Photo by Victor Alexander .

Aircraft Details
Current registration : 4R-MRB
First flight : 23/02/1999
Serial number : MSN 977
First delivery : 23/04/1999 as A7-ABU to Qatar Airways
Service History : Qatar Airways as A7-ABU, Air Deccan as VT-ADZ ( Since 2004 )
Aircraft Age : 10yrs

Mihin Lanka, launched by and named after the Sri Lankan President, has so far been largely unprofitable but expects to break even soon.Similar Posts:

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AIR: Among all the economic turmoil, AirArabia performs very well, what is your secret?

H.R: Air Arabia’s success is based on a simple promise of value-for-money travel options. Drawing upon successful strategies adopted by LCCs across the world, Air Arabia’s dynamic business model is well positioned to adapt to changing business environment.

The low-cost model, which Air Arabia introduced to the region, is uniquely attractive in these challenging economic times. According to a recent report by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), low-cost carriers (LCCs) will see increased demand in terms of both traffic growth and earnings this year compared to traditional airlines. The low-cost model is founded upon the principle of adaptability to changing market conditions. In that sense, we are uniquely positioned to react rapidly to shifting patterns in demand.

AIR: What do you think about the increasing low cost competition in Middle East?

H.R: Since Air Arabia introduced the low-cost model in 2003, we have anticipated other carriers to follow our successful business model and since then, we have many new LCCs being established. Air Arabia, however, has maintained its leadership position, and continues to post strong financial performance. The carrier remains focused on offering compelling value propositions for customers through competitive fares and services.

AIR: You recently launch Air Arabia Maroc, your Moroccan subsidiary, how is it performing?

H.R: Air Arabia Maroc began operations in May this year, with the inaugural flight to Stansed Airport in London, United Kingdom. The carrier has now grown to 11 destinations across Europe and North Africa, offering comfort, reliability, and value for money air travel from and into the Moroccan city of Casablanca. The airline’s low-cost model is proving very attractive and we have seen encouraging response.

AIR: Do you plan to launch further subsidiaries, and do you have any plans for a long haul subsidiary?

H.R: Air Arabia regularly monitors passenger traffic on all its sectors, and actively looks for new routes to expand its strong network. Air Arabia continuously explores business opportunities and may consider establishing a subsidiary if we have a strong business case for it.
We remain focused on the LCC model and we don’t have any existing plans for long haul subsidiaries.

AIR: RyanAir and Southwest are often considered as models for newer carriers, have you been following any of them? If not, what is AirArabia modelled after?

H.R: As mentioned earlier, Air Arabia draws upon successful strategies adopted by LCCs across the world and had developed a dynamic business model of its own that is well positioned to meet the regions expectations and service requirements.

AIR: Africa is still an unspoilt market, how is Air Arabia’s approach to Africa?

H.R: Air Arabia recognises the immense opportunities offered by Africa. The carrier already flies to Egypt and Sudan in North Africa. The new hub in Morocco will enable Air Arabia to further expand in the African continent.

AIR: In Europe, low fare carriers have the possibility of operating into secondary lower costing airports, but such options do not exist in this part of the world – how do you deal with this ?

H.R: Air Arabia is committed to optimal utilisation of available resources leading to high operational efficiencies. For the fourth consecutive year, Air Arabia has been recognised by Airbus for achieving the highest level of operational excellence.

Our cost control strategy and high resource utilization remains the balance through which we can achieve good results and at the same time, offer best rates in the market.

AIR: How do you make sure that you always select the right person when you hire someone?

H.R: Our people are our greatest asset. We always make sure that our employees are their to grow with the airline. In fact, most of our staff members are shareholders – they own a stake in the airline.

Thank you Mr. Raydan for your participation.Similar Posts:

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SriLankan Airlines A330-200, 4R-ALD, MSN 313, selcal KQDP, is now available for ACMI or wet lease.

4R-ALD at Paris

An ACMI lease means the aircraft and crew, including aircraft maintenance, insurance and crew salaries, is provided by the lessor ( in this case, SriLankan ) for the aircraft to be operated for some other airline. Wet lease is essentially the same with lease periods from around one month to two years.

4R-ALD is currently the newest A330 in SriLankan’s fleet, although already over 9 years old. It is a fond memory to many, with its nickname “Asia’s Rising Star”. The aircraft is powered by Trent 772 engines and was originally delivered to SriLankan in year 2000. The aircraft is being used extensively throughout the network and dumping of this aircraft means AT LEAST 10 weekly flights will have to be cut.
I will not reveal information of the company doing the broker agreement since I do not want UL to lose further destinations.

Aircraft offered for ACMI lease by airlines is not uncommon, but an airline of SriLankan’s scale who has already sold half of its fleet and cut its network by more than 45%, cutting even more ?

Mr. Manoj, is this your so-called turnaround of SriLankan ?

Editors note – The demand at Colombo certainly is not so plump. The sole intention behind this sale is finding money. It is really saddening to notice what happening to once South Asia’s best airline.

UPDATE: Take a look at this article. He is saying he will never ever resign from the CEO post – is this the way a CEO is expected to behave ? Very disgraceful. But this certainly was inevitable and as you remember, we all saw this coming with the political push which led Mr. Peter Hill, an excellent CEO, being removed for a fault of the Sales Manager and that Sales Manager made CEO by government’s order. And Mr. Manoj accepts that the airline is in its worst ever financial crisis under his leadership, but can invest millions of rupees to change the airline’s uniforms to blue colour, which reflects the colour of current government. That really is shameless, dear executive. Revealing these facts certainly will arrest me, but I love my national airline and don’t want politics to ruin it.Similar Posts:

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• Final Chance for SriLankan to Succeed

- – - – -

“If we’re growing, we’re always out of our comfort zone” John Maxwell said. This might be why many airlines nowadays try to cut flights and to stay afloat, to stay in the comfort zone. But have you ever heard of any airline which saved millions of money and made a profit by cutting the services they’ve been operating ?

“If you run you may lose, if you don’t run you’re guaranteed to lose” Jesse Jackson said. That certainly is true. There might be airlines which narrowed its loss by cutting the routes and laying off employees, but how many airlines have gone down in recent times by doing the same practices ?
Then, what about the likes of AirAsia, Emirates and THY – who have always grown at the times when others have cut ?
Certainly, there are times that you’ve to cut and manage things, but do airlines need to cut the flights in great deal to narrow the loss ? Why not try to operate profitable flights more ? Why not innovate something ? Why not experiment something ?
Sure, cities like Bangalore and Trivandrum might not have seen important to other international airlines before Emirates tried it. Low cost carriers might not have been seemed feasible before Freddie Laker innovated it.
Like an aircraft has a flight envelope, any airline has a certain capable catchment that they can realise, but the unfortune is that many do not. And unlike an aircraft, airlines do also have the capability to expand their envelope. It all is a matter of being smart and getting it done. But sadly it seems that the airline industry is lacking such great executives, except for a few of the likes of Tim Clark and Tony Fernandes.
A good example is Turkish Airlines, which in the last fiscal expanded very well but still increased its profit. While in the same fiscal, SriLankan Airlines which got free from Emirates and into a new management team embarked on a heavy turnaround program, including cutting flights by more than 30%, to achieve a loss of Rs. 6 billion in the end. Turkish increased and embraced its image in the markets it serve and SriLankan lost the dominance in many markets it served, including India where they cut weekly flights from 110 to 46. Turkish might be bigger than SriLankan, but in the end it all was a matter of believing in their potential and achieving it
It is your attitude that sets your altitude.
Overcapacity is an issue, but if you can stimulate the market, how come there be an overcapacity ? This does not mean you should stupidly expand at any cost – that any small airline should operate an A380 or every low cost carrier should launch a long haul arm, but instead airlines should try to innovate and expand and achieve the true potential of their operations, a skilled executive has the ability to sail through every storm and arrive safely, cutting drastically is not the answer. If you stop evolving, you stop flying.

With some exams coming up, this will be my last post till around 22nd Aug. Good bye all !Similar Posts:

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It is reported that SriLankan Airlines will soon resume flights to Milan.
The new flights are likely to be operated via Frankfurt and will most possibly be operated as a tag on to the UL553 flight, which operates on Wed, Fri and Sun and resides at FRA for in excess of 7 hrs. in order to cater for connecting traffic.
SriLankan cancelled its flights to Milan following the terrorist attack at Colombo Airport in 24 July 2001, which destroyed half of its fleet.
It is still uncertain when the service will begin, but the source informed Airline Industry Review that it will begin “very soon”. However, keep in mind that this proposed route is still tentative and we cannot take any responsibility if SriLankan opts to change the plan.
Not sure if they read my article on how to take SriLankan to next level yesterday , but it is always nice to see SriLankan expanding.Similar Posts:

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Bjoern Schmitt – World of Aviation

The Indian government had stated about turning Air India into a low-cost airline and while this would not be a complete solution, something along the lines of what Shashank Nigam suggested would be worth looking at.
Whatever it takes, Air India needs to do a boatload of cost cutting and needs some serious business discipline. To make this a reality, they need a good CEO and a sound management team. I would not suggest that they must appoint a foreign national, but I personally wonder whether they’ll be able to find such a capable and experienced airline executive from India. Someone with talents similar to Temel Kotil, Robert Fyfe or Tony Fernandes would be a good fit for the ailing national carrier.

M. Azizul Islam

Rationalization
Air India currently has four divisions – Air India Express, Indian, Air India Regional and Air India itself. While diversifying the business is good, there is a clear overlapping in the missions of these airlines. To avoid this, Air India needs to rationalize its units.
Three units could be enough
1. International arm
2. Domestic arm
3. Low cost arm

A favorable approach would be making Air India international only, Indian domestic only and Air India Express the low cost carrier.

Branding
It is pretty evident that Air India is not a strong brand. While there is a lot to be done to make a strong and resembling brand, Air India needs to simplify and unify its brand, do some good marketing and live up to the expectations. That would be, delivering what it promises and promising only what it can.

Service levels
Again, Air India needs to simplifly its service levels and promise the customer what it can deliver. But to compete, Air India also needs a strong product – but this should not be hurting the bottomline. So, the current product onboard its 777 could be accepted, but they need to unify it throughout all of its long-haul fleet. Fare structures should also be more simple and the low-cost domestic service could be a good solution.

Fleet
Air India’s fleet rationalization is a must, but securing financing for its huge backlog will also not be an easy task. Hence Air India needs to increase utilization and in the same time, phase out older aircraft. Deferrings and cancellations must not come at the cost of cutting the service.

A fleet similar to the following would be nice.

Airbus A320 family – to be operated by Indian on domestic and regional routes
Boeing 737-800 – to be operated by Air India Express
Both of the above fleets should be replaced by a single fleet type when their synchronization occurs when Airbus and Boeing will have developed their next generation narrowbody

Airbus A330-200 – to be operated by Air India and medium and long-haul routes.
To be replaced by 787-8

Boeing 787-8 – to be operated by Air India

Boeing 777-200ER/200LR/300ER to be operated by Air India

The Boeing 747-300s should be immediately phased out. A310-300s should also be phased out soon since this aircraft does not perform a special mission and could be easily replaced by the A330s but could also be converted into freighters. The Boeing 747-400s can stay in the fleet for a few more years.
The cargo fleet should consist of the A310 freighters and if possible, 777-200LRFs.

New Air India Economy class. Lasse Kaila

Expansion
16 international destinations never help Air India to compete with the likes of Emirates and Etihad who continue to steal Air India’s traffic and Air India should rapidly expand. This investment would be worth it when the market returns to normal.

For the moment, new A330-200 flights should be launched to
Sydney, Australia (SYD)
Manchester, United Kingdom (MAN)
and,
Milan, Italy (MXP).

The Singapore and Bangkok services currently operated by Indian should be transferred to Air India . Air India should use its 777-300ER equipment in both of these routes ( for use on a daily BOM-SIN and DEL-BKK ) and compete effectively and somehow regain its lost market share.

More new destinations should be added when 787-8 begin to arrive.

If Air India is able to complete the above steps successfully, it could enter a good path to success. But the government should also keep in mind that profits do not come overnight and should make sure not to spoil the carrier and also to keep it free of politics.

What do you think of the above plan ? Please leave a comment. I may have made some mistakes, so make sure to point out them too.Similar Posts:

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Notice: The cut is not permanent, but for selected periods in both 2009 and 2010

As per posting on Airline Route Updates – a highly credible source – today, British Airways will be temporarily cancelling its flagship London – Singapore – Sydney route temporarily from 24 October onwards .
The cuts are in place from
1 NOV 2009 – 25 NOV 2009
28 FEB 2010 – 27 MAR 2010

The route used to be operated by a Boeing 777 aircraft and the cut is the first time BA has ever cut this route in 50 years .
BA however will run a limited daily service from December 2009 to February 2010 with a Boeing 747 . The schedule is as follows

BA 011 LHR 2115 – 1750+1 SIN 744 D
BA 012 SIN 2255 – 0450+1 SYD 744 D

BA will however keep its daily 747 service operated via Bangkok to Sydney. This will see BA’s Sydney service, as well as Singapore service, being reduced from 2 to 1 daily flights for the suspended period.

This news comes after BA’s decision to ground 3 747s and 3 757s.

These details are as per GDS update on 16 July, stay tuned to Airline Industry Review to be the first to know about any changes.Similar Posts:

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SriLankan Airlines ( UL/ALK ) appear to have resumed its cargo operations, after being closed down by the new management last year.
At the moment, the only destination appears to be Trivandrum, served four times weekly. My attempts to contact the airline regarding cargo schedules failed.
The airline is using an An-12 freighter for these operations, which is likely wet leased.

The schedule

Flt No.s ETD ETA ETD ETA Days Of Operation A/C
UL 9161/2 CMB 2200 2330 TRV 0230 0400 CMB 1 AN12F
UL 9161/2 CMB 1300 1400 TRV 1600 1700 CMB 4 AN12F
UL 9161/2 CMB 0730 0900 TRV 1200 1330 CMB 5 AN12F

Colombo (CMB, VCBI ) has traditionally been a popular cargo port and China Airlines, MASKargo and Etihad are among many cargo operators to CMB.

In my opinion, UL should have taken a more wider approach to their cargo operations and could have created a superb link between the Far East and Africa owing to their geographical location and low charges. Sri Lanka’s own export businesses are also enough to warrant a good year around load for a fleet of one or two Airbus A310 or A300 freighters.

A Busy Noon at Colombo

MidEx Airlines, an all cargo operator based out of Al Ain has steadily increased flights to CMB – their most easterly destination, in the recent times, now operating daily A300 freighters.Similar Posts:

• How to Make Colombo a hub like Singapore
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Frequencies to destinations are as follows
Per week
AUH – 7
BAH – 2
BLR – 4
BKK – 7 ( UL422 – 3, UL888-3, UL424-1 )
BOM – 7
PEK – 3
DMM – 2
DEL – 7
DOH – 4 ( UL201 – 1, UL203 – 1, UL209-2 )
DXB – 7
FRA – 4 ( UL553 – 3, UL557- 1 )
HKG – 3
JED – 1
( unconfirmed )
KHI – 2
KUL – 7 ( UL312 – 4, UL318 – 3 )
KWI – 7
MAA – 14 ( UL121 – 7, UL123 – 7 )
LHR – * at the moment shows only 5 weekly flights, but this should be 10 or more weekly.
MLE – 14 ( UL101 – 5, UL103 – 5, UL505 – 4 )
MCT – 2
CDG – 3
RUH – 2
FCO – 3
SIN – 7 ( UL312 – 4, UL318 – 3 )
TRZ – 7
NRT – 3 ( UL460 – 2, UL454 – 1 )
TRV – 7

The only noticeable change is that UL460/1 CMB-NRT-MLE-CMB on Wednesdays has been switched to an A330-200 from A340-300 .

No new destinations will be launched.Similar Posts:

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FlightGlobal reports that Qantas Airways has cancelled orders for 15 787-9s and deferred the deliveries of 15 787-8s in a bid to reduce capital expenditure.
This is the first major cancellation for the delayed Dreamliner.
Qantas was the biggest customer for the 787 and still has orders for 35 787-9s and 15 787-8s. It had planned to use the first 15 787-8s for JetStar, it’s low cost subsidiary, operations which were slated to arrive from 2010. Now it plans to provide JetStar with the 787-9s which will arrive from 2013 onwards.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has said that the delay was not a reason for the cancellation.
Boeing stock quote went down by 0.66% at the latest change ( 7.59pm ET ) . This is the 50th post in this blog and sadly, I had to post a bad news. This news comes in a week full of bad news with the 6th delay to 787 delivery schedule and Michael Jackson’s death this morning.Similar Posts:

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