Asia Pacific – Page 226
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Airline Business
JAL plays the long game with pandemic response
Japan Airlines (JAL) is focused on long-term survival as it weighs its network, finances, and fleet, amid the coronavirus pandemic. JAL sees sharply diverging trends for its domestic and international network, says the carrier in an email interview with FlightGlobal. Source: JAL JAL has 25 787-8s in its ...
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News
Canberra pledges A$1.3 billion to local UAS sector
Australia plans to invest up to A$1.3 billion ($934 million) to develop small unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) to improve maritime awareness. “As detailed in the 2020 Defence Strategic Update, launched by the Prime Minister and I in July, Australia is at the centre of a dynamic strategic environment,” says defence ...
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News
Tigerair Australia to cease operations
Low-cost operator Tigerair Australia will cease operations owing to a lack of demand in the Australian market. Parent company Virgin Australia states that it was shutting its low-cost arm down as “there is not sufficient customer demand to support two carriers at this time”, in an oblique reference to ...
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News
US government awards sonar contract for Indian, Danish MH-60Rs
Lockheed Martin has secured a $182 million contract for airborne low frequency sonars (ALFS) related to Indian and Danish Sikorsky MH-60R anti-submarine warfare helicopters. The package covers the production, integration, and delivery of 24 sets for India, and eight for Denmark, says a US government contract announcement. In May, Sikorsky ...
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News
Virgin Australia moves to all-737 fleet, cuts staff as it exits administration
Virgin Australia will operate only Boeing 737s, focusing on its domestic and short-haul networks, as it enters a post-administration future with new owner Bain Capital. As part of the “resetting…to meet lower global and Australian demand”, the carrier, which entered voluntary administration in April, will also be cutting about ...
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News
Trigana 737F captain dismissed go-around call before hard-landing accident
Indonesian investigators have determined that a Trigana Air Service Boeing 737-300F captain dismissed go-around suggestions during a visual approach in poor weather, before a hard landing that destroyed the aircraft’s undercarriage and caused it to veer off the runway. The twinjet (PK-YSY) was conducting a visual approach to Wamena airport’s ...
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News
SpaceJet-related losses hurt Mitsubishi Heavy earnings
The beleaguered SpaceJet regional aircraft programme, which recently saw its developmental budget halved, made up the bulk of losses parent company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) incurred, in its first quarter earnings. For the quarter ended 30 June, the SpaceJet programme made a loss of Y68.8 billion ($648 million), due mainly ...
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News
Garuda posts $723 million first-half loss
Garuda Indonesia was $723 million in the red for the six months ended 30 June, having taken a near-60% hit to operating revenues. Operating revenues came in at $917 million, compared with $2.2 billion in the year-ago period, as revenues from scheduled services declined by 60%. On the other hand, ...
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News
SpiceJet secures Heathrow landing slots
Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet has secured landing slots at London Heathrow Airport, effective 1 September. The slots fall under the “bubble arrangement” between India and the UK, and are effective until 23 October, says SpiceJet. Source: SpiceJet SpiceJet’s fleet is comprised entirely of 737s and Dash-8 Q400s ...
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News
Higher expenses, revenue collapse punish GMF AeroAsia H1 earnings
GMF AeroAsia fell deeper into the red for its half-yearly earnings, on the back of increased expenses and a significant decline in revenue, amid the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus outbreak. For the six months ended 30 June, the MRO unit of Garuda Indonesia posted an operating loss of ...
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News
Nok Air CFO resigns after less than three weeks
Nok Air’s chief financial officer Nuanwan Bhuprasert has resigned effective today, less than three weeks after starting the job and four days after the airline filed for bankruptcy protection. The budget carrier’s chief executive Wutthiphum Jurangkool will resume the role of acting CFO, effective 4 August. Nok Air did not ...
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News
Covid-19 wipes out 78% of JAL’s first-quarter operating revenue
Japan Airlines posted a Y93.7 billion ($885 million) net loss in the April to June period, as Covid-19-related travel and quarantine measures nearly wiped out the carrier’s passenger revenues. Operating revenues declined by 78.1% year-on-year to Y76.3 billion in the first quarter of the fiscal year (FY) ending 31 March ...
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News
TUI agreement further lifts BOC Aviation's 737 Max sale-and-leases
TUI Group has carried out a sale-and-leaseback of five Boeing 737 Max jets with the Singaporean-based lessor BOC Aviation. The European holiday company values the agreement – reached with UK subsidiary TUI Travel Aviation Finance – at $226 million. TUI Group is expecting the first of the Max 8s involved ...
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News
P&W makes significant cuts to Singapore workforce
Pratt & Whitney, which in recent days refuted rumours that it had axed workers in Singapore, has cut a portion of its workforce in the city-state. The engine-maker, which has been affected by the pandemic-induced economic downturn, says it made the “difficult but necessary decision” to cut “less than ...
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News
Alliance Aviation picks E190s, says Fokker fleet ‘remains core’
Australia’s Alliance Aviation has signed for 14 Embraer E190s — in a move to “position us for the next phase of growth” — but has stressed that its fleet of Fokker aircraft will remain in service for the foreseeable future. The deal, valued at $79.4 million, sees Alliance entering ...
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News
VietJet confident of LCC model despite 54% decline in Q2 revenue
VietJet Air is confident of its financial strength and business model, even though second-quarter operating revenues more than halved amid the global Covid-19 outbreak. The Hanoi-based low-cost carrier reported D1.12 trillion ($48 million) in operating losses for the April to June period, as air transport revenue declined 54% year-on-year to ...
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News
Malaysian brokerage issues dire warning about AirAsia X
Malaysian brokerage firm CGS CIMB Securities has questioned the ability of AirAsia X to survive the collapse in international air travel. In a research note entitled “Low probability of survival,” CGS CIMB says that the long-haul, low-cost carrier’s first quarter results were just the “opening scene for the horror movie ...
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Analysis
The lessors with exposure to Nok Air
Nok Air has followed the lead of compatriot Thai Airways in filing for business rehabilitation amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The filing is bad news for lessors insofar as it puts an automatic stay on creditor claims, which means no lease rentals will be forthcoming from Nok until at least 27 ...
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News
AirAsia X hopeful of late-year demand revival
AirAsia X is still confident that demand “will pick up towards the end of 2020”, though the group acknowledges that it has “no clear visibility on the timing of recovery”. In the meantime, the long-haul low-cost operator expects to remain in “hibernation mode”, maintaining “minimum connectivity” with “essential cargo and ...
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News
Nok Air files for business rehabilitation
Thai budget carrier Nok Air has filed for business rehabilitation with a view to restructuring the company, taking a similar path to flag carrier Thai Airways which filed for the same protection in May. The country’s Central Bankruptcy Court has accepted Nok Air’s rehabilitation petition for consideration and set 27 ...