A trusted source of Asia-Pacific commercial aviation news and analysis


NOVEMBER 2015

Orient Aviation November 2015

MISSION POSSIBLE
Engineer and Garuda “lifer”, Arif Wibowo, has returned the airline to profit despite  competitors’ assaults on the carrier’s traditional market base

• Thai junta acts to avoid safety downgrade

• Vietnamese airports seek private investors

• Manila Airport staff scam passengers

• SPECIAL REPORT: Aircraft leasing Asia-Pacific: an update

 

Cover Story

MISSION POSSIBLE

Arif Wibowo, Garuda Indonesia’s president director, had big shoes to fill when he took over from Emirsyah Satar last December, and in more ways than one. Read More »


 

Main Story

HITTING EMISSIONS TARGETS

A year away from an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly, where representatives of 190 member states will be tasked with producing a global scheme for payment of emissions from aviation, a new report has been released that outlined the industry’s progress in combating climate change. Read More »


 

Special Reports: Aircraft Leasing

Asia’s tycoons succumb to leasing’s financial allure

Several regional conglomerates are following the lead of China and establishing aircraft lessor subsidiaries that are cashing in on the Asia-Pacific’s huge future airline growth. Read More »


 

Special Reports: Aircraft Leasing

Testing times as A380 turns ten

As big carriers, including Singapore Airlines (SIA), Emirates Airline and Qantas Airways, consider returning their A380s, taken under 10-year sale-leaseback contracts, to their owners, a leading air finance banker has warned the residual value of the aircraft may not meet expectations. Read More »


 

Special Reports: Aircraft Leasing

Hidden costs of second time around aircraft leases

Handing back an aircraft to a lessor for re-delivery to a new airline can be far more expensive than airlines expect, a study by the International Bureau of Aviation (IBA), revealed. Read More »


 

News Backgrounder

Western aircraft duopoly challenged by new Sino-Russian partnership

It was a bolt out of the blue. On September 21, two days before Chinese President, Xi Jinping, visited Boeing’s production lines in Seattle, news came from Moscow that Russia and China were on the verge of signing an agreement to jointly develop a wide-body jet. Read More »


 

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News Backgrounder

Malaysia on hunt for “trigger happy criminals” who destroyed MH17

Following the release of the report into the downing of MH17, Malaysia has vowed to seek the prosecution of the “trigger-happy criminals” who downed the flight. Read More »


 

News Backgrounder

Momentum builds for new rules on battery shipments

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is expected to announce its support for a global ban on the shipment of large consignments of rechargeable lithium batteries on passenger aircraft. Read More »


 

Training

Airbus and SIA showcase new flight training partnership

Airbus’ strategy of developing centres of training and manufacturing excellence in the Asia-Pacific reached another milestone last month with the unveiling of its joint venture Airbus Asia Training Centre (AATC) in the Lion City. Read More »


 

Newsmakers

Investors welcomed to “The Party”

Asia-Pacific emerging economy, Vietnam, is a communist state, but its government is bent on bringing more capitalism into aviation, including an initiative that a few years ago would have been almost improbable - selling 25% of its shares in the country’s air regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV). Read More »


 

Newsmakers

Thailand’s junta intervenes to avoid air safety humiliation

The layers of bureaucratic inertia exposed by the failure of Thailand’s aviation regulators to promptly address the country’s air safety deficiencies become too much for its military leadership to bear. Read More »


 

Newsmakers

Manila airport staff accused of brazen bullet scam

Philippines president, Benigno Aquino, has ordered an inquiry into allegations that security staff at Manila’s main international airport plant bullets in passengers’ baggage and then demand money from their victims. Read More »


 

Comment

MH17 tragedy forces overflight changes

There were no surprises in the findings of the Dutch Safety Board investigation into the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 18 last year. Read More »


 

Business Digest

Cheaper fares push demand to new highs

Bolstered by an increase in travel demand going into the holiday season, Asia Pacific airlines recorded a 6.5% growth in the number of international air passengers carried to an aggregate total of 23.6 million. Read More »