Orient Aviation Daily Digest August 6, 2021
A look at the week
By Jordan Chong
News this week that British Airways (BA) has signed a five-year contract extension with Lufthansa Technik Philippines for the maintenance of its 12 A380s was taken as a vote of confidence in the double-decker super-size passenger jet.
The A380 has rarely been sighted during the coronavirus pandemic with airlines sending the type into long-term storage and relying on smaller aircraft to keep flying amid a crippling drop in passenger demand. Industry figures show there were 233 A380s in service before the pandemic but only 20 of the type were service in March this year.
Some airlines flying the A380 in the Asia-Pacific also believe there is a role for the aircraft in a post-pandemic world.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has said its post-COVID-19 recovery plans include having 12 A380s in the fleet, all with new cabin products. This means seven of the aircraft will be withdrawn from the SIA fleet. The airline's 19 A380s are currently stored – six at Alice Springs in Australia and 13 at Changi Airport. Read More »
News
India's leading LCC forecasts "strong hopes of recovery" as a "robust vaccination" regime takes hold
IndiGo CEO, Ronojoy Dutta, said the decline in COVID-19 cases and a "robust" vaccination program meant there were "strong hopes of recovery" in the market. Read More »
News
Garuda Indonesia posts US$387.8 million loss for first quarter
Indonesia's flag carrier has reported a net loss of US$387.8 million for the three months to March 31, a deterioration from a net loss of US$143.9 million in the same three months in 2020. Read More »
News
AirAsia Indonesia extends suspension of entire network
AirAsia Indonesia has extended the suspension of all scheduled passenger flights until September 6 "in view of the current COVID-19 situation in Indonesia" and to support the government's containment efforts. Read More »
News
China Airlines announces US$49 million interim loss
Taiwan's China Airlines (CAL) has reported a net loss of TW$1.36 billion (US$49 million) for the six months to June 30, a slight increase from a TW$1.31 billion net loss recorded in the same six months last year. Read More »
News
Japan Airlines continues to cut back its domestic network
Japan Airlines (JAL) has cancelled another 4,224 domestic flights, this time from August 11 to September 15, due to market conditions. Read More »
News
Atlas Air posts 35.7% lift in second quarter net profit
Atlas Air CEO, John Dietrich, said overnight he believed economic and supply chain conditions remained favourable for air cargo as the company reported a net profit of US$107.1 million for the three months to June 30, up 35.7%. Read More »
News
Asia-Pacific aerospace briefs today
British Airways has signed a five-year contract extension with Lufthansa Technik Philippines to maintain its fleet of 12 A380s at the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provider's Manila facility. Read More »
