Orient Aviation’s Week in the Asia-Pacific
By Dominic Lalk
Undoubtedly, it’s been a crazy week in commercial aviation. The week kicked off with the year’s most important aviation leader gathering, the International Air Transport Association’s 73rd Annual General Meeting, held in Cancun.
As the industry’s cheque writers met in Mexico, a series of dramatic events unfolded in the Middle East. Several Gulf counties severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, forcing the national carrier, Qatar Airways, to reroute all in- and outbound flights into Doha via Iranian airspace.
Back in the Asia-Pacific, it was business as usual. Cebu Pacific Air placed an order for seven A321ceo to mitigate the potential delivery delay of its 32 on-order A321neo. In Australia, the competition watchdog approved the alliance between Virgin Australia and China’s HNA Aviation and in China, Airbus signed an aviation development agreement with the National Development and Reform Commission.
IATA AGM: Strong global economy and cheap airfares boost 2017 airline profit forecast Read More »
News
ACCC approves Virgin Australia-HNA Group alliance
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) this week issued a draft approval of the proposed alliance between Virgin Australia and China's HNA Aviation on flights between Australia, mainland China and Hong Kong. Read More »
News
Emirates to reduce first class seat count
Dubai’s Emirates Airline will reduce the first class seat count on its incoming B777-300ERs. The UAE carrier will configure all new -300ERs with six first class suites in a 1-1-1 layout, compared to the 1-2-1 configuration on its current B777 fleet. Read More »
News
Lufthansa considers more A350s, fewer B777Xs
Germany’s Lufthansa thinks it might have ordered too few A350s and too many B777Xs, Bloomberg has reported, citing Lufthansa CEO, Carsten Spohr. Read More »
News
Airbus woos China with aviation development cooperation deal
Airbus and China have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on enhanced cooperation in aviation and aerospace development. Read More »
News
United to launch nonstop Singapore-Los Angeles flights
United Airlines is continuing its expansion in the Asia-Pacific region. Read More »
News
Cebu Pacific orders 7 A321ceo to mitigate potential A321neo delays
The Philippines’ largest carrier, Cebu Pacific Air, this week placed an order for seven additional A321ceo aircraft to join its fleet from March 2018. Read More »
News
SilkAir considers Karratha route
SilkAir, the regional full-service subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, is considering launching flights between its Singapore base and Karratha in northwest Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) has reported. Read More »
News
Qatar Airways licences revoked by UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain
The situation in the Gulf keeps deteriorating. After Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday collectively severed all diplomatic ties with Qatar, the later three on Tuesday said they also would be revoking all licences issued to Qatar Airways, forcing the closure of all of the airline’s offices within 48 hours. Read More »
Short Takes
Routes: Air China will convert its thrice-weekly Beijing-Xiamen-Jakarta B737-800 route into a nonstop Beijing-Jakarta A330-300 flight starting September 26. Read More »
