China's - Orient Aviation

REGIONAL ROUND-UPSHORTTAKESASAs>> The U.S. Department ofTransport has allocated two new U.S.-China flights: Delta Air Lines fromAtlanta to Shanghai and United Airlinesfrom San Francisco to Guangzhou.CARGO>> Taiwan-based carrier, EVAAir Cargo, has commenced twice-aweekservices from Taipei to HoustonGeorge Bush International Airport usinga B747-400 freighter.CODE - SHARES>> All NipponAirways and Asiana Airlines, ofwhich both operate twice-daily servicesbetween the airports of Haneda, Tokyoand Seoul’s Gimpo, have commencedcode-sharing on the route. SingaporeAirlines and United Airlines haveestablished a code-share on theSingapore-Los- Angeles-Las Vegas andSan Francisco-Las Vegas routes.FLEET>> Hong Kong ExpressAirways has taken delivery of its fourthB737- 800, which is now flying thecarrier’s routes to Jakarta and KualaLumpur and later this year to Yangon.Indonesia’s Mandala Airlines will spendUS$4 billion on 30 new Airbus planes asit expands from its domestic network intoregional services. Qantas Airways will buy12 72-seat Bombardier Q400 commuterairplanes, valued at US$356.5 million, withoptions for another 24 for the flag carrier’sregional subsidiary, Qantaslink.INFLIGHT>> Japan Airlines willintroduce a new class, premium economy,from December 1, starting with its Tokyo-London route. LSG Sky Chefs, the world’slargest airline caterer, has signed two jointventure agreements in China to form theYunnan Eastern Air Catering Co. Ltdin Kunming and the Gansu HNA LSG SkyChefs Co. Ltd in Lanzhou.LEASING>> AWAS has signed a fiveand half year sale and leaseback contractwith Jet Airways of India for two B737-800 aircraft. A Singapore-based, GeneralElectric supported trust, Altitude AircraftLeasing Trust, is planning an initial publicoffering to fund a fleet of five B737-800s,four A319-100s, three A320-200s, oneB747-400F and an MD11F, at a value ofUS$650 million.MROs>> Messier Services Asia hascompleted a S$10 million expansionof its facilities to repair and overhaulAirbus -330, -340 & -320 and Boeing -777 and -737NG gear systems and alsoestablish the infrastructure for MROwork on A380, A350 and B787 gears.ROUTES>> At press time, Hong KongbasedDragonair was expected tostart flying to Taichung, the third city itwill service in Taiwan, after Taipei andKaohsiung. Japan Airlines will begincharter services from Osaka, Tokyo andNagoya to Siem Reap this month andexpects to operate up to 400 flights tothe Cambodian city to March 31, 2008.JAL also has added a 12-seat first classcabin to its aircraft on its new daily servicebetween Haneda Tokyo and Hongqiao inShanghai. Thai low-cost carrier, Nok Air,will launch its twice daily Bangkok-Hanoiservice this month.B787 delays: customers ‘can cope’The six-month delay in thedelivery of Boeing’s 787Dreamliner has disappointedAsia-Pacific carriers, butmost of them said they couldcope with the jet’s late arrival.Launch customer, All Nippon Airways,scheduled to receive the first of 50 planesin May will have to wait until Novemberfor delivery – at the earliest. ANA spokesman,Shinichi Shinkawa, said the carrierwas not happy about the delay, but the airlineis “not overly concerned” because itcould keep flying the B767s that the B787would replace.Boeing is in talks with 15 customersabout re-scheduling deliveries. It wasunclear exactly how many planes would bedelayed and for how long, but the companyexpected to catch up to its original deliveryschedule by 2010.The delay has mostly been caused by12 ORIENT AVIATION NOVEMBER 2007All Nippon Airways: the launchcustomer for the B787 “not overlyconcerned” about the delayproblems in its supply chain – parts andsections of the B787 are being manufacturedin several countries around the world– that have complicated assembly of the firstplanes.Australia’s Qantas Airways is one of thebiggest customers for the B787. It has placed45 firm orders, is finalizing orders for 20more and has options and purchase rights foranother 50. The first 15 are to go to its lowcostsubsidiary, Jetstar.Qantas chief executive, Geoff Dixon,said he had received assurances fromBoeing that all 15 of the aircraft type, scheduledfor delivery between August 2008 andDecember 2009, would be delivered by2009.Airbus chief operating officer, customers,John Leahy, told Orient Aviation theEuropean manufacturer did not expect acompetitive advantage from the Boeingdelays. The A350 (Airbus’ planned equivalentof the B787) is not scheduled for deliveryto airlines until 2013.Some 48 airlines have ordered 710 B787ssince the airliner was launched in April2004. – Tom Ballantyne