DragonAir takes advantage of expanded Bangalore airport terminal capacity to improve flight schedules

by Devesh Agarwal

The new expanded terminal at the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) will be inaugurated this Saturday, December 14th. At the same time the airport will be re-named in honour of the founder of Bangalore, as Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB).

Aerial view of the expanded terminal at Bangalore airport. Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal. All rights reserved.

With the addition of four international gates on the east pier (in the picture above, only the first gate is visible on pier on the left of the photo), airlines have improved access during the prime desired time from 11pm to 1am.

Cathay Pacific's subsidiary DragonAir, which operates a daily A330 service between the city and Hong Kong is one of the first airlines that will take advantage of the expanded capacity of the new terminal.

Its existing poor time slot departs Bangalore at 02:40 and arrives in Hong Kong around 11:00 causing many passengers to miss the morning connections to many onward destinations.

From the Summer 2014 schedule DragonAir will pull forward its schedule. As per Rakesh Raicar, Sales and Marketing Manager - South Asia for the airline group,

“We have already revised our timings from Bengaluru and effective 30 March 2014, Dragonair will depart at 0130 from Bengaluru to Hong Kong. This decision to revise the timings was taken to offer our passengers an early arrival into Hong Kong and greater access to our extensive network. With a departure time of 0130, we will be able to offer better connections to the various cities we operate to, in China, Japan, Korea, North America and Australia.“

With this departure, arrival will be at 10:00. Better than the current 11:00, but still not ideal. In our opinion, DragonAir should try to advance their departure another hour, depart by 00:30 and arrive into Hong Kong by 09:00. To achieve this, the airline will have to advance their Hong Kong departure from the current very late 22:40 to around 20:30, which is still a very good time for both business and trade passengers.

Which other airlines, if any, do you feel should change their schedule at Bangalore? Share your thoughts via a comment.

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Cathay Pacific July 2013 traffic results

Hong Kong based full service carrier Cathay Pacific Airways posted its consolidated (including regional arm Dragonair) traffic results for July 2013, showing an increase in passenger traffic offset by a decrease in cargo tonnage. Find the details below.

20th August 2013

Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for July 2013 that show a year-on-year rise in the number of passengers carried. Cargo and mail tonnage fell compared to the same month in 2012.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,679,193 passengers in July – an increase of 6.9% compared to the same month last year. The passenger load factor was up 3.9 percentage points to 85.0%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), rose by 0.1%. For the year to date, the number of passengers carried has increased by 2.1% while capacity has fallen by 4.1%.

The two airlines carried 122,920 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, a drop of 1.9% compared to July 2012. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 4.4 percentage points to 60.3%. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, rose by 6.6% while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres were down by 0.7%. For the year to date, tonnage has fallen by 1.8% compared to a 0.6% capacity decline.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management James Tong said: “We enjoyed a strong start to the summer peak period, with good loads on major long-haul routes and also to the key holiday destinations within the region. However, the comparison with last year is distorted by the effect of Severe Typhoon Vicente, which had a major impact on our operations in July 2012. The Economy cabins were particularly busy last month; demand in the premium cabins was generally weaker, but in line with our expectations for the summer peak.”

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing Mark Sutch said: “Demand was soft out of many of the major airfreight markets last month and once again we saw tonnage and load factor dropping compared to 2012, when business was already weak. The bright spots in our network were the transpacific lanes and demand on intra-Asia routes, particular out of Hanoi and Dhaka. Europe and Japan remain two of the weaker markets at the moment."

CATHAY PACIFIC / DRAGONAIR COMBINED TRAFFIC	JUL 2013	% Change VS JUL 12	Cumulative JUL 2013	% Change YTD
RPK (000)
- Mainland China	775,166	9.5%	4,763,356	4.1%
- North East Asia	1,206,578	12.9%	7,539,802	7.2%
- South East Asia	1,279,559	6.0%	8,437,035	3.9%
- India, Middle East, Pakistan & Sri Lanka	666,415	-0.4%	4,711,537	-5.8%
- South West Pacific & South Africa	1,182,343	6.4%	8,073,930	-2.1%
- North America	2,378,062	-4.2%	15,551,810	-11.3%
- Europe	1,886,418	11.6%	10,840,134	0.6%
RPK Total (000)	9,374,541	4.9%	59,917,604	-2.2%
Passengers carried	2,679,193	6.9%	17,176,225	2.1%
Cargo and mail revenue tonne km (000)	715,127	-0.7%	4,839,502	-4.1%
Cargo and mail carried (000kg)	122,920	-1.9%	863,472	-1.8%
Number of flights	6,175	6.2%	41,197	5.2%

CATHAY PACIFIC / DRAGONAIR COMBINED CAPACITY	JUL 2013	% Change VS JUL 12	Cumulative JUL 2013	% Change YTD
ASK (000)
- Mainland China	995,472	6.8%	6,654,262	6.0%
- North East Asia	1,511,165	3.2%	9,825,641	0.9%
- South East Asia	1,561,896	0.8%	10,562,289	3.9%
- India, Middle East, Pakistan & Sri Lanka	872,564	-0.3%	6,228,611	-3.9%
- South West Pacific & South Africa	1,440,550	-1.3%	10,223,144	-6.6%
- North America	2,635,993	-6.5%	17,394,262	-13.2%
- Europe	2,008,263	4.9%	12,324,486	-3.2%
ASK Total (000)	11,025,903	0.1%	73,212,695	-4.1%
Passenger load factor	85.0%	3.9pt	81.8%	1.5pt
Available cargo/mail tonne km (000)	1,185,840	6.6%	7,792,496	-0.6%
Cargo and mail load factor	60.3%	-4.4pt	62.1%	-2.2pt
ATK (000)	2,234,229	3.4%	14,754,455	-2.3%

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Trivia quiz: Big planes on short flights

by Devesh Agarwal

LoganAir. Photo by Dave Wheeler. Used under CC license.

While many of us will be aware of the longest non-stop flights; Singapore Airline's soon to be withdrawn Newark Singapore and Los Angeles Singapore, and Qantas' Sydney Dallas-Fort Worth which become the longest; how many of us are aware of the shortest non-stop flights?

The world's shortest flight is performed by Loganair, Flight 353, from Westray to Papa Westray airports, in the Orkney islands off the northern tip of Scotland, using a Britten-Norman Islander. The 1.7 mile (2.7 kms) distance is covered in just two minutes.

Passengers have to carry their own baggage to the plane.

Some of the shortest trips performed by a jet aircraft.

Narrow body

• Alaska Airlines uses a Boeing 737 to operate flight AS 65 from Wrangell to Petersburg in Alaska. The distance of 32.4 miles (51.1 kms) is covered in 20 minutes, giving an average speed of about 90 miles per hour.
• Etihad investee airberlin also uses a 737 to operate flight AB 4651 from Lanzarote to Fuerteventura airports in the Spanish Las Palmas islands, off the western coast of Morocco. The 37 miles (60 kms) is covered in 30 minutes making the average speed 74 miles per hour; the speed on many US highways.

Wide body

• Arkefly uses a wide-body Boeing 767-300ER to perform flight OR 365 on the 46 mile (75 kms) flight between the Dutch Caribbean islands of Curaçao and Bonaire. Bonaire's airport is aptly named Flamingo.
• Cathay Pacific subsidiary DragonAir uses a 300+ seat Airbus A330-300 to perform its 73 mile (118 kms) 50 minutes long flight from Hong Kong to Guangzhou (Canton).
• The 91 miles (146 kms) from Bahrain to Doha in the Gulf is performed by two wide-bodies on a regular basis. British Airways flight BA 125 a Boeing 777-200 takes 40 minutes while Lufthansa LH 620 an Airbus A330-300 takes 30 minutes. Time to pull up your socks old chap.

There are two flights in India on the global shortest flights list. Take a guess on the routes, and which airline performs it. One is performed in a narrow body jet aircraft, and one is in a fast turbo-prop. Send your answers via a comment.

In fair spirit, do not refer to any external reference sites like Wikipedia till the answers are posted tomorrow.

Update July 25, 2013

Thanks for the answers. The correct and most complete answers are posted in the comments.

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Cathay Pacific Group - financial and operational results for 2012

by Devesh Agarwal

Cathay Pacific Group FY2012 overall results

Hong Kong based, Cathay Pacific Group reported an attributable profit of HK$916 million (approximately $118.08 million) for 2012 – an 83.3% fall compared to the profit of HK$5,501 million reported for 2011, even though turnover for the year increased by 1.0% to HK$99,376 million (approximately $12.81 billion). Earnings per share fell by 83.3% to HK23.3 cents. (US$1=HK$7.75. 1HK$=INR6.99).

With a strong presence in the air cargo services area, the continuing slowdown in the Eurozone countries during 2012, and their resultant impact on the exports from China and Hong Kong, affected the group. The Group was also adversely affected by the high price of jet fuel, and pressure on passenger yields due to increased competition. The Group has investments in Air China, which also showed a significant decline due to similar reasons.

Cathay Pacific results FY2012 - pperating statistics

Annual passenger revenue for 2012 was HK$70,133 million, up 3.5% from 2011. Capacity was increased by 2.6%. The Group's two airlines (Cathay Pacific and DragonAir) carried 29 million passengers, up 5% from 2011. Passenger load factor fell 0.3%. Yield increased by 1.2% to HK67.3 cents, largely due to higher fuel surcharges but fuel prices increased 1.7%.

Economic uncertainty caused corporate customers to belt tighten, which pressured yields in the premium classes, while strong competition on key routes and the same economic FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) factor squeezed the economy class yields. Cathay does have a reasonably portion of its fleet as older fuel guzzlers, which made long distance operations under cost pressures. Cathay Pacific announced measures designed to protect its business in an environment of high fuel prices and weak revenues. The group accelerated the retirement of the less fuel-efficient Boeing 747-400 passenger aircraft and withdrew four Boeing 747-400BCF (Boeing converted freighters) from service.

Annual cargo revenue fell 5.5% to HK$24,555 million. Capacity decrease of 3.1%, helped keep yield for Cathay Pacific and Dragonair, unchanged, at HK$2.42. Cargo load factor dropped 3% to 64.2%.

Cathay Pacific Group FY2012 - sales by geography. Indian sub-continent and middle east is the smallest contributor

Fuel remained the most significant cost, and even discounting the effects of fuel hedging, increased by 0.8% to account for 41.1% of total operating costs. Fuel, as a percentage of total operating costs decreased 0.4%.

Through 2012, the Cathay Pacific Group kept a clear focus on its key strategic goals: developing its network and its Hong Kong base; maintaining and enhancing the quality of its services; strengthening its relationship with Air China; and maintaining a prudent approach to financial risk management.

On the passenger side, Cathay Pacific added frequencies on routes to India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam and introduced a new service to Hyderabad in India last year. Dragonair added frequencies on routes to secondary cities in Mainland China and introduced or resumed flights to eight destinations in 2012. In the first quarter of 2013, Dragonair is launching another four new destinations. On the cargo side, Cathay Pacific introduced freighter services to Zhengzhou, Hyderabad and Colombo last year.

Cathay Pacific Group FY2012 - capacities, load factors, and yields by geography

During the year, Cathay Pacific introduced a new Premium Economy Class product, a new long-haul Economy Class seat and a new Regional Business Class seat. See images and read details here and here.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair received 19 new aircraft as part of their fleet upgrade plan. At the end of the fiscal, the Group had 92 aircraft on order for delivery up to 2020. An order was placed for six Airbus A350-900 aircraft in January 2012. In August the Group ordered 10 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft and converted an existing order for 16 Airbus A350-900 aircraft into an order for 16 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. In March 2013, Cathay Pacific entered into an agreement with The Boeing Company under which it agreed to buy three Boeing 747-8F freighter aircraft and cancel the agreement to purchase eight Boeing 777-200F freighters that were entered into in August 2011. Under the agreements, the Company also acquired options to purchase five Boeing 777-200F freighters and The Boeing Company agreed to purchase four Boeing 747-400BCF converted freighters, which were taken out of service in 2012 and early 2013. The transaction is part of a package of transactions between the Group, The Boeing Company, Air China Cargo Co., Ltd and Air China Limited.

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Night plane spotting images from Bangalore airport

Today, some night plane spotting photos for your enjoyment.

Spotting at night throws up some unique challenges. The aircraft need to be stationary, and the photographer requires good anticipation to capture the image in those few seconds between an aircraft's arrival at the gate and it being swarmed by ground support equipment and people, or from the time of its push back till it taxies out, and it goes without saying, you cannot use a flash.

Despite these challenges, the results can be quite spectacular.

This is the passenger terminal building of the Bengaluru International Airport. Some may consider it a drab box, but it transforms in to an oasis of light during the night. Do observe the light trails of a business jet taking off over the terminal.

Lufthansa's Boeing 747-400 D-ABTK arrives after its ten hour flight from Frankfurt. Standing almost 100 metres away did not prevent me from getting buffeted by the hot and strong exhaust gases, even though the engines were at idle power.

Cathay Pacific's subsidiary Dragon Air operates an Airbus A330-300 to Bangalore. Here is B-HWI wearing the 25 years anniversary livery, just a few minutes before being closed up for departure back to Hong Kong in the wee hours of the night.

An unusual shot of the only Boeing 727 operating in India. This clean and gleaming plane N727VJ has oodles of shiny chrome and is one of the private jets of the Mallya family. It features winglets on which the beacon light shines like a bright diamond. A pity that Dr. Mallya does not ensure the other planes of his Kingfisher fleet are kept as clean as this one.

As usual comments are welcome. Images are the copyright of Devesh Agarwal.

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The shortest flight between Bangalore and San Francisco

Despite the downturn in the IT market, San Francisco is still one of the top destinations from Bangalore - if not first, then definitely a close second, and Singapore Airlines and fellow Asian carriers Dragonair and it's parent Cathay Pacific has traditionally dominated this market.

Traditional thinking at airlines believes that passengers prefer a shorter flight to arrive at their destination fresher and conventional wisdom made passengers believe that transpacific flights were the quickest to the US west coast from Bangalore, thus making the Singapore Airlines and Dragonair-Cathay Pacific flights the preferred choice.

It appears that Emirates airlines is slowly tearing away the myth of the shorter transpacific flight with it's recently launched non-stop flights between Dubai Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The Dragonair-Cathay Pacific rules the fastest flight roost with a Bangalore to San Francisco total trip time of 21 hours and 45 minutes, but looses on the return with a San Francisco to Bangalore trip time of 23 hours and 45 minutes.

Emirates is rapidly risen to be the third ranked carrier, behind Singapore Airlines and Dragonair-Cathay Pacific on the Bangalore to San Francisco route, offering a total travel time of 22 hours flat, including transit at Dubai, when compared to the 26 hours and 05 minutes of Singapore Airlines including a transit at Singapore. On the return trip from San Francisco to Bangalore the comparison is even more lopsided, with Emirates taking 21 hours and 45 minutes and Singapore Airlines taking a whopping 32 hours and 15 minutes.

Another transatlantic carrier is second in the overall sprint list; Germany's Lufthansa, which takes just 22 hours and 25 minutes from Bangalore to San Francisco via Frankfurt. On the return Lufthansa takes 21 hours and 30 minutes.

Clearly Lufthansa and Emirates are the airlines of choice for the fastest way to travel between the two silicon capitals of Bangalore and San Francisco.

Is it the great on-board service Singapore Airlines is renowned for, that is attracting the passengers, or a lack of knowledge about the total flight duration? I think it is the former, but what is your view. Post a comment.

Follow Bangalore Aviation on Twitter.

Update - 1
Thanks to some friends who have access to a GDS

Bangalore (BLR) to San Francisco (SFO)

Summer schedule

Cathay Pacific - 21h 45m
Emirates - 22h 00m
Lufthansa - 22h25m

Winter schedule

Cathay Pacific - 20h 50m
Emirates - 22h20m
Lufthansa - 22h 25m

San Francisco (SFO) to Bangalore (BLR)

Summer schedule

British Airways - 20h 55m
Lufthansa - 21h 30m
Emirates - 21h 45m
Cathay Pacific - 23h 15m

Winter schedule

Lufthansa - 21h 30m
Emirates - 21h 45m
British Airways 23h 05m
Cathay Pacific 24h 10m

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Dragonair Airbus A330 grounded for five days at Bengaluru International Airport

During my visit to the Bengaluru International Airport on March 14th, I observed a Dragonair Airbus A330 B-HWH parked on the apron at 08:00

Obviously something was wrong. Normally the Dragonair flight is scheduled to arrive at 01:40 and leave by 02:40.

Found out today that the Dragonair aircraft had an engine problem on the outbound flight back to Hong Kong early morning on Tuesday, March 10th. Passengers were dis-embarked and put on flights of other airlines. A Cathay Pacific Boeing 747 freighter flew a new engine and a team of engineers to Bangalore on the 13th, and the Dragonair A330 was finally fixed and flew out on the 14th afternoon, about 8 hours after the picture was taken, five days after she was grounded.

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Singapore Airlines reduces Mumbai Delhi flights, DragonAir reduces Bangalore

Singapore Airlines is reducing operations from Singapore to Mumbai and New Delhi, while Dragonair is cutting back on its Hong Kong Bangalore route.

Singapore - Mumbai
SQ422/SQ423, service is reduced from a daily to five a week (Daily except Tuesday and Thrursday) from February 9, 2009. Service operates with a Boeing 777-200.

Overall frequency to Mumbai reduced to 12 weekly from 14 weekly.

Singapore - Delhi
SQ406/SQ407, service reduced from a daily to six a week, operating Daily except Tuesday from February 6, 2009 to March 2, 2009. From March 3, 2009, service will operate Daily except Wednesday. Service operates with a Boeing 777-200

Overall frequency reduced to 13 weekly

Dragonair is reducing its Hong Kong - Bangalore service is reducing from a daily to five a week, operating daily except Thursday and Sunday, between February 9, 2009 and March 7, 2009. Service operates with an Airbus A330-300.

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