Asian aviation briefs
Batavia Air plans further China expansion
Indonesia’s Batavia Air is planning extend its reach into China with the launch of flights between Bali and Hangzhou. Local news portal NusaBali reported the airline’s Commercial Manager, Sukirno Sukrana, as saying that Batavia has applied to the Ministry of Transportation with a view to commencing services on the route in January 2013. The route would be operated three times a week. Batavia recently commenced its first route to China, connecting Jakarta with Guangzhou.
Cambodia air traffic surges
Passenger traffic at Cambodia’s airports climbed jumped 22% year-on-year in the first five months of 2012. According to data released recently by Cambodia Airports, passenger traffic at Phnom Penh airport climbed 16% in the January-May 2012 period, while at Siem Reap it surged 23%.
Hawaiian traffic continues to rise
Hawaiian Airlines’ passenger traffic continued its upward trajectory last month. The airline carried 782,093 passengers in May 2012 – up 6.0% compared to the same month last year. This was partially due to the launch of new services to Asia Pacific, including the start of a flight to Fukuoka and raising its Sydney service to daily. Hawaiian’s average load factor dipped slightly in May, but remained at a strong 83.2%.
BA’s Asian traffic climbs
British Airways carried 120,000 passengers on routes to and from the Asia Pacific region in May 2012 – up 4.3% year-on-year. The extra traffic was not sufficient however, to cover BA’s 8.1% extra seat capacity in the region. This caused average cabin load factors to slump to just 71.9% – down from more than 75% in May 2011. Globally BA and its partner Iberia carried 4.81 million passengers last month, with load factors averaging 78.6%.
Hainan Airlines adds marketing rep for Greece and Cyprus
Hainan Airlines has selected Discover the World Marketing as its representative in Greece and Cyprus. The company will handle all sales and marketing activities for the Chinese airline in the two countries. The deal follows existing agreements in place between the two companies covering France, Italy and the UK. Jenny Adams, CEO of Discover the World Marketing said her company plans to “expand the airline’s awareness and increase sales” in the two markets.
Korea’s Jin Air to add Nanning flights
South Korean low-cost carrier Jin Air will launch flights to the southern Chinese region of Guangxi this week. From Friday 15 June, the airline will add a new direct service from Seoul’s Incheon airport to Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The flights will operate twice a week, departing Seoul every Monday and Friday and return from Nanning the following day.
China sells aircraft to Ukrainian airline
China’s Xi’an Aircraft International Corporation (XAIC) has signed a deal to sell its MA-60 turboprop aircraft to Ukrainian airline, MARS. The airline will purchase three of the turbo-prop aircraft worth an estimated US$40 million at list prices. In a statement on its website, the planemaker called the deal a “breakthrough”. It marks the first confirmed order from a European airline for the MA-60.
AirAsia to cut Bangkok-Colombo flights
AirAsia will cut the frequency of its Bangkok-Colombo service from daily to three flights per flights. The Bangkok Post reported the CEO of Thai AirAsia, Tassapon Bijleveld as saying that the cutback formed part of a fleet realignment strategy. The Bangkok-Colombo was only launched in January this year. From Thursday, the route will be served every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Peach’s Hong Kong flights to launch next month
Peach Aviation will launch its inaugural flight to Hong Kong next month. The Japanese low-cost carrier, which is part-owned by ANA, will commence flights on the Osaka-Hong Kong route on 1 July. The route will be operated daily using a 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft.
Air France-KLM’s Asian traffic climbs
Air France-KLM carried 823,000 passengers on routes to and from the Asia Pacific region in May 2012 – 1.2% up compared to the same month last year. Average cabin load factors also remained strong, rising 0.7% to 81.9%. Globally the group carried 6.55 million passengers last month.
Firefly to operate Christmas Island flights
Malaysian airline Firefly has announced plans to launch weekly flights between Kuala Lumpur and Christmas Island – the Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, just south of Java. From 7 July, Firefly will operate the new route every Saturday using a 162-seat Boeing 737-400 aircraft. Flights will depart Kuala Lumpur at 0920 and arrive in Christmas Island at 1055. The return flight leaves Christmas Island at 1155 and arrives back in Malaysia at 1530.
Air Canada sees strong Pacific load factors
Air Canada filled 89.7% of the seats on its trans-Pacific flights in May 2012. The national carrier’s Pacific traffic climbed 6.1% last month, although while this didn’t keep pace with a 6.7% rise in available seat capacity, load factors remained high. Globally, Air Canada’s traffic climbed 1.8% year-on-year in May, with load factors averaging 81.6%.