A trusted source of Asia-Pacific commercial aviation news and analysis


MARCH 2016

Orient Aviation March 2016

MUELLER’S MEDICINE FOR MALAYSIA AIRLINES
Airline corporate doctor, Christoph Mueller, is facing his toughest test yet – building a new airline from the former stricken MAS

• Air New Zealand well prepared to battle Gulf carriers

• China blacklists their badly behaving passengers

• Mixed messages emerge in region’s capacity debate

• SPECIAL REPORT: MRO in the Asia-Pacific: an update

 

Person of the Year Awards Dinner

Tony Tyler honored as Orient Aviation’s Person of the Year

Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO, was honored as a Lifetime Achievement award recipient and Orient Aviation’s Person of the Year at a dinner in Hong Kong in February. Read More »


 

Cover Story

Mueller’s medicine for Malaysia Airlines

Malaysia Airlines had been in intensive care for months when the former CEO of the Aer Lingus Group, Christoph Mueller, arrived in Kuala Lumpur last year to embark on the formidable task of restoring the airline’s reputation. Read More »


 

Main Story

Risky business

Fuel is the life blood of the airline industry and its biggest cost. It also can be its Achilles Heel as past, extremely elevated aviation kerosene prices have demonstrated. Read More »


 

Special Report: MRO Asia-Pacific update

“Avalanche” coming for Asia-Pacific MROs

Sales of $3.15 billion at list prices may sound like a lot of money, but historically speaking, deals for new jets at February’s Singapore Air Show were thin on the ground. Read More »


 

Special Report: MRO Asia-Pacific update

MTU Aero Engines wins big in Singapore

Singapore was good news for MTU Aero Engines orders with the engine manufacturer scoring business worth US$570 million during the February air show. Read More »


 

Special Report: MRO Asia-Pacific update

ST Aerospace opens VIP jet repair centre at Seletar

The Singapore Seletar Aerospace interiors centre, officially opened in mid-February, is equipped with facilities that “allow aircraft owners to work with in-house designers to visualise the interior of their aircraft through 3D renderings and 3D printing of scale models that give the most realistic impression of each element before the production phase,” said ST Aerospace. Read More »


 

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Environment

Landmark industry standards for emissions

It has taken six years of painstaking negotiations and technical work, but finally the world’s aviation regulator, in the form of the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) environment panel, has announced new standards for greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft. Read More »


 

News Backgrounder

Air New Zealand ready to do battle with gulf carriers

New Zealand may be small in population and remote in destination, but it is becoming a hot property in the airline world. Read More »


 

News Backgrounder

China blacklists badly behaviouring passengers

The New Year brought bad news in two Asian countries for disruptive airline passengers. China, one of the world’s unruly passenger hot spots, is creating a passenger black list that will see anyone causing trouble aboard commercial aircraft banned from travelling. Read More »


 

News Backgrounder

Mixed messages emerge in the region’s capacity debate

The big plane makers were more than happy at the Singapore Air Show and little wonder. They view the Asia-Pacific as a future cash cow. Read More »


 

News Backgrounder

No where to grow

When a number of Asia-Pacific airports released their detailed traffic statistics for 2015 it confirmed the predictions of airlines that airports will face serious congestion if they don’t fast track infrastructure expansion. Read More »


 

News

Airbus launches Tianjin A330 centre

The new A330 Cabin and Delivery Centre (CDC) is good news for Chinese airlines,” said Airbus China CEO, Eric Chen, at a news conference celebrating the ground breaking of the manufacturer’s first A330 CDC, in Tianjin, on March 2. Read More »


 

News

Flush with cash down under

The CEOs of Australia’s two major airlines and Tasman rival, Air New Zealand, unveiled rosy financial pictures for their airlines at the February announcements of their interim financial results, to December 31, 2015. Read More »


 

News

Teaming up for training

Airbus and low-cost carrier, Vietjet, have agreed to establish a flight training and maintenance training facility in Ho Chi Minh City, the first Training by Airbus agreement in Vietnam. Read More »


 

News

Singapore upgrades aircraft tracking

Singapore’s regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has become the first air navigation service provider in the Asia-Pacific to adopt space-based ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast) that will allow equipped aircraft to be tracked wherever they are flying in the country’s airspace. Read More »


 

Comment

Pros and cons of cheap fuel

Fuel is an airline’s largest expense. The fact that oil is at its lowest price in years is a massive boost for an industry that was paying more than US$120 a barrel for aviation kerosene 19 months ago. Read More »