Malaysia Airlines Group CEO, Captain Izham Ismail, told Malaysia’s The Edge Weekly on Saturday the carrier would have no choice but to close if lessors rejected a restructuring plan to keep the airline afloat. Read More » The MAB CEO said a "sizeable" number of creditors were on board, with another group resisting and a third "50/50". However, Reuters news agency reported parties representing 70% of the airline's aircraft and engines suppliers had rejected the plan, describing it as "inappropriate and fatally flawed". The restructuring plan requires the airline group's owner, Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah Nasional, also to tip in more funds.
Airbus said late last week it delivered 57 commercial aircraft in September, down from 71 deliveries in the same month a year ago. Notable deliveries to Asia-Pacific airlines included the Cathay Pacific Group (one A350-900 and one A350-1000), China Eastern Airlines (three A320neos and two A321neos via lessor ICBC) and IndiGo (two A320neos and three A321neos), the Airbus website said. No orders were booked for September.
The Toulouse-headquartered manufacturer delivered its 10,000th A320 family aircraft last week when Middle East Airlines (MEA) accepted an A321neo from the OEM. The milestone was reached eight years after Airbus celebrated the 5,000th A320 family aircraft delivery. This was three times quicker than the program's first 5,000 aircraft, which took 23 years. “Delivering MSN10,000 is a milestone that demonstrates the success of the A320 Family and we thank our customers globally for their confidence in our products,” Airbus chief commercial officer, Christian Scherer, said in a statement.
Cathay Pacific Group's low-cost carrier, HK Express, said tickets for all three joy flights were snapped up within two hours of going on sale at 1700 Hong Kong time last Friday. The 90-minute sightseeing flights are scheduled for November 1, 7 and 8.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) will allow staff to enter into employment contracts with other companies as part-time workers when they are not working with the airline, the Asahi Shimbun reported. The policy was expected to start in 2021, with ANA's 15,000 employees eligible for the scheme. The Asahi Shimbun also reported the Star Alliance member has submitted plans to reduce salaries, withhold winter bonuses and cut its workforce to union groups as it battled the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Passengers flying in and out of Australia fell 27% to 30.7 million in the 12 months to June 30, 2020, from 42.1 million 12 months ago, figures from the Australian government's Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) published today showed. "International air services have been severely impacted by travel restrictions introduced at the end of March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic," the BITRE report said. Qantas and its LCC unit, Jetstar, had the highest share of passengers at a combined 26%, followed by Singapore Airlines (8.2%), Air New Zealand (6.9%) and Virgin Australia (6.8%).
American Airlines (AA) said during the weekend its nonstop Dallas/Fort Worth-Beijing flight would operate to Daxing International Airport (airport code PKX) when the service resumed on March 27, 2021. Before the route's suspension from COVID-19, AA flew to Beijing Capital (airport code PEK). “Moving to Daxing International Airport in Beijing when flights return in March will offer our customers access to a state-of-the-art airport, with ease of connections as we plan to codeshare with our strategic partner, China Southern,” AA chief revenue officer, Vasu Raja, said in a statement. AA had cargo-only flights from the U.S. to Beijing Capital.
Thai Vietjet Air said late last week it planned to add 300 staff between now and December to lift its workforce from 700 to 1,000 people as it expanded its fleet from 11 aircraft to 15 aircraft by 2021, FlightGlobal reported. It also was reported by local media that Thai Vietjet Air had started four Thailand domestic routes in the past two months and planned to add two more by December this year.
