Short Takes
April 8th 2016
AIRLINES: Air France said it would permit female crew to opt out of flying to Tehran after some said they did not want to be forced to wear headscarves. Cebu Pacific Air has reported a 4.4 billion pesos ($93.6 million) 2015 net profit, up significantly from the 85.3 million pesos net profit posted the previous year. Read More » Air China subsidiary Shandong Airlines has reported a 2015 net profit of 532.3 million yuan ($82.3 million), up 85% year-on-year. Tune Live Berhad, the investment firm owned by AirAsia Group founder and CEO Tony Fernandes, and chairman Kamarudin Meranun, will issue 559 million new shares for a total of 1 billion ringgit ($259 million). This will increase both partners’ overall stakes from the current 18.9% to 32.4%. United Airlines turned 90 on Wednesday.
ROUTES: Austrian Airlines has launched five-weekly Vienna-Pudong B777-200ER operations and, citing strong demand, will upgrade the service to daily from May 1. Beijing Capital Airlines has launched a twice-weekly Jinan-Shizuoka, and a weekly Jinan-Osaka A320 service. Taiwan’s China Airlines (CAL) will replace the A340-300 with the A350-900 on the thrice-weekly Taipei-Vienna route beginning December 3. Korean Air will add a daily Incheon-Naha route from May 5, using a mix of A330/B777, and it will launch a thrice-weekly Incheon-Guiyang B737-800/900ER service starting May 25. Thai AirAsia will launch a daily Don Mueang-Vientiane A320 route from July 1.
TECHNOLOGY: Rockwell Collins has been selected by Airbus as the lead supplier of high-bandwidth connectivity for the A320 Family and A380, and Air Astana has chosen Rockwell Collins to provide on-board broadband connectivity on its long-haul B767s from September. SITAONAIR signed up Royal Brunei Airlines for its electronic flight bag solution, which will deliver paperless operational information to pilots on-board the carrier’s A320 fleet, and as a back-up for its B787s.
