ATSG secures rights to fleet of Boeing 767-300ER aircraft

Air Transport Services Group, the leading provider of medium wide-body cargo aircraft leasing, passenger and cargo air transport and related services, announced earlier this week an agreement with Jetran, LLC to acquire twenty Boeing 767-300 extended-range passenger aircraft from Jetran over the next three years.

The aircraft covered by this agreement are currently operated by American Airlines. They were manufactured between 1993 and 2003, and are powered by General Electric CF6-series engines. ATSG currently expects to begin freighter modification of six of the twenty 767-300s during 2019, up to nine during 2020, and no fewer than five in 2021.

Twenty aircraft to be acquired through 2021 will meet strong e-commerce-driven demand for mid-size freighters

ATSG flies high in fourth-quarter with seven 767 Deliveries

Air Transport Services Group, announced the delivery of seven leased freighters by its Cargo Aircraft Management and ATSG West Leasing subsidiaries during the fourth quarter of 2018, pointing to continued strong demand for its converted Boeing 767 freighter aircraft.

Amerijet International Airlines of Miami, Florida, took delivery of a Boeing 767-300 converted freighter. CAM now leases seven 767 freighters to Amerijet.
Cargojet Airways of Mississauga, Canada, took delivery of two more Boeing 767-300 converted freighters, bringing the total number of aircraft leased to CargoJet to four.
SkyTaxi of Wroclaw, Poland, took delivery of its first Boeing 767-200 converted freighter, with an option to lease a second freighter in 2019.
West Atlantic AB of Gothenburg, Sweden, took delivery of a Boeing 767-200 converted freighter. This is West Atlantic's sixth aircraft leased from ATSG.
Also, two Boeing 767-300 freighters were delivered internally to ATSG subsidiary airline Air Transport International, to be operated for external customers under ACMI agreements that extend well into 2019.
Additionally, a DHL-leased 767-200 freighter was transferred to Bahrain from DHL’s US air cargo network. DHL now has six ATSG 767-200s in the Middle East.

Photo Air Transport Services Group

WestJet to start new non-stop route to Barcelona from May 2019

One of the fastest growing airlines in Canada, WestJet has announced that from May next year it will operate a new direct international service to the beautiful Catalan city of Barcelona.

From 24th May the airline will expand its growing Europe route network with a  three-times weekly, non-stop service between Toronto and Barcelona.  The summer service runs all the way through until 21st October 2019 operated on its Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft, seating 262 guests and featuring the airline's Premium and Economy cabins. 

"In summer 2019 WestJet will provide even more access between Canada and Europe as we continue to expand our international network," said Ed Sims, WestJet President and CEO. "The addition of flights to Barcelona, an important European cruise hub, offers our business and leisure guests convenient flight times and one-stop flight connections from Canada via our Toronto hub."

"Next spring, Toronto Pearson passengers will have another option for non-stop travel to Europe with WestJet's upcoming service to Barcelona," said Kim Stangeby, Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Greater Toronto Airports Authority. "International destinations continue to be in high demand for travellers in the region and we're excited to be able to provide additional connectivity to this vibrant city."

Details of WestJet's service between Toronto and Barcelona:

Route	Frequency	Departing	Arriving	Effective
Toronto –  Barcelona*	Three times weekly	9:00 p.m	10:42 a.m. +1	May 24, 2019
Barcelona – Toronto*	Three times weekly	12:30 p.m	3:25 p.m	May 25, 2019

*Subject to government approval

Aloha Detroit.........New Detroit - Honolulu route from Delta Air lines starts next year

Delta Air Lines has confirmed that from June next year they will deploy Boeing 767-300ER aircraft equipped with 25 fully flat-bed seats in Delta One, 29 seats Delta Comfort+ and 171 seats in the main economy cabin on a new route between Detroit and Honolulu.

"We're pleased to add a nonstop link to Hawaii from our Detroit hub as we know it's a destination our customers in our hub city and beyond have asked for," said Ed Bastian, Delta's Chief Executive Officer. "It will also bring convenient, one-stop connections to Honolulu for many customers in dozens of other cities we serve in the Upper Midwest and Northeast U.S."

"Nonstop service to Honolulu is wonderful news for Detroit Metropolitan Airport," said Wayne County Airport Authority Interim CEO Chad Newton. "Until now, Honolulu was our third largest market without nonstop service from Detroit. It is a destination that our customers repeatedly ask for on social media, so we are excited to offer direct access to such a beautiful place."

End of the 'Open Skies' era

The 'Open Skies' era has come to an end, at least in terms of the airline called Open Skies set by British Airways in 2008, which operated its last flight last week.

Open Skies was a premium brand flying a premium service between New York and Paris Orly and has been absorbed into the new IAG budget carrier, Level, which used the Open Skies operators certificate to get airborne.   Now the last aircraft featuring the Open Skies livery doing an Open Skies route has flown its last revenue flight for the airline. The Orly operation is now run with two Level-branded Airbus A330-200s.

The last flight from Newark to Paris took place on 2nd September and the Boeing 767 is now in the process to be retired from service and as it bows out, so too does the last remnants of OpenSkies brand, at least in public eyes.

The aircraft, registration: F-HILU was flown to St Athan, a few miles from Cardiff, Wales on 3rd September to end its 28-year working life. 

Photo © Dominique Scarmure 

FAA calls for urgent tests on Boeing 767-300's wings

The US Federal Aviation Administration has sent out orders to all US based operators of the Boeing 767-300 aircraft fitted with winglets to carry out special test on the wing structure following fatigue cracks on other aircraft.

Aviation Partners Boeing winglets on the 767-300 give the aircraft an enhanced performance whilst also saving fuel and were introduced to American Airlines aircraft in 2009 and other operators followed over recent times.

The FAA has issued an Airworthiness Directive which tells operators they need to do high-frequency eddy-current checks for cracking of the lower outboard wing skin on the modified aircraft.  The directive also requests repeat checks, modification of internal stringers, and other similar safety measures.

Fatigue cracking in the skin of the wing and winglet could result in the separation of the winglet from the wing causing greatly reduced controllability. It's estimated that there are 140 767-300's in the US with the winglets and the estimated cost of the check is $510 each aircraft.  American Airlines and Delta have been reticent about checking the aircraft and asked for a grace period of some 18 months to carry out the inspections. 

Delta's A350 to head to Seoul

Delta has confirmed it will utilize its new Airbus A350 aircraft, featuring the Delta One and Delta Premium Select cabins on its route between its home base of Atlanta and the capital of South Korea, Seoul, beginning 24th March '18.

The route, which debuted in June, links Delta’s Atlanta hub, the world’s busiest airport hub operation, to Seoul-Incheon, home of Delta’s trans-Pacific joint venture partner Korean Air.

Revamp For Ethiopian Airlines 767's

Ethiopian Airlines, the largest airline of Africa has retrofitted the first of its B767-300ER aircraft with a complete refurbishment that includes lie flat seats, super in inflight entertainment system and wifi.

The Cloud Nine business class seats feature 17-inch TV screens and in-seat power sockets. The aircraft’s economy cabin has also been refurbished, with new seats offering wifi IFE accessible on passengers’ personal devices.

Near Miss at Barcelona?

A plane spotter has captured footage of an apparent "near miss" between two planes at Barcelona airport,

The footage shows a Boeing 767 from the Russian airline UTair coming in to land on a runway at El Prat airport.

But as the plane prepares to touch down, an Aerolineas Argentineas Airbus A340 is seen taxiing across the runway, while the Russian jet pulls up.

However, officials were quoted as saying the manoeuvre was normal and passengers were not in danger.

None of the passengers on either plane were hurt.

Sources at Spanish airport authority AENA told La Vanguardia newspaper that the planes were more than 1km ( 0.6 miles) apart at all times, and that the angle of the shot makes the planes appear closer to each other than they actually were.

Both planes were in the correct position and the Russian jet could have landed safely, the sources said. Neither of the two airlines had lodged a complaint, they added.

However, it is not clear why the pilot of the Russian plane took the decision to abort the landing.