New Airbus Order & Norse Atlantic Airways Updates

Welcome back to the channel, Thai Airways facing new aircraft problems, grounded aircraft at Air New Zealand, and more A320neos on the card for a European carrier. I want to begin with grounded next-generation aircraft at Air New Zealand which are likely to stay that way for years to come. In the airline's 2025 annual results, it shared an outlook that suggests the pressure will slowly ease over the next two years, but not without operational challenges that are going to persist. The business now finds itself in a position where it needs to actively manage the grounding of aircraft that are being impacted by global engine maintenance delays. Up to 11 aircraft will remain grounded throughout 2025 from the 60-jet fleet, with the 787 and A320neo family being affected the most, both of which are crucial in different regards across the day-to-day business. Currently, Air New Zealand has experienced a high number of groundings for its narrow-body fleet. Still, the wide-body aircraft from the Dreamliner series closely follow behind, and it is expected that by the first half of 2026, in terms of the amount of aircraft parked on either side, it will become a lot more even. If all were to pan out as intended, the carrier estimates that 9-10 planes will still be grounded during the first half of next year. What is Air New Zealand doing to really alleviate all of this? Well, there's not much they can do in terms of the affected planes, and with evident frustrations, they can at the very least implement other initiatives to try and mitigate the impact on its day-to-day operation. For example, two leased A321neo jets from Airbus have arrived with a 12-year lease in place for these planes, which will help some of the pressure on the short-to-medium haul network. Additionally, they're investing in four additional short-term leased engines to enable more flying on the A320neo family, which brings the pool of spare engines up to 19. Other tactics include the schedule adjustments that we've seen across their network, which have been forced to reflect the changing forecasting surrounding the availability of engines. Air New Zealand states that it has been renegotiating compensation terms with both Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney, driven by the impact on not just their operations, but also their finances. While struggles with groundings have been more than present, equally so has been the ability to source the required spare engines and aircraft on a lease to cover capacity. It's not as simple as just getting these in at a moment's notice. For example, passengers flown across the network dropped by 3%, and ASKs were down by 4% as well. Air New Zealand isn't the only airline trying to cover for lost ground, and lessors are feeling a lot of pressure. While the number of available aircraft is expected to grow over time, it's not really until 2028 that Air New Zealand expects to see a full recovery in terms of capacity. Primarily, this will be added by the delivery of new batches of aircraft, such as the 787. Despite this, they're remaining optimistic about some of the future endeavours that are being implemented. One of the key ones is a retrofit program for its 787 Dreamliner fleet, expected to be completed by the end of next year, and then from early 2027, you'll see the first 777-300 enter into a cabin refresh as well to help extend the life of this jet. Brussels Airlines, meanwhile, is expanding its fleet of A320neos as part of ongoing efforts to revamp its business. A decision which was approved by the Board of Directors will see the addition of five new A320neo aircraft to the fleet in the coming years. Thanks to the deal, the airline will increase its total number of these single-aisle next-generation jets to 13, helping to reduce its environmental footprint while finding ways to renew its business. Brussels Airlines hopes that with further use of the A320neo, customers will be able to have a more cohesive journey on their day-to-day flying missions, and thanks to the plane's capabilities, the business will also reap the rewards with improved profitability. According to current forecasts, Brussels Airlines expects to begin taking delivery of the new A320neo planes in batches from 2027 onwards. These Airbus jets deliver up to 20% lower CO2 emissions and also feature 50% less noise when operating compared to previous models in the business. For passengers, the positives also extend thanks to the storage space which has been enhanced thanks to more than 40% larger overhead bins not only providing more space for belongings but also speeds up the boarding process as those fighting over that all-important cabin space simply won't be as much. Brussels Airlines only welcomed its first A320neo in November 2023. It is therefore a relatively new aircraft in the business but thus far it has been a hit and one the airline certainly wants to commit to further. With the jets configured to 180 seats, it's ideal for short to medium haul flying and also it comes with greater range compared to the jets it's replacing. This opens up the possibility of more opportunities moving forward. Onto the final story where Thai Airways' challenges with new commercial aircraft from Airbus and Boeing are expected to continue in the coming years. The business hoping to enter its new era with a strong focus on expansion of its route network may see this process halted. Thai Airways' Chief Executive Officer says that they are scrambling to secure aircraft across their wide-body operation to cope with the delayed delivery of new planes. The scramble for aircraft arriving on lease is a common theme across the industry as I even touched on with Air New Zealand at the beginning of this industry recap with many other airlines either battling similar delays in delivery for their new jets or simply facing groundings due to the global engine crisis and are trying to find ways to mitigate the impact. This has put added pressure on lessors to provide solutions as airlines have turned to them more than ever to help mitigate operational and financial impact. However, for Thai Airways with the situation worsening only in the last few weeks, there is a lack of confidence that the pressure will ease anytime soon and as a result, a shortage of seats and lack of ability to grow the network becomes a real problem for the Thailand-based company. Thai Airways' messaging is also clear without the ability to access next-generation jets across narrow and wide-body fleet, the chance of new routes launching as intended remains highly unlikely for at least the next couple of years. The airline is patiently awaiting 2027 when deliveries of larger aircraft are expected to resume whereas 2026 will probably be a more crucial year for the delivery of narrow-body planes so you'll see a great enhancement of flying from Bangkok but certainly not on a wide-body or international long-haul scale. The inability to source planes does pose a challenge, remember this is a business that has only recently emerged from restructuring and is attempting to chart a course for growth, so while there would never be a right time, this is certainly not the best one. Remember a lot of this also follows the recent commentary from the CEO who spoke with the 787's part of a new batch of deliveries that were scheduled to begin being sent to them in the middle of 2027 are facing now six more months worth of delays and that would mean according to current estimates Thai Airways is hopeful it would start welcoming these jets at the end of 2027. Because of restructuring, Thai Airways is really trying to rebuild its business in more ways than one and strictly from a fleet standpoint the restructuring did see the necessary but challenging still axing of many aircraft types and while these aircraft types that departed were probably best off leaving for the airline's profitability moving forward as ultimately they were maybe not the most efficient choice, they all came with quite a hefty amount of capacity so them being removed from service and the streamlining of operations has seen capacity reduced across key markets. The delivery of that sizable order for 45 Dreamliners will be pivotal not only to bringing the business back up to speed but also facilitating renewal efforts. Let me know your thoughts on this down below in the comments, thanks for watching, take care and I'll see you tomorrow.