Aeroflot was getting new Western aircraft delivered
Courtesy: aerotime.aero
JANUARY 01 2023: Russian airlines certainly won’t be adding to these numbers. As recently as February, just days before the start of the Ukraine invasion, Aeroflot was getting new Western aircraft delivered. Some of those outstanding orders have now been snapped by other carriers, such as Turkish Airlines, which was flying an A350 with part of it in Aeroflot colours until the repainting this December.
Russia is preparing for aviation autarchy by reactivating its domestic aircraft programs. But with newer ones, like the Superjet and MC-21, hitting capacity constraints, some older types, such as the Il-96 and Tu-214, may be making a comeback. The first MC-21 in an airline livery (that of Rossiya Airlines) has made an appearance, though.
In Hostomel, near Kyiv, Ukraine, what’s left of the destroyed An-225 Mriya has become one of the iconic images of the destruction brought about by this war. We had the chance to speak with one of the pilots that used to be at the helm of the world’s largest aircraft. Here are Part 1 and Part 2 of our conversation with Dmytro Antonov.
Another conflict, although of a different nature, is that between Qatar Airways and Airbus about the paint cracks. The matter is now going to be settled by UK courts after Airbus cut Qatar Airways off further deliveries.
The Boeing 737 MAX program is still awaiting to get the greenlight in China, so Boeing is considering re-marketing stuck aircraft to other customers. And in the US, the MAX-7 and -10 versions are still facing some hurdles in getting certified.
And while the Boeing 777X faces new delays, now 2025 is the tentative date, the FAA has, however, approved the restart of Boeing 787 deliveries.
Airbus, however, seems to be having a better time in China, with the A321 now being assembled locally and the A320neo racking up orders.
In the meantime, the new Chinese mid-sized entrant, the COMAC C919, has been certified.
This year has also seen the first flight of the A321XLR, including this record-long flight, although the type’s entry into service date is not yet clear.
Long range is what Qantas was shopping for with its Project Sunrise, to link nonstop the main Australian cities to London. The Airbus A350-1000 has been finally selected, with the Australian carrier ordering 12 of the type.
Airbus introduced a new production standard for the A350, which includes performance enhancing features, such as a fast-retracting landing gear, more positions for flaps, one ton less of weight, and a thinning of the cabin walls that has yielded one extra centimeter of space. Iberia was the first airline to get one of these revamped A350-900s.
Some other airlines have also decided to invest heavily in conducting a radical refitting of their existing long-haul fleets, this is the case of Emirates and Finnair.
And looking into the future, a number of visionary, greener aircraft concepts were also unveiled this year, such as ATR’s Evo concept or Embraer’s Energia family of turboprops.
In the meantime, Boeing is getting ready for the delivery to cargo operator Atlas Air of the very last Boeing 747 ever produced; the aircraft has already rolled out the assembly line.
This last Boeing 747 is almost certain to get way more attention than this other Jumbo jet, which got scrapped after only 30 hours of flight!