Right now, the arrival of “open skies” in Southeast Asia, planned for full implementation in 2015, is not shaping up to be the liberalization that many expected. Read More »

Long-touted as Asia’s version of the Single European Skies, the drive towards an open skies regime among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), officially scheduled to arrive in 2015, is dogged with disagreements among member states about how far they are prepared to go to fully liberalize their aviation markets. Read More »

For Qantas Airways it was nothing short of a double whammy. Firstly, major rival, Virgin Australia, headed by long-time former Qantas executive, John Borghetti, won approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to move ahead with its US$35.9 million buy of 60% of budget Tiger Airways Australia. Read More »

It has been a long time coming, but after months of complex negotiations Gulf operator, Etihad Airways, has finally tied the equity knot with India’s Jet Airways. Read More »

For All Nippon Airways (ANA), the Dreamliner’s launch customer, it was a speedy return to the skies for its fleet when, just two days after the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) followed the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lead and approved a return to service late last month, the airline operated a trouble-free two-hour test flight from Tokyo’s Haneda airport. Read More »

Boeing may only have orders from four airlines for the passenger version of its latest jumbo jet, the B747-8 Intercontinental, but Bruce A. Dickinson, vice-president and chief project engineer of the B747-8 programme, is convinced that will improve this year. And he believes Asia-Pacific airlines will lead the charge to sign up for the plane. Read More »

When the International Air Transport Association (IATA) filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) in March for approval of its new standards for the distribution of airline services and products, known as the new distribution capability (NDC), it was aware the rumblings of discontent in some sectors of the travel industry were gathering momentum. Read More »

Strategic, operational and maintenance consulting service, TeamSAI, has a powerful piece of advice for airlines about to purchase new aircraft or engines: make any after-sale service a part of the purchase negotiations before agreeing to a deal. That, said the U.S. consultancy, is the best time to leverage a cost advantage. Read More »

Indonesian budget operator, Lion Air, whose fleet and new aircraft orders add up to a monster 750 aircraft, will open a $100 million maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) base at the Hang Nadim International Airport in Batam, Riau Islands in June. Read More »

Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport has officially told three local airlines they have to lift their inflight service game. Apparently, the move follows numerous complaints from passengers about service. Read More »

Starting an airline in Vietnam will be a little tougher from next month following the introduction of higher capital requirements for new carriers. Read More »

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is investigating the actions of three pilots from Chengdu Airlines after it was alleged they put passengers at risk last month by using the aircraft’s autopilot to land in poor weather conditions. Read More »

Mainland China’s homegrown regional airplane, the ARJ 21, continues to experience delays to its commercial carrier launch. Read More »

Debt-ridden and grounded Indian carrier, Kingfisher Airlines, last month submitted its second recovery plan to the country’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in an attempt to get back into the air. Read More »

Indonesia’s state-owned, debt ridden domestic carrier, Merpati Nusantara Airlines, is facing closure, according to enterprises minister, Dahlan Iskan. His department is the sole shareholder in the airline. Read More »

Korean Air (KAL) has bought 44% of Czech Airlines, the first time a South Korean airline has acquired equity in a foreign carrier. Read More »

All Nippon Airways (ANA) reported a record profit for the fiscal year to March 31, defying the negative impact of the grounding of its B787 fleet in the final quarter and the stuttering recovery of the global economy. Read More »

Garuda Indonesia has announced a 72.6% increase in net profit for the 12 months to December 31, 2012. Read More »

AirAsia Indonesia plans to go public in the fourth quarter this year, its president director, Dharmadi, has told local media. Read More »

AIRPORTS: Asian airports scored four out of the five top places in the annual World Airports Awards. Singapore won the top spot followed by Seoul (2), Amsterdam (3), Hong Kong (4) and Beijing (5). The remaining airports in the top 10 were Munich (6), Zurich (7), Vancouver (8), Tokyo Haneda (9) and London Heathrow (10). Read More »

Turkish Airlines, which is 49.1% owned by the airline’s national government, confirmed the  biggest aviation deal in the history of Turkish aviation last month when it signed off a US$9 billion order for 25 A321s, four A320NEOs and 53 A321neos, with options for 35 A321neos, in Istanbul. Read More »

China Eastern Airlines reported losses of 132 million yuan (US$21.2 million) for the three months to March 31, compared with a 266 million yuan profit for the same months last year. Read More »

Paul Steele (pictured), presently the director of aviation environment at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and also executive director of the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) has been promoted to the association’s senior vice-president, member and external relations.  Read More »

Asia-Pacific airlines continued to see steady demand in passenger markets in January, with 17.6 million international passengers carried, which matched that of the same month last year. Read More »