Qatar Airways chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, told Orient Aviation he calls 2014 “the year of the fleet”. That is no understatement. Already operating 134 airliners, the Doha-based carrier is in major expansion mode. Read More »

Tougher rules will apply to passengers who behave badly onboard after several ICAO states supported ratification of the Montreal Protocol 2014, which aims to combat the rising incidence of air rage in the industry. Read More »

Born again low-cost carrier (LCC), AirAsia Japan Mark II, is making its home at Chubu International Airport in Nagoya, after stiff competition from other Japanese airports for the LCC’s business. Read More »

After three postponements, Japan’s Skymark Airlines, the nation’s third biggest carrier, will launch its A330-300 premium economy, five times a day service mid-month, on the key Haneda-Fukuoka route. Read More »

Real time tracking of commercial aircraft will soon be a standard operating practice at many airlines following developments at a meeting of the government council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation in Montreal in May. Read More »

Battered Malaysia Airlines (MAS) said the loss of its aircraft, MH370, and its 239 passengers and crew in March, had “a devastating impact” on the already struggling carrier. The Kuala Lumpur based airline said the mysterious disappearance of the aircraft and all onboard had produced the carrier’s worst quarter, to March 31, for two years. Read More »

Garuda Indonesia president, savvy charmer and former banker, Emirsyah Satar, last month announced plans to sell 40% of the flag carrier’s domestic budget arm, Citilink, and also to take over several important domestic routes serviced by debt-ridden Merpati Nusantara. Read More »

Airline leaders continue to call on governments to reform the global, non-standardized airport security system premised on treating every passenger as a potential terrorist. Read More »

Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia is the pilot airline for INTERPOL’s I-Checkit system, which screens the passports of its prospective passengers against INTERPOL’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database. Read More »

As the cost of aviation security has ballooned to US$8.55 billion annually since the terror attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001, a recently published research paper said costs and benefits need to be assessed before airports add more layers of security at their facilities. Read More »

The cost of screening the 3.3 billion airline passengers who pass through the world’s airports each year is estimated at around $33 billion. Add in time and hassle to the experience and the figure doubles say industry experts. Read More »

In May, Thai Airways International (THAI) reported its fourth consecutive quarterly loss, US$81.1 million, for the three months to March 31. That was the good news. Since then, after a military coup, on May 22, put the armed forces in charge and night curfews in place, the number of tourists travelling to Thailand has plummeted. Read More »

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Last month, Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) announced it wants the Japanese government to ease immigration requirements for foreign pilots working in Japan to reduce cockpit crew shortages at several of the nation’s budget carriers. Read More »

Garuda Indonesia subsidiary, budget carrier, Citilink, and Malaysia’s short-haul airline, Firefly, have signed an agreement to expand by sharing their regional networks. Read More »

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China’s most successful budget carrier, Spring Airlines, has delayed its US$405 million Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange after the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said the airline had to satisfy additional issues relating to the company’s finances. Read More »

Dubai-headquartered Emirates Airline, has announced an AED 3.3 billion (US$900 million) profit for the year to March 31, an increase of 43% over the previous 12 months, with revenue up 13% and passengers carried rising to 44.5 million for the year. Read More »

Beleaguered Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has posted a first quarter loss, to March 31, of US$138 million, a 60% decline over the same period a year ago. The company said tough operating conditions and a collapse in bookings, especially in China, following the disappearance of its MH370 aircraft and its 239 passengers and crew, had resulted in the widening losses. Read More »

Chennai-based Indian budget carrier, SpiceJet, has reported a loss of US$167.1 million for its fiscal year to March 31, 2014, the airline’s third consecutive year of red ink. The results heightened speculation in India that the privately-owned carrier could be headed down the same road as fellow Indian airline, the failed Kingfisher Airlines. Read More »

AIRLINES: Ruili Airlines, owned by the Yunnan Jingcheng Group and operating an all-Boeing fleet, formally inaugurated airline operations last month with a flight from Kunming to Mangshi, a provincial airport in Yunnan. Kunming is the province’s largest city. Read More »