Welcome to our inaugural Fortnight Aviation News (FAN) column, where Project AeroFlight brings you a summary of the past two weeks' aviation news. From aircraft retirements, new routes, and analysis of airlines, this weekly feature strives to be your quick guide to the latest aviation updates.
To our readers who are seeing this in November 2023, congratulations on being one of our website’s first viewers and thank you for your support for us. For those who are looking back on our first feature years after its publication, welcome back to where it all started! No matter where or when you are reading this, thank you for being part of our journey, whether from the beginning or along the way.
Without further ado, let us jump into this week’s hottest stories.
By: Gareth
Published On: 3 November 2023, 9.00pm (GMT +8)
The retirement of TUI's Boeing 767s
TUI's Boeing 767. Photo: TUI Airways (www.tui.co.uk)
Britain’s TUI Airways has become the latest airline to retire its ageing Boeing 767-300ER aircraft in favour of newer and more fuel efficient Airbus A321-200NXs. Early in the morning of 1st November, G-OBYF was retired as a passenger aircraft and flown to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen airport to be reconfigured as a freighter aircraft. Its sister, G-OBYK, last flew from Manchester to Palma de Mallorca on 28th October, according to data from Flightradar24. It is expected to be moved to Istanbul to join its sister sometime in the next few days.
The 25.4 year-old G-OBYF was first delivered to Britannia Airways in June 1998. It spent 5 years in operation for a subsidiary, Britannia Airways Germany (as D-AGYF) before being leased to Garuda Indonesia and subsequently sold to Thomson Airways. Data from airfleets.net reveals that it was shuttled between Garuda, Thomson Airways, and Eurowings until 2017, when it returned to operating for TUI Airways full-time.
G-OBYK, on the other hand, was delivered to Air 2000 in 1999, then sold to Aeroflot before coming into TUI’s ownership in 2011. Simple Flying’s James Pearson notes that G-OBYK (nicknamed “Sunshine”) has been more intensively used than G-OBYF, with over 102000 flight hours, but is valued higher than its sister at US$12.3 million.
The new longest Max route
Arajet's Boeing 737 Max 8. Photo: Boeing (www.boeing.com)
Dominican flag carrier Arajet launched the world’s longest Boeing 737 Max flight this week, with operations between its home base in Santo Domingo and Santiago’s Nuevo Pudahuel Airport. At 5736 km in Great Circle distance, it is almost the distance from Paris CDG to New York JFK, and easily Arajet’s longest service even after its route to Toronto Pearson.
Santiago was previously Santo Domingo’s largest unserved market in South America. Previously, the fastest route was to transit via Panama City or Mexico City.
This expansion into the South American market has evoked much speculation that Arajet is moving towards a hub-and-spoke model, connecting various major cities across the Americas. Santo Domingo is strategically placed to be a hub for journeys between North and South America, and the airline’s new routes into major cities in both continents could very well put it in competition with Copa, AeroMexico, and Volaris, allowing the Dominican Republic to become an air travel hub similar to Panama City or Mexico City.
Currently, Arajet operates flights to Montreal and Toronto in North America and Sao Paulo and Santiago in South America, with Buenos Aires flights to be launched on 14 November.
Spirit’s flop: The end of a major player in low-cost aviation?
Spirit A320 in Toulouse. Photo: Airbus (www.airbus.com)
Spirit Airlines, one of the largest low-cost carriers in the United States, announced on 3 November that they would cease operations out of Denver International Airport (DEN) with effect from January 9, 2024. The airline cited low demand for its services in the city as a key reason, along with persistent issues with its A320s’ Pratt & Whitney engines.
The Miami-based airline reported a US$157.6 million loss in the third quarter of 2023, and has suspended training for new flight and cabin crew indefinitely. In addition, it has not been operating at full capacity since August when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an Airworthiness Directive for aircraft with Pratt & Whitney’s PW1100G engines. Around 20 of Spirit’s aircraft were involved and have been grounded since, the airline reported.
Spirit Airlines is North America’s seventh largest carrier by passengers carried, and the second largest low-cost carrier after Jetblue. The airline reported severe losses during the COVID-19 Pandemic that almost caused it to file for bankruptcy in 2020.
The drama at Spirit does not end there. In recent days, Jetblue announced its intention to buy its long-term rival for US$3.8 billion. Congress, however, is determined to keep the two companies apart to promote diversity and competition in the low-cost market. Both airlines, however, have defended their intentions to merge, citing Spirit’s failure to turn a profit over the last 3 financial years.
A JetBlue A321. Photo: JetBlue (www.jetblue.com)
CEO Ted Christie told a Boston court that Spirit only occupies 3% of the US aviation market despite years of growth and that it is being overshadowed by other players. Merging with the country’s largest low-cost airline and its main competitor, he said, would be a “far superior path” than continuing as a standalone business.
Malaysia Airlines makes WiFi free in all classes
A Malaysia Airlines A350. Photo: Malaysia Airlines (www.malaysiaairlines.com)
Let us shift a little from the drama of North American aviation and instead switch to some news from Asia which should surely get passengers happy.
Malaysia’s flag carrier announced on 1 November that it would make WiFi access onboard free of charge for all passengers on its wide body aircraft. Previously, WiFi was only free for Business Class and Enrich Platinum members. This perk is available on six Airbus A350-900s, five A330-200s, and nine A330-300 aircraft. The complimentary WiFi will be rolled out to the narrowbody fleet of 42 Boeing 737-800s next month.
Malaysia Airlines is expanding its narrowbody fleet with 25 Boeing 737 Max 8s on order which are expected to be delivered between 2024 and 2026. The current 737-800 fleet has an average age of 10.9 years old, according to data from ch-aviation.
In addition to the complimentary WiFi, the airline is also rolling out reusable lunchbox sets to all passengers aged three to eight. This is in addition to the activity pack already provided to children on board.
These moves signal Malaysian Airlines’ commitment to customer satisfaction, in a bid to compete with its rival Singapore Airlines for a larger share in the South-East Asian market. Currently, the flag carrier operates over 300 flights a day to 50 destinations, with the majority being domestic flights to connect the Malay Peninsula with the Borneo Territories. With its notorious road infrastructure and slow train network, Malaysia primarily relies on travel by air to get between cities.
Malaysia Airlines Activity Pack. Photo: Malaysia Airlines on X (www.twitter.com/mas)
These moves signal Malaysian Airlines’ commitment to customer satisfaction, in a bid to compete with its rival Singapore Airlines for a larger share in the South-East Asian market. Currently, the flag carrier operates over 300 flights a day to 50 destinations, with the majority being domestic flights to connect the Malay Peninsula with the Borneo Territories. With its notorious road infrastructure and slow train network, Malaysia primarily relies on travel by air to get between cities.
This concludes our first Fortnight Aviation News. Look forward to a new release of this every alternate Sunday!
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