by Lufthansa Flyer | May 8, 2018 | 777, A320neo, Featured, Fleet Update, Lufthansa, Swiss |
Earlier today, the Supervisory Board for Lufthansa Group approved a 2.1 billion Euro proposal to add 16 new aircraft to the group’s fleet.
Specifically, SWISS will be adding 2 777-300ER aircraft in the first half of 2020 (and hopefully use them to replace the woeful antique currently flying between ZRH & JNB but I digress). Lufthansa Cargo will receive 2 777 Freighters that will be used to retire 2 of their MD11 workhorses.
In addition to the long haul addition, the board also signed off on the purchase of 12 A320 aircraft. This includes the conversion of 6 optioned aircraft into firm orders that will be delivered in 2022. According to the press release 6 of these may be A320CEO (Current Engine Option) due to delivery delays with the A320NEO (New Engine Option).
by Lufthansa Flyer | Nov 5, 2017 | Avgeek, Brussels, Featured, Fleet Update, Jumbolino |
Last week, Brussels Airlines sent their last ‘Jumbolino’ into retirement when aircraft ‘OO-DWD’ landed in Brussels after a short flight from Geneva. This last touchdown put an exclamation point on a long and successful career for the ‘AVRO RJ100’ aircraft type in the ‘SN’ fleet.
According to Brussels, the Jumbolino was part of their fleet for 15 years. 32 of them transported 31.5 million passengers over the course of 606,000 flights to 89 destinations.
A friend of mine, FlyerTalk & VFT member ‘Claudi STR’ was fortunate to be on the final flight of the Jumbolino and was kind enough to share some of her photos from the ‘Retirement’ flight.
The last safety briefing aboard the Avro’s last flight
Passengers received a souvenir to mark the retirement flight.
‘OO-DWD’ prepared for boarding her final passengers…
The Avro got its ‘Jumbolino’ nickname due to the fact that it has 4 jet engines, not unlike her much larger relatives like the 747, A380 and A340 aircraft…..
In the past, retired Jumbolinos have found new homes with other airlines as well as being repurposed to serve as fire-fighting aircraft around world. Though she won’t carry any more passengers for Brussels, there are a lot of hours left on her engines.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 10, 2017 | Featured, Fleet Update, Jumbolino, Swiss |
SWISS has once again updated their expected retirement date for the Avro RJ100 or as we like to refer to as the ‘Jumbolino’. She’s known as the Jumbolino due to the 4 jet engines that are strapped to the wings of a small regional aircraft.
Per SWISS’ previous update, the target retirement date was set for August 26, 2017 however they have moved the date up to August 16. Currently there are 7 ‘Jumbolinos’ left in service and most will be phased out over the summer months leading up to the August 16 date. At their peak in the LX fleet, 25 Jumbolinos were darting around SWISS destinations throughout Europe.
The reason for the minor shift is due to SWISS finally getting all the C-Series jets from Bombardier after extended delivery delays. Five have been put into service and one remains to be delivered. These aircraft will help fill in the void created by the removal of the Jumbolinos.
So for those of you who have a soft spot for aircraft entering retirement, start paying attention to the LX timetable for mid August. I suspect there may be another tweak or 2 left to the schedule before its finalized, but SWISS will publish the final timetable well ahead of the retirement party.
H/T: FlyerTalk’s Oliver2002
