December 1st 2022

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April

Singapore threw open its international border, allowing all vaccinated travellers to enter the country without compulsory quarantine and also scrapped quotas for arrivals into the country. Read More »

Malaysia began allowing international vaccinated travellers to visit the country without quarantine in the month, joining Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam in relaxing border restrictions.

Their efforts to re-join the international community were initiated as the Omnicron strain was spreading worldwide.

The variant hit China hard with Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines reporting sharp declines in passengers carried, particularly after weeks-long lockdowns in important Mainland cities such as Shanghai.

The three airlines flew a combined 4.4 million passengers on their domestic networks in the month, down 85.3% from 29.6 million passengers flown in April 2021.

The state-owned carriers reported combined losses of 40.9 billion yuan (US$5.9 billion), a deterioration from a 37 billion yuan net loss for calendar 2021.

ANA HOLDINGS INC., parent company of All Nippon Airways (ANA), posted an annual net loss for a second consecutive year. However, the company forecast a turnaround from the 143.6 billion yen (US$1.1 billion) net loss for the 12 months to March 31, 2022 and profitability in fiscal 2023 as passenger demand recovers.

PAL Holdings, the parent company of Philippine Airlines (PAL), reported it had returned to profit in 2021, a year when it proceeded through litigation of a four-month U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy. PAL chairman, Lucio Tan, said the successful restructuring meant the airline is armed with fresh capital and had a new lease on life.

In Malaysia, Lion Air group carrier, Malindo Air, received its air operator certificate (AOC) to fly as Batik Air. The Batik Air branding already is used by a Lion Air Group airline based in Indonesia.

AirAsia India (AAI) majority owner, Tata Sons, announced it had taken 100% ownership of the LCC with the acquisition of the remaining 16.33% of the company held by Malaysia-headquartered Capital A.

At Boeing the 777-X program was delayed again with first delivery of the 777-9X now scheduled for 2025. The OEM conglomerate said the new delivery date was an assessment of the time required to meet certification requirements.