Tokyo Narita’s traffic recovery hits swine flu setback

Tokyo’s main international gateway, Narita Airport, was showing some tentative signs of recovery (particularly in the all-important outbound segment) last month, with provisional traffic results for April showing that international passenger traffic was down by (just) 4% to 2.46 million passengers. Japanese international passenger numbers fell by 3%, or by 37,000 travelers, to 1.24 million (boosted by the ‘Golden Week’ holidays from 28-Apr-09 to 06-May-09), while non-Japanese international passenger traffic was down 10% to 753,089, a fall of 81,000 travelers. Total volumes had fallen as much as 12% year-on-year in Feb-2009.

Rival Kansai International Airport also announced provisional traffic results for Apr-2009, with international volumes down 10% to 795,766 passengers, including a 3% drop in Japanese international passenger traffic (-14,000) to 481,760. Non-Japanese international passenger traffic at Kansai was down 14% (-49,000) to 297,324.

Swine flu taking toll

The outbreak of swine flu in Japan (now standing at 364 cases, according to the WHO) has hit travel bookings, prompting a wave of service cancellations. Qantas’ LCC unit, Jetstar, last week announced it has cancelled 31 services to Japan this month, consolidating some Tokyo services to the Gold Coast and Cairns and reducing Gold Coast-Osaka frequency. The carrier warned the cutbacks could extend past Jun-2009, if demand weakness continues. 


This is certainly occurring in the case of EVA Air, which confirmed on Friday that it would suspend some of its flights from Taipei to Kansai/Chubu/Fukuoka/Sapporo, as well as Kansai-Los Angeles services until 24-Oct-2009, due to a decrease in demand caused by the outbreak.

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.

Video of Japan Fedex Plane crash

Dramatic footage is released of the plane crash showing the plane bouncing off the runway twice before veering off the runway. This is very dramatic to say the least.

Fedex Plane crashes on landing at Tokyo Narita Airport

 

A FedEx cargo plane burst into flames after bouncing off a runway in unusually high winds at Tokyo’s main international airport Monday, killing the pilot and copilot and closing a major runway for several hours.

The flight from Guangzhou, China, skipped along the main runway at Narita Airport before skidding to a fiery halt, according to footage from airport security cameras. Firefighters and rescuers immediately swarmed the plane. The pilot and copilot — the only people onboard the flight — were pulled from the cockpit and taken to a local hospital, where they were later confirmed dead.

The plane smashed into the longer of Narita’s two runways, which remained closed Monday morning with all incoming flights diverted, said airport spokeswoman Misuho Fukuda.

Unusually strong winds of up to about 47 miles per hour (76 kilometers per hour) were blowing through Narita City on Monday morning around the time of the crash, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Airport officials said it was too early to say whether the strong winds caused the crash.

Local news reports said the plane was an MD-11, a widebody airliner built by McDonnell Douglas and based on the DC-10.

Strong winds and turbulence have caused other recent incidents at the airport. Last month a flight from the Philippines was jolted by severe turbulence as it circled prior to landing, injuring 50 passengers and crew members.

 

VIDEO AT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgauHymjwc

North Korea to close 2 air routes for satellite launch

Japan and South Korea say North Korea has informed them it will close some air routes during its planned satellite launch next month.

The North sent notification to the International Civil Aviation Organization on Saturday, South Korea’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority said. The authority says two routes will be closed.

The North has said it plans to launch a satellite sometime from April 4-8. Many regional powers are concerned, however, that the launch is a cover for a test of missile technology.

Japan’s Transportation Ministry also reported the closure. The ministry said there are no planes scheduled to arrive in or depart from Japan that use the routes that North Korea is referring to.

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.

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.

Japan and Finland sign bilateral aviation agreement

Japan and Finland has concluded a new bilateral deal. Under the new deal, Carriers from Finland can operate up to 10 weekly to Osaka, 7 weekly to Nagoya.  By 2010, it can operate up to Daily to Tokyo Narita

The deal entitles Japanese carriers can operate up to 21 weekly flight, 24 weekly starting 2010.

Korean Air records 2Q net loss

Korean Air Lines Co. posted a second-quarter net loss amid soaring fuel costs and a weak South Korean currency.

Korean Air, South Korea’s biggest airline and the world’s largest international cargo carrier, recorded a net loss of 289 billion won ($279 million) in the three months ended June 30, the company said in a statement. It lost 214.4 billion won in the same period a year ago. The most recent loss was the airline’s third straight on a quarterly basis.

Sales during the quarter rose 18 percent to 2.48 trillion won ($2.4 billion), compared with 2.11 trillion won last year.

Korean Air said fuel expenses during the quarter increased 79.4 percent and were exacerbated by weakness in the South Korean won against the U.S. dollar. Fuel expenses are denominated in dollars.

The weak won also hurt Korean Air in terms of its mostly US dollar-denominated foreign currency debt. The airline booked a foreign exchange translation loss of 273.2 billion won ($263.2 million) during the quarter.

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. of Hong Kong last week reported its first half-year loss since 2003, while Japan’s All Nippon Airways Co. said last month its most recent quarterly profit fell by over 90 percent due to soaring fuel costs.

Japan Airlines Corp. also last week reported a loss for its most recent quarter, but managed to reduce the flow of red ink compared with the previous year.