Orient Aviation’s Week in the Asia-Pacific
By Dominic Lalk
Asia-Pacific airlines will earn a collective profit of US$9 billion in 2018, an 8% improvement on this year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecast this week in Geneva.
In China, HNA Group is feeling the heat from lessors who are complaining they are not being paid on time. In Hong Kong, CALC took delivery of its 100th aircraft and its first A320neo this week and Boeing delivered its 50th B737 MAX.
On the airline front, Qatar Airways has confirmed and upsized an earlier order for 50 A320neo to 50 larger A321neo ACF (Airbus Cabin Flex configuration) during a state visit by French president, Emmanuel Macron, to Doha.
In Singapore, the Lion state’s flag carrier, Singapore Airlines, and regional subsidiary, SilkAir, will start code sharing with local LCC Scoot. Elsewhere in the region, Japan Airlines (JAL) has taken 20 options and invested US$10 million in the Boom Supersonic jet programme, Hawaiian Airlines has announced a network expansion and Orient Thai Airlines was recertified by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand.
At press time, it was reported that Air New Zealand had become the latest airline to encounter problems with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines that power its B787 fleet. The incidents have forced the carrier to ground flights and adjust its engine MRO cycle as replacement engines are unavailable.
IATA: Asia-Pacific airline profits to grow 8% in 2018 Read More »
News
ICBC Leasing this week placed a top-up order with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) for 55 additional C919 jets. Read More »
News
Thailand’s aviation regulator recertifies Orient Thai Airlines
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) this week recertified Orient Thai Airlines. Read More »
News
Boeing to “tweak” 777-8 for Qantas non stop European flights
Qantas Airways group CEO, Alan Joyce, issued one of the greatest challenges in modern aviation to Airbus and Boeing a few weeks ago - developing an airliner capable of performing nonstop flights from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne to Europe. Read More »
News
SIA and SilkAir to code share with Scoot as the LCC expands to Berlin
The Singapore Airlines Group (SIA Group) remains ahead of the competition with the announcement this week that Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its regional subsidiary, SilkAir, will begin code sharing on flights operated by Scoot, the group’s dedicated low-cost carrier. Read More »
News
Rolls-Royce engine problems ground some Air New Zealand flights
At press time, Air New Zealand told media there had been “two recent events” with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines that power its B787 fleet and that these events had resulted in cancelled flights and timetable revisions. Read More »
News
Qatar Airways replaces 50 A320neo with A321neo
Qatar Airways has upgraded its previous order for 50 A320neo aircraft, placed in 2011, to 50 larger A321neo ACF at list prices of US$6.35 billion. Read More »
News
HNA Aviation carriers late on lease payments
Could HNA Aviation be a castle made of sand after all? Airfinance Journal, citing lessor sources, has reported HNA Aviation carriers are consistently paying late for aircraft they have leased. Read More »
News
Hawaiian announces network expansion with A321neo
Hawaiian Airlines’ network planners are busy adding new services following the delivery of the carrier’s first of 18 on order A321neo. Read More »
News
CALC takes delivery of 100th aircraft and first A320neo
China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited (CALC), the Hong-Kong based lessor, this week took delivery of its first A320neo aircraft. Read More »
News
JAL pre-orders 20 Boom Supersonic jets
Japan Airlines (JAL) made a surprise US$10 million investment in Boom Supersonic, the Denver-based company that aims to develop a supersonic airliner travelling at Mach 2.2 that could hit the market as early as the mid-2020s. Read More »
Short Takes
GDS: Sabre Corp. has announced an expanded three-year partnership with Far Eastern Air Transport, opening a wider variety of travel options within Taiwan and internationally. Read More »
