All information posted here is believed to be correct, but without any guarantees. If you have any corrections or comments, please e-mail them to Ryosuke Yano.
December 14, 2000
A newly-founded company, AeroExecutive (AEA), to be based in San Diego, California, is currently negotiating the acquisition of two medium-range L-1011s and one L-1011-500 aircraft via JetStream Aviation Marketing. They intend to commence VIP operations from Californian destinations, either on domestic as well as international routes to Asia and the Middle East, in spring 2001, although final board approval has not been obtained yet.
TradeWinds Airlines ceased passenger operations on November 18th, due to problems with Interlease Aviation. They say that the aircraft were "underutilized". All four aircraft are currently parked at Greensboro. They are in short term storage, and are still on the airline's operating certificate. All of the aircraft are currently offered for sale by Interlease Aviation.
With TradeWinds no longer needing passenger L-1011s, it seems like N300AW (msn 1134), which was destined for the Greenboro-based airline, will now be leased to an airline named AirWing Jets. The newcomer may operate the aircraft on charters for Texas Air. Funding has not be made available at this point.
Angel Air has received its first of three Airbus A300-600Rs operated by China Northern Airlines. It was to replace L-1011-1 XU-700 (msn 1055) which had been leased from Kampuchea Airlines, but now, Angel Air instead operates XU-600 (msn 1043), and it will be leased until February 10th, 2001.
Air Atlanta Icelandic will phase out its L-1011 fleet by the end of this year. According to the airline, the main reason is due to high fuel prices. The L-1011s will be replaced by secondhand Boeing 767-200ERs, which will be acquired from Britannia Airways. The Icelandic carrier has already retired three aircraft.
November 18, 2000
Congo Airlines, based in the Republic of Congo, has made a deposit to purchase one L-1011-500 and one L-1011-250 from Delta Air Lines. They have also placed an option to acquire five more L-1011-500s. This acquisition will allow the reopening of European flights from Kinshasa.
Air Luxor is operating CS-TMP L-1011-500 (msn 1248) for Cameroon Airlines. This aircraft is substituting for their sole Boeing 747-200B, which was severely damaged when it overran the runway at Paris (Charles de Gaulle), in poor weather conditions, on November 5. The L-1011-500 will be leased until the airline replaces it with a Boeing 767-300ER, to be leased on long term.
American Trans Air seems to have started retiring their L-1011s. N187AT L-1011-50 (msn 1077) operated its last revenue flight on October 30th as flight TZ438 from Orlando to Indianapolis. It will be ferried to Amarillo for storage. All L-1011-150/-50s will be replaced by Boeing 757-300/-200s by 2003. The five -500s and the pair of -100s will be kept at least until 2005.
Fine Air Services, the parent of Arrow Air and Fine Air, has secured a $55 million in credit from the Banc of America, as part of their Chapter 11 restructuring plan. This will allow them to continue operations. Both airlines are expected to merge soon.
October 27, 2000
Wings Holdings is the new identity for Celtic Aviation, and the main operating airline has been renamed Caledonian Wings. They have reportedly received $50 million in financial support, and have commenced direct negotiations with Delta Air Lines, for 44 L-1011s, and with Langdon Asset Management, to acquire six L-1011-200Fs. The company has also announced that they intend to establish a joint venture company with Miami-based BPI Aerospace to market the aircraft.
Caledonian Wings has formally announced that plans say they will commence transatlantic services from Prestwick, UK in April 2001, initially utilizing a fleet of three former Delta L-1011-250s. Initial destinations across the Atlantic will include Baltimore, Portsmouth, Los Angeles, Newark, Orlando Sanford and Toronto Hamilton. Their objective is to assist the development of tourism in Scotland.
Texas Air, a new airline in southern Texas, has announced that they were discussing to acquire six ex-Kitty Hawk TriStars, in competition with Wings Holdings. Initial proposed routes are Monterey-Laredo-Houston-Miami, Miami-San Juan, and Laredo-Las Vegas. Other possibilities include Guadalajara-Monterey-Laredo-New York, and Mexico City to destinations in the U.S. and South America. They have also shown interest in the Saudi Arabian L-1011-200s.
Tropical International Airlines is now negotiating to lease a L-1011-500, 9Y-THA (msn 1222) directly from BWIA West Indies, instead via Wings Holdings, now that Wings have abandoned the plan to acquire three L-1011-500s from the Caribbean carrier, due to high prices. They will operate charters from St. Kitts to London's Stansted and Brazil.
Four ex-Kitty Hawk International L-1011-200Fs (N102CK, N103CK, N104CK, N105CK) have been inducted into Lockheed Martin's short-term storage program. The N107CK is planned for addition soon. The N106CK is being reactivated by Global Air Services, located in Rome (Oneida), New York. According to Langdon Asset Manangement, there are currently four potential customers interested in the freighters.
Angel Air is finalizing their contract with China Northern Airlines to provide three Airbus A300-600s for ten years. The first aircraft is due next month. This will replace their sole L-1011-1 (XU-700) leased from Kampuchea Airlines, which is currently deployed on the Bangkok-Hong Kong route.
Fine Air Services, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has received permission to merge the two subsidiaries Arrow air and Fine Air. It is likely that the name and operating certificate of Arrow Air would be retained. The airline would operate four L-1011-200Fs and plenty of Douglas DC-8 freighters.
October 13, 2000
Silver Eagle Airlines is the name of a new airline currently negotiating with R&R Aviation to contract two former Kitty Hawk L-1011-200Fs on lease. One would be based at Bangkok while the other would be based in the Philippines to haul furniture to North America. Due to maintenance concerns, the aircraft are likely to be re-registered in Dubai. The airline is jointly owned by Jordan Airwings and JLM.
R&R Aviation has reported that a pair of L-1011-200F (different from Silver Eagle) aircraft may be operated on the Larado-Houston-Miami route under the name of Texas Air. They also said that the new airline may acquire an additional two L-1011-200Fs, and possibly two passenger aircraft for charter flights as well.
A new Venezuelan startup named Smart International Airlines plans to acquire a single L-1011-50 (source unidentified). The aircraft would be placed on the Caracas-New York (JFK) route. They are currently seeking for employees, maintenance contractors and a FAA approval.
Royal Wings Airline, which had been planning to lease up to four L-1011s from International Air Leases, is now reviewing the whole contract, due to the lack of financial support. N300AW (msn 1134), which had been prepared for delivery at Amman, will instead be leased to TradeWinds Airlines.
Delta Air Lines may defer some L-1011 retirements. Only one more will be retired this year, and although four are planned to retire in January next year, the airline has reported that they might keep its five L-1011-250s until October 2001, instead of August.
Euro Celtic Airways is now planning to commence scheduled transatlantic flights with their sole L-1011-500 (CS-TEB). The company has filed to operate the Lisbon-Miami route, hopefully from December this year.
Angel Air is currently discussing to codeshare with China Northern Airlines. The Bangkok-based airline plans to wet-lease two Airbus A300-600s from the latter company to replace its sole L-1011, currently on lease from Kampuchea Airlines.
On September 27th, Fine Air Services filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Subsidiaries Fine Air and Arrow Air will continue operations to Latin American destinations at least for now. Both airlines operate a total of four L-1011-200Fs.
September 4, 2000
R&R Aviation, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, has reported that they were negotiating to acquire all six former Kitty Hawk International L-1011-200Fs and two L-1011-200s, which had been in storage since Kitty Hawk's bankruptcy in April. The company is also interested in acquiring L-1011-500s of BWIA West Indies and Delta.
It is unlikely that Celtic Aviation Group will acquire three L-1011-500s from BWIA West Indies. The Irish newcomer is lacking financial support, and they report that the Caribbean airline would also have difficulties if they lease back two of the three to be sold to Celtic. No further has gone with Celtic's other planned acquisitions.
The Jordan Air Force has purchased L-1011-50 N766BE (msn 1112) from IAL Aircraft Holdings. The aircraft, which was ferried to Amman's Queen Alia Airport in June, is now at Amman's Marka Airport. Engines and other vital parts will be removed and the fuselage will be used for emergency training.
August 11, 2000
Delta Air Lines has started their L-1011 countdown. Having their fleet recently reduced to 17 aircraft, they lost the distinction of having the world's largest TriStar fleet to American Trans Air, who still operates 19. The Atlanta-based carrier plans to phase out its last L-1011, which will be a -250, on August 1, 2000, just an year from now. All -500s are due for retirement by the end of this year.
August 3, 2000
Celtic Aviation Group (Celtic Airways) is negotiating with BWIA West Indies to purchase three L-1011-500s. Celtic plans to lease back two of them to BWIA, and the remaining aircraft, to be 9Y-THA (msn 1222), would be re-registered as G-CELA. As soon as Celtic obtains a UK AOC (Air Operator's Certificate), the aircraft will be leased to St. Kitts-based newcomer Tropical International Airlines. They hope to have this acquisition completed by the end of November.
Celtic Aviation Group is in the process of acquiring an existing UK airline in order to obtain a UK AOC. The acquired airline would be renamed Celtic Caledonian, which would operate eight former Kitty Hawk International L-1011s (six freighters, two pax) planned for acquisition by Celtic Aviation through Langdon Asset Management. Prestwick, Scotland has been chosen as the airline's UK operating base.
Commencing December, American Trans Air will operate two long-haul flights to Hawaii. They will introduce twice-weekly New York (JFK)-Honolulu flights on December 17, followed by twice-weely Chicago (ORD)-Honolulu service on December 22. Both routes will be operated all year round with L-1011-500s in conjunction with tour operator Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays.
Bangkok-based Angel Air, which suspended operations in June, resumed operations in July using a single L-1011 leased from Kampuchea Airlines. The aircraft involved is XU-700 (msn 1055) and it is currently deployed on the Bangkok-Hong Kong route. Since the Thai DGCA cancelled Orient Thai's operating certificate, their L-1011s are now under the ownership of the sister airline.
Air Transat formally announced that they have confirmed a contract with Dubai-based Emirates to acquire six 260-seat Airbus A310-300s. The secondhand Airbuses will help modernize the fleet, replacing a similar number of aged L-1011s currently in operation. Deliveries are planned to start in December.
Sovereign Air Services is the proposed name of a new operator to be based at Manston, UK. The company plans to acquire a single L-1011 for ad-hoc and charter services throughout Europe. Air Atlanta Icelandic runs a maintenance facility at Manston.
A.J. Walter Aviation announced at the Lockheed International Conference (Greenville, South Carolina) that it had purchased the entire British Airways L-1011 spares inventory. This package comprises more than 7,000 items. The company will hold the inventory at its London facility with full availability from October.
Euro Atlantic Airways is the new identity for Air Zarco, which was known as Air Madeira until December last year. Their single L-1011-500 CS-TEB (msn 1240) is still in the basic Air Zarco scheme except for the new titles.
Custom Air Support Holdings' purchase of 16 L-1011s from Saudi Arabian Airlines was never completed. According to some media, the deposit was made, but the final contract was never signed. The reality is, Custom Air has been assigned by Saudi Arabian for the remarketing of the L-1011s.
July 10, 2000
Royal Wings Airline, a regional carrier based at Amman, Jordan, has entered negotiations with Miami-based IALI (International Air Leases Inc) to lease a pair of L-1011s. Aircraft invloved will be N309GB (msn 1156) and N310GB (smn 1155), which had been stored at Roswell since the demise of Rich International in late 1996. Royal Wings currently operates scheduled, charter and scenic flights using a fleet of deHavilland DHC-8-300s and a few helicopters.
Major aircraft holding company IALI has been making some TriStar movements. In June, N300AW (msn 1134) and N766BE (msn 1112) were ferried to Amman, Jordan. The former aircraft will undergo a C-Check with Royal Jordanian for service entry with a yet undisclosed operator, and the latter aircraft will be dismantled for spares. Furthermore, N764BE (msn 1113) and N765BE (msn 1105) are also likely to be ferried to Amman to be broken up for spares, due to some damage in the airframe. N304EA (msn 1005), which is the oldest existing L-1011, will be ferried to Opa Locka for part out.
June 30, 2000
Orient Thai Airlines, which operates charter flights with a pair of L-1011s from its base at Bangkok, has announced plans to acquire a further four planes for the planned expansion of service. They hope to have them on-line by the end of this year. Where they will acquire the aircraft from is still uncertain.
Langdon Asset Management has been assigned for the remarketing of 17 Kitty Hawk International widebodies. This includes nine Boeing 747s and eight Lockheed L-1011 TriStars. The Detroit-based carrier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and suspended all operations in April 2000.
June 23, 2000
A consortium called the "Tristar Alliance" has been formed to support the TriStar as part of efforts to enhance the longer-term prospects for the aircraft. This is led by Lockheed Martin and Rolls-Royce, and also includes other companies including current L-1011 operators. To view the complete article, click here.
Yestours is the name of the new Portugeuse startup which commenced operations early this month. TAP Air Portugal, a former L-1011 operator, has 51% stake in the airline and Viagencia Abreu holds the remaining 49%. They are leasing a former Novair L-1011-500 (CS-TMR) from Air Luxor.
Celtic Airways, who is still negotiating to acquire former Delta L-1011s, has now also entered discussions with BWIA West Indies to acquire all four of their long-range L-1011-500s. The Irish airline also reported that it was in talks with an undisclosed company to acquire three L-1011s.
Istabul Airlines is wet-leasing a TriStar from Air Atlanta Icelandic for the summer season to cope with the capacity growth. The aircraft involved is TF-ABM L-1011-50 (msn 1072). It is deployed primarily on flights to Europe.
June 6, 2000
Custom Air Support Holdings will start to take delivery of its 16 L-1011-200s which were formally purchased from Saudi Arabian eariler this year. Each aircraft will be ferried to Amman for overhaul by Royal Jordanian, and the first aircraft to be invloved is HZ-AHG. The planes will be placed on the Aruba (P4) or Bermuda (VP-B) register in the interim.
Sabre Airways, a British airline, is wet-leasing two L-1011s from Air Atlanta Icelandic for the upcoming summer season. Aircraft invloved are TF-ABD (msn 1221) and TF-ABT (msn 1231). They will be in service with the airline through October this year.
Novair has finally phased out its L-1011 fleet. SE-DVF (msn 1241) and SE-DVI (msn 1248) have been returned to Air Luxor, receiving new registrations CS-TMR and CS-TMP respectively. SE-DVX (msn 1183), which was retired in December 1999, has been acquired by American Trans Air for spare parts.
May 21, 2000
On May 4, Boeing confirmed that American Trans Air had signed an intent to order 10 Boeing 757-300s and 20 Boeing 737-800s. ATA plans to lease an additional 17 737-800s - 12 from ILFC and 5 from GECAS. The new 757-300s will replace 6 L-1011-50s. ATA plans to keep all long range -100s and -500s at least until 2005. The airline is considering the Airbus A330-200 or Boeing 767 as a future replacement for the L-1011s.
Air Atlanta Icelandic now plans to keep its four L-1011s pending on how oil prices go. Previously, the airline had announced their disposal by the end of 2000, and standardize its fleet on 747s, and possibly 767s.
Airtours International is using an L-1011 as a back-up aircraft. The aircraft invloved L-1011-200 N75AA and it is sub-leased from TradeWinds. The aircraft is currently parked at East Midlands airport.
May 4, 2000
American Trans Air is currently under negotiations with Boeing to acquire 45 new aircraft. Although numbers are still uncertain, it will include 757-300s and 737-800s. If this is confirmed within a week or two, deliveries could start as early as June 2001. The new 757s will supplement and replace some L-1011s for short term. In the near future, an order for Airbus A330s or Boeing 767s is expected as a permanent replacement for the L-1011s. They hope to receive the new widebodies from early 2003.
Effective May 1st, Kitty Hawk International suspended all operations. The airline's fleet of seven Boeing 747s, six L-1011s and six DC-8s have been grounded. The planes needed more maintenance than expected and Kitty Hawk did not have enough funding for the purpose. This does not affect Kitty Hawk Cargo, which continues Boeing 727 operations.
On April 23, BWIA West Indies announced that they had put their four L-1011-500s up for sale. Cabot Aviation has been appointed to the remarketing of those aircraft. The Caribbean airline is seriously considering the Airbus A340 as an ideal replacement.
Delta Air Lines will retire its first L-1011-250 on May 15. The aircraft that will be involved is N736DY. The airline will retire a L-1011-1 in late May. That plane will be N729DA. Delta's L-1011 retirement is being affected due to delays with Boeing deliveries.
Due to some maintenance delays at GAMCO, the delivery of two L-1011-500s (msn 1235 and 1236) to Air Transat have been deferred at least until mid May. The planes are former SriLankan Airlines aircraft and they were scheduled for service entry with Air Transat in early April.
April 23, 2000
Kitty Hawk, who acquired American International (Kalitta), is currently facing severe financial difficulties after discovering that their Boeing 747s and L-1011s needed more maintenance than expected. The cost is estimated at $35 million and the airline expects to be unable to pay by May 15 $17 million interest on the $340 million loan secured to acquire American International in 1997. They have admitted that bankruptcy is an option.
Irish newcomer Celtic Airways announced that they now intend to leave all six L-1011-250s (to be acquired from Delta in late 2000) in passenger configuration, of which at least one would be refurbished into a VIP arrangement. Since freighter conversion takes up more money and time, the airline is now considering purchasing all 6 L-1011-200Fs from the now-troubled Kitty Hawk. Also, they have contracted Marshall Aerospace for heavy maintenance on all of their L-1011s. They have launched their website at http://www.celticairways.com.
Royal Air Force has now started to look for a replacement for the current fleet of L-1011 Tankers. They plan to have all nine aircraft retired by 2010. An option is purchasing former Saudi Arabian L-1011s, planned for acquisition buy Custom Air Support, for tanker conversion. All of them are -200s, considered ideal for conversion.
Monarch Airlines is leasing a L-1011 from Air Atlanta Icelandic as a back-up aircraft. The aircraft involved is TF-ABU (msn 1051). It will be with Monarch through October this year. Air Atlanta Icelandic plans to phase out its L-1011 fleet by 2001.
A new charter airline named Tellair has been set up. They plan to wet-lease an L-1011-200, possibly from TradeWinds. They plan to commence operations on May 14.
April 8, 2000
Custom Air Support Holdings has officially purchased 16 former Saudi Arabian L-1011-200s. Last November, the media reported that they had purchased those aircraft alongside eight Boeing 737-200s, but that was only the deposit. The company intends to convert at least 10 of the L-1011s to freighters. The remaining passenger planes will be offered for lease to airlines in need of back-up equipment. Fine Air and Kitty Hawk Int'l has shown interest in acquiring some freighters.
Air Atlanta Icelandic has announced that the remaining four L-1011s will be retired during this year. The airline recently took delivery of three former Varig Brasil Boeing 747-300s, and all 737s have been returned to their lessors. The airline will standardize its fleet on just 747s (12 in fleet), although they seem to have interest in acquiring secondhand 767s.
Celtic Airways is the name of the new Irish carrier who plans to purchase 44 L-1011s from Delta Air Lines. 28 of them will be deployed on the airline's routes and the remaining 16 will be put up for sale, or if not, for spare parts.
Delta Air Lines will finally commence its major L-1011 retirement from June. Approximately one to four aircraft will be retired per month. The last two L-1011s (both -250s) will be retired in August 2001.
Air Transat plans to dispose the remaining two L-1011-1s by January 2001. They will be replaced by newer L-1011-500s from SriLankan Airlines. The Canadian charter airline plans to acquire more L-1011-500s to replace older L-1011s.
March 22, 2000
American Trans Air has regenerated four L-1011s. They were ferried to Victorville for heavy maintenance and temporary storage at the end of January. The airline is interested in acquiring more L-1011-500s.
Kampuchea Airlines has resumed regional Asian operations from Phnom Penn with L-1011-1 XU-600 (msn 1043). The aircraft has been wet-leased from sister company Orient Thai Airlines.
February 28, 2000
Air Transat has shown interest to purchase two former Novair L-1011-500s (msn 1183, msn 1241) from Cabot Aviation. As mentioned in a previous update, the Canadian charter airline is already acquiring four L-1011s from SriLankan, though two of them will be dismantled for parts by Gamco. 4R-ULA and 4R-ULB are currently undergoing a C-check at Abu Dhabi. They will be re-registered, and the first of them will be delivered to the airline in March.
Mildregde Aviation, the company that is likely to support the L-1011s of Mr. Robertson's new Shannon-based airline, will convert all six L-1011-250s and many other L-1011-1s into freighter configuration. The remaining passenger L-1011-500s and L-1011-1s will be offered for ACMI leases. All aircraft will be acquired from Delta, via Atlanta Capital Investments. The yet-unnamed airline has announced that they will also acquire 6 L-1011-200s from Miami-based Custom Air Support.
A new airline to be named Tropical Internationl Airlines is being set up in the Caribbean. They are planning to lease up to five L-1011s from TradeWinds Airlines. They are also talking with BWIA to lease some L-1011-500s.
Air Algerie is wet-leasing SE-DVI (msn 1248) from Novair for Hadj flights. The aircraft will operate with the airline until late March. By the way, the aircraft is destined to be retired soon after it is returned to Novair.
SriLankan Airlines has retired their last pair of L-1011s, ending almost 19 years of L-1011 operation. They have been replaced by much more modern Airbus A330-200s. Now, BWIA and Delta remain the only original TriStar operators.
Avtec Corporation's L-1011-1 (msn 1152) has been repaired back to airworthy condition. It is an ex-LTU aircraft and it is now offered for sale.
February 22, 2000
Intercapital Aviation of Britain is finalizing the contract with Delta Air Lines to acquire 13 L-1011-1s for cargo conversion. The conversion will take place at Greenville, South Carolina, and possibly Cambridge, UK.
Though all L-1011-500s of Novair were scheduled for retirement by the end of January, it seems as though the airline will be operating them for sometime yet. SE-DVI (msn 1248), which was purchased by Air Luxor last November, has been leased back.
TradeWinds Airlines will be adding another pair of L-1011-200s on its 121 Certificate. The charter carrier has also leased in two Airbus A300B4-200s in freighter configuration.
It seems like American Trans Air has begun their L-1011 retirement. Four L-1011s (N194AT, N195AT, N196AT, N198AT) were ferried to Victorville in January. The southern Californian airport has seen many aircraft coming in for storage these days. Other L-1011s parked include several Delta L-1011s.
Avborne Accessory Group has purchased three former Trans World Airlines L-1011s via Fortis Aviation. They will be dismantled for spare parts.
February 11, 2000
A yet unnamed ACMI airline to be based in Shannon, Ireland has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Delta Air Lines to acquire their entire fleet of 44 L-1011s. For more details, click here.
Air Transat will be acquiring all four L-1011s from SriLankan Airlines. The two standard length L-1011s will be dismantled for parts by Gamco and the remaining two L-1011-500s will join Air Transat's fleet after a C-check.
Garland Aviation has signed a Letter of Intent to acquire G-BBAF and G-BBAJ from Caledonian (now jmc Air). They are likely to be dismantled for spare parts.
Delta Air Lines will accelerate its L-1011 retirement. All L-1011s are planned to be retired by August 2001.
January 25, 2000
UK Jet, a name of a new British charter start-up plans to start operations from London's Gatwick Airport. They will select from either the L-1011 or Boeing 737.
Air Transat is gradually disposing its fleet of L-1011s. Now that a third Airbus A330, a series 300, have been delivered, the airline will retire C-GTSK (msn 1021) to Marana. The aircraft is planned for dismantling for spare parts.
The Caledonian L-1011s that retired last November are planned to be dismantled for spare parts at Abu Dhabi by GAMCO.
January 9, 2000
Novair will accelerate its L-1011 retirement. The airline has taken delivery of their first Airbus A330-200 from GATX Flightlease. SE-DVX (msn 1183) has already been taken out of service and the other two are to follow by the end of January. In 2000, the airline will take delivery of a further two A330s and three Boeing 737-800s.
Air Luxor will deploy a former Novair L-1011-500 (msn 1248) on ad-hoc charter flights from July this year.