Japan Airlines, essentially bankrupt in 2010, is back from the dead in 2012 with record profits; Qantas Airways, its international arm awash in losses, is facing major challenges at home and abroad and is fighting for its survival.

A CAUTIONARY TALE OF TWO ICONS Read More »

It’s been a grim couple of years for Qantas Airways and its going to get worse before it gets better. Indeed, there are those who question its very survival. A radical corporate restructuring currently underway could ultimately decide its fate, but the airline is facing massive hurdles to long-term viability. Read More »

There have been some spectacular failures over the years in the Asia-Pacific airline family, but few as dramatic as the near downfall of Japan Airlines. The carrier that symbolized Japan’s rise as a modern industrial power did the unthinkable in January 2010, filing for bankruptcy protection as it creaked and groaned under more than $25 billion of debt. Read More »

Call it an exhibition of the Japanese culture of resilience. But a little more than one year after the earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan brought the country and its airline industry to their knees, major carriers Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) have made remarkable recoveries to post healthy profits for the 2011 financial year. Read More »

Japan’s leading carrier also defies the odds

ANA’s peak performance Read More »

Graft-busting boss proves too much for THAI board

I’m NOT in charge

After cleaning up a carrier noted for its corruption and cronyism, and returning it to profit, THAI president, Piyasvasti Amranand, was sacked last month. Now he may take his board to court to restore his reputation. Read More »

After a turnaround in 2010 when Chinese carriers posted a collective profit of 35.1 billion yuan (US$5.6 billion) on the back of a booming domestic market, soaring fuel prices dented profits in 2011 with a decline of 17.7% to 27.8 billion yuan. This was despite a 17.9% growth in revenue to 353 billion yuan. Read More »

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) airlines pay out somewhere between $6 billion and $7 billion annually to meet their security requirements. What concerns Andrew Herdman, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) is that this figure hides another, far more expensive reality. Read More »

More airports around the world are introducing full-body scanners to screen departing passengers. However, some airline employees are concerned there could be an impact on the health of staff who have to regularly walk through the scanners. Read More »

Airline management is a complex and often precarious business. Chief executives live and die by results that are often the outcome of external factors rather than internal management decisions. Read More »

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has posted a 77% fall in its FY2011 operating profit to S$286 million (US$223.37 million) from S$1.27 billion recorded a year ago. Net profit slumped 69.2% to S$336 million. Read More »

It was hailed as a breakthrough pact that would save Malaysia Airlines (MAS) from its financial plight, but after eight months the share swap deal between the Kuala Lumpur–based flag carrier and low-cost rival, AirAsia, has collapsed following opposition from unions. Read More »

High-speed rail (HSR) has eroded the profits of airlines in China and beyond in growing numbers, especially on routes of less than 500k metres. Now, in an ironic twist, HSRs are being used as supplementary feeder traffic bringing more passengers to both sides.  Read More »

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways has announced cost-cutting measures to improve profitability by scaling back passenger capacity growth from 7% to 3.2%. Read More »

AirAsia posted a marginal increase in its 2012 first quarter after-tax net profit to 172.4 million ringgit (US$55 million) from 171.9 million ringgit a year ago, the first profit gain in five quarters. Read More »

Airbus parent, European Aeronautics, Defence and Space Co. NV (EADS), has taken a €158 million (US$197.2 million) charge against fixing the cracks developed in the wing rib feet of the A380 superjumbo, bringing the total charge so far to €263 million. Read More »

The hugely popular cross-strait flights between China and Taiwan received a boost last month with the addition of three new routes. China Eastern Airlines launched a weekly service from Wuhan to Kaohsiung, Air China started a thrice-weekly service between Wenzhou and Taipei and Taiwan’s TransAsia Airways launched a twice-weekly service from Taipei Taoyuan to Sanya in Hainan. Read More »

Five new low-cost carriers (LCCs) will be launched in Asia in the next two months.  Read More »

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) group chief operating officer, Ahmad Jauhari Yahyu, shakes hands with Airbus chief operating officer Fabrice Bregier at the handover of MAS’ first of six A380s in Toulouse last month. Read More »

As Orient Aviation went to press the pilots’ strike at Air India (AI) was entering its fourth week having already cost the airline $56 million. Read More »

The row over the European Union’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) rumbles on with even its own carriers turning against them. Read More »