Aviation Round Up For the Month of December 2013

Aviation news for the month of December 2013 has been busy.  In this edition of our global aviation round up, we pick out news from AirAsia X, Cathay Pacific, Ethopian, Etihad, EVA, Garuda, KLM, SilkAir, Singapore, Tigerair, US Airways and United.

AirAsia X Orders 25 Airbus A330-300s

AirAsia X has placed the largest single “airline” firm order for 25 more A330-300s from Airbus valued at US$6 billion  on 19 December 2013. This increases the long haul, low cost carrier’s order to 51 from Airbus supplemented by an order of six A330-300s leased from the International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) bringing AirAsia X’s total confirmed fleet deliveries to 57 by 2019.

It will take delivery of its newly-ordered A330-300s in 2015 as it begins a major expansion of its network across the Asia Pacific region. This order provides AirAsia X the ability to offer non-stop flights to Europe or one-stop service to U.S. 

It currently operates 15 A330-300s on services linking Kuala Lumpur to 18 destinations in Asia, Australia and Saudi Arabia. AirAsia X also has 10 A350-XWB aircraft on order for future delivery.

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Cathay Pacific Becomes Asia’s First Boeing 777X Customer

Cathay Pacific will become Asia’s first Boeing 777X customer with its order for 21 777-9X airplanes as part of its future long-haul fleet strategy.  Valued at more than US$7 billion at current list prices, the 777-9X offers improved payload range capability and reduced operating costs, in addition to a significant reduction in environmental emissions. Cathay Pacific thinks it will be an ideal fit for long-haul destinations in North America and Europe.  The 777X family comes with advanced technology including a new composite wing, all-new engines and superior aerodynamics. The 777-9X comes with 400 seats and will be the largest and most efficient twin-engine commercial jet int he world with the lowest operating cost per seat of any commercial airplane and no competitor in its market segment, according to Boeing.

The 777X programme was launched at the Dubai Airshow in November 2013 where it garnered a record 259 orders and commitments worth US$95 billion at list prices. It stands as the largest product launch in commercial jetliner history by value and is targeted for first delivery in 2020.

Cathay Pacific is also the second largest operator of the 777-300ER aircraft. It currently operates 55 777s, including 38 777-300ERs and an all-Boeing freighter fleet that includes 13 747-8 Freighters.

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Ethopian Airlines Lands in Singapore Changi Airport

East African carrier Ethopian Airlines landed in Singapore Changi Airport 3 December 2013.  It will operate a thrice-weekly service between Singapore and the capital city of Ethopia, Addis Ababa via Bangkok. It will operate the 234-seat Boeing 767-300 aircraft in a two class configuration.

Passenger movements in terms of point-to-point traffic between Africa and Southeast Asia has grown steadily over the past five years. More than 1.08 million passengers travelled between these two regions in the 12 months ending September 2013, which is an increase of about 45% from the corresponding period five years ago.

Addis Ababa is a new city link for Changi Airport and follows the addition of Mandalay, Kalibo, Jinan and Lijiang to Changi’s network this year.

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Etihad Airways To Introduce Eight New Destinations In 2014

Etihad Airways has been spearheading growth in its business and it will continue to do so in 2014. The national airline of United Arab Emirates will introduce eight new destinations in 2014 to its core network including Rome, Jaipur, Yerevan, Los Angeles, Dallas, Zurich, Perth and Medina. This will increase Etihad’s worldwide network to 102 destinations next year.

Etihad recently announced the addition of its fifth airline destination in the USA on the new three-class ultra-long haul flights to Dallas Fort Worth, Texas.  The aircraft has a capacity of 237 guests, with eight Diamond First Class suites, 40 Pearl Business Class fully flat seats and 189 Coral Economy Class seats. The thrice weekly flights to Dallas joins the other U.S. cities of Chicago, New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles (to be launched on 1 June 2014) on the Etihad Airways flight network.  it will then provide 31 return flights each week between United Arab Emirates and U.S. by December next year. EY161 departs Abu Dhabi at 9.45amm arriving in Dallas Fort Worth at 4.30pm every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. EY160 departs Dallas Fort Worth at 6.45pm on Wednesdays, Friday and Sunday and arrives in Abu Dhabi at 7.50pm the next day.

Etihad will commence daily flights to Perth in Western Australia on 15 July 2014. Perth is Etihad’s fourth Australian gateway offering 35 weekly flights between Australia and Abu Dhabi. It will oeprate the Airbus A330-200 aircraft with 262 seats – 22 in Pearl Business Class and 240 in Coral Economy Class.  EY486 will depart Abu Dhabi at 10.10pm and arrive in Perth at 1.10pm the next day while EY487 will pick passengers up from Perth at 3.55pm and arrive in Abu Dhabi the same night at 11.25pm. Etihad Airways codeshares with Virgin Australia to Albany, Broome, Busselton, Derby, Esperance, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Kununurra, Karratha, Learmonth, Paraburdoo, Port Hedland, Ravensthorpe and Newman.

Etihad has also made provision for increases in frequency and connectivity on existing routes, with more than 20% growth expected in weekly departures. It will receive 20 aircraft deliveries next year including its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and Airbus A380s. It will also receive five Boeing 777-200LRs, one Boeing 777-300ER, three Airbus A320s, three Airbus A321s, four Airbus A330-200s and one Airbus A330 Freighter.

EVA Air Signs Code Share With Singapore Airlines

Now EVA Air offers better flight times between Singapore and Taipei with a new codeshare agreement between the two airlines. SIA will add its ‘SQ’ code to EVA Air-operated flights between the two countries and EVA Air will add its ‘BR’ code to Singapore Airlines-operated flights between Singapore and Taipei. Singapore Airlines operates two daily flights to Taipei.

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Garuda Indonesia Collaborates with ANA

Indonesian carrier Garuda Indonesia and Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) will go into a comprehensive partnership that includes codeshare flights between the two countries as well as reciprocal earning and redemption of miles on both frequent flyer programmes. From 30 March 2014 ANA will operate a new route between Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and Jakarta Airport. Garuda Indonesia will open the same route from the first semester of 2014. These new flights will increase the number of weekly flights operated by the two airlines between Japan and Indonesia to 53 with 14 ANA flights and 39 Garuda Indonesia flights. Both airlines will allocate code share flight numbers to flights between Japan and Indonesia operated by each airline.

ANA flight passengers arriving in Jakarta will be able to get to up to 10 Indonesian routes including Jogjakarta or Denpasar on code share flights operated by Garuda Indonesia while passengers on Garuda Indonesia flights arrving at Haneda, Narita or Kansai can travel on to up to 11 Japanese routes including Chitose or Nagoya on code share flights operated by ANA.

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SkyTeam Welcomes Garuda Indonesia in March 2014

Garuda Indonesia joins global airline alliance SkyTeam as its 20th member on 5 March 2014. It joins Vietnam Airlines as the second South East Asian airline in the network. The network brings more than 1,020 global destinations to Garuda customers. Garuda customers would also be able to enjoy dedicated services such as SkyPriority and access to more than 530 lounges around the world.

Garuda’s membership will allow customers around the world to travel to Indonesia, operating nonstop flights from Jakarta to seven SkyTeam hubs in Seoul, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei and Amsterdam.

SkyTeam members include Aeroflot, Aerolineas Argentinas, AeroMexico, Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia, China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Czech Airlines, Delta, Kenya Airlines, KLM, Korean Air, MEA, Suaudia, TAROM, Vietnam Airlines and Xiamen Air. 

Meanwhile at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, SkyTeam upgrades the check-in service with 90 SkyTeam-branded common-use kiosks at the lobby area and throughout piers A-F in Terminal 1 North. The new kiosks are now available to customers travelling on Air France, Aermexico, Alitalia, Delta Air Lines, Korean Air and KLM. A range of languages are available.  Earlier this year, SkyTeam opened a dedicated SkyPriority fast-track security lane at Narita for Elite Plus, First and Business Class customers. SkyTeam members operate more than 1,000 weekly flights from Japan linking the country to cities in Europe, North and Central America, Asia and Greater China.

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KLM Wannagives On Board Launched

KLM Wannagives let you surprise a friend or family member flying on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines out of Amsterdam or on most long-distance European flights.  Choose from six themes of Love, Celebrate, HOliday, Thanks, Kids or KLM goodies from klm.com/wannagives. You can choose from an assortment of items from a glass of champagne, an extra comfortable seat, a bottle of perfume or bonbons. The cabin crew will hand the beautifully wrapped gift on board on for you together with a personal card with your message.

KLM believes in “little acts of kindness” and is the first airline to offer a range of gifts to surprise a travelling family member of friend on board. KLM Wannagives also offers home delivery and Flying Blue members can also use their miles for purchases.

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Singapore Airlines Sydney SilverKris Lounge Reopens

The Singapore Airlines SilverKris lounge in Sydney has undergone a a concept retrofit reflecting a “home” concept. Showcasing SIA’s customised batik design in the welcome foyer, Singapore Airlines premium customers can recognise the lounge from afar.  As part of a multi-million dollar investment programme to upgrade all of its airport lounges around the world, the new concept SilverKris Lounge is designed by architectural and interior design firm ONG&ONG.

You can make use of personal spaces tailored for different needs, ranging from a living room, kitchen and dining room to intimate coves for rest and relaxation. Productivity pods lets you work in privacy and comfort before your flight. Signature SIA armchairs will also be a new feature at all refurbished SilverKris lounges. Enjoy iconic Singapore dishes such as Laksa and Mee Siam, offered alongside other food choices from around the world with a wide range of wines and spirits.

The new design concept will be introduced to all of SIA’s SilverKris lounges in 15 cities (Adelaide, Bangkok, Brisbane, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, London, Manila, Melbourne, New Delhi, Perth, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney and Taipei) over the next five years at around S$100 million. Planning work is underway to upgrade lounges at London, Hong Kong and Singapore Terminal 3 in 2014.

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Singapore Airlines Collaborates With JNTO

Singapore Airlines and Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) signed their first Memorandum of Understanding to boost tourist arrivals from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia into Japan. Under the agreement valued at approximately S$1million, SIA and JNTO will jointly explore and implement activities to promote tourist traffic to Japan by way of SIA’s services between the two countries.

SIA has been flying to Japan since 1968 beginning with Tokyo and expanding to Osaka in 1972, Fukuoka in 1988, Nagoya in 1989 and Haneda in 2010. It operates 56 weekly flights and will add a third daily flight to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport from 30 March 2014.

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SilkAir Trials Wireless Entertainment

SilkAir has commenced a wireless inflight entertainment (IFE) system trial on one of its Airbus A320 aircraft (Aircraft registration number 9V-SLK). Customers onboard this aircraft can access the inflight entertainment through their laptops, iPhones, iPad, iPod or Android tablets and smartphones without and extra charge.  This compliments the airline’s overhead entertainment system.

The airline has partnered Panasonic Avionics Corporation for this trial, using its eXW Wireless IFE solution.

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Tigerair Launches Direct Flights to Ningbo

Tigerair launches thrice fortnightly flights from Singapore to the seaport city of Ningbo, China on 26 December 2013. It will fly between the two cities on every alternate Thursday, Tuesday and Saturday.

Ningbo’s strategic location and exceptional connectivity to regional Chinese cities makes it a gateway for the export of electrical products, industrial tools and textiles. It ranks second to Shanghai in terms of the amount of cargo handled annually. It is also connected to major cities of Wenzhou, Nanjing and Hangzhou via high-speed bullet trains which travel at speeds of up to 350 kilometres per hour.

At Ningbo, you will be able to witness the world’s longest sea-crossing beach at 36 kilometres long – the Hangzhou Bay Bridge which took nine years to complete construction. The S-shaped stayed-cable bridge opened in 2008 with six lanes running in either direction. The bridge effectively completes the transport network of China’s ‘Golden Industrial Triangle’ between Ningbo, Shanghai and Hangzhou.

Bus shuttle services between Ningbo Lishe International Airport and the East Railway Station will commence 27 December 2013 providing convenience to travellers who wish to access bullet train services to and from Beijing, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai, Wenzhou and Xiamen.

The addition of Ningbo increases Tigerair’s Greater China destinations to eight including Guangzhou, Haikou, Hong Kong, Lijiang, Macau, Ningbo, Shenzhen and Taipei. One way fare fro the Singapore-Nignbo route is currently available from S$214 inclusive of taxes and other charges.

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US Airways To Join oneworld 31 March 2014

US Airways completed its merger with oneworld alliance founding member American Airlines on 10 December 2013. It will join oneworld 31 March 2014. The airline’s regional affiliates operating under the US Airways Express brand will also transition to the airline alliance network at the same time. US Airways will exit from Star Alliance with the final flights on 30 March 2014.

Dividend Miles cardholders will maintain all miles earned and their tier status. Dividend Miles Preferred members will be sent new membership cards with oneworld logo for use from 31 March 2014. Dividend Miles Chairman cardholders will be accorded the top Emerald status in the oneworld programme while Dividend Miles Platinum and Gold will be equivalent to Sapphire and Dividend Miles Silver will be Ruby.

US Airways is the fifth largest airline in the U.S. and one of the 30 largest in the world. Together with its regional affiliates, US Airways serves more than 200 destinations and 30 countries with a fleet of more than 625 aircraft. In 2012, it carried 82.5 million passengers and currently operates 3,200 departures daily. It will add 60 destinations to the oneworld map most in the US and also three in Canada and one in Mexico along with its key hubs of Charlotte, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington DC’s Reagan National.

oneworld member airlines currently include American, LAN, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, S7 Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, Cathay Pacific Airways, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Qantas and some 30 affiliated airlines.  Brazil’s TAM and SriLankan Airlines are also lining up to join early next year.

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United Airlines Ends 2013 with Multiple Industry Honours

United Airlines receives several awards ending 2013, recognising its investments in MileagePlus loyalty programme and customer service as well as its Boeing 787 Dreamliners and environmental achievements.  These awards include

• Best Frequent-Flyer Bonus Programme – Global Traveler
• Best Credit Card & Best Credit Card Rewards Programme – Global Traveler – For the United MileagePlus Club Card from Chase
• Best Frequent-Flyer Affinity Credit Card Redemptions – Global Traveler -For the United MileagePlus Explorer Card from Chase
• Best Frequent-Flyer Programme and Best Airline for North Americal Travel – Business Traveler
• Best Domestic Frequent-Flyer Programme – Premier Traveler
• Best 787 Layout – Premier Traveler
• Gold Eco-Airline of the Year – Air Transport World Magazine – For United’s Eco-Skies programme
• Best of Everything – Kiplinger’s Personal Finance – For the domestic airline’s loyalty programme
• 10 Best Readers’ Choice Travel Awards – USA Today – best economy class flight experience
• Best American Airline serving China – 2013 Business Traveller China Awards
• Best North American Airline – Business Traveller’s Asia Pacific edition
• Best International Airline – Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards 2013

United is investing in other products and services for customer comfort and convenience including:

• More extra-legroom economy seats than any other airline
• Satellite-fed Wi-Fi on more than 130 aircraft so far, with most of United’s mainline fleet outfitted with Wi-Fi by the end of 2014
• The world’s largest fleet of aircraft with live television
• An all-new mobile application for the iOS 7 platform, offering customers innovative new features, better functionality and an improved touch-friendly design
• Premium-cabin, flat-bed seats on every scheduled long-haul international flight from the continental United States and on every scheduled transcontinental flight between New York JFK and San Francisco and New York JFK and Los Angeles

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On the subject of travelling and December being the festive month, travel metasearch site Wego did a snap poll of around 500 Wego users on Christmas eve to find out the Australian’s dream of traditional white Christmas destinations.  That included gingerbread, ice-skates and all the Christmas trimmings. Check out the infographic below.

Adrian Editor

Adrian Eugene Seet, editor of SUPERADRIANME.com, has long shared his passion for travel, destinations, and air travel. His childhood love for exploration has evolved into a thriving career, with his engaging content inspiring others to discover new cultures. Taiwan is his new-found favourite destination, and he dreams of visiting the Andes. Adrian's work is driven by his curiosity for travel trends and a commitment to lifelong learning.

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