Asia news in brief

PAL's remarkable turnaround
Philippine Airlines (PAL) is seeking to emerge from receivership by the end of 2007 after more than nine years of protection from creditors. The carrier was placed in receivership in mid-1998 after nearly collapsing under hefty debts and in mid-1999 it narrowly avoided liquidation when a 10-year "rehabilitation" plan was approved by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission. PAL says it has been performing financially far better than expected in recent years and intends "to exit from receivership before the end of 2007".

Qantas completes Pacific buy
Australia's Qantas Airways has firmed up the purchase of 18% of Vietnam's Pacific Airlines and expects its stake to increase to 30% within two years. Qantas in April inked an agreement to acquire 30% of Pacific from the Vietnamese government's investment holding arm. The airline is expected to be rebranded Jetstar at some point.

New carrier for Macau
Macau Asia Express, which has been in the planning stages for three years, is finally preparing to launch services. It has agreed to lease six Airbus A320s from Aircastle with deliveries starting in December, allowing for a launch in early 2008. The new low-cost carrier, which is 51%-owned by Air Macau with the remaining 49% held by Shun Tak Holdings and CNAC Macau, plans to have an 11-aircraft fleet by 2011.

Hainan to serve Seattle
China's Hainan Airlines plans to launch next June its first US passenger service, to Seattle, and is looking to serve the Russian capital Moscow from March 2008. Hainan will serve both cities from Beijing with Airbus A330s.

Yangtze adds Luxembourg
Chinese freight carrier Yangtze River Express has launched services to Luxembourg, its first European destination. The airline early in August launched four-times-weekly services between Shanghai and Luxembourg with a Boeing 747-400 freighter leased from Taiwan's China Airlines, one of its shareholders. Yangtze River Express is controlled by the Hainan Airlines Group, which is the fourth-largest airline group in China.

Source: Airline Business