HAECO Hong Kong has completed the first split scimitar winglet modification in tandem with a C-check for a Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800. The modification work was to change the blended winglets into split scimitar winglet configuration, to improve fuel efficiency of the aircraft, HAECO Hong Kong says in a release today. It adds that it has completed over 110 winglet modifications on 737NG, 757 and 767 aircraft as an Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) designated authorised modification centre.

Aeroflot will resume flights to Aktau and Shymkent as part of efforts to reactivate its network to Kazakhstan. The Russian carrier says it will start operating once-weekly flights to Aktau and Shymken from Moscow on 20 and 22 January, respectively. Aeroflot adds that its flight programme to Kazakhstan will be completely restored from 22 January. Recent unrest in the Eurasian state had led to a flurry of service cancellations. In addition to Aktau and Shymkent, Aeroflot serves the nation's capital Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Aktobe, Atyrau, Karaganda, Kostanai and Kyzylorda, the carrier's website indicates.

Aircraft Leasing Ireland's members have agreed to work together on helping the aviation industry meet its net-zero target by 2050, and will publish a sustainability charter towards the end of this year that will detail their planned actions. A key element of the charter will be an agreed metric by which to measure the carbon footprint of each lessor, Jan Melgaard, executive chairman of FPG Amentum and chair of ALI's sustainability committee, says. "It would be unfortunate if we ended up in a world where different lessors used different metrics," says Melgaard, adding that an agreed metric would be "the starting point for everything," he says. Once that metric is agreed, Melgaard's "realistic expectation" is that there would be a "tiered approach" to complying with the charter that takes account of the fact that some members already invest primarily in new-generation, more fuel-efficient aircraft whereas others have based their business models around placing mid- to end-of-life aircraft. "The most important thing is to come up with a solid framework," he says. He observes that it is too early to say exactly what will be in the charter. ALI has 31 members, including AerCap, Avolon, Orix Aviation and SMBC Aviation Capital. The Ibec body says its members will "collaborate and use their influence as owners of more than half of the global fleet to lead and drive aviation towards a sustainable future". In addition to drawing up a charter, ALI plans to hold an "Aviation Sustainability Day" in Ireland during 2022, where stakeholders will be invited to discuss the industry's progress towards net zero. It will also establish a sustainability award, to "promote the sustainability agenda within its membership", and will work with the European Union as it develops its Taxonomy for Aviation, which will define what constitutes a sustainable aviation investment. ALI chair Declan Kelly tells Cirium that lessors are "definitely" already seeing an increased focus from investors on sustainability, and this will only increase. "When you look at the new investors coming in, there's an absolute emphasis on the type of asset and what your ESG compliance is," he says. Melgaard adds that the cost of financing less-efficient aircraft is "going to go up", and there is "no doubt we will be moving in that direction". As lessors "pivot into full acceptance of ESG", this in itself "sends a message" to OEMs as they develop future, more environmentally-friendly aircraft that "there's a buyer out there that's monitoring this", says Kelly. "Our message to OEMs is that we're on board," he adds, noting that "at the end of the day, the end goal" is to reach net zero by 2050.