Overview
This week in Asia-Pacific aviation was dominated by the news that Qatar Airways’ had put back its launch date for the A350-900.
The first jet was due to be delivered on December 13 with a VIP flight from Toulouse to Doha, but it was cancelled at short notice and without explanation. Qatar Airways since rescheduled the handover to December 22, although the official ceremony will not take place until January 7, presumably to allow for the Christmas and New Year holidays. Read More »
Airline News
Etihad Airways has the option of taking a minority stake in loss-making South African Airways (SAA), said acting SAA chief executive officer (CEO) Nico Bezuidenhout. Etihad CEO, James Hogan, categorically denied this, and said saying he was “quite surprised” given that “[the two carriers] haven’t had talks on this matter”. Read More »
Airline News
Emirates tweaks first class, flydubai expands
Emirates Airline said it will drop first class from some of its Airbus A380s starting next year without elaborating how many of its current 57 A380s or which routes will be affected. Read More »
Airline News
Tracking task force report falls short of expectations
The Aircraft Tracking Task Force (ATTF) founded by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in the aftermath of the unsolved disappearance of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 has submitted its report to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Read More »
Airline News
India reviews air bilaterals with the UAE, SpiceJet’s troubles deepen
For the past decade, Indian regulatory bodies have been generously granting flying rights to Middle Eastern carriers. However, things are looking to change as civil aviation minister Gajapathi Raju this month denied an Air Arabia request to operate an extra 14,000 weekly seats between the UAE and India. Read More »
Airline News
The Qantas Group said it expects to report an underlying profit before tax in the range of AUD300-350 million ($248.5 – $291 million) for the July to December period, reversing an AUD252 million loss reported in the year-ago period. Read More »
Airline News
ANZ converts B787-9s options to firm orders
Air New Zealand (ANZ), a member of Star Alliance, has converted two options it held on Boeing B787-9s into firm orders. The Auckland-based carrier said it was happy with the performance of the three ‘stretched Dreamliners’ it has received, and plans to use the additional aircraft for network expansion rather than replacement purposes. Read More »
Financial Round Up
Privately-owned Chinese low-cost carrier, Spring Airlines, has received formal approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to float an initial public offering (IPO) on December 22 to fund its rapid fleet expansion. Read More »
People
Garuda Indonesia has appointed Arif Wibowo to succeed Emirsyah Satar as chief executive of the country’s flag carrier. Wibowo was head of Citilink, Garuda’s budget arm. Satar said he has resigned before his term ends in March to give the new management more time to prepare for the coming year. Read More »
Short Takes
Airlines: Air New Zealand has opened its new regional lounge at Auckland Domestic Airport, the first of several new and made-over lounges on the airline's to-do list. Singapore Airlines (SIA) has increased its shareholding in Tigerair from 40% to 56%. Meanwhile, SIA plans to modify the doors across its entire fleet of Airbus A380s to address a micro crack issue that first came to light in January 2014 when a SIA A380 was forced to make an emergency landing in Azerbaijan due to a loss of cabin pressure. Read More »
Overheard
Cathay to Barcelona and Mexico City
Cathay Pacific Airways is close to announcing two new routes – Barcelona and Mexico City – a source at the airline has told This Week in Asia-Pacific Aviation. Read More »
