Short Takes
December 2nd 2016
Airlines: Beijing Capital Airlines has confirmed December 30 as the launch date for its thrice-weekly Hangzhou-Qingdao-Vancouver A330-200 route. Read More » Nepal’s Buddha Air will add a pair of ATR 72-600s in early 2017. Cathay Pacific Airways director, Paul Loo, this week said Cathay will not consider launching its own low-cost carrier until Hong Kong gets its third runway in the 2020s. Hong Kong Airlines on Monday celebrated its 10th anniversary and said its network would be “extended to major cities in North America including Vancouver in 2017”. VietJet Air will launch a $200 million IPO for a 20% stake in Hanoi this month. Vietnam Airlines has taken delivery of its 10th B787-9, with another -9 and eight -10s still on order.
Manufacturers: Boeing has delivered the 500th B787 Dreamliner, a -9 to Air France. Bombardier has delivered the first CS300 to launch customer, airBaltic.
MRO: Air Mauritius has signed with AFI KLM E&M for ATR 72 component support. Cebu Pacific Air has renewed its agreement with ITP for PW127M engine support for its ATR fleet. HAECO Xiamen Technical Training has been selected by AVIC International to deliver customised aircraft maintenance training for the firm’s overseas airline customers. RUAG Aviation has opened a component repair centre in Malaysia and SR Technics inaugurated a training centre in Abu Dhabi.
Routes: EVA Air will increase frequency on the Taipei-Seattle B777-300ER route from ten to twelve a week from April 7. Garuda Indonesia will add a three times a week Jakarta-Bangkok-Mumbai B737-800 route from December 12. Hainan Airlines will replace the B787-8 with the larger -9 on the Beijing-Chicago and Changsha-Los Angeles from March 26 and May 1, respectively. Korean Air will terminate its daily Incheon-Siem Reap B737 service from January 30. Malindo Air plans to launch a four-weekly Kota Kinabalu-Taipei B737-800 route in January. MIAT Mongolian Airlines will increase frequency on the Ulan Baatar –Frankfurt B767-300ER route from twice- to thrice-weekly commencing July 11. Okay Airways will add a twice-weekly Ningbo-Jeju B737-800 route beginning December 3. Regent Airways will start a thrice-weekly Dhaka-Kathmandu B737 flight on December 21. Tigerair Taiwan will start a thrice-weekly Taipei-Busan A320 flights on January 19. Turkish Airlines will launch a four-weekly Istanbul-Phuket A330-300 service from July 17. Vanilla Air will add a double daily Narita-Osaka A320 service from February 18, followed by a new daily Narita-Hakodate service the next day.
