American latest to try 757s on international routes

American Airlines has become the latest U.S. airline to begin flying Boeing 757 jets on international routes. AA yesterday unveiled a reconfigured version of its 757 that it says it will deploy on certain trans-Atlantic and Latin American routes. AA says it is reconfiguring 18 of its 124 757s for international service. AA’s 757’s “revamped interiors — which include new seats and updated in-flight entertainment systems — are expected to be completed by the end of the year. The 757 Business Class cabin, with a 2-2 seating configuration, features 16 lie-flat seats with drop-down armrests. The coach cabin has 166 seats in a 3-3 configuration.”

The first flight on one of those 757s took place yesterday, flying between New York JFK and Brussels.  AA will also fly the 757s between Miami and Salvador, Brazil, with continuing service to Recife.

AA “also has revamped 47 Boeing 777 airplanes to improve passenger comfort on flights performing on U.S. routes to the United Kingdom, Japan, China, India and Latin America.”Continuing upgrades of AA’s 767-200s are expected to be finished by mid-year.

East Star suspends flights

EAST Star, a privately-run Chinese airline, was ordered to suspend its flights on Sunday because of a failure to pay plane rental fees, state press reported.China’s civil aviation administration told East Star to cease its 20 domestic passenger routes in and out of Wuhan, in central China, after the company failed to pay US-based General Electric Aviation for the hire of its planes, Xinhua said.

GE Aviation had sought help from the Wuhan city government over the unpaid fees and had started legal proceedings, the report added.

East Star, which began operation in May 2006, had been the target of an intended buy-out by flag carrier Air China, but no agreement had been reached, Xinhua said.

Chinese airlines, like their counterparts around the world, have come under increasing pressure from volatile fuel prices and falling passenger numbers.

In December last year, Okay Airlines, China’s first-ever private air company suspended its operations after building up massive debt.

Okay, based in the northern port city of Tianjin, had racked up 200 million yuan (S$48 million) in debt since its launch in 2005, according to state media.

China’s small number of private airlines are especially vulnerable during the current economic downturn because their passenger base is relatively small and they do not have the same access to funding as state-owned competitors.

JAL plane makes emergency landing in China

A Japan Airlines plane bound for Tokyo made an emergency landing in Shanghai shortly after take-off due to “engine problems”, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.

 

 

Ten minutes after taking off from Shanghai’s Hongqiao airport on Saturday afternoon, the crew “noticed engine problems and the plane began to shake slightly,” Xinhua said, citing border inspection authorities.

 

The plane landed at Shanghai’s other international airport in Pudong about 45 minutes later. No injuries were reported among its 208 passengers and 14 crew, Xinhua said.

 

An initial probe showed the aircraft had hit birds after take-off, but the cause was being investigated, Xinhua said.

 

Calls placed to JAL offices in Tokyo and Hong Kong went unanswered. Staff contacted at Pudong airport were unable to confirm the report.

Oil-rich Angola launches direct flight to China

Angola has launched a flight linking it to China, which has sent thousands of citizens to work on the reconstruction of the continent’s fastest growing economy following its 27-year civil war.
The first direct 14-hour flight from Luanda’s Fourth of February Airport to Beijing’s Capital International Airport left on Saturday.
“The flight will run twice a week on a Boeing 777-200 ER,” said a spokesman for TAAG, Angola’s national airline.
It is being launched on a charter basis but if the market reacts positively, we’ll pass to a scheduled service,” he added.
Chinese money and manpower have played a key role in the reconstruction of Angola since the end of its 27-year civil war in 2002. Tens of thousands of Chinese workers are employed on building and roads projects across the west African country.

Last year more than 22,000 Angolan visas were issued to Chinese passport holders. Credit lines from China to the former Portuguese colony are believed to exceed four billion US dollars. Many of these loans are oil-backed and Angola is now China’s largest supplier of crude oil. “The opening of a direct air link has been planned for a while — and is needed because of all the Chinese construction workers in Angola,” said Alex Vines, head of the Africa Programme at the London-based thinktank Chatham House. “As long as large Chinese construction projects continue in Angola, a direct air link between China and Angola will be profitable.” The new Luanda to Beijing route comes in the same week TAAG announced it was halting flights to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and Pointe Noire in Congo (Brazzaville).

Citing “serious safety concerns,” the European Union last month renewed its ban on TAAG flights and extended the restrictions to all Angolan Airlines. The Angolan government responded by sacking TAAG’s board and creating a commission to run the airline and investigate the safety issues. It was also revealed that TAAG had lost 70 million dollars in the last year and was ranked 122 in a list of 124 world airlines.

Angolan Transport Minister Augusto Tomas said: “It is important that TAAG’s performance is in line with Angola’s current economic development.” Angola is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and has overtaken Nigeria as sub-Saharan Africa’s largest oil producer with Luanda growing as key destination for many international airlines.

Lufthansa, British Airways, Brussels Air, Air France, Portugal’s TAP and South African Airways (SAA) are just some of the major carriers running flights in and out of the country. Flights are usually full and often overbooked. One-way tickets can sell for up to 5,000 dollars on some routes due to the demand from the growing expatriate community of oil and construction workers enjoying Angola’s post-war boom.

Lufthansa spokeswoman Karin Webr said: “In terms of revenue, this is one of our best performing flights, and there is certainly a potential to increase the frequency of the flight to more than once a week.”

“As well as the oil traffic, we are seeing a demand from the Asian market using Frankfurt to transfer into Luanda from China and other parts of the region.” Next year Delta hopes to become the first American airline to run a scheduled service from the United States. A company spokeswoman confirmed the flight was awaiting approval from the Angolan government but the plan was to operate from Atlanta to Luanda, via Cape Verde. Thousands of Americans work in Angola for oil companies such as Exxon Mobile, Chevron and BP and there is also a large diplomatic and NGO presence in the country. Currently the only direct route to the United States is via a charter service limited to oil workers and their families.

Thai to cut flights from next week

Thai Airways stated it would suspend services to unnamed destinations in China, India, South Korea and Japan from next week, due to a sharp fall in passenger numbers, as a result of political unrest in Thailand and the global financial crisis. The airline will review other network plans later this month. Thai has also deferred remaining investment under a USD87 million plan covering the second half of this year.

Thai Airways: “The global financial crisis has caused passenger numbers to fall below our target. In this period, cabin factors normally are around 70-80%, but currently it is only 50-60%. It is hard to give a projection on whether we will have a loss or profit for this year, as a decline in world oil prices helped reduce fuel costs, but the global economic slowdown might hit tourism”, Apinan Sumanaseni, President. Source: Reuters, 08-Oct-08.

China Eastern Airlines to increase frequency and open new routes from India

China Eastern Airlines, which currently connects two Indian cities, Delhi and Kolkata, with Shanghai, Beijing and Kunming in China is planning to increase its frequency of operations to India from next month. The airline will add one more flight on its Delhi-Shanghai- Beijing route, which currently has a frequency of four flights a week. It will also increase the frequency from three flights a week to daily on the Kolkata-Kunming by the end of next month. Although final clearances are still awaited, the airline sources are hopeful of positive response from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
According to Edward Zhu Xuemin, Chief Representative-India, China Eastern Airlines Kunming as a tourist destination has a long history, as well as a lot to offer in terms of tourism products. “Our Kolkata –Kunming flight offers the shortest connectivity. It takes hardly two-and-half hours by air. Kunming also offers excellent connectivity to other destinations in mainland China. We can offer good packages to travellers from Delhi and Kolkata to Kunming and Shanghai, etc.,” stated Xuemin while addressing a recent meeting between members of the Indian travel trade and a delegation of Kunming Municipal Tourism Bureau and its travel trade members in Delhi.

Shanghai Airlines to fly Shanghai-Mumbai

Shanghai Airlines will be the new plane on the block to fly direct between Asian economic behemoths Shanghai and Mumbai. Official sources say that the airline which will start plying between the two cities from the 29th of October, will fly twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In order to boost passenger traffic between the two cities, the airline is planning on introducing an initial offer of RMB3,250 + tax for a round trip. If this is the price offered by Shanghai Airlines, it will be the cheapest return flight from Shanghai-Mumbai.

Sources have also told 2point6billion.com that since one more Chinese airline has been given permission to fly between the two countries, Vijay Mallya’s kingfisher Airlines, which just won the rights to fly internationally will also start flying between the two countries – most probably from Bangalore to Guangzhou. China Eastern and Air India were the initial airlines which were given permission to fly between India and China.

Jet airways which recently launched daily services between Mumbai-Shanghai and San Fransisco canceled flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays due to low passenger turnout during those days.

Shanghai Airlines plans to leave Shanghai at 16:30, reaching Mumbai at 21:40. From Mumbai the plane will depart at 22:40 and reach Shanghai at 07:10+1. The move is likely to most satisfy Star Alliance members as Shanghai Airlines is a member of the international airline alliance fraternity. Air India is expected to become a member of the Star Alliance fraternity in 2009.

Air Asia launches new route to Guilin

AirAsia will operate to Guilin, its seventh destination in China, from September. The three-times weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur will make the LCC the only airline from Malaysia to offer direct services between the two cities.

Guilin, situated in the northeast of the Guangxi Region, is one of China’s most popular tourist destinations, welcoming over 13 million foreign visitors in 2007.