LIFE AFTER SQ006 - Orient Aviation

N E W Sit virtually impossible for the airline to maintain itsfive passenger aircraft. The decision on domesticflights will mean 400 staff will be laid off.In brief:The SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC) brokeground for its third maintenance hangar. To costS$25 million (US$14.25 million) including the landcost, the hangar will be in service by July next year.It will increase SIAEC’s airframe maintenance andoverhaul capacity by 15%.Impulse Airlines executive chairman, GerryMcGowan, said he plans an initial public offeringfor the carrier next year. Impulse began jet servicelast year after seven years of turboprop operations.In February Impulse added three Boeing 717s to itsexisting five.Dragonair has ordered an Airbus A330/A340flight simulator from Canada’s CAE. It will join anA320 simulator in use at the Hong Kong-basedairline’s training centre at Chek Lap Kok airport.Taikoo Aviation Technologies, a subsidiary ofCathay Pacific Airways, has acquired a 10% stakein U.S-based Tenzing Communications, the airline’sinflight Internet partner. Cathay is to launch inflightWeb access and e-mail throughout its fleet in thethird quarter of this year.Aerospan.com has entered into an e-marketplacecollaboration with Singapore TechnologiesAerospace (ST Aero), the first e-marketplace collaborationand live integration of its type withinthe industry. Under the agreement, the privatemarketplace of ST Aero, JuzClickSource, which isthe e-procurement platform for its buyers, has beenseamlessly connected with the Aerospan globale-marketplace. This offers all users with more opportunitiesto drive efficiencies and enhances bothe-marketplaces’ abilities to reach suppliers andbuyers worldwide.Philippines domestic carrier, Cebu Pacific,and U.S. major Northwest Airlines have signed afrequent flyer programme agreement. NorthwestWorldPerks members will earn points on five-yearoldCebu Pacific’s flights in the Philippines.Japan Airlines (JAL) will be the launch customerfor the Boeing-managed Global Airline InventoryNetwork (GAIN). Boeing will manage JAL’s supplychain for roughly 70,000 expendable airframe spareparts used in the airline’s fleet of Boeing aircraft.The first phase of GAIN will be implemented atJAL in April.Air New Zealand (AirNZ) has introduced threecode-share flights a week with Singapore Airlines(SIA) between Singapore and Zurich. AirNZ codeshareswith SIA on Singapore-Auckland, Singapore-Christchurch, Singapore-London, Singapore-Bangkokand Singapore-Manchester (via Amsterdam)routes. SIA also code-shares on selected AirNZdomestic services.Qantas Airways has announced a code-shareagreement with Italian flag carrier Alitalia, effectiveMarch. Alitalia, which recently halted services toAustralia, will code-share on four Qantas servicesweekly between Australia and Rome via Bangkok.Australian Air Express, a joint venture companyowned by Qantas Airways and Australia Post, hasextended long-term leases on three BAe 146QTfreighters from BAE SYSTEMS. The aircraft – twoseries 300 units – and a series 100 jet operate overnightcargo services throughout eastern Australia,carrying general freight, perishables and mail.Cathay Pacific Airways will launch a new fourtimes-a-weeknon-stop service between HongKong and Delhi on March 26. The decision cameshortly after the conclusion of air traffic rights talksin which it was agreed to increase seat capacitybetween India and Hong Kong.China Eastern Airlines plans to take delivery of three AirbusA320s and lease four A319s this year as part of a plan to expandits fleet to 100 airliners over five years.China Southern Airlines is contemplating leasing a number ofregional jets with 50 seats or less. ING Barings said in a researchreport that China Southern planned to add 10 regional jets, withfive to be added this year and the rest next year. The report saidthe airline would use the aircraft to raise the company’s profile inthe feeder market for flights of less than 500 kilometres.The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has loweredthe upper limit of permitted airfare increases from 20% to 14%as a result of lower jet fuel prices. The CAAC last October alloweddomestic airlines to raise fares by up to 20% to help offset high fuelprices. Most Chinese airlines raised fares by 15% in December.14 | Orient Aviation | March 01