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


JULY 2018

Orient Aviation July-August 2018

QATAR AIRWAYS’ EVERYWHERE MAN
Group CEO Akbar Al Baker is pushing his airline to its operational limits as he fights the negative impact of travel bans on the Doha carrier

• Chen Feng assumes full control of HNA Group after co-founder’s accidental death

• Recovery on track at Indonesia AirAsia Group

• Plain speaking from Airbus Commercial Aircraft CEO Faury

• INDUSTRY INSIGHT SPECIAL REPORT: Asia-Pacific cockpit training: industry confident of meeting pilot demand

 

Cover Story

Everywhere man

When Qatar Airways’s Akbar Al Baker was introduced as the new chairman of the International Air Transport Association’s board of governors, he had promised his predecessor, Qantas’ Alan Joyce, he would not say anything controversial at the press conference announcement. Read More »


 

Main Story

Don’t rush into private airport deals cautions IATA

Congested runways, crowded airport terminals and jam-packed airways are daily realities for airlines - and the Asia-Pacific is no exception to the experience. Read More »


 

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Industry Insight Special Report

Glamour of cockpit fades for millennials

Flight training academies are under pressure to increase their graduate numbers as forecasters agree more than 637,000 new cockpit crew will be needed to fly the global airline fleet in the next two decades. Read More »


 

Industry Insight Special Report

Home schooling for ANA pilots

Navigating intense training to win a commercial pilot licence is the easy part. Read More »


 

News Backgrounder

Cathartic change at Cathay Pacific reaping rewards

Cathay Pacific Airways CEO, Rupert Hogg, definitely did not say the Hong Kong-headquartered carrier would launch a low-cost carrier (LCC) when he was questioned on the subject at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) AGM in Sydney last month. Read More »


 

Executive Interview

Recovery on track at Indonesia AirAsia

On December 28, 2014, Indonesia AirAsia was making global headlines for the most tragic of reasons. Read More »


 

News Backgrounder

Plain speaking from Airbus boss Faury

Recently appointed Airbus Commercial Aircraft president, Guillaume Faury, did not make any excuses last month when asked about some 100 A320neo family jets that were sitting in Toulouse waiting for their engines to be attached. Read More »


 

News Backgrounder

Embraer targets Asia for its 190-E2 jets

New generation commercial jet, Embraer’s 190 E2, made a perfect entry into service with launch customer, Norway’s Wideroe, in April. Read More »


 

News Backgrounder

New SkyTeam CEO wants alliance to be a digital game changer

In early June, the SkyTeam alliance named Delta Air Lines executive, Kristin Colvile, as its new CEO, succeeding Perry Cantarutti, who will return to Delta as senior vice president alliances. Read More »


 

News Backgrounder

Blossoming relationship

Japan Airlines (JAL) and Hawaiian Airlines have applied for anti-trust immunity to strengthen their relationship between the U.S. island state and Japan. Read More »


 

News Backgrounder

Asia to drive US$20 billion turboprop market

Turboprop manufacturer, ATR , this month forecast that Asia would claim 43% of the global turboprop market in the next two decades in a worldwide market that would require 3,000 new turboprops valued at US$20 billion. Read More »


 

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Cabin Interiors

China seat output jumps as region’s airlines expand

With annual sales of $573 million, a bulging order book and factories rolling out 120,000 aircraft seats a year, Recaro Aircraft Seating CEO and shareholder, Dr. Mark Hiller, told Orient Aviation last month that growing demand for the company’s seats requires output increases in all of it plants worldwide including China. Read More »


 

Addendum

HNA’s Chen Feng voted sole chairman after sudden death of co-founder Wang Jian

HNA Group has announced co-founder, Chen Feng, has taken full control of the Mainland aviation to services group after the accidental death of Wang Jian early this month. Read More »


 

Addendum

Fugitive and fallen Kingfisher Airlines’ Mallya pleads for debt deal

Former King of Good Times and also the former CEO of failed Kingfisher Airlines, Vijay Mallya, is fighting India’s application for his extradition from Britain to the end. Read More »


 

Addendum

New Etihad Group boss puts broom through airline’s management

Following his appointment early this year, Etihad Aviation Group CEO, Tony Douglas, has replaced the senior management team at Etihad Airways and sidelined the carrier’s CEO, Peter Baumgartner, to the role of his senior strategic advisor on global partnerships and innovation. Read More »


 

Addendum

Irish lessors come out fighting as Asian rivals increase market share

Supported by the Irish government, a new representative body, Aircraft Leasing Ireland (ALI) has been established to ensure Ireland retains its position as the aircraft leasing industry’s global leader. Read More »


 

Addendum

Airbus rebrands Bombardier C Series jets as A220

North American carrier, Jetblue, became the launch customer of the rebranded A220-jet after it signed a Memorandum of Understanding for 60 of the type, formerly known as Bombardier CS100s and CS300s. Read More »


 

Addendum

Boeing and Embraer commit to commercial jet joint venture

At press time, The Boeing Company and Brazil’s Embraer announced they had agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding that stipulated Boeing would hold 80% and Embraer 20% in a commercial aircraft manufacturing and services joint venture. Read More »


 

Industry Addendum

COMAC and Teledyne deliver real time monitoring of ARJ21s

U.S. headquartered flight data management company, Teledyne Controls, has established a partnership with COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China) to build a real time monitoring system (RTMS) for the Mainland manufactured ARJ21 jet. Read More »


 

Industry Addendum

Rockwell Collins unveils management resource system for airlines

Global aerospace group, Rockwell Collins last month unveiled its latest aviation resource management system designed to manage an airline’s aircraft, fuel and cabin crew expenses and enable non-stop global operations. Read More »


 

Industry Addendum

Boeing and Safran to collaborate on Auxiliary Power Units

The Boeing Company and Safran have announced a 50/50 joint venture, to be based in the U.S, to design and build aircraft auxiliary power units (APUs). Read More »


 

Industry Addendum

Amadeus welcome Qantas to NDC-X program

Following the launch of Amadeus’ NDC-X program in February, the GDS announced last month that Australia’s Qantas will join the program. Read More »


 

Industry Addendum

Smiths Detection opens first Asia-Pacific customer experience centre

Global leader in aviation threat detection and screening technologies, Smiths Detection, opened its first customer experience centre in the region last month. Read More »


 

Industry Addendum

ST Engineering Aerospace opens MRO facility in North America

ST Engineering Aerospace has opened its third complex in the U.S., a 173,500 square feet MRO complex in Pensacola Florida. Read More »


 

Industry Addendum

Airbus and Audi to test air taxis

Airbus SE and Volkswagon’s Audi have signed a Letter of Intent with the German government to trial air taxis in Audi’s home town of Ingolstadt. Read More »


 

Industry Addendum: Leasing

Goshawk Aviation to acquire Sky Aviation Leasing

Hong Kong joint venture lessor, Goshawk Aviation Ltd, has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Dublin-headquartered Sky Aviation Leasing (SALI). Read More »


 

Industry Addendum: Leasing

German lessor parting out Ex SIA A380s

“After extensive as well as intensive negotiations with various airlines including British Airways, Hi Fly and Iran Air, Dr. Peters Group has decided to sell the aircraft components and will recommend this approach to investors,” the German lessor announced in early June. Read More »


 

Industry Addendum: Leasing

CALC establishes aircraft leasing investment vehicle

China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Ltd (CALC) has established CAG, first heralded in December last year, to invest in an aircraft portfolio on lease to international airlines. Read More »


 

Comment

IATA urges gender diversity in industry

When Qatar Airways’ outspoken group managing director and CEO, Akbar al Baker, said in Sydney in June that his airline had to be run by a man, it was, he later said, a joke. Read More »