Overview
It has been another ‘Al Baker week’ in Doha as the Qatar Airways chief unveiled three new A350 routes to the U.S. and signalled his interest in Italy’s Meridiana and the Netherlands’ KLM. Meanwhile, over in India, flag carrier Air India and Jet Airways curbed their losses, while on the Mainland, the Chinese carriers produced a 52% growth in first-quarter international traffic, and in Hong Kong, local heavyweight Cathay Pacific Airways averted industrial action.
SAUDIA leads Qatar Airways as the Gulf’s No.2 Read More »
Airline News
Indonesia’s rising giant – the Lion Air Group, founded by influential business brothers Kusnan and Rusdi Kirana – said it was looking forward to receiving three all-economy A330-300s from October to December “to reduce frequency and carry more passengers” on domestic routes. Read More »
Airline News
Muscle flexing in Qantas-China Eastern deal
The debate about the proposed five-year alliance between Qantas Airways and China Eastern Airlines has flared up once again after the Chinese government urged the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to take into consideration “the wider national interests”. Read More »
Airline News
China reports 57% international growth in Q1
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has released the combined first-quarter traffic figures for its carriers. In the domestic market, traffic was robust, increasing 11% year-on-year, while regional traffic, defined by the CAAC to include Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan only, slumped to 5%, less than half its growth in 2014. Read More »
Airline News
India Digest: Jet, Air India MRO, SpiceJet
Jet Airways’ losses are shrinking and its three-year turnaround “is on track", said Naresh Goyal, Jet’s chairman, as he presented the airline’s results for the financial year ended March 31, which included a 60% year-on-year operating loss reduction to 8.3 billion rupees ($130 million). Read More »
Financial Round Up
In the first quarter ended March 31, AirAsia X’s net loss widened to 125.9 million ringgit ($34 million), up sharply from the 11.3 million ringgit loss it posted in the corresponding year-ago period. Read More »
Airline News
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways has struck a deal with its 6,300 unionized cabin crew, thereby averting a planned 24-hour strike during the peak summer holiday season. Read More »
People
Indian low-cost carrier GoAir has appointed Wolfgang Prock-Schauer as its new chief executive from June 15, succeeding Giorgio De Roni. Read More »
Short Takes
CARGO: FedEx says it has retired 15 older FedEx Express aircraft as part of an effort to “rationalize capacity” and modernize its fleet. The retired aircraft include seven MD-11Fs, one MD-10F, three A300Fs and four A310-300Fs. Read More »
