Orient Aviation’s Week in the Asia-Pacific
By Dominic Lalk
It’s been a short week in Asia-Pacific aviation as Hong Kong, Taiwan and China celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival and the annual ‘Golden Week’.
In Hong Kong, it was announced on Wednesday that HK Express CEO, Andrew Cowen, had been replaced. The carrier’s president, Jimmy Ma, also had left the low-cost carrier following the cancellation of 18 scheduled flights during China’s peak holiday season because of a shortage of safety inspectors. A HK Express vice president, Zhong Guosong, has succeeded Cowen.
China Airlines (CAL) confirmed a four-weekly B777-300ER route to Ontario, California and Japan Airlines (JAL) pointed to a need for more A350s to expand its U.S.-Southeast Asia transfer traffic and build an India network.
In Australia, the Air Transport Safety Board issued its final report into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370. The ATSB said it was “societally unacceptable” that the missing airliner still has not been found. It prompted the regulator to recommend more stringent mandatory aircraft tracking, above and beyond the 15 minutes mandated by ICAO.
In Charleston in the U.S. Singapore Airlines’ (SIA’s) first B787-10 has been completed. It will be delivered in 2018 following flight testing and cabin completion. Boeing this week received an order for 58 MAXs from an undisclosed customer.
ATSB calls for more accurate tracking in MH370 final report Read More »
News
Japan Airlines considers more A350s
Fresh out of bankruptcy protection, Japan Airlines (JAL) is on a growth spurt. Read More »
News
China Airlines confirms Ontario California B777 route
Taiwan’s China Airlines (CAL)will launch four times a week Taipei-Ontario, California B777-300ER flights from “spring 2018”. Read More »
News
A330neo nearing its maiden flight
Airbus has told Orient Aviation its first A330neo, an A330-900, has been handed over to the flight test team in preparation for a first flight “within the next few weeks”. Read More »
News
Cambodia’s Lanmei performs inaugural flight; Small Planet secures Cambodian AOC
No other aviation market in the Asia-Pacific is as dynamic at the moment as Indochina. Read More »
News
Singapore Airlines’first B787-10 completes final assembly
On Tuesday, Boeing rolled out the first B787-10 Dreamliner built for Singapore Airlines (SIA) at its final assembly facility in North Charleston, South Carolina. Read More »
News
Singapore Airlines Group and Lufthansa Group launch joint venture
On Sunday, Singapore Airlines Group (SIA) and Lufthansa Group launched a joint venture covering flights between Singapore, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium. Read More »
News
SilkAir takes delivery of first Boeing B737MAX 8
SilkAir, the regional subsidiary of the Singapore Airlines Group (SIA), on Sunday received its first of 37 on-order B737 MAX 8s at its Singapore Changi hub. Read More »
News
Boeing books 58 B737MAXs with an unidentified customer
On its orders and deliveries page, U.S. manufacturer Boeing has listed a new order for 58 B737 MAXs from an undisclosed airline customer. Read More »
People
HK Express CEO replaced amid safety controversy
On Wednesday, HK Express CEO, Andrew Cowen and the airline’s president, Jimmy Ma, left the airline with immediate effect. Read More »
Short Takes
Routes: Air France will replace the B777-200ER with the B787-9 on the five-weekly CDG-Guangzhou route from March 25. ANA will replace the B737-700 with the A320neo on the daily Kansai-Qingdao route starting October 9. Read More »
