Garuda Indonesia reported profi t of Rp148 billion (US$16.4m) in the fi rst half of 2007, after suffering continuouslosses in the previous three years. The carrier was able to raise profi t by 141 per cent compared to Rp361 billion in losses in January-June of 2006.“The gain in fi rst half of this year isthe positive impact of various consolidationmeasures taken by the management,”CEO Emisyah Satar said. He added that the increased load factor from 70 per cent last year to 76 … [Read more...] about INDONESIA: Garuda reports 1st half gains

Turkmenistan Airlines is planning to start dedicated cargo plane services from Rajasansi Airport in Amritsar located in India’s Punjab region, to Europe. Nearly 30 per cent of the cargo originating from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan are handled through New Delhi. It is expected that the opening of Amritsar airport as an international cargo hub will not only help alleviate congestion at the Delhi airport but will also offer more effi cient and economical alternative. … [Read more...] about INDIA: Dedicated cargo service for Punjab

India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs has approved the application for merger of Air India and Indian Airlines into a new company called National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL), effectively completing the legal process. The merged airline will fl y under the brand of “Air India” both domestically and internationally. The carrier will have a combined fl eet of over 112 aircraft, including three A300s, 19 A310s, 56 A320s, 13 737s, 11 747s, four 777s, four ATRs, and … [Read more...] about INDIA: India + Indian merger complete

Air cargo growth led the way in the ongoing Indian cargo bonanza, fuelled by a surging Indian economy. A study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (ACCI) has found cargo growth in the aviation sector outpacing freight movement by rail and shipping, and is set to bite further into traditionaltransport modes. The study found that the air cargo business sector has grown by about 19 per cent as against 10.3 per cent and 9.2 per cent for shipping and rail freighttraffi c during last … [Read more...] about INDIA: Indian air cargo growth surges

Jet Airways (India) Ltd., the country’s biggest domestic carrier, has said it is in talks to start a cargo airline. “We will make an announcement before the end of 2007,” Naresh Goyal, billionaire chairman of Jet Airways, told Indian media recently. “We are talking to very, very serious partners on starting a cargo airline,” he said. The Indian government, meanwhile, has granted Jet Airways the right to fl y to a number of Gulf destinations from Jan. 1, ending a … [Read more...] about INDIA:Cargo in sights of India’s Jet

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) reports international freight traffi c expressed in FTK terms grew by 4 per cent in July, slightly ahead of capacity growth, with the freight load factor edging up to nearly 67 per cent. International passenger numbers grew by 4 per cent year-on-year to 12.8 million in July. International passenger traffi c in RPK terms was up slightly over 4 per cent year-on-year. Capacity growth was just over 2 per cent, resulting in an average passenger load … [Read more...] about HONG KONG: Asia Pac freight traffic up 4%