China’s aviation regulator is urging airlines to cap their fleet sizes as travel demand weakens amid the global economic slowdown, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has advised domestic carriers to cancel or postpone aircraft scheduled for delivery in 2009 and allow aircraft leasing agreements with foreign companies to run out. It urged carriers to consider grounding, selling, retiring or converting some aircraft from passenger to cargo … [Read more...] about CHINA: Chinese regulator calls for aircraft deferments

China’s Customs agency will require air cargo carriers to report advance manifest data for shipments of cargo on aircraft loaded at foreign airports and are destined for or to be transshipped at airports in China, beginning on 1 January, according to the Official Export Guide. The information must be submitted before takeoff for flights less than four hours, and four hours before arrival at the first destination port within China’s customs territory for longer flights. No cargo … [Read more...] about CHINA: China to require advance manifest for all cargo

Fuel costs and the weakening Korean Won combined to drag Asiana Airlines to a KRW47.9 billion (US$36 million) loss in the third quarter, reversing a KRW37 billion profit a year earlier. “The loss in the third quarter can be attributed to higher oil prices and a weaker local currency,” the carrier said in a regulatory filing cited by Yonhap news agency. Sales climbed 21 per cent year over year to KRW1.17 trillion, but fuel costs surged 83.2 per cent to KRW470.3 billion and … [Read more...] about SOUTH KOREA: Weak Won and high fuel costs hurt Asiana

Korean Air will introduce twicea- week services to Milan, the second largest city and the fashion capital of Italy using B777-200 aircraft. Korean Air is adding Milan on the existing Incheon- Rome route for two of the three weekly frequencies. Milan is the airline’s 14th destination in Europe which according to the carrier, makes it the largest non- European airline from Asia operating toEurope in terms of number of routes. … [Read more...] about SOUTH KOREA: Korean Air adds Milan to Rome service

AirAsia X’s inaugural flight from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne launched what the carrier described as “a new era of international air travel” between the two destinations. The four flights a week service employs a new wide-bodied Airbus A330-300. AirAsia X now services three Australian destinations – Melbourne, Perth (six weekly) and the Gold Coast (four weekly). The airline also operates five flights a week between Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai. AirAsia X rides on the … [Read more...] about MALAYSIA: AirAsia X expands services downunder

Malaysian airfreight operator Transmile Group has posted a net loss of RM26.3 million for the third quarter ended 30 Sept, due mostly to an unrealised foreign exchange loss of RM24.6 million on US dollar loans taken by a subsidiary, it said. The net loss was lower than the RM84.8 million posted for the corresponding period 2007 and if the foreign exchange loss was excluded, the net loss was RM1.7 million, it said. Revenue for the quarter was RM68.1 million compared to RM104.8 million in the … [Read more...] about MALAYSIA: Transmile posts smaller loss compared to 2007