Air traffic at Thailand’s six main airports, operated by Airports of Thailand (AOT), climbed 2.5% to a record 90.53 million passengers last year as LCCs continued their aggressive expansion, unfazed by the country’s political crises and airport capacity shortages. Read More »

Korean Air senior executive, Heather Cho Hyun-ah, daughter of Korean Air chairman, Cho Yang-ho, was found guilty of breaking aviation law when she ordered an Incheon-bound Korean Air A380 to return to the gate at New York’s John F Kennedy Airport on December 5. Read More »

Last week, a Delhi meeting between Qatar Airways chief, Akbar Al-Baker, and IndiGo’s majority-owner, Rahul Bhatia, sparked speculation that a deal for a Qatar Airways stake in LCC,  IndiGo, was imminent.  Read More »

South Korea’s second international carrier, Asiana Airlines, has announced a $2.83 billion order for 25 A321neo aircraft. Read More »

Mumbai-based Jet Airways will receive the ten B787-9s it ordered in 2006 in financial year 2017-2018. Boeing and Jet Airways have corrected a news article in India’s Business Standard that said the new aircraft were slated for delivery starting next year but had been deferred by Jet to 2017-2018.

The below statement from Abhijit Dasgupta, vice-president planning and alliances at Jet Airways, that appeared in the Indian newspaper has been clarified to have been misquoted. “We are looking at more or less a flat fleet. We do have some lease expiries coming up, which we are deciding to either extend or replace. Broadly, we are not looking at any substantial growth in our fleet. We have nothing in the order book for the next two to three years.”

Jet Airways is proceeding through a turnaround, which includes debt restructuring, cost reduction through contract re-negotiations and process improvements and network rationalization. Last week, Jet Airways chief, Cramer Ball, said the rehabilitation plan had begun to pay off after the carrier posted a $0.5 million profit for the third quarter, ended December 31.  It was its first profitable quarter in three years.

In its third quarter ended December 31, profit at the Singapore Airlines (SIA)Group  soared 305%, to $203 million, boosted by a $120 million gain from the conversion of Tigerair into a subsidiary. Read More »

Hawaiian Airlines reported a 2014 net income of $68.9 million, up 33% from a net income of $51.9 million in 2013. Read More »

Shinya Katanozaka, 59, will succeed Shinichiro Ito as president and chief executive officer (CEO) at ANA Holdings on April 1. Katanozaka is senior executive vice president at the airline group. Read More »

Pierre Beaudoin, grandson of Bombardier founder Joseph-Armand Bombardier, has stepped down as chief executive at the Montreal-based manufacturer. Read More »

CFM International last week announced the appointment of François Bastin as the company’s newest executive vice president. Read More »

Codeshares

SriLankan Airlines will add its ‘UL’ designator on Jetstar Asia’s services from Singapore to Bangkok, Darwin, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Perth and Phuket, from April 5. Read More »

Notification:

This Week In Asia-Pacific Aviation will not be published on Monday 23 February 2015.  The next issue will be available online on Monday, 2 March, 2015.

May I take this opportunity to wish you a prosperous Year of the Ram!