Icelandair is resuming flights between its home country and South Greenland. The carrier will fly over the Atlantic using one of its DHC Dash 8-400s, which can seat 76 passengers. Flights to Narsarsuaq will start on April 1st, 2022.

Icelandair is bringing forward the route resumption by two months due to stronger demand. Photo: Ronnie Robertson via Wikimedia Commons

Connecting

According to Aviation24.be, Icelandair is bringing back its route to South Greenland after a pause due to the pandemic. Starting April 1st, the flag carrier will resume flights to Narsarsuaq from either Reykjavik or Keflavik. A final decision on the route and timings will be made in the coming weeks.

The Dash 8 will make a short 750-770 mile hop between Iceland and Greenland (formally a part of Denmark). Photo: ERIC SALARD via Flickr

While the Iceland-Narsarsuaq route was set to resume in June, the airline has decided to bring it forward by a full two months. In a statement, the Chairman of Innovation South Greenland, Hans Peter Hansen, said,

“It is not an April Fool’s joke, but really good news for South Greenland when Icelandair resumes flights to Narsarsuaq on 1 April. So far, Icelandair has indicated that it is willing to start on 1 April instead of in June, as first planned. But we need a route all year round, so we are continuing to work on getting it started even earlier.”

Up to the job

Icelandair is planning to use one of its two de Havilland Canada Dash 8-400s on flights to southern Greenland. With a range of nearly 1,500 miles, the turboprop is more than capable of flying the 750-mile journey across the Atlantic. Moreover, the Dash 8 has an optimal capacity of 78 seats for the journey, laid out in a 2-2 configuration across 20 rows.

The aircraft was operated by subsidiary Air Iceland Connect, the flag carrier’s regional arm. However, with the two arms merged earlier this year, the planes will fly under Icelandair’s branding and livery in the coming months.

The Dash 8 fleet will soon carry the Icelandair livery, ending the Air Iceland Connect subsidiary. Photo: Matasjauu via Wikimedia Commons

In recent months, Icelandair has been deploying its Dash 8s further from their home base. The aircraft has been deployed routes to the UK, including a three-hour hop to Manchester that’s over a thousand miles. As global demand recovers, expect to see the Dash 8 fly some more important routes in addition to its usual services.

Iceland’s big year

2021 has been a strong year for aviation in Iceland. The island nation in the Atlantic is home to a new low-cost carrier, PLAY, and has seen a flurry of flights from the US due to its early reopening to vaccinated travelers in May. This pace is set to continue into 2022, as PLAY expands into the North American market and airlines see strong demand for leisure travel next year.

PLAY is Iceland’s newest low-cost airline and looking to fill in WOW Air’s absence from the market. Photo: PLAY

For now, the route to Greenland will be a major boost for the local community and open up new destinations for visitors.

What do you think about Iceland’s growing market? Let us know in the comments!

Japan Airlines’ subsidiary Zipair has completed its inaugural flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles. The low-cost carrier completed the Christmas Day service in just under 10 hours using one of its Boeing 787-8s. Let’s take a look at this flight and what we can expect from the airline when it comes to this route.

Zipair has three Boeing 787-8s in its fleet. All come directly from its parent company, Japan Airlines. Photo: Zipair

Three flights per week

On Saturday Zipair completed its inaugural flight to Los Angeles after announcing the service roughly six weeks prior. For now, the service will run thrice-weekly but will eventually ramp up to once daily in February 2022.

A relatively new carrier having started during the global health crisis, the budget airline has only served a handful of destinations in its one year of commercial operations. Zipair has mainly flown to other major cities in the region like Seoul, Singapore, and Bangkok, as well as the major US leisure destination of Honolulu.

The airline’s president offered the following statement at the time of the route’s announcement:

“Ever since the introduction of ZIPAIR, one of our key goals was to establish a flight across the Pacific and I could not be prouder to stand here today to announce the launch of our Los Angeles route. Our mission is to define a new standard in the air travel industry by offering a unique low-cost business model on long-haul international routes,” -Shingo Nishida, President of ZIPAIR Tokyo

Welcome @ZIPAIRTokyo! Today the airline begins its much-anticipated non-stop service between Narita International Airport in Tokyo and #LAX. ZIPAIR will initially offer 3 flights per week to LAX and plans to offer daily service starting in February. pic.twitter.com/mbYkGOiVNt

— LAX Airport (@flyLAXairport) December 25, 2021

Flight details

Using the aircraft registered JA822J, one of the airline’s three 787s, Zipair flew its inaugural service to LAX from Tokyo Narita (NRT) at December 25th at 15:02 local time. Heading over the Pacific Ocean with a flight time of nine hours and 18 minutes, the Dreamliner touched down in Los Angeles at 07:20- 10 minutes ahead of its scheduled arrival time.

JA822J is an 11-year-old Boeing 787-8 which originally flew with parent company Japan Airlines between 2012 and 2019. Originally configured with 30 business and 176 economy class seats, the jet was reconfigured for a denser layout of 290 seats. This consists of 18 premium “ZIP Full-Flat” seats and 272 standard economy class seats.

The service will begin with a frequency of three times per week. Photo: RadarBox.com

Joining a small group of airlines

While most budget airlines tend to fly “closer to home” with a fleet of narrowbody jets, Zipair is part of a small club of airlines that have dared to operate low-cost transoceanic and long-haul services. Other budget carriers currently doing the same include LEVEL, Scoot, AirAsia X, and Jetstar. A notable low-cost carrier that recently exited this sector is Norwegian, which ended its transatlantic long-haul services due to the global health crisis.

Zipair only has a fleet of three aircraft at the moment. Photo: Zipair

Despite these airlines focusing on offering low fares, there is still a premium offering in most cases- something that even budget travelers are willing to go for with these lengthy services. In the case of Zipair, the Japanese airline’s business class product features a 180-degree reclining leather seat equipped with reading lights and charging equipment.

Would you fly a budget airline across the Pacific between Tokyo and Los Angeles? Let us know by leaving a comment.

There are over 1500 registered commercial airplanes in India of which more than 600 are actively flying, according to ch-aviation. With some existing airlines inducting newer planes into their fleets, the country is home to many young aircraft. However, there are some that have been flying for decades, serving in all kinds of roles.

While most of India’s 600+ active commercial planes are fairly young, there are some that have been around for decades. Photo: Venkat Mangudi via Wikimedia Commons

More than half a century old

The oldest aircraft in India is 51.04 years old. Flying for the Indian Air Force (IAF), it’s not involved in commercial service anymore but it does have a commercial history. The Boeing 737-200 first entered service in January 1971 with former domestic carrier Indian Airlines. It had a registration number VT-EAJ and serial number 273. In 1993 it was acquired by the IAF and its registration changed to K3187.

The next two oldest planes on the list are also former Indian Airlines B737-200s bought by the IAF with registrations K2412 and K2413 and both around 38 years old. These older refurbished 737s are mainly used as VIP aircraft to fly top politicians in the country.

While not in commercial service anymore, the three oldest active airplanes in India fly for IAF but flew commercially in the past for former Indian Airlines. Photo: John Wheatley via Wikimedia Commons

Cargo dominates the list

The next few airplanes down the list are all from cargo operators. That’s hardly a surprise since cargo airlines often go for older planes that no longer fly for passenger carrying services. The oldest among these all belong to Blue Dart Aviation, a cargo airline based in the southern Indian city of Chennai.

All six Boeing 757-200(PCF)s make up the entire fleet of Blue Dart Aviation and are between 24 to almost 30 years old. The oldest of the six VT-BDO (29.68 years) entered service in 1992 with Britannia Airways and was converted into a freighter in 2002 for Boullioun Aviation Services. After flying cargo for a couple of other carriers, it entered Blue Dart’s fleet in July 2012.

The other five Blue Dart 757s with registrations VT-BDN, VT-BDM, VT-BDQ, VT-BDB, VT-BDA are 29.44, 26.25, 25.81, 25.08, and 24.73 years old, respectively.

Blue Dart’s VT-BDO is one of the oldest airplane in the country at almost 30 years old. Photo: Venkat Mangudi via Wikimedia Commons

Joining the cargo list are five passenger-to-cargo-converted Boeing 737s of SpiceXpress, the cargo division of India’s low-cost carrier SpiceJet. Three of these converted freighters are the 737-700 variant and two -800.

All five have been flying for over two decades, with the oldest, VT-SFB, being 23.45 years old with a serial number 73. Joining Xiamen Airlines as a passenger plane and changing owners a couple of other times, it was converted into a freighter for SpiceXpress in 2018.

Passenger jets

Among the passenger jets, two of the oldest active airplanes surprisingly belong to IndiGo, known for its young narrowbody fleet. The two Airbus A320-200 with the registrations VT-IKC and VT-IHV, are fast approaching the two-decade mark at 18.88 and 17.76 years, respectively. The older of the two first flew for the Gulf carrier Qatar Airways in 2003 and joined IndiGo fairly recently in 2019.

Among active passenger jets, IndiGo operates the oldest. Photo: Getty Images.

Regional carrier Star Air’s four Embraer 145LRs also make the list with all four being between 17 and 18 years old.

Rounding out the top 10 oldest active passenger jets are SpiceJet’s 737-800 (VT-SGJ, 16.88 years), an Embraer 135LR of air charter company India Fly Safe Aviation (VT-JSI, 16.83 years), AirAsia India’s A320-200 (VT-HYD, 16.13 years) and Air India’s A319-200 (VT-SCB, 16.1 years).

Special mention

Airports Authority of India (AAI) also have two of the oldest active airplanes in the country. Although not used for carrying passengers or cargo, its two Dornier 228-200 airplanes are part of AAI’s flight inspection unit.

VT-ENK and VT-EPU are well over three decades old at 35.3 and 33.79 years, respectively. AAI deploys the two airplanes to inspect airport features such as ground navigational aids, visual landing aids, etc. These airplanes have also inspected airports of neighboring countries, including Nepal, Maldives, Bangladesh and Bhutan under UNDP projects and bilateral agreements.

The Competition Commission of India has approved Tata’s acquisition of Air India, AI Express, and AI-SATS Airport Services. The process began a couple of months ago with the Tatas winning the bid and is now very close to being completed. The Tata Group has until January 23, 2022, to take complete control of the airline and start flying it as a private entity under their brand.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved Tata’s acquisition of Air India. Photo: Getty Images

Countdown begins

Following the signing of the sale-purchase agreement on October 25, the process for getting clearances from regulatory agencies was underway. Now that the CCI has given the go-ahead, others such as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), lenders, and third-party vendors will likely give a green signal pretty soon.

Once all the requirements are met, and the previous and new owners are happy with the balance sheet, the Tatas will pay ₹2,700 crores ($355mn) upfront to the government, as decided, and take ownership of the carrier.

What next?

Before the acquisition, the Tatas would most probably want to settle the ongoing wage issues of AI’s current employees. One of the first things the new owners would do is ensure that AI operations are kept running and even improved.

The Tatas have established a new subsidiary to handle the Air India deal, known as Talace, which is in talks with banks to secure a one-year loan to the tune of ₹23,000 crores ($3.02bn). While most of it will go towards purchasing Air India, some of it will be used for the carrier’s operational costs.

The Tatas are expected to bring about many changes within the airline, including management and fleet optimization. Photo: Getty Images

Changes in the management team and working culture of the airline are all on the cards, and the Tatas have come up with a 100-day plan to improve the airline’s services, such as on-time performances, addressing customer grievances, and just raising the overall basic service standards. While it’s impossible to dust off years of malpractices in just 100 days, the Tatas will hope to bring about some improvement and set the tone for things to come.

Then there’s the big question about the merger. While there are plans to merge AirAsia India and AI Express, there’s been no official announcement about Vistara and Air India. Will the new owners eventually combine all airlines under the Tata umbrella to form one carrier or operate two separate entities – one full service (AI and Vistara) and its low-cost arm (AI Express and AirAsia India)? At the moment, the second option seems more plausible.

Fleet and network

Another key issue, and a pressing one, facing the Tatas is fleet and network optimization. They’ll have to take a call about Air India’s grounded planes and how to turn around the poor conditions of the interiors of many of its aircraft.

A little over 80% of AI’s fleet is functional. This means that many planes are sitting on the ground, gathering dust and not bringing in any money. Refurbishment alone would cost millions, with up to $300,000 per widebody aircraft. Many of its planes from the A320 family are also awaiting new engines, the costs of which are expected to run into hundreds of millions.

The Tatas may not be ready to foot such expensive bills to get all the old planes flying again. Instead, we could see fresh aircraft orders, both from Airbus and Boeing.

Many of AI’s planes need new engines and maintenance, something that will cost the Tata Group millions. Photo: Getty Images

In the long run, a private Air India will have to up its game in network expansion, not just in India but also internationally. There’s a huge demand for direct non-stop flights after the pandemic, but AI has to add more destinations in the future to compete with foreign carriers.

AI currently flies to five airports in the US and eight in Europe; Emirates flies to 15 in the US and more than 40 in Europe. While the two airlines have very different structures, AI will have to think about expanding its fleet and network eventually, which will again cost billions to the Tatas in long-term investments.

How excited are you to see Air India acquired by the Tata Group? What expectations do you have from future AI operations? Please comment below.