PARAMARIBO - Although the SLM's Boeing 777-200ER has now been declared airworthy, it still lacks ETOPS certification. That is why the Surinamese company has to make a significant detour when the Boeing is used on the route to Schiphol.

SLM director Radjesh Radjkoemar confirms this to De Ware Tijd. According to him, it provides an extra flight time of one and a half hours to Schiphol, but according to experts who consulted the newspaper it would even go at three extra hours.

Due to the lack of ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) certification, the Triple Seven is not allowed to fly over stretches of the Atlantic Ocean where there is no alternate airport nearby. For example, the aircraft cannot fly the shortest route.

The aircraft that the SLM previously used on the scheduled service to Schiphol (Airbus A340, Boeing 747) did not have this problem, because they are four-engined and therefore do not require ETOPS certification. With four engines, it is less problematic if one of the engines breaks down.

'Cause CASAS and corona'
Radjkoemar attributes the lack of ETOPS certification for the Triple Seven to the corona crisis and to the Surinamese aviation authority CASAS. The SLM itself would not be guilty of it. "Let this be clear, this has to do with the Covid situation and with CASAS."

According to the SLM director, all that is needed is a flight SIM demonstration. It would take place in Miami, because CASAS itself does not have enough expertise, but that cannot continue due to corona. "CASAS is now looking into how to attract that expertise in the Netherlands."

"The machine is now non-ETOPS certified and CASAS does not need any expertise for that", says Radjkoemar. The Boeing will probably be deployed to Schiphol from September, but with a detour for the time being. It is not clear how long this will take.

Yet another setback
The ETOPS issue is yet another setback in the certification of the Boeing 777. The former Singapore Airlines aircraft, which will be temporarily leased until a Boeing 787 joins the fleet, should have entered service early this year.

The SLM has been using expensive wet-lease devices for the route to Schiphol for months now. An Airbus A340 from Air Belgium is currently in use.

What route do they have to fly? I guess, either fly east and than fly Brazil - Africa? Or fly way up north towards Canada - Iceland - Scotland route.

IWMBH wrote:

Hope are they able to compete with companies like KLM and TUI that are able to fly a direct route?

PANAMsterdam wrote:

IWMBH wrote:

Hope are they able to compete with companies like KLM and TUI that are able to fly a direct route?

They have managed to compete with KLM for decades, and they actually partnered up with TUI for the last few years. Dutch citizens often fly KLM to PBM and Surinam citizens often fly SLM, as a way of pride for their nation and their flag carrier.

PANAMsterdam wrote:

IWMBH wrote:

Hope are they able to compete with companies like KLM and TUI that are able to fly a direct route?

They have managed to compete with KLM for decades, and they actually partnered up with TUI for the last few years. Dutch citizens often fly KLM to PBM and Surinam citizens often fly SLM, as a way of pride for their nation and their flag carrier.

Thenoflyzone wrote:

What route do they have to fly? I guess, either fly east and than fly Brazil - Africa? Or fly way up north towards Canada - Iceland - Scotland route.

Fairly certain you can’t cross from Brazil to Africa without EDTO.

You would need to fly via Canada, Greenland and Iceland. It’s a significant detour for a route like PBM-AMS.

MIflyer12 wrote:

120 minute EDTO via SID?

IWMBH wrote:

PANAMsterdam wrote:

IWMBH wrote:

Hope are they able to compete with companies like KLM and TUI that are able to fly a direct route?

They have managed to compete with KLM for decades, and they actually partnered up with TUI for the last few years. Dutch citizens often fly KLM to PBM and Surinam citizens often fly SLM, as a way of pride for their nation and their flag carrier.

Yeah, they’ve competed with KLM for decades but how can you compete when you’ve to fly a longer route? Only because of the Surinam citizens’ pride? That didn’t prevented other airlines from failing.

Ronaldo747 wrote:

And this be will adding costs, so below the line with the current oil prices there will be probably no cost advantage with the 777 over the A340 anymore.

Thenoflyzone wrote:

Ronaldo747 wrote:

And this be will adding costs, so below the line with the current oil prices there will be probably no cost advantage with the 777 over the A340 anymore.

Exactly. Why did they get rid of PZ-TCR in the first place? Was it to cut costs or because the aircraft had reached the end of its life?

They should had bought/leased another A343 instead. The A343 burns less fuel than a B772ER to begin with. The advantage of going with the B772 is its higher payload capacity/seating, less engines to maintain, and higher cruise speed, which sort of negates the fuel burn advantage of the A343. This being said, with today’s economy and suppressed travel demand, combined with the fact that a quad is pretty much unrestricted in terms of routing on a PBM-AMS flight, makes the A343 a perfect machine for Surinam Airways.

Too bad they went with the B772ER.

Thenoflyzone wrote:

Ronaldo747 wrote:

And this be will adding costs, so below the line with the current oil prices there will be probably no cost advantage with the 777 over the A340 anymore.

Exactly. Why did they get rid of PZ-TCR in the first place? Was it to cut costs or because the aircraft had reached the end of its life?

They should had bought/leased another A343 instead. The A343 burns less fuel than a B772ER to begin with. The advantage of going with the B772 is its higher payload capacity/seating, less engines to maintain, and higher cruise speed, which sort of negates the fuel burn advantage of the A343. This being said, with today’s economy and suppressed travel demand, combined with the fact that a quad is pretty much unrestricted in terms of routing on a PBM-AMS flight, makes the A343 a perfect machine for Surinam Airways.

Too bad they went with the B772ER.

747classic wrote:

I'm a frequent traveller towards PBM (with KLM) and talk a lot with the local population during my stays in Surinam.
Last year i noticed that a growing number of Surinam citizens have lost their fate in the flag carrier SLM, due the frequent delays, aircraft changes and sudden cancellations (all before covid-19) and despite the somewhat lower PBM-AMS fares compared to KLM.
This latest "soap" concerning the delayed and further delayed introduction of the SLM B777 has been watched and discussed (in the local media) by a large part of the Surinam population.
I sincerely hope that the relationship between the Netherlands and Surinam (and KLM and SLM) will become normal again with the newly elected Surinam government in charge..

ERAUMBA wrote:

PANAMsterdam wrote:

IWMBH wrote:

Hope are they able to compete with companies like KLM and TUI that are able to fly a direct route?

They have managed to compete with KLM for decades, and they actually partnered up with TUI for the last few years. Dutch citizens often fly KLM to PBM and Surinam citizens often fly SLM, as a way of pride for their nation and their flag carrier.

Pride for their nation?

pythoniels wrote:

...By default, SLM arrives in Amsterdam a few hours later. Departure is also rarely in time. Anyone who can share some light on the reason for all these delays? We can't blaim everything on the good old A340-300 which is now retired.

747classic wrote:

The present lease will end in May 2021, therafter the plan was to lease a 787..

LAXintl wrote:

Pax
B777-200ER – $10.4 – 34.5M, $100-310,000
B777-300ER – $42.0 – 149.0M, $300-1,250,000
B787-8 - $66.0 - 119.0M, $530-950,000
B787-9 - $95.0 - 146.0, $705-1,110,000

LJ wrote:

747classic wrote:

The present lease will end in May 2021, therafter the plan was to lease a 787..

Thus there is a real possibility that the 777 will only make a few pax revenue flights to AMS...... Maybe they should extend the lease of the 777. Given the current climate, leases should be relatively cheap compared to a 787.

LAXintl wrote:

Pax
B777-200ER – $10.4 – 34.5M, $100-310,000
B777-300ER – $42.0 – 149.0M, $300-1,250,000
B787-8 - $66.0 - 119.0M, $530-950,000
B787-9 - $95.0 - 146.0, $705-1,110,000

https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1449067

IWMBH wrote:

PANAMsterdam wrote:

IWMBH wrote:

Hope are they able to compete with companies like KLM and TUI that are able to fly a direct route?

They have managed to compete with KLM for decades, and they actually partnered up with TUI for the last few years. Dutch citizens often fly KLM to PBM and Surinam citizens often fly SLM, as a way of pride for their nation and their flag carrier.

Yeah, they’ve competed with KLM for decades but how can you compete when you’ve to fly a longer route? Only because of the Surinam citizens’ pride? That didn’t prevented other airlines from failing.

LJ wrote:

747classic wrote:

The present lease will end in May 2021, therafter the plan was to lease a 787..

Thus there is a real possibility that the 777 will only make a few pax revenue flights to AMS...... Maybe they should extend the lease of the 777. Given the current climate, leases should be relatively cheap compared to a 787.

LAXintl wrote:

Pax
B777-200ER – $10.4 – 34.5M, $100-310,000
B777-300ER – $42.0 – 149.0M, $300-1,250,000
B787-8 - $66.0 - 119.0M, $530-950,000
B787-9 - $95.0 - 146.0, $705-1,110,000

https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1449067

MEA-707 wrote:

ERAUMBA wrote:

PANAMsterdam wrote:

They have managed to compete with KLM for decades, and they actually partnered up with TUI for the last few years. Dutch citizens often fly KLM to PBM and Surinam citizens often fly SLM, as a way of pride for their nation and their flag carrier.

Pride for their nation?

Yes a common and understandable thing. KLM and TUI are from the old colonisator country, so some people prefer to show they are independent and fly in their own countries aircraft, proud that a small country can still operate its own widebody. Surinamese were very happy about their own yellow/orange DC-8-63 in 1975. It's not always rational; see the 747s which were flown in Africa in the 1970s-80s, by Cameroon Airlines, Air Madagascar, Air Mauritius, Zaire Airways, they wanted to show that they can. After many millions of losses it was a hard swallow for some countries to give up their long haul market to Emirates or Air France.

FlyingHonu001 wrote:

PZ-TCU apparently already took the leap across the pond, currently spotted idle at AMS. Testflight?

Source: https://fr24.com/data/aircraft/pz-tcu#256956cc

SCHIPHOL - The "new" Boeing 777-200ER from Surinam Airways landed for the first time at Schiphol on Saturday morning. It would be a demonstration flight, which was carried out from Paramaribo. The aircraft made a detour due to the lack of ETOPS certification.

Instead of flying in a straight line to the Netherlands, a course was steered east of the Caribbean and the North American coast. The flight duration is therefore about an hour and a half longer than normal.

Due to the lack of ETOPS certification, the twin-engine Triple Seven is not allowed to fly over stretches of the Atlantic Ocean where there is no alternate airport nearby.

ETOPS stands for Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards. With the four-engine Airbus A340, where Surinam Airways flew until the beginning of this year, and the former Boeing 747-300, this was not an issue.

The Boeing 777 landed at Schiphol on Saturday morning at 8:52 am. It is not yet known when the SLM will use the device on the paramaribo-Amsterdam service, but this may happen later this month. Until then, the company will hire capacity elsewhere, such as Air Belgium.

Incidentally, Surinam Airways has given the new addition a name. 'Bird of the Green Paradise' was chosen from more than a hundred names submitted. That name ties in with the rainforest theme of the livery that the Boeing 777 is equipped with.

Surinam Airways' Boeing 777-200ER was delivered new to Singapore Airlines in November 2002. After having flown for Air New Zealand for a short time, the aircraft arrived at Paramaribo airport in December 2019.

factsonly wrote:

FlyingHonu001 wrote:

PZ-TCU apparently already took the leap across the pond, currently spotted idle at AMS. Testflight?

Source: https://fr24.com/data/aircraft/pz-tcu#256956cc

No the aircraft operated PBM-AMS for the first time on an overnight service on 4/5 September.
The TATL routing stays close the USA/Canadian/Icelandic coast to stay within (non) ETOPS guidelines.

FlyingHonu001 wrote:

factsonly wrote:

FlyingHonu001 wrote:

PZ-TCU apparently already took the leap across the pond, currently spotted idle at AMS. Testflight?

Source: https://fr24.com/data/aircraft/pz-tcu#256956cc

No the aircraft operated PBM-AMS for the first time on an overnight service on 4/5 September.
The TATL routing stays close the USA/Canadian/Icelandic coast to stay within (non) ETOPS guidelines.

Thats weird, cause at the moment PY only flies revenue TATL every Tuesday/Wednesday

factsonly wrote:

FlyingHonu001 wrote:

factsonly wrote:

No the aircraft operated PBM-AMS for the first time on an overnight service on 4/5 September.
The TATL routing stays close the USA/Canadian/Icelandic coast to stay within (non) ETOPS guidelines.

Thats weird, cause at the moment PY only flies revenue TATL every Tuesday/Wednesday

Nobody stated it was a revenue service !!

Dutchy wrote:

Link

1,5hours of detour and indeed flying way up north.

Route

Does SLM buy their planes on EBay or something?!

armagnac2010 wrote:

Does SLM buy their planes on EBay or something?!

This one is apparently leased from Boeing. No reason for post-colonial condescendence, conscious or unconscious ...

Single aircraft operations are always challenging. The Trent 800 is maintenance intensive, even with Rolls-Royce support.

747classic wrote:

armagnac2010 wrote:

Does SLM buy their planes on EBay or something?!

This one is apparently leased from Boeing. No reason for post-colonial condescendence, conscious or unconscious ...

Single aircraft operations are always challenging. The Trent 800 is maintenance intensive, even with Rolls-Royce support.

A team from SLM and Lufthansa Technik is trying to repair the aircraft for several days now. A possible outcome could be an engine change.
SLM is now negotiating an early return of the leased aircaft to Boeing. Scheduled aircraft return was original set at April 2021, but possible extended for a few months last year.

FlyingHonu001 wrote:

Its an aviation soap opera this company. Years ago, the Surinam government indeed wanted to acquire a 787 to replace the aging A343 . However the CEO at the time had connections with Boeing and negotiated the 772 lease by himself. He got fired and now they are stuck with it

danipawa wrote:

Time to get a second hand B789...

ArcticSEA wrote:

danipawa wrote:

Time to get a second hand B789...

Or a spare engine? Maybe two? One on each side of the Atlantic.
Delta would surely sell them one.

NWAROOSTER wrote:

ArcticSEA wrote:

danipawa wrote:

Time to get a second hand B789...

Or a spare engine? Maybe two? One on each side of the Atlantic.
Delta would surely sell them one.

Hate to say it but SLM might need two spare engines with green time as stated above by ArcticSEA. One in AMS and one in PBM and the extra maintenance and storage costs required. Operating a single aircraft with NO backup is not the way to go. Best if they give up the route and return the worn out 777-ER to Boeing. The aircraft was first flown by Singapore Airlines in 2002 until 2018. It was then operated by Air New Zealand for about one year before being leased by SLM. The aircraft has seen its better days. The only real option is a code share with an other airline if that is possible. Flying the flag can be expensive and be a money looser.