Short Takes
July 1st 2013
AIRLINES: Hainan Airlines now operates its domestic West China-based subsidiary, West Air, as a low-cost carrier. Read More »
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| EVA Air: has joined the Star Alliance |
ALLIANCES: China Eastern Airlines subsidiary, China Cargo Airlines, has been admitted as a full member of the SkyTeam Cargo Alliance, the eleventh cargo airline to join the alliance. EVA Air was signed on as a member of the Star Alliance in June, joining regional rivals, Shenzhen Airlines and Air China, in the push for a larger share of the fast-growing cross-strait aviation market.
CODE-SHARES: Air France- KLM and Jet Airways will code-share on several routes between India and Europe from next month. Taipei-headquartered China Airlines has commenced its flights from Taoyuan to Urumqi in Xinjiang and Lijiang in Yunnan, adding two routes to its cross-strait network.
FLEETS: India’s industry regulator has approved low-cost carrier IndiGo’s proposed purchase of 28 A320s in the next two years. Nepal Airlines has converted a Memorandum of Understanding, signed in April, to a firm order for two A320 aircraft equipped with fuel saving wing tip sharklets.
INFLIGHT: Singapore-born and Nepal-raised Prabal Gurung, whose clothes are favourites of U.S. First Lady, Michelle Obama, will design new uniforms for All Nippon Airways (ANA) cabin and ground handling staff. The uniforms will be worn by 10,000 ANA staff from mid-2014. Garuda Indonesia’s “Immigration on Board” added a seventh route, Shanghai-Jakarta, to the popular service. Garuda passengers travelling from Tokyo Narita to Jakarta and Denpasar (Bali), Osaka-Denpasar, Seoul-Jakarta and Sydney to Jakarta and Denpasar now have the service available to them.
LEASING: Air Lease Corporation has placed an A321-200 with Etihad Airways and also announced it has leased two new ATR72-600s to Golden Myanmar Airlines. The Myanmar carrier was established last year in the nation’s capital, Yangon. It flies two A320s on two routes: Bangkok and Mandalay.
MRO: Air France-KLM Engineering and Maintenance and India’s largest airline, Indigo, have extended their initial 2007 component support contract for 52 A320s to 60 of the aircraft type. The revised contract will also cover the component support requirements of the airline’s future A320neos, which are due to start arriving at Indigo from 2016. Ameco Beijing has completed C-Checks on two Nok Air B737-800s, a Thai domestic carrier. Spring Airlines Japan and ST Aerospace have signed a US$28 million eight-year maintenance-by-the-hour contract for component repair management support for 22 Spring Airlines Japan B737-800s. Sabena Technics has commenced work on a contract from Airbus to retrofit wing ribs on 13 A380s, with the upgrades planned for completion by late 2014.
PEOPLE: Lee Lik Hsin will be the president of Singapore Airlines Cargo from the first of next month. His predecessor, Tan Kai Ping, will return to the parent airline as senior vice-president corporate planning, a position held by Lee until his recent new appointment. Nick Leontidis has succeeded Jeff Roberts as group president, civil simulation products at CAE. Leontidis joined CAE as a software engineer in 1988 and was CAE’s executive vice-president strategy and business development before his June promotion. Craig Richmond is the new president and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority, succeeding Larry Berg, who led the western Canada airport authority on a high growth trajectory for 15 years.
ROUTES: All Nippon Airways (ANA) will increase its five times a week Narita-San Jose scheduled service to daily this month, using the returned-to-service B787. Finnair has applied for approval to join British Airways and Japan Airlines as a new partner in their joint business agreement on flights between Japan and Europe. Thai domestic carrier, Nok Air, will operate daily services from Mae Sot to two cities in Myanmar, including the capital Yangon.
TRAINING: Airbus and GMF AerosAsia, the MRO arm of Garuda Indonesia, has finalized a five-year agreement for maintenance collaboration. The partnership is aimed at developing Indonesian local aircraft maintenance skills. Qatar Airways has signed a five-year multi-crew pilot licence (MPL) training contract with Singapore-headquartered ST Aerospace Academy (STAA) for A320 type rated first officers. The training company will assess and recruit cadets on behalf of the Doha-based carrier, with the first batch of 38 cadets due to graduate from the 18-month programme in 2015.
