Orient Aviation’s Week in the Asia-Pacific
By Dominic Lalk
The impasse in the Gulf continued this week. Qatar Airways flights remain banned by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt and Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al Baker, has appealed to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for mediation.
In the interim, Qatar Airways published its full-year figures to March 31, which showed a 22% year-on-year net profit increase, to US$520 million. Also in the Gulf, Etihad Airways announced the termination of its three times a week Abu Dhabi-San Francisco service from October, the second long-haul route to be cancelled by the carrier this year, after Sao Paulo.
Airbus narrowed the order gap in May, with 59 commercial orders compared with 13 at Boeing. China Everbright Leasing placed a firm order for 30 C919s at China’s COMAC.
It also announced its new global market forecast, which revised the market upward from 33,070 aircraft in the next two decades, to 34,900 airliners for the same period.
Lufthansa is to resume Munich-Singapore flights and roster the A380 on the Munich-Hong Kong route. In China, Lucky Air became the country’s first long-haul LCC when it launched Kunming-Moscow A330 flights.
Thai AirAsia X and NokScoot have been recertified by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) and Air New Zealand will be studying a wide body order later this year.
Qatar Airways profit up 22%; Al Baker appeals to ICAO about airspace restrictions Read More »
News
Airbus releases new market forecast, confirms Asia remains the prime target market
Airbus’ growth focus remains fixed on emerging markets, particularly in Asia, its most recent Global Market Forecast reveals. Read More »
News
China Everbright Financial Leasing, a 90% subsidiary of Beijing-based China Everbright Bank, on Tuesday signed a deal for 30 C919s from Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC), raising the total order tally for the C919 to more than 600. Read More »
News
Long-haul LCC Lucky Air inaugurates Kunming-Moscow and plans for Irkutsk
Kunming-based Lucky Air on Monday officially became China’s first long-haul low-cost carrier when it launched a twice-weekly Kunming-Moscow Domodedovo A330-300 route. Read More »
News
Cargolux signs Henan Cargo Airlines joint venture
Luxembourg-based cargo carrier Cargolux has inked a joint venture equity agreement with the Henan Airport Group (HAG) and the Xinggang Investment Group Company Ltd. (XIGC) to establish Henan Cargo Airlines. Read More »
News
Air New Zealand to study future wide body fleet requirements
Auckland-based Air New Zealand (Air NZ) will start evaluating a wide body order later this year, its CEO, Christopher Luxon, has told Orient Aviation. Read More »
News
Thai AirAsia and NokScoot recertified by CAAT
Don Mueang-based Thai AirAsia X and NokScoot have had their Air Operator's Certificates (AOCs) recertified under the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand's (CAAT’s) revised ICAO-compliant criteria. Read More »
News
Lufthansa to add Munich-Hong Kong A380, resumes Singapore route
Lufthansa will be adding capacity to Asia from its Munich hub in 2018. For the first time, starting “in summer 2018”, the German flag carrier will be basing five of its 14 A380s in Munich. Read More »
People
Maher Salman Al Musallam, CEO of Bahraini flag carrier Gulf Air, resigned on Sunday. The airline did not provide a reason for his departure. Read More »
Short Takes
MRO: The joint venture between Safran Aircraft Engines and AFI KLM E&M, announced a year ago, now has officially been named Airfoils Advanced Solutions. The company's new plant will be completed in early 2018, with operations due to kick off later next year. Read More »
