All Asia Pacific news – Page 251
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NewsQantas grounds eight A380s for six months
Australia’s Qantas Group is to ground eight Airbus A380s for six months, as it cuts capacity by nearly a quarter over the period to September 2020. Only two A380s will remain flying, because two others are undergoing scheduled maintenance and cabin upgrades. The measures follow the continuing downturn in demand ...
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NewsHong Kong probing fourth 787 ILS deviation incident
Investigators have revealed a fourth incident involving a Boeing 787 deviation from the localiser path, during an ILS approach to runway 25R at Hong Kong last year. The incident occurred to an Ethiopian Airlines 787-8 which had been arriving on 18 July. It had been cleared for the ILS approach ...
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AnalysisCovid-19’s full impact on global aviation still unknown
More than eight weeks after the world first learnt the term “coronavirus”, the outbreak has spread beyond Asia, with Europe, the Middle East, and even North America now on high alert. Closer to the epicentre in China, Asia-Pacific airlines have been grappling with the shock to air traffic demand, but ...
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NewsHawaiian suspends flights to Tokyo Haneda
After suspending its flights to South Korea in late February, Hawaiian Airlines now has halted flights from Hawaii to Tokyo’s Haneda International airport following declining demand for capacity to Asia amid the spiraling coronavirus scare.
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NewsVirgin 787s suffered Hong Kong ILS deviations after Etihad incident
Investigators in Hong Kong have revealed two other serious localiser deviation incidents, both involving Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9s, which occurred within a few weeks of a similar occurrence to an Etihad Airways 787-9. One of Virgin’s services from London Heathrow had been conducting an ILS approach to runway 25R on ...
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NewsNorthrop turns to Canberra to shore up Triton production
Northrop Grumman says Australia should consider advancing its acquisition of the US Navy’s MQ-4C Triton UAV following the Trump administration’s proposal to pause production for the programme in FY2021 and FY2022. While pausing production, the administration wants instead to focus on the MQ-4C’s improved multi-intelligence configuration, designated IFC-4. The budget ...
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NewsIATA sees ‘partial success’ in call for easing slot rules
IATA has reiterated its call to governments and slot co-ordinators – including those in the European Commission – to ease slot rules, in light of the escalating coronavirus outbreak globally. Speaking at a briefing held after a two-day industry workshop in Singapore, IATA chief economist Brian Pearce says “the evidence ...
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NewsAirAsia India completes IATA safety audit
AirAsia India has completed the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), joining six other AirAsia group units to have achieved the safety certification. The low-cost carrier, a joint venture between Tata Sons and AirAsia Investment, says the successful completion affirms its “world-class safety standards”. A search on the IOSA registry website ...
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NewsIndigo Partners: Coronavirus may drive consolidation
Airlines with limited cash reserves face the greatest challenge in 2020 as businesses cancel travel plans and consumers reevaluate vacations due to the coronavirus, executives say 5 March during discussions at the US Chamber of Commerce aviation summit in Washington, DC. Air Canada chief executive Calin Rovinescu says that “cash ...
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NewsIATA flags up to $113 billion revenue hit from coronavirus ‘crisis’
Airlines globally could see lost revenues of between $63 billion to $113 billion in 2020, depending on the extent of the coronavirus outbreak, says IATA, as it labels the impact “a crisis”.
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NewsCanberra to sell remaining “Classic" Hornets to US training firm
Canberra plans to sell 46 Boeing F/A-18 A/B “Classic” Hornets to Air USA, a firm that provides tactical airpower training services to the US military and international customers. The aircraft are being retired as Canberra takes delivery of up to 72 Lockheed Martin F-35As, which are replacing the Hornet in ...
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NewsCoronavirus fears to shut down Lockheed Martin F-35 production in Japan
Lockheed Martin and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries plan to shut down production at the F-35’s Final Assembly and Check-Out (FACO) facility in Nagoya, Japan the week of 9-13 March due to fears of coronavirus contagion.
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NewsImpeded descent preceded 747’s false glideslope crash
Investigators have given greater insight into the initial altitude deviation by a descending Boeing 747-400 freighter which preceded the aircraft’s capturing a false glideslope and fatally crashing at Bishkek. The inquiry into the accident, at night on 16 January 2017, had already established that the aircraft had been too high ...
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NewsChina launches funding scheme to keep services flying through coronavirus
China has detailed plans for a funding scheme aimed at incentivising airlines to continue or restore services in the light of heavy network cuts amid the coronavirus outbreak.
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NewsAsian carriers cut operations as coronavirus outbreak persists
Asian carriers have announced further reductions as the coronavirus outbreak persists. Starting this week, Korea Air is suspending most European and US flights through April, while changes to Japan service remain in place until the end of May. It is also reducing operations to major cities such as Chicago, New ...
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NewsThai Airways sold six widebodies last year
Thai Airways International sold six widebodies last year as part of its strategy to “continuingly sell decommissioned aircraft”. The flag carrier says in a stock exchange filing that it disposed of five Airbus A330-300s and one Boeing 747-400 in 2019. It did not disclose the names of the buyers. Cirium ...
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NewsSingapore extends entry restrictions to stem coronavirus outbreak
New travel restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus take effect in Singapore today, barring the entry of new visitors who visited South Korea, Iran, or northern Italy in the past 14 days. Citizens and permanent residents returning from these regions will have to self-quarantine for 14 days. ...
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NewsLockheed delivers 500th F-35
Lockheed Martin has delivered the 500th F-35 fighter, with the fleet also surpassing the 250,000 flight hour mark. The 500th example delivered is an F-35A that will serve with the Vermont Air National Guard, says Lockheed. An image of the jet shows it bears the registration number AF5343. ...
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In depthWhy the US Air Force might use ‘deception’ and UAVs hidden in shipping containers to fight China
The US Air Force is rethinking the way it plans for war in the Pacific Ocean. It is eyeing a new class of unmanned air vehicle that could be hidden inside shipping containers and spread across small islands in the western Pacific. Should war ever come, the UAVs could be rocket launched within a matter of hours in massive volleys from dozens or even thousands of secret sites.
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NewsAirline failures loom as outbreak spreads: ISTAT panelists
Global airline capacity in 2020 has declined by nearly 3% as of 2 March compared to the same period in 2019, Rob Morris, global head of Ascend by Cirium, disclosed at an ISTAT event today. Through the week ended 1 March, global capacity had declined by 2% year-over-year, Cirium schedules ...