unaligned

Arajet has confirmed it is flying uninterruptedly over the Dutch Caribbean after the region's air navigation service provider (ANSP) lifted a pending suspension of the airline's services following the payment of outstanding fees. The Dutch Caribbean ANSP also confirmed receipt of the overdue payment from Arajet and that the suspension - which would have come into effect on April 11 - was cancelled. This was supported by an official aeronautical circular shared with ch-aviation. According to an Arajet spokesperson, the payment had been delayed due to a clerical error as the DC-ANSP invoices were going to the wrong email. "Arajet prepays the Dutch Caribbean ANSP for overflight fees. However, a separate charge for airport approach fees was billed separately and not debited from the account holding the prepayment. The regulator was sending invoices and communicating the situation to the originally communicated email, which is no longer being managed. As such, the situation was not noted until last Saturday. Yesterday Arajet contacted the DC-ANSP, paid the outstanding balance, and advised them of the new email address," she explained.<br/>

Icelandair Group said Friday it signed a provisional deal to purchase 13 of European planemaker Airbus's latest A321XLR single-aisle jet, with deliveries slated to begin in 2029. As part of the deal, Icelandair has an option to purchase an additional 12 aircraft after buying 13 of Airbus' newest and largest narrowbody airliner at an undisclosed price. Icelandair, however, said it plans to start using the world's largest planemaker's aircraft from 2025, and is currently in advanced negotiations to lease four Airbus A321LR planes for this purpose. "With the acquisition of the Airbus aircraft, Icelandair will complete the replacement of the Boeing 757," the company said. Icelandair said it would continue to operate a full Boeing fleet until 2025, after which a mixed fleet of both Airbus and Boeing planes will be in operation following the first deliveries from Airbus. Airbus and US rival Boeing have been locked in a dead heat for deliveries in the first two months of the year, but the European planemaker has had a tougher task to meet annual forecasts amid supply woes.<br/>

Air Baltic has seen maintenance of the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G geared turbofans that power its Airbus A220-300s take months longer than expected as supply-chain and labour challenges weigh on the MRO sector, but the airline expects the situation to improve. Speaking to FlightGlobal at the Airlines for Europe (A4E) Aviation Summit in Brussels in late March, Air Baltic CE Martin Gauss sang the praises of the GTF – when it is on the aircraft wing – but said availability of spare engines continues to be an issue that creates daily challenges for the airline. Gauss expresses particular frustration that having secured its summer capacity after agreeing to wet-lease four A320s from Avion Express – a deal made in response to the MRO delays – Air Baltic had to announce the short-term wet-leasing of four more aircraft barely two weeks later, when a fresh forecast on spare engine deliveries showed a deterioration in availability. “The engine itself is performing even above expectations if it’s about the fuel burn, reliability and so on,” Gauss states. “The only problem for us is to get the engine on the wing.” Amid the lack of spare engines, the airline is seeing some aircraft grounded for much longer than the 24-hour turnaround that would usually be expected when an engine is removed for maintenance, he says. Moreover, under normal circumstances, an engine would go for maintenance and be ready 60-90 days later, Gauss explains, “but that timescale can now be closer to one year”. In one case, Air Baltic had an engine “that was away for 386 days”, he states. The delays are being caused by “insufficient spare parts and insufficient labour” at the maintenance provider, the Air Baltic chief says, and says spare engines are few and far between. Despite the recent setbacks, however, Gauss believes the situation is getting “significantly better” and says Pratt & Whitney and Airbus have communicated well on the issue. “We had a forecast that showed a steep improvement,” he states of the coming months, but notes that he expects problems for Air Baltic to continue “into 2024”. <br/>

China's Hainan Airlines on Friday resumed its direct flight services between London and Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Six hours before departure time, people were already lining up at Heathrow Airport to check in for the flight. Passenger Yan Xiaoping, who previously had to do layover stops to get to Hunan, said the resumed route was "extremely convenient for us Chinese in the UK to get back home." The first flight was scheduled to take off from Heathrow Airport at 10:00 p.m. local time on Friday, and land in Changsha in about 11 hours. Operated by brand-new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, the service will provide three flights per week: on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This is the second direct flight route by Hainan Airlines that links the Chinese mainland and the UK, following the resumption of its direct flight between Beijing and Manchester in August 2022.<br/>

Budget airline Vietjet launched its new three times weekly service from Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh City on Easter Sunday. The A330-300, VN-A811, departed the Victorian capital at 2:29am on 9 April as flight VJ82 and landed in Vietnam at 7:37am local time. Victor Pody was in Melbourne to shoot the moment the aircraft arrived the day prior. Vietjet joins Bamboo Airways, Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar in flying the route and plans to upgrade it to a daily service by December 2024. Melbourne Airport’s chief of aviation, Jim Parashos, said Vietnam has consistently been one of its top 10 international destinations. “Low-cost fares will make the trip even more appealing to leisure and business travellers, and of course, people wanting to connect with family and friends at both ends of the route,” said Parashos. “Victoria is home to a large Vietnamese community, with Melbourne’s vibrant and fast-growing migrant population making the city a key inbound market with Melbourne Airport the natural gateway to Australia. There are also around 9,500 Vietnamese students enrolled at Victorian institutions making Vietnam one of the state’s largest international student populations.”<br/>