All articles by Alfred Chua – Page 92
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NewsTaiwan’s Starlux orders eight A330neos
Starlux Airlines is set to become Taiwan’s first Airbus A330neo operator, after the carrier ordered eight examples of the widebody. Airbus, announcing the order on its social media channels, states that the eight widebodies will be leased from Air Lease Corporation. Source: Airbus Starlux Airlines ...
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NewsCAE, Cebu Pacific ink ATR 72-600 training agreement
Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific has signed a long-term pilot training agreement with Canadian simulator manufacturer and operator CAE for its ATR 72-600 fleet. The 15-year agreement will see CAE deploy a brand-new ATR 72-600 full-flight simulator to Philippine Academy for Aviation Training, which is a CAE-Cebu Pacific joint venture based ...
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NewsAir NZ extends 777 grounding to September 2021, or beyond
Air New Zealand will ground its Boeing 777 fleet for nearly one more year, as it notes that recovery from the coronavirus pandemic will be “slower than initially thought.” Instead of resuming 777 operations at the end of the year, the carrier says it will store the aircraft “until at ...
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NewsNakanihon Air orders one H215 heavy twin
Airbus Helicopters has secured an order for one H215 heavy-twin from Japanese aviation services company Nakanihon Air. The rotorcraft, which Airbus Helicopter says will help the operator “shore up its capabilities for utility and aerial work”, joins Nakanihon’s fleet of 45 other helicopters from Airbus. Source: ...
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NewsST Engineering ramps up A321P2F conversions
ST Engineering’s aerospace unit will more than double the number of Airbus A321 passenger-to-freighter (A321P2F) conversions annually, amid a surge in demand in the freight market during the coronavirus outbreak. The company confirms that it is planning to increase conversion capability from nine a year to 25 a year ...
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NewsKorean Air starts cargo operations with converted 777-300ER
Korean Air has began cargo operations with a freight-optimised Boeing 777-300ER, after it received regulatory approval to modify the popular widebody. The aircraft, registered HL8208, operated its first cargo flight on 8 September, from Seoul Incheon to Columbus, Ohio in the USA. Source: Greg Waldron Korean ...
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NewsMandarin Airlines confirms E190 retirement
Mandarin Airlines has confirmed that it will be retiring its Embraer E190s over the next three years, but remains coy about what will replace the regional jets. The China Airlines subsidiary confirms with FlightGlobal that it will phase out its fleet of six E190s — all of which are ...
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NewsChina Eastern unit OTT Airlines seeks regulatory approval
OTT Airlines, the newly-launched subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines, has applied to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for regulatory approval to commence operations. The CAAC discloses that OTT was established with registered capital of CNY1.5 billion ($219 million) and is solely funded by China Eastern. Source: ...
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Airline BusinessThailand tourism collapse poses existential crisis for airlines
The Thai airline industry has had a dramatic past few months amid the coronavirus outbreak, which has seen two carriers file for business rehabilitation, and a third going under. How did one of Southeast Asia’s fastest growing markets end up in this state, and is there a way out?
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NewsEU-China bilateral safety agreement comes into effect
A bilateral safety agreement between European and Chinese aviation regulators came into effect on 1 September, paving the way for simpler evaluation and certification processes for airframers of the two regions. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency says it held a joint meeting with its Chinese counterparts on 3 September, ...
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NewsVirgin Australia creditors give green light for Bain sale
Virgin Australia’s creditors have approved the sale of the carrier to US private equity group Bain Capital, with the full transfer of ownership expected to complete by end October. At the second creditors’ meeting on 4 September, the carrier’s creditors voted in favour of Bain’s proposal, which will see unsecured ...
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NewsTokyo evaluates AW609 to connect remote islands
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will evaluate the capabilities of the Leonardo Helicopters AW609 civil tiltrotor, as it mulls future air connections with the outlying island of Ogasawara. Located about 1,000km (540nm) away from Tokyo, Ogasawara island lacks direct air links with major Japanese cities. Source: Leonardo ...
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News‘Flying-V’ model embarks on first test flight — with Airbus support
A scaled model of the ‘Flying-V’ blended wing aircraft concept — first unveiled by Dutch researchers last year — has completed its first test flight in Germany. Airbus also emerged as the latest partner in the project, after Dutch flag carrier KLM threw its weight behind the project last year. ...
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NewsJAL in consortium to study drone deliveries in Tokyo
Japan Airlines has joined a consortium of four other Japanese companies in a feasibility study on drone deliveries in Metropolitan Tokyo. The two-year project will see the group study the feasibility of drone deliveries in the medical, food, as well as security sectors. Source: Japan Airlines Japan Airlines ...
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NewsGE changes LPT protective coating after 2018 Qantas A330 aerofoil failure
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has identified oxidation — and subsequent deterioration — of the protective coating around parts of a GE Aviation CF6 engine’s low‑pressure turbine as the cause of aerofoil failure, leading to an inflight engine shutdown. Releasing its final report into the June 2018 incident, ...
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NewsChina’s ‘Big Three’ carriers suffer first-half losses
At least one of China’s three largest state-owned carriers has explicitly warned that the coronavirus outbreak will continue to severely impact its profitability in the short term. In the release of its half-yearly results, China Southern Airlines says the “severe impact” of the pandemic has led it to predict ...
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Airline BusinessOnce the industry’s darlings, Asian LCCs struggle in pandemic’s wake
Asia-Pacific’s low-cost carriers were once the region’s success stories and seen as the next phase of growth. Amid the coronavirus outbreak though, many are now struggling. How will they overcome the crisis?
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NewsBoeing orders eight 787s to be withdrawn from service over structural issue
Boeing has ordered the removal from service of eight recently built 787s which have been identified as suffering from two “distinct manufacturing issues”. The airframer discloses that the two structural issues were found in the join of the aft body fuselage section of the jets, “which, in combination, result ...
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NewsVistara starts London flights under ‘transport bubble’ arrangement
Indian carrier Vistara has commenced thrice-weekly flights between Delhi and London Heathrow under a bilateral “transport bubble” arrangement, and is in discussions to operate to other European countries. London Heathrow, which it will operate from 28 August to 30 September, will be the carrier’s first long-haul destination in its ...
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NewsBoeing-SIAEC joint venture cuts 13% of workforce
Singapore-based Boeing Asia-Pacific Aviation Services (BAPAS), a services joint venture between Boeing and SIA Engineering, has laid off 13% of its workforce, as the coronavirus outbreak continues to affect the aviation sector. The move, which BAPAS says was “taken as a last resort”, will affect 27 of its 204 employees ...