Overview
ETIHAD’S SECRET SLUSH FUND
This week in Asia-Pacific aviation was dominated by the news about Gulf carrier Etihad having access to a secret interest-free US$ 3 billion loan from Abu Dhabi’s ruling family.
A PowerPoint presentation originally created by the airline to attract new potential lenders was leaked to the Sydney Morning Herald. In the document are slides that outline how the UAE government “has provided significant loan facility for aircraft deposits and working capital – subordinated, interest free and no repayments until 2027”. Read More »
Airline News
Airbus' verdict on A330 revamp coming soon
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For the second time in a decade Airbus is deliberating the revamp of its successful A330 programme. At Berlin’s ILA Air Show Airbus’s Fabrice Brégier said his skepticisms about an A330 makeover are fading as customers are showing renewed interest in the aircraft that has sold more than 1,300 times since the project’s initiation in 1987. Read More »
Airline News
Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (Comac) announced last week that the maiden flight of its home-produced 169-seater C919 aircraft would be delayed until the end of 2015. Customer deliveries will not begin until 2018. Read More »
Airline News
Japanese LLCs cut back as pilot shortage bites
Japan’s low-cost carriers are struggling to recruit more pilots in the face of an acute systemic shortage of flight crew in the country. Read More »
Financial Round Up
Singapore Airlines this month announced a 60% drop in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings as competition from the budget and Gulf carriers has led to a continuous decline in fares. Read More »
Financial Round Up
Emirates Airline of Dubai this month reported a profit of AED3.3 billion (US$900 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. This was up 43% from a year earlier. Read More »
Financial Round Up
SpiceJet to follow Kingfisher's fate?
Chennai-based low-cost carrier (LCC) SpiceJet reported a net loss of Rs10 billion (US$167 million) in the financial year 2013-14, its third consecutive and biggest annual loss so far. Read More »
Financial Round Up
Kuala Lumpur-based LCC group AirAsia has experienced a sharp drop in profits during the first quarter of 2014. Particularly affected was the corporation’s long-haul arm AirAsiaX despite an upward trend in load factor and strong traffic growth. Read More »
Manufacturers
Airbus vs. Boeing – the subsidies spat continues
Airbus CEO Fabrice Brégier once again lashed out at Boeing prior to last week’s ILA Air Show in Berlin for allegedly receiving benefits and other subsidies from Washington State. Read More »
Insider
Ex-THAI President scores win against THAI
Piyasvasti Amranand, 60, a former Energy Minister of Thailand, says he was not surprised when he was dismissed from his post of President at THAI Airways International in 2012. Read More »
Short Takes
Dane Cheng will replace Rupert Hogg as Director Sales & Marketing. Cheng who has joined Cathay as a management trainee in 1986 has held numerous managerial positions in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, Japan and Australia. Read More »
Insider
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) opened up the floor to rumours when it cryptically announced at last week’s Asia Pacific Aviation Safety Seminar 2014 (APASS 2014) in Bangkok, which attracted more than 140 safety professionals representing the region’s regulators and airlines, that it would soon welcome a new member airline to its ranks. Read More »
Financial Round Up
Philippine aviation outlook improves
The Philippine aviation sector has witnessed hitherto unprecedented consolidation since 2013. Once a playing field for as many as eight LCCs, the consolidation efforts left the country with three major players only – Philippine Airlines (PAL) in the full-service segment and Cebu Pacific Air and Philippines AirAsia (PAA) in the low-cost segment. Read More »
Short Takes
Asiana Airlines will offer a second daily direct flight between Incheon and Hanoi effective May 15. Read More »
