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


JANUARY 2018

Week 3

Orient Aviation’s Week in the Asia-Pacific

By Dominic Lalk

It’s been a very good week for Airbus. On Monday, the European OEM released its 2017 orders and deliveries summary. It announced almost 200 more aircraft orders for the year than Boeing. Later in the week, on Thursday, Airbus signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Emirates Airline for up to 36 additional A380s, a lifeline deal for the very large jet programme many had thought was not going to happen.

Boeing also signed a significant deal this week. The Chicago-headquartered group announced a joint venture with seat manufacturer, Adient Aerospace, to develop, manufacture and sell seating products for aircraft produced by Boeing and also other OEMS.

On the airline front, Delta Air Lines CEO, Ed Bastian, said the airline’s joint venture with Korean Air would likely be approved by June. In the meantime, Delta and Qantas Airways got into hot water with Chinese authorities for ‘incorrectly’ listing Hong Kong and Taiwan as separate countries; and Mandarin Airlines said it expected to launch ATR72-600 operations in February.

Once again, Japanese airports were the region’s most punctual in 2017. Airports in Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo and Fukuoka topped the on-time performance list (OTP), but Auckland, Melbourne and – more surprisingly – Bangkok’s Don Mueang and Hanoi’s Noi Bai followed closely behind. OTP at Hong Kong and Seoul Incheon slipped again. Both airports did not make the top 20.

Airbus beats Boeing in 2017 final order tally Read More »

 

News

Emirates Airline signs MoU for more A380s

Airbus patience and sales efforts paid off this week when Dubai’s Emirates Airline signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the manufacturer for up to 36 additional A380s. Read More »


 

News

Boeing and Adient joint venture addresses “persistent challenge”

Boeing this week announced the establishment of Adient Aerospace, a joint venture that will develop, manufacture and sell aircraft seating products on new airplanes and also as retrofits for jets produced by Boeing and other OEMs. Read More »


 

News

Approval by June for Korean Air-Delta joint venture

South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation (MLIT) is expected to approve the trans-Pacific joint venture between the country’s largest carrier, Korean Air, and Delta Air Lines in the first half of this year, Delta CEO, Ed Bastian, told media in a recent earnings call. Read More »


 

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News

Japanese airports top on time performance in 2017

In 2017, Osaka’s Itami Airport was once again the Asia-Pacific’s airport with the best on-time performance (OTP). Read More »


 

News

Mandarin Airlines builds fleet with ATR72s

“A new year, a new fleet, a new hangar and a new Mandarin Airlines,” Mandarin Airlines chairman, Shih-chien Hsieh, said at the delivery ceremony of the airline’s first ATR72-600s. Read More »


 

News

Government carves up Air India to secure sale

Government-controlled Air India could finally be sold off in 2018. Read More »


 

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News

Phnom Penh approves US$1.5 billion new airport

The Cambodian government has announced a new airport would be built in the capital, Phnom Penh, to cater toward growing passenger numbers. Read More »


 

News

Air New Zealand, China Airlines and Philippine Airlines settle class action

Air New Zealand (Air NZ), Taiwan’s China Airlines (CAL) and Philippine Airlines (PAL) have agreed to pay US$29.4 million to settle a proposed price-fixing class action, dating from 2007, which accused the carriers of airfare pricing fixing between the U.S. and Australasia. Read More »


 

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People

Brisbane Airport appoints new CEO

Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) has appointed Gert-Jan De Graaff, a former BAC senior executive and current President and CEO of JFKIAT LLC, the operators of Terminal 4 at New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport, to lead the company from June 2018. Read More »


 

Short Takes

Routes: Bangkok Airways has delayed its second daily Bangkok-Vientiane A319 launch from February 1 to March 25. Read More »