Short Takes
March 13th 2020
SYDNEY AIRPORT said this week passenger numbers fell by 9.3% to 3.1 million in February. Read More » The number of international travellers tumbled 16.8% to 1.1 million, while domestic passengers were down 4.5% at two million.
CEBU PACIFIC has selected Texas-headquartered CPaT Global to provide it with tailored e-learning solutions for the Philippines LCC’s pilots.
ETIHAD AIRWAYS will move its Beijing hub to Daxing International airport on June 1, 2020, from where it will operate Abu Dhabi-Beijing and Beijing to Nagoya.
MALINDO AIR planned to transfer 15 of its 737 aircraft to sister carrier, Batik Air, in Indonesia, Cirium reported this week. Both carriers are part of Lion Air Group.
MALAYSIA AIRLINES Group CEO, Captain Izham Ismail, has told staff in a video message senior management would take a 10% pay cut in response to current market conditions and that capacity would be reduced by 7.1% in the first quarter of calendar 2020, Malaysia's New Straits Times newspaper reported this week.
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA Group CEO, Paul Scurrah, said in a statement on Friday the airline would reduce its Brisbane-Tokyo Haneda nonstop flight, which will be launched on March 29, from daily to three times a week. The airline also will cut frequency on Sydney-Los Angeles and its trans-Tasman network amid increasing weakness in international forward bookings.
AIRPORTS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL's (ACI) airport service quality awards, announced this week. named Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport as most improved airport in the Asia-Pacific. The full list of winners was available on the ACI website.
Finally, The South China Morning Post reported this week the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (CAD) had reversed an earlier decision not to offer relief.
“Given the latest development of COVID-19, and in line with the recommendation made by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), it has been decided that alleviation of slot usage requirement at Hong Kong International Airport will be effective for the whole of the summer 2020 IATA Season,” a CAD spokesperson told the newspaper.
Airports, such as Singapore Changi Airport, have also offered rebates of landing fees and parking charges for airlines and rental discounts for tenants, among other measures, to support the aviation sector battling with the coronavirus outbreak.
