Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has referenced further airspace efficiencies as a benefit of the new agreement to normalise relations with Sudan. Netanyahu had previously indicated that the Israeli government had made political contact with Sudanese counterparts in the past couple of years. “The skies of Sudan are open to Israel today,” he says. “This allows for direct and shorter flights between Israel, Africa and South America.” Israeli and Sudanese officials are set to negotiate co-operation in aviation, trade, economy and other aspects over the coming weeks following the agreement to normalise relations. Sudan becomes the third Arab state – after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain – to reach such an agreement in the past few weeks, joining a group which also includes Jordan and Egypt. The Sudanese state is undergoing a transition to democracy through a process which commenced in mid-2019. “After decades of living under a brutal dictatorship, the people of Sudan are finally taking charge,” says the US government which brokered the agreement, and removed Sudan from a US list of state sponsors of terrorism. “The Sudanese transitional government has demonstrated its courage and commitment to combating terrorism, building its democratic institutions, and improving its relations with its neighbours.” Israel’s agreement with Sudan is particularly symbolic because the Arab League declared from the Sudanese capital Khartoum, after an August 1967 summit, that Arab governments would work to ensure Israel’s withdrawal from Arab territory following the Six-Day War. This declaration added that there would be no recognition of Israel, no negotiations, and no peace with it, while affirming support for Palestinians. “Today Khartoum says ‘yes’ to peace with Israel, ‘yes’ to recognition of Israel, and to normalisation with Israel,” says Netanyahu. “This is a new era. An era of true peace. A peace that is expanding with other Arab countries.” Sudan’s main airline, Sudan Airways, has been affected for years by the pressure from US government sanctions. The carrier is also blacklisted by the European Union as part of a blanket ban on the country. Sudan Airways operates only a limited fleet. It has a pair of Airbus A300-600Rs in storage while an Airbus A320 serves regional routes including Cairo.

Source: Cirium

American Airlines has retired its 15 Airbus A330-200 aircraft as part of its ongoing fleet simplification programme amid the coronavirus pandemic. The airline had retired four of its aircraft types earlier this year: its Boeing 757s (34 aircraft), Boeing 767s (17 aircraft), Airbus A330-300s (nine aircraft), Embraer 190s (20 aircraft) and Bombardier CRJ-200 (19 aircraft). “With the permanent retirement of our A330-200 fleet announced this morning we now have only four aircraft types in our mainline fleet: 737, A320 family, 787 and 777,” American’s finance chief Derek Kerr said during the carrier’s22 July third-quarter earnings call. “Fleet reductions is [an] area where we will see significant savings.” American’s A330-200s have an average age of 8.9 years, Cirium fleets data shows. The Fort Worth-based carrier has also secured from Boeing the rights to defer deliveries on eight of its 737 Max deliveries in 2021 and all 10 of its 737 Max deliveries in 2022. “If the deferral rights are ultimately exercised, these aircraft can be deferred to the second half of 2023 through the first quarter of 2024,” Kerr says. “To avoid exercising these deferral rights we would need to see substantial improvement in the demand environment.” American has 217 aircraft on order: 97 Airbus A321neos, 76 737 Max 8 jets and 44 787-8/9s.

Source: Cirium

Airbus has delivered the first USA-built A220, handing over an A220-300 to Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines. The milestone, announced by Airbus on 22 October, comes 14 months after the company began manufacturing the type at the Alabama site where it also produces A320s. Airbus Americas chief executive Jeffrey Knittel calls the delivery a “historic moment that highlights Airbus’ growing industrial footprint in North America”. In July 2018, Airbus acquired the A220 program (then called the C Series program) from Bombardier. Airbus quickly moved forward with a plan to open a second A220 production facility in Mobile. The airframer also makes A220s at a primary manufacturing site in Mirabel, Quebec. Airbus began construction of the new A220 facility in Mobile in January 2019, and started producing A220s there in August 2019. The first Mobile-built A220 flew in June. Airbus says it has trained some 400 US employees to work on A220s. Delta has ordered 95 A220s, more than any other airline. It has 22 of the jets in service, nine in storage and another 64 on order, plus options for a further 50. As of the end of September, Airbus had delivered 123 A220s globally and had another 516 on order.

Source: Cirium