Hi Fly is the first charter airline to have an A380, which is pretty darn awesome, since they’re operating flights on behalf of other airlines. Hi Fly took over this A380 from Singapore Airlines, which chose not to renew their 10 year lease on the plane. Hi Fly acquired their first A380 last year, and…
Continue reading: Hi Fly Has An A380 Customer For Summer 2019
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Isn’t it obvious who is leasing the A380? Baltia Airways is back, baby! Woo! lol
Part of me would love if this was Air Canada, given the fact that one of their 77Ws is out of commission (possibly permanently so) at HKG and they could use the extra lift for the summer. Doesn't seem like a very AC move though.
VS have the 4 ex Air Berlin planes to cover their 787 issues.
Plus start of delivery of A350's happens in the summer so I think they have enough slack and if necessary they can put back the retirements of some of the 747s and A340 if necessary
Also they've not had an A380 before so don't have any A380 trained crew.
Air Canada to cover off C-FITW which has been AOG in HKG since December with multiple reports of a delayed repair. AC has no slack in their fleet to cover their summer sked.
@HockeyCoachBen - Its called US Global Airways now. You really need to keep up with the latest fraud airline news....
Can't be TAP at all, Lisbon Airport is not capable of handling an A380. Maybe Aer Lingus or Iberia? IAG has been looking at more A380s, maybe they wnat to see how it would work outside BA?
Aeroméxico, to consolidate their daily MEX-LAX flights and free up their 787 that they use during peak season. HA!
Corsair for their new Miami destination? They dont have their 747 anymore. However I am not sure if Orly can handle the 380
My bet is on lot polish they have tons of 787 issues and loads are good all summer long
No kidding but maybe Surinam Airways could be next for their PMB - AMS route. Demand is huge and they have only one A340 which is undergoing maintenance all the time. They have leased aircraft before from hifly. I can even take this a step as I can see TUI Netherlands involved as well. There is a codeshare agreement already between the two but especially during summer all the flights are completely full.
Vegas to any major US city with heavy load factor
Scoot (subsidary of SIA)can use SQ plane anytime
Just like Mandarin Airlunes with China Airlines
SouthWest is a possiblity
Most airlines today have affiliate programs to increase $ gUaP $ potential online.
Norwegian for their LGW-JFK route. They can fill the plane in summer.
Lufthansa! LH this week has announced a bunch of wet leases this summer to avoid the drama & high costs of cancellations they had last summer. They’ve announced leases from Air Baltic, Sun express and Swiss will be operating all their flights from Geneva-Munich and four of 8 daily flights FRA-GVA. They’re totally leasing the A380 from HiFly!!
@jamesp At first thought I would assume you’re right, considering they’d like to increase load cappabilities in the summer and they’re retiring their 747s. But el al aircraft are equipped with advanced anti-missile technology. I would assume el al wouldn’t acquire an an aircraft without the tech, let alone a foreign aircraft.
Freedom Airlines, flying completely full daily from CCS to BOG; empty on the return flight.
I used it when Norwegian had it last summer. The problem is that neither the first nor the business class seats work well without the mattress and bedding that Singapore used to provide. Flip the business class bed over and you get a rock hard surface. I persuaded the lovely Portuguese crew to fold down the bed in the first suite and it was almost as bad. Without the flat surface, you just get a pretty mediocre recliner. I can't see a premium carrier taking it. Without the bedding, I'd much prefer Norwegian's usual premium seats
Actually, I would agree with a couple of previous comments. I wouldn't rule out Norwegian. They are shrinking their fixed costs, but they still make money in the Summer season. It would make sense to reduce their fleet in the Winter, and to lease a few more planes just for the Summer, when they're actually profitable. It reduces their exposure to seasonal variations.
@Charlie
I don't think that that would be a reason why they wouldn't use it. Israeli airlines such as Elal, Arkia and Israir have been using wet-leased aircraft for years although they are not equipped with such systems. That includes aircraft from airlines such as Small World, Travel Service (I think both are defunct now) and Hi Fly. For example, I think last summer Elal have been using a wet-leased Hi Fly aircraft for some of its Toronto and Spain flights. I think it was also used in a flight to Miami at least once.
My speculation will be Garuda Indonesia. As we know, the air travel market there is growing rapidly and they might wish to test out the A380? For Haj charter?
It’s not fresh news I guess but in case it was missed, hi-fly a380 operates between Paris and Dakar for air Senegal.