Thursday, March 6, 2014

Skymark delays Airbus A330 introduction to May 31st.

Skymark Airlines (BC/SKY) on March 5th announced that they will postpone the long-awaited launch of Airbus A330 service to May 31st. Japan's third largest carrier reports "delays in preparations in bringing the type into service" as the reason.

The first two of which arrived in Japan this weekend (Skymark's first two Airbus A330s delivered.), Skymark's 271-seat all-premium A330s were originally planned to be introduced on March 25th, but delays in certification of the type in Japan as well as maintenance preparation issues had prompted the airline to put off that date to April 18th. This is the third delay, and the type's inaugural domestic service is now planned for May 31st with flight BC003, service from Tokyo/Haneda (HND/RJTT) to Fukuoka (FUK/RJFF).

Skymark is offering full refunds or change of flights at no additional cost to customers who have already booked flights that were to be operated by the A330. The delay will have a domino effect, as round-trip flights BC871/872 Tokyo/Narita (NRT/RJAA) - Sapporo/New Chitose (CTS/RJCC) and BC825/826 Narita - Yonago (YGJ/RJOH) are being canceled from April 22nd to 24th and from May 8th to 30th to have the Boeing 737-800s fill in for the A330s.

Source: Skymark Airlines, March 5th. (PDF; in Japanese)

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