All Asia Pacific articles – Page 250
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NewsQantas and Jetstar suspend all international flights
Qantas and Jetstar are suspending scheduled international flights from late March, in accordance with the Australian government’s advice. Qantas Group says in a statement: “With the federal government now recommending against all overseas travel from Australia, regularly scheduled international flights will continue until late March to assist with repatriation, and ...
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NewsLatest SpaceJet M90 test aircraft embarks on first flight
Mitsubishi Aircraft’s SpaceJet M90 flight-test vehicle 10 took off on its maiden sortie on 18 March. The aircraft, FTV10, registered JA26MJ, took off from Nagoya and conducted a series of performance tests over the Pacific Ocean. Two hours later, the aircraft returned to Nagoya. Source: Mitsubishi Aircraft Flight ...
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NewsDomestic air travel ban hits Philippine carriers
Philippine carriers will bear the brunt of a short-term suspension of domestic air travel from the country’s main Luzon island group, as a “community quarantine” that was first imposed on the metropolitan Manila area has been expanded to include the entire region. The restrictions, effective 15 March for Manila and ...
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NewsJetstar Asia puts all service on hold amid travel restrictions
Jetstar Asia will suspend all services from 23 March to 15 April, in response to “the introduction of new government restrictions across multiple jurisdictions in recent days”. The Singapore-based low-cost carrier will refund affected passengers the full value of their ticket, in the form of a credit voucher valid for ...
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NewsHawaiian suspends Sapporo service into July
Hawaiian Airlines will suspend its three weekly nonstop flights between Honolulu International airport (HNL) and New Chitose Airport (CTS) in Sapporo from 2 April through 18 July due to coronavirus risks, cutting into its revenue hopes for its Japan network. The carrier, which has served Sapporo since 2012, aims to ...
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NewsSingapore Airlines halves capacity, seeks liquidity boost
Singapore Airlines will operate at 50% capacity until end-April and is looking to shore up liquidity. “Given the growing scale of the border controls globally and its deepening impact on air travel, SIA expects to make further cuts to its capacity,” the carrier says in a statement. ...
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NewsVietnam to cease visa issuance for one month
Vietnam will cease issuing visas for incoming visitors over the next 30 days as the country seeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus. According to a government web site, exceptions include overseas Vietnamese and their spouses and children, but only if they can submit papers that prove they have not ...
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NewsMalaysia lockdown curtails regional air travel
Travel restrictions are closing in on Southeast Asia, as Malaysia imposes a partial lockdown after seeing a recent spike in coronavirus cases. From 18 to 31 March, citizens are restricted from leaving the country, while foreign visitors and tourists will be denied entry. Nearly all business, government offices and schools ...
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NewsAir NZ cuts trans-Tasman capacity by 80%
Air New Zealand is making cuts to its trans-Tasman network that will reduce capacity by 80%, starting from 30 March to 30 June. The changes are a result of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on travel demand, the carrier says. Carriers flying trans-Tasman routes, February 2020 ...
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NewsCoronavirus costs Cathay HK$2 billion in February
Cathay Pacific made an unaudited loss of more than HK$2 billion ($257 million) in February, as it takes a hit from the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines saw falling passenger numbers for the month, and warns of weakened travel demand in the near term.
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NewsBOC Aviation to acquire six Cathay 777s under sale-and-leaseback
Cathay Pacific and BOC Aviation have agreed a sale-and-leaseback which will cover six Boeing 777-300ER jets. The Hong Kong-based carrier warned on 11 March that it expects to incur a “substantial loss” over the first half of this year and that its liquidity position would be “adversely impacted” by plummeting ...
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NewsVietnam Airlines to take major precautions on European services
Vietnam Airlines has decided it will carry passengers from Europe, but will take significant precautions amid the global coronavirus outbreak. Passenger services from London, Paris, and Frankfurt are part of what the carrier says is an effort “to uphold its national responsibilities.” Source: Vietnam Airlines A Vietnam Airlines ...
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NewsAsia-Pacific carriers prioritise urgent customer queries
Carriers inundated with queries in recent days are appealing for customers to reach out only for urgent flight changes. Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Air New Zealand (Air NZ) stated over the weekend that they have received a high volume of customer enquiries across channels and as a result, both carriers ...
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NewsPAL urges US DOT to expedite Manila-Seattle launch
Philippine Airlines (PAL) has urged the US Department of Transport (DOT) to expedite its application to launch a Manila-Seattle service. This comes after United Airlines appealed to the same department to delay PAL’s request, until the US carrier gains commercially viable slots at Manila Ninoy Aquino International airport (NAIA). PAL ...
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NewsANZ reviews schedules as government clamps down on travel
Air New Zealand is reviewing the impact of new measures from the country’s government intended to combat the spread of coronavirus. Under the directive every person entering New Zealand, excluding Pacific territories, will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days, a restriction which will be reviewed in 16 days’ time. ...
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OpinionAirlines in fight for survival as coronavirus spreads
Events are now significant enough to suggest that the industry that will emerge from this crisis will be smaller than, and structurally different to, the one that entered it.
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NewsVirgin Australia cuts flights and suspends earnings guidance
Virgin Australia, which describes itself as a “[predominantly] domestic airline”, has made further cuts to its international network. It now expects to reduce international capacity by 8% instead of 4.8% in the second half of 2020, and 10.3% in the first half of 2021. Over the same period, group capacity ...
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NewsChina aviation sector takes CNY24.6 billion coronavirus hit
The Chinese civil aviation sector lost about CNY24.6 billion ($3.52 billion) in February because of the coronavirus outbreak. Chinese carriers took the lion’s share of the losses. making up about CNY 21 billion, according to a China Daily report, citing data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) ...
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NewsKorean Air raises alert on coronavirus impact
Korean Air’s president, Woo Kee-hong, has painted a dire picture for the carrier in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. In an internal memo, he told employees that coronavirus-related travel restrictions led the airline to cut more than 80% of its international capacity, in contrast with 18% during the 1997-98 ...
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NewsUK still in the game for Japan fighter partnership
Tokyo has yet to decide on its future international partner for the country’s ambitious FX Future Fighter programme to replace the Mitsubishi F-2. “The [Japanese Ministry of Defense] is in discussion with the U.S. and the UK from the viewpoint of ensuring interoperability, cost effectiveness and technical reliability,” says Japan’s ...