The airport in the devastated Philippine city of Tacloban, which was also severely damaged by five metre high storms surges created by the Category 5 super-typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) last Friday, has begun to service military and commercial flights carrying humanitarian relief and equipment, albeit limited to turboprop aircraft. The heavily damaged control tower at Tacloban airport. Captain John Andrews, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines … [Read more...] about Philippines' Tacloban airport partially re-opens
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SIA and Tata to start new Indian airline
Singapore Airlines and India's holding conglomerate Tata Sons, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding and applied for Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to establish a new full-service airline in India to based in New Delhi following regulatory approvals. The two say the creation of the new airline "will help further stimulate demand for air travel" in the country. Tata Sons will own 51 per cent and Singapore Airlines will own 49 per cent. Details of the … [Read more...] about SIA and Tata to start new Indian airline
Slow cargo uptick in July, Asia still weak
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global air cargo traffic results for July showing a continuation of the modest improvement trend experienced in June. Global freight tonne kilometres (FTKs) were up 1.2 per cent in July year-on-year, slightly better than the 0.9 per cent year-on-year increase recorded in June, as growth in Europe and the Middle East offset weakness in Asia. As a result of the July performance, air freight volumes are at their highest level … [Read more...] about Slow cargo uptick in July, Asia still weak
Farewell Justin Bieber!
Now we have to admit this is a bit of unprecedented move for Bellyache, we don’t ordinarily bid farewell to colleagues who have decided to turn their backs on us and head for greener pastures, but since Lou Wee seems to have made a bit of name for himself in the industry in quite a short time, we thought we’d break with protocol (actually that’s what we live for at Bellyache Central as you might have guessed!). We’re not quite sure what it was...his unflinching good … [Read more...] about Farewell Justin Bieber!
Hat trick’ of Asian investments for DHL Express
To the pop tune of 'I wanna be a billionaire', Allen along with senior executives Jerry Hsu and Charlie Dobbie belted out a few cleverly edited lines of the song which ran something like this: "I wanna be a billionaire, so freakin' bad, UPS and FedEx will be sad." Although the Express division will likely take some time before it hits 'billionaire' profitability, Allen was nonetheless pleased with how this year has started off , despite it typically being a slow quarter. Revenue for the Express … [Read more...] about Hat trick’ of Asian investments for DHL Express
Turkish Cargo gains altitude
A quickening pace of expansion, although not on the level of the Gulf carriers, can perhaps best be characterised now as 'aggressive', kicked off in 2008 when the carrier issued one of the world's largest commercial aircraft purchase tenders at the time, for 105 aircraft valued at US$6 billion. This was given an added boost by investment last year in both widebody passenger and maindeck capacity as the Istanbul-based carrier moves decidedly further into the cargo realm. With a fleet of 170 … [Read more...] about Turkish Cargo gains altitude