China Southern Airlines (CSA) carries more passengers than any other airline in Asia. It is the world’s third largest carrier by market capitalization and the sixth largest by fleet size. But CSA is not easing up. Already dominating China’s domestic market, it is taking on the world as it broadens its international reach. Read More »

Japan Airlines (JAL) is no different from any other airline in the world. It will be focussing on China’s growing airline market, said chairman, Masaru Onishi. But as international carriers rush to add capacity to their China routes and Mainland airlines expand, he has a warning: there will be overcapacity in the crowded marketplace. Read More »

A game-changing chapter in Japanese aviation history jumps a few pages this month when Jetstar Japan, the second of three home-grown Japanese low-cost carriers (LCCs) to debut this year, makes its first commercial flight from Tokyo’s Narita to Sapporo, in western Japan on July 3. Read More »

A woman who did not step aboard an aircraft until she was 17 years of age and has no engineering background is today president of one of the world’s major commercial aircraft engine makers. Read More »

Last year’s news was bad at the IATA annual meeting. This year’s news was even worse. Read More »

Garuda Indonesia president and chief executive, Emirsyah Satar, has plenty of sympathy for his recently appointed counterpart at government-owned Merpati Nusantara, Rudy Setyopurnomo, who has been set the task of trying to turn around the troubled domestic operation. But sympathy is as far as it goes. Read More »

The new found freedom of the leader of Myanmar’s democracy movement, Aung San Suu Kyi, has also opened doors for the aviation industry. Read More »

It has been a tough year for the Ameco Aviation College, says Walter Inkemann, joint head of the facility along with his Chinese counterpart, Gao Hongjie. Not only has the centre been forced to cut its intake of Air China apprentices – 85% of its training is conducted for its parent Ameco, which is 60% owned by Air China and 40% by Lufthansa - but third party work has been tough to attract because competitors, among the more than 40 other approved training organizations in the country, undercut its prices. Read More »

Frasca International might be based in Urbana, Illinois, in the U. S., but that has not stopped the simulator manufacturer from developing deep and long standing business relationships in the Asia-Pacific. Read More »

It has been a boom year for Canadian simulator and training major, CAE, as it significantly boosted its presence in the Asia-Pacific through acquisition of a leading flight training group and new sales of its simulator products, including wider penetration of the Chinese market. Read More »

As Orient Aviation went to press, CAE announced it was adding another string to its training bow with the opening of a new B737-800 pilot training centre in Seoul later this year. Read More »

With huge numbers of aircraft on order in coming years, Middle East airlines will need hundreds of new pilots. Gulf operator, Qatar Airways, which has more than 250 planes on order, has awarded a five-year pilot training contract to CTC Aviation.

New Zealand-based CTC, which also has training facilities in the UK, trains 2,000 ab-initio and experienced pilots each year for approximately 50 clients around the world.

Qatar operates 108 aircraft, but has orders in place worth over $50 billion for B787s, B777s, A350s, A380s and the A320s. The airline’s chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said the airline has pilot recruitment campaigns taking place around the world. A supply of graduate pilots from the “CTC Wings” programme will form a key part of the pilot intake in future years.

* Indian low-cost carrier, IndiGo Airlines, also has signed with the CTC Aviation Group for pilot training.

“We wanted to take our pilots out of their normal working environment and immerse them in a training development programme that fully identifies with their needs,” said IndiGo vice-president of flight operations, Saleem Zaheer. 

IndiGo operates 56 of an order of 280 A320 jets, which will be delivered to the end of 2025.

Malaysia’s AirAsia wants its flight attendants to speak proper English. The rapidly expanding budget carrier has decided to make it compulsory for new applicants for cabin crew jobs in its network to sit for the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), a global English test standard. Read More »

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has launched an initiative to attract more young apprentice aircraft engineers to boost manpower needs and cut training costs. Read More »

It was more bad news for the 700-plus delegates at the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) annual general meeting and world transport summit in Beijing last month as the same old problems continue to stack up against the aviation industry: fuel prices, the environment, rock bottom economies, sky high taxes and charges. Read More »

As always, chief executive, Tony Fernandes, delivered some surprises when he announced his AirAsia Group strategy last month, not least being that the group’s regional headquarters, AirAsia Asean, are now in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. Read More »

Airports of Thailand has asked 14 low-cost carriers (LCCs) and Thai domestic carriers to return to Don Muang Airport from October 1, to ease pressure at Bangkok’s main facility, Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Read More »

Jetstar Hong Kong, a US$198 million joint venture of Australian low-cost operator (LCC), Jetstar, and China Eastern Airlines (CEA), has applied to the Hong Kong aviation authorities for an air operator’s certificate (AOC). Read More »

AIRPORTS: A Russian investment group, a Russian bank and Changi Airports International have signed a joint venture agreement to develop airports in Russia. Read More »

Ray Conner, a man with an in-depth knowledge of the Asia-Pacific aircraft market, has been appointed president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), writes Barry Grindrod. He succeeds Jim Albaugh who is to retire. Read More »

Air New Zealand’s head of long-haul operations, Christopher Luxon, is to take over as the airline’s CEO when Rob Fyfe leaves the airline in December.  Read More »

Paul O’Neil, who has spent 25 years with Rolls-Royce, will be director of the engine manufacturer’s Seletar Campus, the company’s most advanced manufacturing, assembly, research and training facility. Read More »

Airen Omar has been named as the new CEO and executive director of AirAsia Berhad, the Malaysian arm of the AirAsia Group. Her appointment coincided with the announcement of the group’s strategy for its second decade. Read More »

There was a steady improvement in international passenger demand of Asia-Pacific based airlines in March. The number of passengers carried increased 10.4% to a combined total of 17.2 million compared with the same month last year. Read More »