begin 3x weekly service from Leon

(BJX) to Detroit (DTW) on April 30.

This route will be operated by

Embraer E190 equipment. 1

Interjet (23IF) will begin daily service

from Leon to Houston

Intercontinental (IAH) and San

Antonio (SAT) on June 22. Both

routes will be operated by Sukhoi SSJ100

equipment, with San Antonio service being twice

daily. 2

UPDATE: We first mentioned this

news in Vol. 128 of the Aviation

Update, and can now report

further details. Taiwan’s China

Airlines (SAJF) has moved one of its daily flights from

Taipei (TPE) to Los Angeles (LAX) to nearby Ontario

(ONT). This route has been operated since March 25

using Boeing 777-300/ER equipment. 3

Philippine Airlines (SCOF) will

switch its 4x weekly service from

Manila (MNL) to New York Kennedy

(JFK) on October 28. The flight will

now go non-stop, dropping the current stopover in

Vancouver (YVR). This route is operated by Boeing

777-300/ER equipment. 4

Air China (CAAF) has begun 2x

weekly Fifth Freedom flights from

Houston Intercontinental (IAH) to

Panama City (PTY). This flight

operates as part of the airline’s Beijing (PEK) –

Houston – Panama City route and is operated by

Boeing 777-300/ER equipment. 5

LATAM (LANF) will operate 3x

weekly service from Sao Paul (GRU)

to Las Vegas (LAS) from December

15 through March 1, 2019. This

route will be operated by Boeing 767-300/ER

equipment. 6

South Korea’s Jin Air (3JRF) will

operate daily scheduled charters

from Tokyo Narita (NRT) to Guam

(GUM) between July 21 and

October 27. This route will be operated by Boeing

737-800 equipment. 7

American Airlines (AALA) will

end its weekly service from

Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to

Quito, Ecuador (UIO) on August

21. 8

Citing low demand, Alaska

Airlines (ASAA) will end service

from San Francisco (SFO) to

Mexico City (MEX) on May 19.

Flights from San Francisco to Cancun (CUN) were

canceled on March 3. 9

Delta Air Lines (DALA) will end

daily service from Newark, New

Jersey (EWR) to Paris de Gaulle

(CDG) for the Winter 2018/19

season, with the route ending on October 28. 10

British Airways (BRAF) will

temporarily suspend 3x weekly

service from London Gatwick (LGW)

to Oakland (OAK) on October 20.

The route is presently planned to resume on April 1,

2019, flown by Boeing 777-236/ER equipment. 11

Eurowings will scale back its

weekly summer seasonal service

from Cologne (CGN) to Fort Myers

AVIATION UPDATE | NO. 140 APRIL 11, 2018

3

(RSW) that was set to operate Fridays through the

summer. The flights will now only operate on

Fridays from May 4 through June 8, operated by

Airbus A330-200 equipment. 12

TSA discovered 64 firearms in carry-on bags for the

week ending April 1. 13 TSA has now found 982 guns

in carry-on bags in 2018. Click here to see how many

guns have been found at each airport so far this

year.

Aerolineas Argentinas (AISF) will

withdraw the Airbus A340 from

revenue service on January 1,

2019. 14

Houston Intercontinental welcomed 3,049,241

passengers in February, a 3.1% year-on-year

increase. Over at Houston Hobby (HOU), 1,009,386

passengers boarded flights during the month, a

5.6% year-on-year increase. 15

An airport hangar at Houston Hobby succumbed to

high winds approaching 80 miles per hour on April 4

as heavy storms hit the area. Nobody was inside the

hangar at the time but several aircraft were

damaged to the tune of several million dollars. 16

A TAP Air Portugal (TAPF) pilot

was removed from the cockpit

after an airport employee

noticed he was walking

unsteadily and reeked of alcohol. The subsequent

flight from Stuttgart (STR) to Lisbon (LIS) on March

24 was canceled; 106 passengers were put up in a

hotel. They finally made it back to Lisbon a few days

later. TAP Air Portugal said they are conducting an

investigation. 17

Germany’s DFS Group has taken over air navigation

and air traffic control services at Edinburgh (EDI) as

of April 1. The ten-year contract covers tower and

approach control, along with maintenance of air

traffic control systems. Edinburgh has over 330

aircraft movements per day and saw 13 million

passengers take flights in 2017. 18

Saudi Arabia’s 27 airports handled 91.9 million

passengers in 2017, up 7.7% over the 85.3 million in

2016. 19

Dubai (DXB) suffered a slight 0.3 year-on-year

decrease in February passenger traffic to 6.9 million

people. 20

SpiceJet has placed the first

major order for Expliseat, an 11-

pound aircraft seat produced by

a French manufacturer. SpiceJet

estimates it will save 2,866 pounds of weight per

Boeing 737 that the seats are installed in. 21

Jet Airways (J9QF) has finalized

a deal worth $8.8 billion with

Boeing to purchase 75 Boeing

737 MAX aircraft. 22 Employees

of Jet Airways had their March salary payments

delayed, as the carrier cited “circumstances beyond

its control” for the delay.

Air India’s (AINF) 11,214

employees saw their March

paychecks delayed as well, with

the troubled carrier failing to

provide a reason why paychecks were not issued as

expected by the end of the month. 23

London Heathrow (LHR) reported 5.4 million

passengers in February, a 2.4% year-on-year uptick. 24 London Gatwick (LGW) enjoyed its busiest

February on record with three million passengers,

which marked five full years of month-on-month

passenger growth. 25

845,529 passengers flew from Oakland in February

2017, a 5.3% year-on-year increase. 26

AVIATION UPDATE | NO. 140 APRIL 11, 2018

4

255,477 passengers took February flights from

Colorado Springs (COS), a 17.2% increase over

February 2017’s totals. 27

Qantas (QLMF) has been hit with a

$125,000 civil penalty for breaking

rules against cabotage. The

Department of Transportation

(DOT) ruled that Qantas was in violation of

regulations by improperly transporting passengers

on its intra-U.S. flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to

New York Kennedy (JFK) in 2015 and 2016. After

arriving in Los Angeles, the passengers transferred

to further flights on separate carriers, operated as

Qantas code-share flights. 28

Several restaurants at Kansas City (MCI)

were closed for the day on March 29

after bed bugs were found in leather

chairs in the seating area. The

restaurants were closed while the chairs and

surrounding areas were cleaned. 29

Southwest Airlines (SWAA)

announced five new domestic

routes, set to commence in early

October. Click here to review.

Mexico’s Volaris (Z5XF) is studying

removing reclining seats from its

aircraft in an effort to reduce costs.

There are mechanisms in each seat

which allow it to recline; removing those would save

weight, and in turn, fuel. Additionally, Volaris

wouldn’t have to bother fixing the seats when they

don’t recline properly. 30

An Air Canada (ARNF) flight earlier

this month from Vancouver (YVR)

to Taipei featured the airline’s

first-ever father and daughter

pilot team. 31

UPDATE: Air Belgium has

operated its first commercial

flight on March 29, completing

a one-off charter flight for

Surinam Airways (SLMF). Air Belgium’s scheduled 4x

weekly flights from Brussels Charleroi (CRL) to Hong

Kong (HKG) commence on April 30; the carrier will

operate ad-hoc charters when spare capacity

allows. 32

Portuguese ACMI specialist Hi Fly (29HF) announced

it has acquired two second-hand Airbus A380s.

These frames were formerly with Singapore Airlines

(SBOF), who did not renew the lease on them. 33

Additionally, Hi Fly will add the first of 10 Airbus

A330-900neos to its fleet in June 2019. 34

Airbus is close to completion of the newest version

of its “Beluga” transport aircraft, a modified A330-

200/F. The new Beluga XLs will be used to transport

two A350 wings from their production facility in

Wales to the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France. The

current generation Belugas, based on an A300, will

be phased out by 2025. 35

79.6% of flights operated by U.S. carriers in January

were on-time. 36

Airlines paid an average of $2.06 per gallon of jet

fuel in February in the U.S. 37

Lessor Air Lease Corporation (ALC) has purchased a

further eight Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in a deal

worth $936.8 million at list prices. The transaction

brings ALC’s total 737 MAX orders to 138 frames. 38

China has fired a warning shot in response to recent

U.S. tariffs proposed on Chinese goods, threatening

to add a 25% tariff on U.S. made aircraft. The

proposed tariff would apply to Boeing 737 Next

AVIATION UPDATE | NO. 140 APRIL 11, 2018

5

Generation aircraft (700, 800, and 900 series) but

not to the newer MAX frames or any larger aircraft.

Production on 737 Next Generation aircraft will end

next year. 39

Qatar Airways (QYCF) will acquire

a 25% stake in Moscow Vnukovo

Airport (VKO), pending Russian

government approval. 18.1

million passengers flew from Vnukovo last year,

making it Moscow’s third busiest airport. 40

41

American Airlines inked a massive $12 billion order

for 47 Boeing 787 frames, doubling its current fleet

of 42 of the type. The new order is split nearly

evenly, with 22 787-8s and 25 787-9 aircraft. 42 The

788s will begin arriving in 2020 and the 789s in

2023. Additionally, American canceled an

outstanding order for 22 Airbus A350 frames, an

order that it inherited from US Airways when the

carriers merged. 43

An American Airlines Boeing 787-8 seen at Dallas/Fort Worth,

August 2016.

Airports Council International (ACI) released its

preliminary numbers for 2017 ranking the busiest

airports in the world, in terms of passenger traffic.

For the 20th straight year, Atlanta takes top billing.

Hard to believe that Shanghai and Paris de Gaulle

had the exact same number of passengers. 44

Indonesia’s Lion Air has ordered

50 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft in

a deal worth $6.24 billion at list

prices. This order had previously

been attributed to an unidentified customer on

Boeing’s website. 45

Boeing delivered 184 commercial aircraft in the first

quarter of 2018, including: 132 737s, 2 747s, 4 767s,

12 777s, and 34 787s. 46

Scandinavian Airlines (SCSF) has

ordered 50 Airbus A320neo

aircraft, with deliveries expected

from early 2019 through 2023.

The nearly $4 billion order includes options for five

additional frames. 47

An Ilyushin Il-76 with the Algerian Air Force crashed

today, shortly after takeoff from a military base near

Algiers. A reported 257 on board were killed, with

two apparent survivors. Witnesses say flames were

seen from one engine shortly after the aircraft took

off. 48

AVIATION UPDATE | NO. 140 APRIL 11, 2018

6

You may recall in our last issue we mentioned that

Qantas was musing about the possibility of adding

sleeper berths in the cargo holds of some of its

aircraft… now Airbus has partnered with a seat

maker and come up with a mockup of what might

be available in the future. Click here to review.

AirBridgeCargo (3ABF) will begin

weekly service to Columbus

Rickenbacker, Ohio (LCK) this

month. Routing will be Moscow

Sheremetyevo (SVO) – Columbus – Liege, Belgium

(LGG) – Munich (MUC) - Moscow Sheremetyevo.

Flights will be operated by Boeing 747-400/F

equipment. 49

FedEx (FDEA) will begin a new

program called Purple Runway,

an effort to recruit new aviators

as a growing pilot shortage

continues to cause issues for commercial airlines.

Pilots in training at universities and aviation colleges

will be recruited. 50

United Parcel Service (IPXA) has

signed wet-lease agreements with

21 Air (21GA) and Western Global

Airlines (9WGA) to provide extra

capacity. UPS needs the additional lift to handle a

surge in global freight shipments while it awaits nine

new aircraft deliveries this year and 35 over the next

four years. 51

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has a

handy list showing nearly every conceivable airport

code in the world. Click here to review.

United Airlines (CALA) now has 12 former China

Southern Airlines Airbus A319 aircraft in their fleet.

It has been a bumper season for Texas bluebonnets this year.

G-VWIN, an Airbus A340-642 with

Virgin Atlantic (VAWF), was

withdrawn from use (wfu) and

ferried on March 26 to Tupelo,

Mississippi (TUP) for part-out and scrap. This aircraft

was delivered new to Virgin Atlantic on February 28,

2006 and is now being scrapped just 12 years later.

N9405T, a McDonnell

Douglas MD-83 (DC-9-83)

with American Airlines,

was wfu and ferried on

April 4 to Roswell, New Mexico (ROW) for storage.

This aircraft had 70,056 hours and 35,054 cycles as

of January 28.

N9405T seen arriving at Dallas/Fort Worth, December 2012.

N404NV, N406NV, and

N427NV, all McDonnell

Douglas MD-83s (DC-9-83)

with Allegiant Air (WX0A),

AVIATION UPDATE | NO. 140 APRIL 11, 2018

7

were wfu and ferried on March 31 to Victorville,

California (VCV) for part-out and scrap.

B-2053, a Boeing 777-21B with

China Southern Airlines (C4XF),

was wfu and ferried on March 30 to

Victorville for part-out and scrap.

The Aviation Update is compiled by Greg Gayden from open source material gathered across the internet, and features news regarding international operations

to/from the United States and the commercial aviation industry in general. To subscribe, simply send a request. The Update is published multiple times each month as news warrants. Unless otherwise noted, IATA codes used for airports & FAA designator codes for airlines.

The Third Edition of

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page book which explores

current security programs and

the basics of the aviation

industry, is now available on

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available in PDF format.

Paperback copies can be

ordered here.

1 https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/277974/aeromexico-connect-adds-leonguanajuato-detroit-service-from-late-april-2018/ 2 https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/277973/interjet-adds-new-us-routes-from-leonguanajuato-from-june-2018/ 3 http://atwonline.com/airports-routes/china-airlines-transfers-lax-service-ontario-california 4 https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/278011/philippine-airlines-plans-nonstop-new-york-jfk-service-from-oct-2018/ 5 http://atwonline.com/open-skies/air-china-opens-fifth-freedom-houston-panama-route 6 https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/278067/latam-brasil-files-las-vegas-schedule-in-nw18/ 7 https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/278040/jin-air-adds-tokyo-guam-scheduled-charter-in-s18/ 8 https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/277913/american-airlines-augdec-2018-mexico-south-america-network-changes/ 9 https://www.sfgate.com/chris-mcginnis/article/Alaska-Airlines-already-cutting-back-in-California-12736805.php 10 https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/278057/delta-removes-newark-paris-schedule-in-w18/ 11 https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/278037/british-airways-temporary-moves-oakland-to-seasonal-service-in-201819/ 12 https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/278033/eurowings-reduces-cologne-fort-myers-service-in-s18/ 13 https://www.tsa.gov/blog/2018/04/05/tsa-week-review-march-26th-april-1st 14 https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/277924/aerolineas-argentinas-tentatively-schedules-last-a340-service-on-01jan19/ 15 https://d14ik00wldmhq.cloudfront.net/media/filer_public/8e/09/8e097680-f6da-4c92-8e41-c3d70cac9693/0218_fin.pdf 16 http://abc13.com/weather/microburst-winds-tear-apart-hangar-near-hobby-airport/3299240/ 17 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/drunk-pilot-flight-cancelled-100-passengers-stranded-stuttgart-tap-portugal-a8272506.html 18 http://atwonline.com/air-traffic-management/dfs-group-takes-over-atc-edinburgh 19 https://www.meed.com/saudi-arabia-reports-airport-passenger-growth/ 20 https://www.thenational.ae/business/aviation/dubai-airports-traffic-dips-to-6-9m-in-february-india-remains-top-travel-destination-1.717102 21 http://atwonline.com/aircraft-interiors/spicejet-orders-ultralight-seats-bombardier-q400s-boeing-737s

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22 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-jet-airways-boeing/indias-jet-airways-agrees-to-buy-75-boeing-737-max-jets-worth-8-8-billion-idUSKCN1HB05Z 23 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/after-jet-airways-now-air-india-delays-payment-of-march-salaries/articleshow/63598057.cms 24 https://www.moodiedavittreport.com/london-heathrow-airport-posts-solid-traffic-growth-in-february/ 25 http://www.airport-world.com/news/general-news/6576-london-gatwick-reports-60-consecutive-months-of-traffic-growth.html 26 http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12405418/oakland-international-airport-traffic-up-53-in-february 27 http://www.fox21news.com/news/local/cos-airport-traffic-up-allegiant-departing-in-april/1089977046 28 https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/65835-us-dot-fines-qantas-125000-for-breaking-cabotage-rules 29 http://fox4kc.com/2018/03/29/some-restaurants-at-kci-airport-closed-after-bed-bugs-discovered/ 30 https://news.get.com/volaris-may-remove-reclining-seats-planes/ 31 https://bc.ctvnews.ca/father-and-daughter-become-first-to-co-pilot-air-canada-flight-1.3870318 32 https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/65844-air-belgium-starts-flight-ops-reveals-shareholder-structure 33 https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonrabinowitz/2018/04/05/charter-airline-hi-fly-to-acquire-two-airbus-a380s/#318f8dd66bcd 34 http://atwonline.com/airframes/portuguese-acmi-operator-hi-fly-add-10-a330-900neos 35 http://www.bbc.com/news/business-43641665 36 https://www.nasdaq.com/article/airlines-kick-off-2018-with-impressive-punctuality-data-cm942404 37 https://www.transtats.bts.gov/fuel.asp 38 https://airleasecorp.com/press/boeing-air-lease-corporation-sign-order-for-eight-737-max-airplanes 39 http://atwonline.com/airframes/beijing-warns-25-tariff-boeing-737ng-aircraft 40 http://atwonline.com/airports-routes/qatar-airways-acquire-25-share-moscow-vnukovo 41 https://www.transtats.bts.gov/Employment/ 42 http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=20295&item=130171 43 http://atwonline.com/airframes/american-orders-47-787s-cancels-a350-order 44 https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2018/04/09/list-worlds-20-busiest-airports-2017/498552002/ 45 https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/boeing-lion-air-group-announce-order-for-50-737-max-10-airplanes-300627052.html 46 http://boeing.mediaroom.com/2018-04-10-Boeing-Reports-First-Quarter-Deliveries 47 http://www.njherald.com/article/20180410/AP/304109898#// 48 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/world/middleeast/algeria-military-plane-crash.html 49 https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/277901/airbridgecargo-adds-columbus-rickenbacker-from-april-2018/ 50 https://about.van.fedex.com/newsroom/fedex-express-announces-purple-runway-a-fedex-pathways-program/ 51 https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/66052-ups-turns-to-wet-leased-freighter-capacity-to-stem-demand