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  • Massive sales from Saudi Arabian

    Flightglobal.com
    Saudi Arabian puts over 40 MD-90s and 747s up for sale
    By David Kaminski-Morrow

    Saudi Arabian Airlines has put more than 40 of its aircraft up for sale including most of its older Boeing 747s and practically its entire Boeing MD-90 fleet.

    The Jeddah-based flag-carrier is offering 28 MD-90s as well as nine 747-300s and five 747-100s. All the aircraft are owned by the airline.

    Powered by International Aero Engines V2500 powerplants, the MD-90s are between seven and 10 years old. Saudi Arabian has configured them with 18 first-class and 103 economy-class seats.

    Their offer for sale follows a tentative agreement, disclosed last month, to replace the twin-jets with up to 50 Airbus A320s.

    Saudi Arabian is also putting 14 747 aircraft on the market.

    The 424-seat 747-300s are around 21-22 years old while the 747-100s have 417 seats and are 25-26 years of age. Both types are configured in two classes and are fitted with Rolls-Royce RB211 engines.

    Saudi Arabian has seven 747-100s but the five being offered are those which, by mid-2007, had most recently undergone D-checks.

    Its remaining 747 fleet includes a 747-200 freighter, a 747SP and a small number of 747-400 passenger aircraft. The airline also leases a 747-400F and a pair of 747-300s.

    Saudi Arabian, which is undergoing a slow privatisation process, has yet to detail whether it intends to replace the ageing 747-300s and -100s with other long-haul types. The Boeing 777-200ER forms the backbone of its long-haul operations.
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  • #2
    They'll be lucky to find buyers for those 74's unless they've been maintained to A* standards.

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    • #3
      ^Even so, I figure them in ending up the same way as the Tristars ..... parked in the desert and set to be some archeologists'delights in 1,000 years ...
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      • #4
        Originally posted by uy707
        ^Even so, I figure them in ending up the same way as the Tristars ..... parked in the desert and set to be some archeologists'delights in 1,000 years ...
        Most probably. Even if they are still top-notch, with fuel being as expensive as it is, even the cheaper cargo carriers are rather looking towards new-build freighters or getting "younger" used pax 744s and have them converted to freighters instead.

        As for the MD-90s, can't see much of market for them either, as we've already sadly seen a couple being scrapped because no one wanted them. Sure would love to see DL get their hands on those 29 MD-90s and use them to replace a sh!tload of their awful CRJs, but IIRC, those Saudi MD-90s have a different cockpit than DL's, owed to the specific conditions in Saudi-Arabia.

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        • #5
          How much would it cost to re-do the cockpits? Or would it be not worth it? Cause that would be nice to see them go to delta, a 7 yr old plane shouldn't go to the bone yard.
          Will C.

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          • #6
            No idea on the cost or whether it would actually be worthwhile. Granted, DL could also get SV's MD-90s sims in the deal and have pilots trained on that version, but having 2 sub-groups in what is already a subgroup (MD-90 compared to MD-8 would have the potential to be a scheduling nightmare.

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            • #7
              Not to mention the cost of retro-fitting with DL interiors and applying one of their many paint schemes.

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              • #8
                While DL might not take them, are there not other airlines out there that might need the type. Allegiant (sp?) might be able to take on the added aircraft. Are there no other American carriers that would take on the type? Apart from that, what about Orient Thai? I mean Thai-Two-Go could use other aircraft (seeing how quickly they took their aircraft from JAL). I can only imagine that some African airlines might be able to use the type (rather than junky, older 737-200s).
                Whatever is necessary, is never unwise.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by BA747-436
                  Not to mention the cost of retro-fitting with DL interiors and applying one of their many paint schemes.
                  Interiors, yes, but painting is not much of a factor, given that the current temporary livery requires less different colors tones than the old one .

                  Originally posted by AA 1818
                  Are there no other American carriers that would take on the type?
                  No chance of that happening. Pretty much all carriers are focused on the A320 family or 737NG as their main narrowbody, and I doubt even G4 would be a candidate, they're probably looking for more MD-82/83s rather than MD-90s.

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                  • #10
                    Hopes could have materialized from Taiwan, but EvaAir is switching to 320s and so would sister companies Great China and don't count on some good news from across the Formosa Straight, as China Southern may not be eager to extend the fleet inherited from China Northern.
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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by uy707
                      as China Southern may not be eager to extend the fleet inherited from China Northern.
                      They want to get rid of their MD-90s, as DL has been trying to grab those for quite some time already. Though whether that deal actually materialises still remains to be seen.

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                      • #12
                        ...what about Orient Thai? I mean Thai-Two-Go could use...
                        There are no official plans of One-Two-GO to take MD-90s. The airline takes up to 14 additional MD-80s (MD-81s and MD-87s) from JAL and this expansion will be enough work for One-Two-GO.

                        The main problem could be (in my opinion) that the MD-90 does not have real advantages compared to an MD-80 (except for being extremely quiet and using less fuel). The performance of the Standard-MD-90 is + - not higher than a MD-82 for example. Several airlines with MD-83s switched to the A320 because of several factors but one factor was that the MD-90 did not offer real improvements over the MD-83.

                        Regards, IB M87
                        http://www.MD-80.com / MD-80.com on facebook https://www.facebook.com/MD80com / MD-80.com on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MD80com

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by IberiaMD-87
                          The main problem could be (in my opinion) that the MD-90 does not have real advantages compared to an MD-80 (except for being extremely quiet and using less fuel).
                          With fuel as high as it is, I'd say using less fuel is definitely a REAL advantage . Not to mention that quite a few airports are also very noise-sensitive these days.

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                          • #14
                            Indeed the advantages of the MD-90 compared to the MD-80 are huge in today´s enviroment. You are right to claim this a huge factor. I meant that the sales-success of the MD-90 was some sort of hampered in the second half of the 1990s partly due to the fact that several MD-80-operators hardly saw real performance improvements (except for the factors mentioned) compared to their MD-83s or alternative aircraft like the 737-800 or A320.
                            Regards, IB M87
                            http://www.MD-80.com / MD-80.com on facebook https://www.facebook.com/MD80com / MD-80.com on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MD80com

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                            • #15
                              ^True, though at the same time, there were a few factors that also put the MD-90 at a disadvantage vs the 737/A320, like not having smaller/larger plane family members, and McDD's already destroyed reputation thanks to f'n up the MD-11 and not going ahead with the MD-95.

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