OCTOBER 2024

The end of the year is fast approaching and so spare a thought for airline staff as this is one of the busiest times for them!

- MORNÉ BOOIJ-LIEWES

OCTOBER WAS RATHER QUIET with 10 register additions and six deletions. Our local airlines continue to show growth with Airlink, Safair and SAA all adding new aircraft to their fleet just ahead of the busy summer season.

Airlink added yet another Embraer 190, ZS-YZF, to its fleet. This is a very early model 190, the 41st of the type manufactured. The jet was delivered to OR Tambo on 4 September, still in the basic livery of its former operator Aeromexico Connect, with the registration N241NA. It arrived in South Africa after a ferry flight that started at Tucson in the USA on 31 August and routed via Marana, Goose Bay, Reykjavik, Casablanca, Accra and finally South Africa.

The jet was delivered new to Air Canada in August 2006 and served with the carrier until joining Delta Airlines’ fleet in September for a one-year stint. Nordic Aviation Capital then acquired the jet and leased it to Aerolitoral for operation by Aeroméxico Connect from May 2017 till April 2024.

The second winglet-equipped Airbus A320 to join SAA’s fleet is ZS-SZG. The plane was delivered to OR Tambo on 25 September with the Guernsey ferry registration 2-CALC. The jet was delivered to Jetstar Pacific/Pacific Airlines in January 2018 and operated for this Vietnamese carrier until the airline’s closure in early 2020. It now gets a new lease of life flying for our national carrier as part of their growing fleet.

Finally, Safair adds another former Comair Boeing 737-8LD, ZS-ZWG to its fleet. This plane recently returned from a maintenance check in Ecuador and has reverted to its former South African registration.