Tag Archives: Delivery

First Indian airline with Sharklet equipped A320

29 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by in Manufacturer, Technical

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6E_Sharklet

Indigo just became India’s first airline to operate a sharklet-equipped A320, with its VT-IFH registered Airbus A320 that it took delivery of, on 28th January, 2013. VT-IFH bears manufacturer serial number (MSN) 5437, and first took to the skies on the 15th of January, 2013, and herald a new chapter for Indigo with an operationally more economical airplane, that has the potential of saving the airline in excess of US$400,000 per year, per aircraft.

All future A320 aircraft to be delivered to IndiGo shall be fitted with the Sharklet wing tip devices.

You may read up more on “sharklets” by clicking here.

This aircraft will be the 75th A320 that the airline has taken delivery of. Of the 75, 14 no longer fly for Indigo. Indigo sells every aircraft that it takes deliver of, leasing the airplane back from the lessor. The lease period is typically for six years: sufficient time for Indigo to make the most of a new airplane’s reliability and performance, while avoiding an expensive “D” check. Those that flew for Indigo, for the first six years of their life, now fly for Ethiad, SAS, BH Air, Myanmar Airways International, Kibris Turk Hava Yollari Charters, and Turkish Airlines.

MSN 5460 is the next sharklet equipped A320 slated to join the Indigo fleet as VT-IFI, while VT-INK will be the next A320 to leave the Indigo fleet.

Go Air will be the next Indian airline to receive Airbus A320 aircraft fitted with sharklets.

Air India’s controversial Dream-liner: Made, and Delivered.

07 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in Aerodynamics, Aircraft Production, General Aviation Interest, Manufacturer, Operations

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[787 production video at the end of article]

The 21st 787 to be delivered, and the first of 27 Dreamliners destined for Air India, VT-ANH was delivered yesterday to the ailing national flag carrier in a low key ceremony at Boeing’s South Carolina delivery centre. Scheduled to be ferried to Delhi today (Friday, 07 September 2012), the dreamliner is expected to touch down at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IATA: DEL, ICAO: VIDP) on the morning of Saturday, 08 September 2012.

The Dream-liner has actually been quite a nightmare for Air India. A four year production delay, and the antics of the Indian Government, and “pure-blood” Air India pilots, have made things quite distasteful. Air India pilots not wanting pre-merger Indian Airlines’ pilots to get rated on the 787, The Indian government (through Air India) demanding greater compensation from Boeing, and the 28th July un-contained GEnX-1B engine failure during high speed taxi trials on a 787 destined for Air India have  culminated in making the 787 appear (literally) like an blood smeared dagger responsible for an aviation bloodbath.

VT-ANH is Line number 35, and the manufacturer’s serial number 36276; its first flight having been conducted on the 25th of January, 2012. Of the other 787s produced / in production, VT-AND (Line 29) and VT-ANI (Line 46) are ready for delivery, while VT-ANA/B/C/E/G are in storage and undergoing rework. VT-ANJ (line 54) and VT-ANK (Line 60) are undergoing pre-flight preparations, while line numbers 65 and 72 (unregistered) are undergoing final assembly. Line Number 90, to be assembled in Everett, is also destined for Air India.

Rework is underway on the earlier line numbers (25, 26, 28,30, 32), possibly to fix the 10 – 15% reduced range (6900NM as against the promised 7700 – 8200NM) due to the 8% overweight airplane.

How does this airplane compare to the existing twin engine widebodies flying for Air India? 

Performance Comparisons between the four twin engine widebodies flying for AI. Note that performance figures for the 777 200LR and 300ER are based on FL350, LGD Wt: 200T, 7200NM. Data derived from graphs may have unspecified tolerances.

Seating on the widebodies, with seat pitch and sizes where available. Width and Pitch are in inches.

All technical information have been sourced from Airbus and Boeing published documents