Corporate Travel News For Asia

Philippine Airlines (PAL) president Jaime Bautista, speaking to CAPA on the sidelines of the IATA AGM and World Air Transport Summit, stated (03-Jun-2018) PAL plans to launch services to Delhi and Mumbai in Sep-2018 using its new fleet of long haul configured A321neos. Delhi and Mumbai will each initially be served three times weekly and will be the second and third long haul routes for PAL's A321neos after Brisbane, which will transition from A340s to A321neos in Jul-2018. PAL took delivery of its first long haul configured A321neo at the end of May-2018 and is slated to take another five aircraft by the end of 2018. Mr Bautista said the six aircraft will be used for Brisbane, Delhi, Mumbai, Sapporo, Sydney and Melbourne. PAL plans to launch Sapporo in Sep-2018 or Oct-2018. PAL is looking at using the last batch of long haul configured A321neos to add a second daily frequency to Sydney, supplementing seven weekly frequencies now operated with A330-300s. PAL is also considering increasing Melbourne to daily with some or all of the frequencies operated with A321neos. PAL recently upgraded Melbourne from three to five weekly frequencies using A330-300s.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) president and COO Jaime Bautista, speaking to CAPA on the sidelines of the IATA AGM and World Air Transport Summit, stated (03-Jun-2018) PAL plans to take delivery of its first A350 on 14-Jul-2018. The aircraft will arrive in Manila from Toulouse on 15-Jul-2018 and will be showcased at an event along with PAL's second A321neo, which will arrive in Manila from Hamburg at about the same time. PAL also plans to take delivery of an additional Bombardier Q400 at about the same time.

Japan MLITT reported (31-May-2018) the following traffic highlights for Mar-2018:

• Passengers:
  • Domestic: 9.0 million, +0.5% year-on-year;
  • International: 2.0 million, +6.5%;
    • China: 384,272, +20.5%;
    • South Korea: 159,866, +1.4%;
    • Rest of Asia: 915,037, +2.6%;
    • Americas: 266,764, +5.9%;
    • Pacific Ocean: 140,671, +6.2%;
    • Europe: 134,576, +2.4%;
    • Oceania: 30,389, +29.4%;
• Passenger load factor:
  • Domestic: 75.8%;
  • International: 82.7%;
• Cargo:
  • Domestic: 86,301 tons, -4.9%;
  • International: 164,533, -1.4%. [more - original PR - Japanese]

CAPA - Centre for Aviation stated (31-May-2018) Philippine Airlines received its first A321neo (RP-C9930, serial number 8117) as recorded by the CAPA Fleet Database. The maiden A321neo was ferried from Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport on delivery. Philippine Airlines has another 20 A321neos on order.

Australia's Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) reported (01-Jun-2018) the following international traffic highlights to/from Australia for Mar-2018:

• Passengers: 3.4 million, +10.2% year-on-year;
• Available seats: 4.5 million, +4.8%;
• Flights: 17,005, +5.2%;
• Cargo: 99,024 tonnes, +3.0%;
• Aircraft movements: 17,380, +5.7%;
• Top 10 international carriers:
  • Share of passengers carried:
    • Qantas: 16.9%, +0.5ppt;
    • Jetstar: 9.4%, +0.1ppt;
    • Emirates: 7.8%, -0.5ppt;
    • Singapore Airlines: 7.8%, -0.3ppt;
    • Air New Zealand: 7.3%, -0.1ppt;
    • Virgin Australia: 6.0%, +0.1ppt;
    • Cathay Pacific Airways: 4.6%, -0.2ppt;
    • AirAsia X: 3.0%, +0.1ppt;
    • China Southern Airlines: 3.0%, +0.1ppt;
    • Etihad Airways: 2.8%, +2.8ppts;
  • Share of cargo carried:
    • Singapore Airlines: 15.8%, -0.5ppt;
    • Qantas: 11.5%, -1.2ppts;
    • Emirates: 8.0%, -2.1ppts;
    • Cathay Pacific Airways: 6.3%, -0.9ppt;
    • Air New Zealand: 5.5%, stable;
    • Qatar Airways: 4.1%, +1.1ppts;
    • Thai Airways: 3.4%, +0.2ppt;
    • Etihad Airways: 3.2%, stable;
    • China Southern Airlines: 3.2%, +0.2ppt;
    • Malaysia Airlines: 3.0%, -0.5%. [more - original PR]

BITRE also reported LCCs AirAsia X, Cebu Pacific Air, Indonesia AirAsia, Jetstar, Jetstar Asia and Scoot Tigerair accounted for 15.8% of total international passenger traffic to/from Australia in Mar-2018. LCC share in Mar-2017 was 17.2%.

Philippine Airlines confirmed (31-May-2018) a comprehensive net loss of USD129 million in 2017, down from a USD86 million profit in 2016. The airline said refleeting, route expansion and service and product innovations required substantial investment and had an impact on the bottom line, in addition to a "pronounced" increase in fuel costs. President and COO Jaime J Bautista said: "We poured the required investment to transform the company. The temporary financial setback is worth the price of becoming a stronger and more competitive airline". The carrier reported a "robust" 7% year-on-year increase in revenues due to a significant increase in passenger numbers and cargo volumes as it expanded its fleet and network. Expenses increased "sharply" due to higher fuel costs and the cost of acquiring and maintaining additional aircraft. Fuel price volatility caused the airline's fuel expense to increase from USD549 million in 2016 to USD749 million in 2017. MRO, aircraft leasing, ground handling, landing and take off fees, passenger food and other expenses also "spiked" in 2017. The airline operated 51,681 round trip services with 86 aircraft in 2017, handling 14.5 million passengers with a 71.39% load factor and 236.1 million tons of cargo. The carrier said it "continues to maintain a strong market share in its international routes despite intense competition with legacy carriers and a growing number of low cost carriers in the Asia Pacific region". [more - original PR]

CAPA - Centre for Aviation, in a report entitled: 'SIA corporate, premium advantage with Newark nonstop return', stated (31-May-2018) the resumption on nonstop Singapore-New York Newark service by Singapore Airlines on 11-Oct-2018 will increase the airline's US capacity by a relatively modest 10%, but business class capacity will increase 22% and premium economy capacity will increase 58%. The airline will operate the service with A350-900ULR equipment configured with 67 business class and 94 premium economy class seats. [more - CAPA Analysis]

AirAsia X confirmed (30-May-2018) plans to move operations from Melbourne Tullamarine Airport to Melbourne Avalon Airport in 4Q2018. The carrier expects to confirm a date for the launch of Avalon operations "in the coming months". The airline expects to handle 500,000 passengers p/a at Avalon Airport. AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail said: "We are currently working closely with Avalon, tourism partners in the region and other relevant authorities to ensure our infrastructure and facilities needs are being met to ensure a smooth transition". AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said: "Our move to Avalon will translate to lower fares for travellers, allowing more people to fly between Australia and Southeast Asia... More and more countries, including Australia, are beginning to realise the need for a dedicated low cost airport". [more - original PR]

Indonesia National Air Carriers Association (INACA) announced (30-May-2018) member airlines Citilink and TransNusa Air Services commenced commercial cooperation covering connecting services on 23-Apr-2018. The cooperation currently covers Citilink's Jakarta-Kupang and Surabaya-Kupang services and TransNusa's onward services from Kupang to destinations in East Nusa Tenggara, including Ende, Larantuka, Lewoleba and Waingapu. The airlines plan to expand cooperation to cover Makassar operations from 01-Jun-2018, including Citilink's Ambon, Denpasar, Gorontalo, Jakarta, Manado and Surabaya services and TransNusa's Kolaka, Labuan Bajo, Maumere and Selayar services. [more - original PR - Indonesian]

Singapore Airlines confirmed (30-May-2018) plans to deploy Boeing 787-10 aircraft on Singapore-Bali service from 02-Jul-2018. The airline will operate the aircraft daily on the service. The carrier's 787-10s are configured with 36 business class and 301 economy class seats. [more - original PR - Indonesian]