Short Takes
November 4th 2014
Airports: Singapore’s Changi International Airport reported a drop of 0.5% in passenger numbers for September as traffic continues to decrease year-over-year. The airport saw 4.25 million passengers and just over 27,020 aircraft movements—down from 4.65 million passengers and 28,360 movements in August 2014; the latter also registering a significant 5% decline compared to the same month last year. Read More »
Cargo: On November 1, Etihad Cargo started a new Abu Dhabi – Sharjah – Kabul – Hong Kong – Delhi – Abu Dhabi service using B747-8 freighter aircraft.
Codeshares: From October 26, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Ethiopian Airlines have started a new codesharing agreement. ANA will place its ‘NH’ code on Ethiopian’s services between Addis Ababa and Bangkok, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Paris, London, Nairobi and Mombasa, while Ethiopian will put its ‘ET’ code on ANA’s Bangkok and Hong Kong routes. On October 31, Etihad started codesharing with Kenya Airways on services from Abu Dhabi to Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh.
Manufacturers: AVIC Aircraft Corp. reported a 29% year-on-year decline in net profit to 46.5 million yuan ($7.61 million) for the first three quarters ended September 30. Mitsubishi has unveiled its first 92-seat MRJ flight-test aircraft and will undergo about six months of ground evaluations before taking to the air in the second quarter of 2015.
Routes: On October 26, Air India launched a new daily A319 service between Delhi and Goa. From March 29, Alitalia cancels its Venice – Tokyo and Rome – Osaka services, but increases frequency on the B777-200ER Milan – Tokyo route from five-weekly to daily. From November 24 to March 1, Asiana Airlines will increase frequency on the Seoul – Okinawa route from daily to 11-weekly. British Airways has introduced the A380 on three of its 14-weekly Heathrow- Singapore rotations. Cebu Pacific Air will start a four-weekly A320 Cebu – Narita service from March 26. China Eastern Airlines is delaying its planned Shanghai – Dubai A330-200 service for the second time. Previously scheduled to begin on November 9, the twice-weekly service will now begin February 8 instead. On October 28, China Airlines has added a weekly B737-800 service between Taipei and Weihai. Etihad has commenced daily Abu Dhabi – Phuket operations using two-class A330-200 aircraft. EVA Air will replace the A330-200 with the B777-300ER on three of its seven-weekly Taipei – Manila rotations from January 6 through to March 28. Garuda Indonesia will return to Nagoya after a three-year absence with a five-weekly Jakarta service using A330-200 aircraft starting March 27. Hainan Airlines will offer daily B787 service on the Beijing – Hohhot route from November 4, the first Dreamliner route to Inner Mongolia. Jeju Air will offer a new twice-weekly B737-800 Busan – Guam service from January 8. Lufthansa is increasing frequency on the Frankfurt – Kuala Lumpur – Jakarta two-class A340-300 route from five to six weekly starting March 29. Qatar Airways will introduce a daily A380 service on the Doha – Bangkok route from December 1, instead of January 5, as previously announced. The change means the second daily A380 to Heathrow, originally slated to start from December 1, will be cancelled. The carrier will temporarily reduce frequency on the Doha – Haneda route from daily to five-weekly in the period from November 3 to November 27. China’s LCC Spring Airlines has cancelled planned Shanghai – Singapore operations slated to begin on October 26. Taiwan’s UNI Air will cancel its thrice-weekly Kaohsiung – Hanoi MD90 service from February 1. United will reduce frequency on the B777-200ER Houston – Narita route from 10-weekly to daily starting December 5. During the Chinese New Year period, from January 27 to February 24, Xiamen Airlines will offer a twice-weekly Xiamen – Denpasar service using B737-800 aircraft.
