Short Takes
September 23rd 2014
Airlines: Air India has suspended a pilot and 10 cabin crew for habitually showing up late for work and delaying, amongst others, flight AI144 from Newark to Mumbai by over two hours on September 13. Apsara International Air, a new start-up financed by Chinese investors, has received its AOC and plans to commence domestic services out of Phnom Penh later this month using an A320. Read More » China Airlines plans to commence a codeshare partnership with WestJet from October 1, initially covering selected domestic Canadian routes via Vancouver. China Eastern Airlines has introduced a new livery after 25 years. Etihad has opened a new arrivals lounge at its Abu Dhabi home base. Garuda Indonesia has invited bids for participants in the financing of an order for 18 A320s, consisting of eight A320ceo and ten A320neo, to be delivered between 2016 and 2018. Hawaiian Airlines will become the first passenger airline to install Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband for flight deck applications, including safety services on its B767-300ERs. Philippine Airlines will install OnAir wireless IFE on a further five A330s and six A340s. Qantas Airways has entered the final stage of the phase-out of its long-serving B767 fleet. The last international service took place on September 13, while the final domestic flight (SYD-MEL) is scheduled for December 27. Vietnam Airlines has again identified Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) as a possible strategic partner for a 20% stake in the Vietnamese flag carrier. Xiamen Air has launched a Beijing branch company and allocated 13 aircraft on 10 routes from Beijing.
Airports: Sri Lanka’s Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport has launched the second stage of the second phase of its development that will see the airport’s capacity raised from currently six to 15 million passengers by adding an additional pier and a new terminal by early 2017. The government has revealed plans to build a new Dalian International Airport on reclaimed land off the coast of Dalian as part of a 26.5 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) development project.
Cargo: AeroLogic is introducing a weekly Frankfurt – Ashgabat – Hong Kong – Frankfurt B777F service from October 26.
Manufacturers: Boeing is projecting the Asia-Pacific will make up for 39% of the global need for new airline personnel in the next 20 years, according to its 2014 Pilot and Technician Outlook.
Routes: From May 1 until October 24, Air Canada Rouge, Air Canada’s long-haul LCC arm, will launch a five-weekly B767-300ER Vancouver – Osaka service with Rouge, Rouge Plus and Premium Rouge cabins. Air New Zealand has postponed B787-9 Dreamliner service to Tokyo Narita and Shanghai Pudong by a month without citing reasons. Narita will now be served from December 2 and Pudong from December 14. British Airways will return to Kuala Lumpur after 14 years of absence with a daily four-class B777-200ER service from May 27, 2015. Cebu Pacific will launch thrice-weekly Manila – Riyadh services from October 1 and thrice-weekly Manila – Dammam flights from October 4, both using all-economy A330-300 aircraft. China Southern Airlines will start a thrice-weekly B787 Guangzhou – Wuhan – San Francisco service from December 16, as well as a four-weekly Lanzhou – Urumqi – Dubai flight using B737-800 from September 29. Delta will maintain the B777-200ER on the Tokyo Narita – Singapore route from December 1, based on a recent schedule update. Previously the SkyTeam member planned to switch from the 777 to the B767-300ER. Hong Kong Airlines will add a five-weekly A330 service from Hong Kong to Sapporo from December 19. Philippine Airlines has announced it will no longer operate a third daily Manila – Bangkok service from December 1. Private Chinese LCC Spring Airlines is increasing frequency on the Shanghai (PVG) – Ibaraki route from six to eight weekly from October 26. Shenzhen Airlines will introduce a thrice-weekly A320 Hong Kong – Shenyang service from September 29. Starting October 26, THAI will put the B747-400 back on its double-daily Bangkok – Heathrow service, and daily Bangkok – Milan rotation, replacing the A340-600 on both routes. LCC VietJet said it has signed a MoU with Vladivostok International Airport to set up direct flights, though no specific launch date has been announced yet.
