Short Takes
October 23rd 2015
AIRLINES: AirAsia Japan president, Yoshinori Odagiri, said the carrier would build up its fleet to 20 aircraft over four years, with a view to serving China. Read More » Air China has launched its 2016 cadet pilot program, and plans to recruit up to 725 new cockpit crew next year, including 20 female pilots. Aeroflot CEO, Vitaly Savelyev, confirmed the carrier was "trying to exit" its order for 22 B787s, worth $4.8 billion at list prices and slated for delivery in 2018. Air France-KLM China GM, Bas Gerenssen, said China contributed approximately 50% of the group’s sales in the Asia-Pacific region, twice that of Japan, making it its second-largest international market following the U.S. Air Niugini will add seven ex-KLM Fokker 70s. British Airways will open two new cabin crew bases in Shanghai and Beijing to offer tailored services for Chinese customers. Donghai Airlines plans an initial public offering in May 2016 on the Shanghai Stock Exchange to fund its rapid fleet expansion.
AIRPORTS: Shenzhen’s Bao’An will build a LCC terminal, date non-specified, said Wu Xiaoming, director of the airport department of the Shenzhen transport commission, at the 2nd China Low-Cost Carrier Summit last Thursday. "The terminal doesn't have VIP lounges, contact boarding gates, or high-end consumption facilities. It satisfies the minimum demands of ground services for passengers. It could further reduce expenses of low-cost airlines and benefit air passengers," he said.
MRO: Cathay Pacific Airways has signed a long-term support contract with Revima APU for repair and maintenance services on PW901A, PW901C and GTCP331-250 APUs installed on its B747-400 and B747-8F aircraft. The agreement also covers ten A300-600Fs operated by Cathay subsidiary Air Hong Kong.
ROUTES: Air India will add a third daily Delhi-Heathrow rotation using the B777-200LR from November 1, and it has further reduced frequency on the Delhi-Moscow B787 route to twice-weekly. Air China will extend its thrice-weekly Beijing-Montreal B777-300ER service to Havana from December 27. Austrian Airlines will increase frequency on the Tehran-Vienna A320 route from six- to ten-weekly beginning March 10. Cathay Pacific Airways will terminate the daily Hong Kong-Doha A330-300 service “for commercial reasons” from February 15; Qatar Airways will take over thereafter with double daily A330-200 rotations. China Eastern Airlines will resume daily Pudong-Toronto B777-300ER operations starting March 27. EVA Airways will launch a four-weekly Taipei-Istanbul B777-300ER operation starting March 5. Garuda Indonesia will launch a thrice-weekly Denpasar-Guangzhou B737-800 service from November 22. Hainan Airlines will add a four-weekly Beijing-Manchester A330-200 route commencing June 10. HK Express will increase frequency on the Hong Kong-Osaka A320 route from 23- to 28-weekly starting November 12. IndiGo will launch double daily Delhi-Udaipur and double daily Mumbai-Udaipur operations from November 1, using the A320. Lufthansa will launch thrice-weekly Tehran-Munich A330-300 operations starting April 14. Qatar Airways has delayed the launch of the Doha-Ras al Khaimah A320 route from October 1 to February 2, and plans to operate the route four times a week instead of daily. However, Qatar will boost capacity to Denpasar as it replaces the B787-8 with the B777-300ER on the double daily service from December 1. Scoot’s B787 will replace Tigerair’s A320 on one of two daily Singapore-Guangzhou services from January 16. Shenzhen Airlines will launch a thrice-weekly Quanzhou-Suvarnabhumi B737-800 service from October 27, and it will introduce a fourth daily Shenzhen-Suvarnabhumi rotation beginning January 1. Moreover, it will add a daily Shenzhen-Narita B737-800 route, also from January 1. Uzbekistan Airways has terminated its twice-weekly Tashkent-Narita B767-300ER service. Vistara will increase frequency on the Delhi-Mumbai trunk route from 41- to 53-weekly from December 15.
TRAFFIC MONITOR: In its latest traffic monitor, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) reported Asia Pacific airlines carried 22 million international passengers in September, 6.0% more than the same month last year. Measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), demand increased by 7.4%, “reflecting broad support on both short and long haul routes”. Combined with the 6.2% expansion in available seat capacity, the average international passenger load factor rose 0.8% to 77.2% for the month. Meanwhile, cargo demand in freight ton kilometres (FTKs) in September matched the same month last year. After accounting for a 2.3% capacity increase, the average international freight load factor fell by 1.5% to 62.7% for the month.
