All Nippon Airways (ANA) said today nonstop Tokyo Haneda-Singapore and Tokyo Narita-Bangkok services would resume in November, while more flights would be added from Haneda to Ho Chi Minh City, London Heathrow, Manila and Sydney.Read More » There would also be two return flights between Haneda and Honolulu in November in order to meet the demands of passengers for studying or working purposes, ANA said in a statement. The airline's international schedule for November published today showed 770 flights on 28 routes, down 86% from a planned 5,366 flights on 75 routes prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
Still with ANA, the Star Alliance member said it would commence cargo-only flights between Narita and Frankfurt using a Boeing 777F starting October 28. The Star Alliance member said it had scheduled 499 cargo-only flights for October, the highest monthly total since June.
The number of domestic passengers travelling on scheduled services in Australia rose by 92% to 728,000 passengers in July, from 380,000 in June, figures from the country's Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) published today showed. Despite the month-on-month improvement, passenger numbers in July were down 86.7% from 5.46 million a year earlier. Capacity, or available seat kilometres (ASK), was up 86% month-on-month, while the passenger load factor increased 5.8 percentage points to 59.1% in July, from 53.3% in June.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines said yesterday it would resume nonstop flights between Dhaka and Singapore from Thursday, October 1. The airline said in a statement the once weekly service would be able to transport from Dhaka Singapore citizens and permanent residents, short-term visitors with a medical ground waiver certificate from Singapore's Ministry of Health, approved work pass holders, long-term visit pass holders and student pass holders, as well as transit passengers whose baggage had been checked through to their final destination. Passengers would also need a test for coronavirus within 72 hours of travel from a Bangladesh government approved laboratory.
AirAsia returned to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport on Friday with 12 daily flights to four cities – five daily to Chiang Mai, three daily to Phuket and two daily to Krabi and Surat Thani. The Suvarnabhumi flights complement AirAsia's operations at Don Mueang Airport. AirAsia Thailand CEO, Santisuk Klongchaiya, said load factors on all four routes was averaging above 70% "signifying a great start and healthy future growth for us at Suvarnabhumi". While AirAsia flew into and out of Suvarnabhumi when it opened in 2006, the low-cost carrier (LCC) left the airport in 2012 when it moved to Don Mueang.
United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) administrator, Steve Dickson, planned to visit Seattle in the coming week to conduct the necessary training ahead of participating in an evaluation flight on the Boeing 737 MAX, media reports over the weekend said. The evaluation flights were part of the FAA's recertification program as it continued to review changes to the 737 MAX Boeing had made in response to two fatal crashes that killed 346 people.
Still with the 737 MAX, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) was expected to re-certify the aircraft before the end of 2020, local media reported. "For the first time in a year and a half I can say there’s an end in sight to work on the MAX," EASA executive director, Patrick Ky, said. "We are looking at November." The aircraft has been grounded since March 2019.
Airbus was planning to hold its commercial aircraft production rates steady following a review of its options in response to COVID-19, the Reuters news agency reported late last week, citing industry sources. This would leave the A320 family output steady at 40 aircraft a month, compared with 60 a month prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
AAR Corp CEO, John Holmes, said late last week there were some positive signs for the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) sector as operators tried to manage their way through COVID-19. "As we head into the fall, we are encouraged by the loading we expect to see in our hangers," Holmes said during the aerospace and defense aftermarket services company's quarterly results conference call. "While our customers continue to operate in an uncertain environment and their maintenance schedules could change, the early indications are positive relative to our earlier expectations."
Thai Airways International (THAI) said in a regulatory filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Friday Chillada Na Chiangmai had been appointed as corporate secretary, effective October 2. She replaces Lasanan Leelamanee, who resigned from the position.
