Overview
This Week in Asia-Pacific Aviation was dominated by news from Mainland China as the CAAC released its latest figures, showing robust passenger and cargo growth, particularly on international services. Meanwhile, Christoph Mueller continues to shake things up at the ‘New MAS’ in Kuala Lumpur, while over in Thailand, operators are penalized for their safety contraventions by none other than Indonesia. Across the peninsula, in Singapore, Tigerair is still in the red, but improving, and SIA is turning to the manufacturers to reclaim its legacy with nonstop flights to the U.S.
Mainland growth robust despite weaker economy Read More »
Airline News
Khazanah Nasional may inject another 1-2 billion ringgit ($263- $526 million) into Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to keep it afloat, the Business Times has reported, adding the new funds would come at the end of MAS’ three-year restructuring plan and would be on top of the 6 billion ringgit Khazanah already invested in MAS. Read More »
Airline News
Pressure on Thai operators mounts
Ironically, Indonesia, an aviation market continuously making the headlines for lacklustre safety, has joined Australia, China, Cambodia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore in freezing the number of flights and the types of aircraft Thai-based carriers are allowed to use on flights to the archipelago. Read More »
Airline News
SIA pushes for A350LR, Tigerair narrows losses
Singapore Airlines (SIA) is in talks with Airbus and Boeing over the acquisition of ultra-long range aircraft capable of performing nonstop Singapore-U.S. services, allowing it to recover a market niche that has since been filled by the likes of Cathay Pacific Airways and Qantas Airways after SIA dropped Los Angeles and Newark in 2013 when its fuel-thirsty A340-500s deployed on the routes no longer proved economically sustainable. Read More »
Airline News
Kazakh flag carrier Air Astana, a member of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) since November 2014, has reported a net profit of $8.3 million in first-half 2015, reversing a $36.4 million loss in the corresponding year-ago period. Read More »
People
Amadeus appoints AP president
Madrid-headquartered Amadeus has announced the appointment of Albert Pozo – with the firm for 23 years – as its new president for the Asia-Pacific region. Pozo, who takes office on August 3, will direct Amadeus’ regional corporate strategy, focusing on distribution and new business areas such as rail, hotel, payments and venture investments. Read More »
Airline News
AirAsia Japan applies for AOC, Solaseed goes international
Nagoya Chubu-based AirAsia Japan has commenced certification with the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) ahead of its planned spring 2016 launch. A joint venture between AirAsia Group (49%), Octave Japan Infrastructure Fund (19%), travel agency Rakuten (18%), Noevir Holdings (9%), and Alpen Co. (5%), AirAsia Japan will initially operate from Chubu to Fukuoka, Sapporo, and Seoul Incheon, before adding Sendai and Taipei. Read More »
Short Takes
AIRLINES: Austrian Airlines said it would cease its Vienna-Dubai operations from September as “overcapacity, built up in recent years, resulted in fierce price competition as up to 800 seats per day were on offer” which ultimately made the route unsustainable for the carrier. Hawaiian Airlines has signed for an additional A330-200 from Air Lease Corporation’s order book for delivery in second-quarter 2016, and said it would acquire three ATR72 freighters to expand its interisland shipping services starting next year. Hanoi-based Vietnam Airlines has rolled out a new corporate identity to coincide with the launch of a major fleet upgrade which will see the national carrier take delivery of 14 A350-900s and 19 B787-9s by 2020. Read More »
