Aero Pacific Flightlines

Friday, May 22, 2020

Amazon Prime Air Seen Surging Fivefold to 200 Jets, Rivaling UPS

Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Air fleet will grow to about 200 planes -- up from 42 now -- in the next seven or eight years, creating an air cargo service that could rival United Parcel Service Inc., according to a study.

“At a time when many other airlines are downsizing due to the pandemic, Amazon’s push for faster and cheaper at-home delivery is moving ahead on an ambitious timetable,” said the report issued Friday by DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute of Metropolitan Development. “Amazon Air’s robust expansion makes it one of the biggest stories in the air cargo industry in years.”

Amazon unveiled the air cargo service in 2016, prompting speculation that it would ultimately create an overnight delivery network to rival delivery partners UPS and FedEx Corp.

Prime Air operates out of smaller regional airports close to its warehouses around the country, helping Amazon quickly move inventory to accommodate one- and two-day delivery. For that reason, some analysts have dismissed Amazon as a potential competitor to UPS and FedEx since it can only offer limited service to a small number of destinations and seems designed to handle Amazon packages.

Key to its ability to take on the entrenched players, the report says, is Amazon’s new $1.5 billion facility near Cincinnati that will accommodate up to 100 planes and as many as 200 flights each day. Amazon’s lack of a central hub has kept it from competing in the overnight delivery services offered by UPS and FedEx, which have more planes flying to more destinations.

“The massive investment being made in a large hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, however, could change everything,” the report says. “This hub appears to be the linchpin to Amazon’s efforts to develop a comprehensive array of domestic delivery services.”

A separate report released Monday noted Amazon’s lack of a central hub in concluding it was not a competitive threat to FedEx, which has a hub in Memphis, or UPS, which has one in Louisville. FedEx’s network can offer 9,000 daily flight connections, UPS’ 5,500 and Amazon Air just 363, according to the report from Bernstein.

“The viability of a commercial overnight offering from Amazon remains very limited,” Bernstein analyst David Vernon wrote. “Offering a low cost on shipping to a small number of markets every so often will never be a serious competitive threat.”

(Spencer Soper - Bloomberg)

Thursday, May 21, 2020

American Airlines MD-83 (53623/2276) N973TW

(Photo by Michael Carter / Aero Pacific Images)

Arrives at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX/KLAX) on January 23, 2010.

Originally delivered to Trans World Airlines (TWA) on September 10, 1999 following her first flight August 31, 1999.

Still active today with Iranian carrier Caspian Airlines as EP-CAS.

Gulfstream G650 (c/n 6418) N618GA

(Photo by Michael Carter / Aero Pacific Images)

Captured on short final to Rwy 30 at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB) following a pre-delivery test sortie this morning.

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Air France terminates A380 fleet with immediate effect

(Photo - Air France)

Air France has accelerated plans to phase out its Airbus A380 fleet and will retire the aircraft immediately rather than in 2022 as previously scheduled.

Air France grounded its A380s on 16 March as the coronavirus pandemic began to take a toll on operations, before ultimately suspending the majority of its scheduled passenger flights. Air France-KLM has today announced the “definitive end” of the French carrier’s Airbus A380 operations.

”Initially scheduled by the end of 2022, the phase-out of Airbus A380 fleet fits in the Air France-KLM Group fleet simplification strategy of making the fleet more competitive, by continuing its transformation with more modern, high-performance aircraft with a significantly reduced environmental footprint,” the group says.

Prior to the pandemic, the airline had already begun withdrawing the first of its A380s in February as part of the planned phase-out over the next three years. The first aircraft entered storage at Ireland West Airport near Knock on 20 February under the care of Eirtrade Aviation.

Five of the Airbus A380 aircraft in the current fleet are owned by Air France or on finance lease. A further four are on operating lease. Air France-KLM says the impact of the A380 phase-out write down is estimated at €500 million and will be booked in the second quarter of 2020 as a non-current cost/expenses. The fleet is powered by Engine Alliance GP7200s.

In December Air France-KLM Group said it was ordering another 10 Airbus A350-900s, which would be used to replace the company’s A380s.

(Graham Dunn - FlightGlobal News)

UK Bizjet Confiscated in Nigeria over Covid Violations

An Embraer Legacy 600 operated by UK-based charter provider Flairjet—a subsidiary of Flexjet Ltd.—was impounded this week and its crew arrested and placed in quarantine after allegedly violating Nigeria’s Covid-19 travel restrictions. According to reports, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority is investigating whether the aircraft, registered as G-ERFX, was engaged in commercial operations despite airspace closure in the country due to the pandemic.

The reports state Flairjet was granted a permit for a humanitarian flight on May 13 and, according to its flight plan, the 13-seat Legacy departed London Stansted Airport on May 17 with six passengers on board. After a stop in Spain, it landed in Nigeria with a total of seven passengers. At Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, it was determined by Nigerian officials that Flairjet actually was conducting a revenue flight with a plan to return with another seven passengers on board.

Hadi Sirika, the country’s Minister of Aviation, tweeted, “Flair Aviation [sic], a UK company, was given approval for humanitarian operations, but regrettably we caught them conducting commercial flights,” adding “there shall be maximum penalty.”

In response to an inquiry from AIN, Flairjet responded: “We are continuing to respectfully work with the Nigerian authorities and the British consulate to resolve this situation for this flight. However, because it is an evolving situation we cannot say anything further at this time.”

(Aviation International News (AIN)

Gulfstream’s G280 Adds To City-pair Records

Gulfstream Aerospace’s G280 set another city-pair speed record while demonstrating steep approach capability on a mission from Burlington (Vermont) International Airport to the UK's London City Airport. The February 16 transatlantic trip spanned 2,735 nm in 6 hours and 10 minutes, averaging a speed of Mach 0.83. Aircraft, as well as crews, flying into London City must be certified for the airport's steep approach procedures required by the short runway and noise-abatement rules.

The city-pair record is among 75 that the G280 has collected. In another record nod this year, the super-midsize business jet completed a 2,515-nm flight from Hawaii's Kahului Airport to Phoenix in 4 hours and 57 minutes. The G280 also averaged a cruise speed of Mach 0.83 on that January 5 mission.

“These latest city-pair speed records are further proof of the aircraft’s superior performance capabilities bolstered by its advanced wing, robust airframe, and powerful engines,” said Gulfstream president Mark Burns.

The twinjet, which Gulfstream said is the only one in its category to be certified for EFVS-to-land operations, can fly four passengers 3,600 nm at Mach 0.80 or 3,000 nm at Mach 0.84. Some 200 G280s are in service worldwide.

(Aviation International News (AIN)

L-3 Communications Boeing 757-26D(WL) (24473/301) N473AP

(Photos by Michael Carter / Aero Pacific Images)

This was a very nice surprise visitor at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB) on December 11, 2019 seen on short final to Rwy 30.

Originally delivered to Shanghai Airlines as B-2810 on August 3, 1990 and ending her commercial airline service with French carrier OpenSkies as F-HAVI "Violette" on April 24, 2018.

JetBlue Airbus A320-232 (c/n 2647) N632JB "Bear Force One"

(Photos by Michael Carter / Aero Pacific Images)

Sporting the special "Boston Bruins" livery, "Bear Force One" turns onto the rolls for takeoff on Rwy 30 at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB) on February 24, 2020.