Philippine Airlines (PAL) has confirmed it is in talks with Airbus and Boeing to buy as many as 12 wide-body aircraft and will decide on the purchase before the end of the year, the flag carrier’s president Jaime Bautista told Reuters, recently. PAL in August had said it was planning to buy eight planes, but Bautista said the amount had increased to cater to growing demand for longhaul flights to the US and Europe. PAL will put firm orders for six aircraft worth around US$1 billion for … [Read more...] about PAL confirms looking to buy 12 B787s or A350s

Preliminary traffic figures for the month of October released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) reveal that growth in international air passenger demand remained encouraging, whilst soft air cargo market conditions persisted. Demand for air cargo shipments fell slightly in October, on the back of continued weakness in export-import activities in major regional economies, including China, India and Japan. Measured in freight tonne kilometre (FTK) terms, air cargo demand … [Read more...] about Oct sees more of same in air cargo markets: AAPA

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has downgraded its safety rating of Thailand’s Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) from a ‘Category 1’ to a ‘Category 2’ rating, following earlier findings by the United Nation’s International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and its own recent assessment. Th e FAA said its downgrade meant that Thailand either lacked the laws or regulations necessary to oversee air carriers in line with minimum international standards - or that it was deficient in … [Read more...] about US FAA downgrades Thailand to Category 2

One-year on from the start of their initial joint venture partnership, All Nippon Airways (ANA) Cargo and Lufthansa Cargo are kicking-off the expansion of their joint network between Europe and Japan by connecting further destinations in Japan. First to be added is Fukuoka on the main island Kyushu in southern Japan and later this will be followed by Sapporo on the north island. Starting from December, ANA flights from Tokyo Haneda to Fukuoka Airport (FUK) can be booked via both partners’ … [Read more...] about ANA, Lufthansa expand cargo joint network in Japan

Air China will start its new three times weekly Beijing-Montreal-Havana service using B777-300ER aircraft on 27 December which adds a southward extension to Havana on the carrier’s Beijing-Montreal service already started on 29 September. In recent years, the economic and trade ties between China and Cuba have become increasingly close and the Air China’s new service marks the first between Cuba and China. Th e Beijing-Montreal-Havana service represents a tangible move by Air China to expand … [Read more...] about Air China adds Havana to Beijing-Montreal

China’s HNA Group Company Limited and Azul Brazilian Airlines recently announced a new strategic partnership where the HNA Group will acquire a 23.7 per cent stake in Azul, Brazil’s third largest airline, aiming to benefit from substantial passenger traffi c between China and Brazil, which are strong global trade partners. HNA Group will assume the role of single largest shareholder of Azul, and will appoint new members to the board of directors. Th rough the partnership, the companies will … [Read more...] about China’s HNA takes 23.7% stake in Brazil’s Azul Airlines