Orient Aviation's COVID-19 briefs: Air China temporarily suspends Beijing-Moscow service after more than five passengers tested COVID-19 positive on a July 4 flight
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said late last week Air China's Beijing to Moscow service would be suspended for one week after more than five passengers tested positive to coronavirus on a flight on July 4. The suspension was part of CAAC rules introduced in June, with airlines able to increase international service to and from China if no passengers tested positive for three consecutive weeks.Read More » If five passengers tested positive, the airline would be suspended from operating the route for a week, with the suspension increasing to four weeks if 10 passengers test positive.
South Korea and China are to increase flights between the two countries to 20 a week, up from 10 a week currently, South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said yesterday. The MOLIT statement said the expansion would support business demand and benefit local residents and international students.
Tata Sons was considering exiting its 51% investment in AirAsia India, it was reported today, following weeks of speculation about the LCC’s future. Live Mint website said the LCC’s parent, AirAsia Investments, had approached Tata Sons in June about the sale of its 49% equity in the Indian airline, which began flying in 2014 and has been loss-making.
EVA Air's monthly traffic report showed the Taiwan-headquartered airline carried 22,337 passengers in June. While this was down 97.5% from the same month a year earlier, it represented a slight improvement from 21,831 passengers in May. The Star Alliance member said capacity, or available seat kilometres (ASK), declined 85.2% in June, a smaller reduction compared with the 91.8% cut in May.
Garuda Indonesia, and its Citilink subsidiary, carried 34,872 passengers in May, a 98.4% reduction from 2.1 million 12 months earlier. Aircraft utilization for Garuda's operations dropped to 1:48 hours in May 2020, compared with 7:26 a year ago. The company said the Indonesian government's large-scale social restrictions, international border closures and rules around domestic travel that were in place during May had led to the significant decline in passenger numbers.
Brisbane Airport commenced operations on its new runway yesterday, with VA781 (737) bound for Cairns the first flight on 3.3km runway 01L/19R. Brisbane Airport CEO, Gert-Jan de Graaff, said the commissioning of the new runway meant Brisbane was in an ideal position to take advantage of all opportunities on the road to recovery from COVID-19. “We are creating the future. And very soon, once again, we will be connecting the world," de Graaff said in a statement.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) said late last week the airline group planned to operate 7% of its pre-COVID-19 level capacity in August. This was up from the 6% capacity SIA, regional wing SilkAir and LCC Scoot is flying this month.
Japan Airlines (JAL) and Malaysia Airlines (MAB) said late last week their alliance on Japan-Malaysia routes would commence on July 25. While the coronavirus pandemic had resulted in a reduction in flights, the two carriers said the alliance would kick off with four flights a week between Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo Narita – two by MAB and two by JAL. "We look forward to the bilateral discussions between the governments of Malaysia and Japan to establish a travel bubble between the two countries, which will ease restrictions for cross-border travel," Malaysia Airlines group CEO, Captain Izham Ismail, said in a statement.
