Walter Cho, Chairman and CEO of Korean Air, makes it clear. Read More »

(Seoul, December 1, 2021) - Walter Cho, Chairman and CEO of Korean Air and Hanjin Group, has been named 2021 Person of the Year by Orient Aviation. Read More »

When the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) held a virtual media round table after its digital 65th Assembly of Presidents last month, the discussions were a stark reminder of how badly the region is performing compared with its airline peers in the rest of the world. Read More »

January

As aviation closed its book on the annus horribilis that was 2020, there was hope the new year would herald an improvement in the operating conditions that had savaged the industry in the past 12 months. Read More »

February

There was a flood of industry red ink this month as airlines across the region announced their latest financial results. Read More »

March

Airline lobby group, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), announced this month that its annual general meeting would be postponed by three months to the first week of October to give industry delegates the best chance possible to meet face-to-face. Read More »

April

Former British Airways and IAG CEO, Willie Walsh, officially took his seat as International Air Transport Association (IATA) director general this month. Read More »

May

Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group said this month the past year had been the toughest in its 74-year history as the pandemic rendered international travel almost non-existent and punched a hole in passenger revenue. Read More »

June

Strict quarantine rules imposed by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government led to Cathay Pacific Group’s introduction of a vaccine mandate for all locally-based pilots and cabin crew. Read More »

July

The off-again, on-again status of the proposed air travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong received another setback when a surge in COVID-19 community transmissions in Singapore led to a hold on discussions until case numbers fell. Read More »

August

Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (AAPA) director general, Subhas Menon, remarked this month that travel restrictions in the region were in many cases more restrictive than they were in 2020. Read More »

September

In March last year, Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced an S$8.8 billion (US$6.6 billion) capital raising from the sale of new shares and mandatory convertible bonds. Read More »

October

India’s drawn-out process for privatisation of its flag carrier, Air India, reached a conclusion when Tata Sons was announced as the successful bidder for the government-owned airline. Read More »

November

The cautious optimism that emerged at the Dubai Airshow early in the month turned to nervousness shortly afterwards from the arrival of a new COVID-19 variant, Omicron. Read More »

December

In a year dominated by Delta, the major headache this month for airlines was assessing the impact the COVID-19 Omicron variant would have on air travel. Read More »

Almost everyone in the country’s aviation industry is agreed the sale of Air India to Tata Sons, commonly known as Tata’s, has irrevocably changed India’s skies. Read More »

This was the year of hope that failed to deliver. Following the dire months of 2020, the airline industry was looking for “the green shoots” of a genuine recovery. Read More »