Philippine Airlines and Airbus coordinate fourth humanitarian flight for typhoon Haiyan victims

By BA Staff

One month after Haiyan, one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded, struck the Philippines, thousands of people are still left homeless and without food or water.

Since the disaster happened in early November this year, Airbus’ Corporate Foundation has coordinated three relief and goodwill flights, with either Airbus Flight Test aircraft or newly delivered customer aircraft.

This week-end, a fourth flight to the Philippines was coordinated by the Airbus Corporate Foundation and its partners, Philippine Airlines (PAL), Action Contre la Faim, Aviation Sans Frontières and Humedica.

A PAL A330, with four doctors and one nurse on board, loaded with 5.6 tonnes of medical supplies, food and water sanitation equipment, took off on Friday 6th December from Toulouse and landed in Manila, Philippines on Saturday 7th December early morning. This is the third flight using a PAL aircraft since the typhoon struck the country.


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Qatar Airways launches new route to Philippines

By BA Staff

Qatar Airways has launched daily non-stop daily flights to Clark Manila International Airport in the Philippines.

The Clark airport route is operated with an Airbus A330 in a two-class configuration of up to 248 seats in Economy and up to 36 in Business Class.

Clark International Airport is located about 96km from Manila City Centre and a complimentary bus service will be available to take passengers to and from Trinoma Mall and Resorts World Manila (conveniently located opposite of Manila International Airport (MNL) terminal 3).

As an inaugural offer, Qatar is offering its passengers an exceptional baggage allowance of up to 40 kgs valid for travel until 31 January 2014. Members of Qatar Airways’ frequent flyer programme Privilege Club can earn up to 7,000 bonus Qmiles in Economy Class and 14,000 bonus Qmiles in Business Class for travel on a return trip between 27 October and 31 December 2013.


The destination becomes Qatar Airways’ 12th gateway in Southeast Asia after Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Bali, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Jakarta, Hanoi, Singapore, Manila, Yangon and Phuket, and the carrier’s 133rd destination worldwide.

Images courtesy Qatar Airways

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Cebu Air Pacific grows Visayas hub passengers by up to 33%

By BA Staff

The Philippines’ leading low-cost carrier, Cebu Pacific Air (PSE:CEB) increased operations from its Visayas hubs, in line with its continued push for more tourism and trade in the destinations it flies to. From January to August 2013, the number of passengers through the airline’s Iloilo hub went up by 33%, while guests to and from its Cebu hub increased by 15%. Cebu remains the airline’s second largest hub, with over 2.3 million CEB passengers passing through the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) in the first 8 months of the year.

Late last year, CEB doubled the routes it offered to and from the Iloilo International Airport. It provided direct connectivity to Tacloban, Puerto Princesa and General Santos, and pioneered the first international flights out of Iloilo to Hong Kong and Singapore. Previously, CEB only flew from Iloilo to Manila, Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro.

CEB VP for Marketing and Distribution Candice Iyog had this to say about the upgrades:

“We hope that our direct air linkages empower everyone to travel in the fastest way possible, and discover tourism and trade opportunities all over the Philippines. Cebu Pacific will always explore how else it can assist in the country’s tourism agenda, with the delivery of more brand-new aircraft until 2021,”

CEB currently operates more than 2,200 weekly flights to over 90 routes or city pairs. The airline flies to 34 domestic and 22 international destinations. Its newest international routes include Manila-Phuket, launched last August 16, 2013, and Manila-Dubai, to be launched on October 7, 2013.
CEB currently operates 10 Airbus A319, 27 Airbus A320, 2 Airbus A330 and 8 ATR-72 500 aircraft. Its fleet of 47 aircraft is one of the most modern aircraft fleets in the world. Between 2013 and 2021, Cebu Pacific will take delivery of 15 more Airbus A320, 30 Airbus A321neo, and 4 Airbus A330 aircraft.  

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Hawaiian adds service to Beijing; when will India come on their radar?

by Vinay Bhaskara

Honolulu, Hawaii based full service carrier Hawaiian Airlines has announced new service to Beijing, China, with thrice weekly flights commencing in April 2014 utilizing 294 seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft configured as (18P/276Y).  The new service will be made possible because the existing 3 weekly flights to Manila in the Philippines will be cancelled from July 31st, 2013.

The new flights mark a continuation of the feverish Asian expansion begun by Hawaiian back in 2010, and fuelled by steady stream of A330 deliveries to sustain growth. Since June 2010, Hawaiian has added or announced new flights toSeoul Incheon, Osaka-Kansai, Fukuoka, Tokyo-Haneda, Sapporo, Brisbane, Auckland, Sendai, and Taipei. The flights are in large part a reflection of the changing nature of Hawaii’s tourism market; the traditional American and Japanese tourists are there in droves, but a rising number of affluent East Asians, especially Chinese, are making Hawaii a luxury destination of choice. And they are likely not done with growth to Asia, as Hawaiian has 11 more A330s scheduled for delivery.

As with China, Singapore, and the other East Asian nations, Indian tourism to China has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade. However, inbound arrivals to Hawaii are still nowhere near enough to support a nonstop flight. However, at current growth rates, within 5-6 years, demand should be strong enough to support direct one-stop flights between India and Hawaii. In fact to some degree, the market has actually been held back by a lack of convenient one-stop options between India and Hawaii. Currently, the only option is to connect onto United in Newark, which entails a journey of more than 28 hours. Especially once Hawaiian begins to take delivery of its Airbus A350 aircraft, with their lower operating costs, a one-stop tag to India from one of Hawaiian’s Asian destinations could be viable.

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Video: Making of Cebu Pacific's first Airbus A320 Sharklet RP-C3272

Philippines, low cost carrier, Cebu Pacific Air took delivery of its first A320 equipped with Sharklets yesterday during a ceremony in Manila. Below is a quick time-lapse video on the making of the aircraft. Hope you enjoy.

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Emirates expands capacity to Bangkok, Sydney, Manila and Jakarta

Dubai based Emirates airlines is undertaking a major expansion of it's capacity adding 17 flights per week to Bangkok, Sydney, Manila and Jakarta. This represents a massive 13% increase in seat capacity and takes the airline's operations up to 187 flight per week.

Starting December 2009, Emirates will introduce a fourth daily service to Bangkok, a third daily service to Sydney, two additional flights to Manila and one additional service to Jakarta.

Bangkok
Emirates’ fourth daily service to Bangkok comes into effect on 2nd December operated by a state-of-the-art Boeing 777-300 in a three class configuration (12 First, 42 Business and 310 Economy Class seats).

An additional 161 tonnes of cargo capacity introduced per week per direction will be introduced on the route.

Sydney
Starting 2nd December, Sydney will receive its third-daily Emirates flight on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays. The service will be stepped up to cover Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with effect from 2nd January 2010, bringing Emirates’ weekly capacity to 70 flights. Emirates will take on the European heavyweights since the flight’s departure from Sydney has been timed to offer ‘same day service’ to Europe – one of Australia’s key outbound markets. The new flight offers Sydneysiders the opportunity to have breakfast in Sydney, lunch in Dubai and dinner in Europe.

The additional services combined with Emirates’ recent interline agreement with Virgin Blue offering convenient domestic connections within Australia extended the airline's footprint to interior cities of Australia.

Manila
In December Emirates will enhance its existing EK 332 service to Manila to include Thursdays, and EK 334 to include Mondays. Post expansion the operation will grow from 12 flights a week to 14 flights or a double-daily service on every day of the week. The additional flights will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft offering 42 Business and 400 Economy Class seats, as well as 16.7 tonnes of cargo capacity.

Jakarta
The Indonesian capital city will receive an additional Emirates service with effect from 6th December, bringing its total operation to 11 flights per week. The service will operate to Jakarta every Sunday, returning to Dubai the following day. The ultra-modern Emirates' Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a two-class configuration of 42 Business and 400 Economy will be used.

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Qantas jumbo makes emergency landing

Qantas jumbo makes emergency landing after mid-air drama

Image from BBC News

MANILA (AFP) — A Qantas Boeing 747 flying to Melbourne made an emergency landing in Manila on Friday after a dramatic mid-air rupture that left a "gaping hole" in its fuselage, officials and passengers said.

Stunned passengers reported how the jumbo, which originated in London and made a stop in Hong Kong, plunged 20,000 feet (6,000) metres in an "absolutely terrifying" ordeal.

A Qantas spokeswoman said the plane, carrying 346 passengers and 19 crew, diverted to Manila where it was now undergoing inspection on the ground.

"There was a terrific boom, and bits of wood and debris just flew forward into first (class) and the oxygen masks dropped down," June Kane, a passenger from Melbourne, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"We were told that one of the rear doors, a hole had blown into it, but I've since looked at the plane and there's a gigantic gaping hole in the plane. "It was absolutely terrifying, but I have to say everyone was very calm," she added, speaking from the Philippine capital.

Qantas chief executive officer Geoff Dixon said initial inspections showed the aircraft had sustained a hole in its fuselage, and it was currently being inspected by engineers. He said the flight crew performed emergency procedures after oxygen masks were deployed and there were no reports of any injuries. Dixon said the Australian Transportation Safety Bureau and Civil Aviation Safety Authority had been notified.

Manila airport operations officer Ding Lima said the aircraft lost cabin pressure shortly after leaving Hong Kong bound for Melbourne. "The captain of the aircraft immediately called the (Manila) control tower for an immediate landing," Lima told local radio. "There is a big hole in the belly of the aircraft near the right wing about three metres in diameter," he added.

Flight QF30, which took off from Hong Kong at 9:00am (0100 GMT), had been due to arrive in Melbourne at 1145 GMT, according to the Qantas website. Lorena Dimaya, a Qantas assistant supervisor in Manila, said the aircraft had landed safely just after 11:00am local time and the incident had not been "life threatening." She said the plane had taken off from Hong Kong when it "encountered some technical problems and requested to be diverted to Manila, where it made an emergency landing."

Passenger June Kane said the problem seemed to centre on the baggage compartment of the plane. "I'm looking at the plane now and on the left-hand side, just forward of the wing, there's a gaping hole from the wing to the underbody," she said. "It's about two metres by four metres and there's baggage hanging out so you assume that there's a few bags that may have gone missing.

Passengers praised the crew for landing the plane safely. "We heard a very large bang, the oxygen masks came out. But the crew was very calm and everything was fine," said Phil Rescall, a 40-year-old man from England travelling to Australia for work. "I think we were all very lucky."

"The crew were terrific, they did a great job," another passenger, Brendan McClements, said. "Everyone gave them a round of applause as we landed."

Source : AFP

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