Japan Airlines to launch Sky Suite on Tokyo Narita Vancouver route

by BA Staff

Japan Airlines will launch its upgraded cabin JAL Sky Suite II business class product on its revamped 767-300ER service between Tokyo (Narita) and Vancouver, from December 9, 2013.

The airline will also offer its Sky Wider improved economy class product on the same flight.

The Sky Suite II is a 24 seat business in a 1-2-1 configuration to offer direct aisle access to every passenger. The seat opens in to a full flat bed with a length of 200 cm and width of 52 cm. The TV screen is 15.4 inches, and each seat is equipped with a USB port and a universal AC power outlet.

The new Sky Wider economy class seats were initially tested in the airline's Boeing 777-300ERs. On the 767-300ERs 175 seats will be in a 2-3-2 abreast configuration. The new slim line seat offers increased pitch of 5 cm (2 inches) to 84 cm., a 10.6 inch touch sensitive TV screen, and each seat is equipped with a USB port and a universal AC power outlet.

The airline has also specially designated its 767s fitted with the Sky Suite product as SS6 in the time table.

After Vancouver, Kuala Lumpur will be the next destination, from January 2014, service by the revamped aircraft type. The airline also plans to expand this new service onto other long distance routes in South-east Asia and to Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

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Analysis: Air India sells Boeing 777-200LRs to Etihad. Aircraft ill-suited for its operations.

by Devesh Agarwal

Air India Boeing 777-200LR.

Two days ago, when gulf major, Etihad Airways, announced its intention to fly between Abu Dhabi and Los Angeles, we at Bangalore Aviation were the first to indicate that Etihad's announcement was a pre-cursor to its purchase of Boeing 777-200LRs from Air India.

Yesterday, it was confirmed that Air India will indeed sell five of its eight Boeing 777-200LRs to the gulf carrier.

As per an Etihad statement

the aircraft will be delivered to Etihad Airways from the beginning of 2014 and each will be re-fitted in a three class cabin configuration consistent with similar aircraft in the Etihad Airways fleet. It is expected the first aircraft will enter service in April 2014.

Etihad currently does not have any 777-200LRs in its fleet. On its 777-300ERs, Eithad follows the lead of its fellow UAE carrier Emirates and has a bone crunching ten abreast 17 inch wide economy class seating. For the LR, Etihad has announced a configuration of eight first class suites, 40 business class flat beds, and 189 economy class seats. This is similar to Air India's current configuration of 8/35/195 which features a more comfortable nine abreast 18.5 inch wide economy class seating. Emirates which has the narrow ten abreast seating even in its LRs has 42 business class and 216 economy class seats. So it appears that Etihad will continue with the nine abreast seating.

Etihad is expected to pay an estimated sum of $500 million. For aircraft that are about six years old, while this is a reasonable price, for Air India it is a distress sale. We should thank a former civil aviation minister, for whose failed flights of fancy, we tax-payers, are ultimately paying for.Despite the haircut, this is a beneficial development for Air India as it will help the carrier reduce about $60 million a year in expenses, but this is a drop in the veritable ocean of losses for the mismanaged carrier whose debt now tops a whopping $6.7 billion, well ahead of the entire health department's budget of the nation for this year.

Etihad Airways Boeing 777-300ER

For reasons best known only to it, Air India will still retain three 777-200LR aircraft. One is hard pressed to understand why, since Air India had these five LRs on the tender list for a long long time.

Most likely, to operate Newark, which is essentially the only long haul flight in Air India's system that is profitable. Air India also operates LRs to Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, and Hong Kong, which is akin to taking our money and setting it on fire.

The 777-200LR is a niche aircraft, called WorldLiner because of its ultra long haul (ULH) mission profile. It can fly close to 20 hours non-stop. However, to fly so long, the LR needs to carry a lot of fuel which takes up the weight of fare carrying passengers. The Air India LRs have the same engines, GE90-115B, as bigger brother, the 777-300ER, and hence similar fuel burn characteristics, yet the LR is about one-thirds smaller than its bigger brother. Additionally, the LR sacrifices weight and cargo space for the additional fuel tanks required to carry that additional fuel. The LR carries only around 235 passengers which is only 58% i.e. almost half, of the 400 carried in the ER. All these factors force an airline to earn more per passenger-kilometre flown.

To achieve this income, the plane has to be virtually filled to capacity with high fare paying passengers. Part of the higher fare comes from the "front of the bus" i.e. premium class passengers. Unfortunately with years of sloth, indifferent service, and unreliable schedules, Air India has completely lost the trust of the corporate flyer who pay for these premium seats.

For the shorter missions like Delhi Hong Kong Japan or Korea, the additional fuel tanks, become dead-weight, further burdening the carrier, which requires the airline to fill to at least 95% of the seats just to break-even. An impossibility for an inefficient state carrier like Air India. So one should ask why is the carrier burning money operating these routes? and what are the solutions?

As to why the carrier operating these routes with a clearly mismatched aircraft. From within Air India the answer is likely to be, "We need to operate this route and we do not have any other wide body medium capacity aircraft". So why not lease an A330 or a Boeing 777-200 which will provide better economics? Here the ugly head of corruption rears itself. The carrier's record is poor to say the least.

Another solution could be with Jet Airways, India's other wide body carrier. Jet has its fleet of A330s parked and under-utilised. Some are due to be leased to Etihad. Air India can outsource these routes to Jet on a wet lease? May be Jet, with its Etihad partnership, is not too keen at this moment, but more likely, Jet knows that such a proposal will not be able to overcome the farce of sympathy that will be created by the politicians?

Then of course is the much hyped Boeing 787 Dreamliner. However, as Boeing boss Dinesh Keskar told us "the 787 is not the airplane to go to Dubai and back", the 787 delivers fuel savings only when flying medium to long distances. Not short regional routes like New Delhi Dubai or New Delhi Hong Kong or onwards from Hong Kong to Korea or Japan.

What are your thoughts on the 200LR situation? Share them with a comment.

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Air India reduces Delhi - Tokyo

by BA Staff

Image Credit: Devesh Agarwal

As per the Airline Route blog, Indian national carrier Air India is reducing Delhi-Tokyo Narita this winter from five flights per week to four utilizing Boeing 777-200LR equipment. The new schedules for the flight are as follow:

AI 306 departs Delhi at 21:10 on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays ~ arrives to Tokyo Narita at 08:00 the next morning.

AI 307 departs Tokyo at 11:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays ~ arrives back in Delhi at 16:50 the same day - in time for connections to the evening bank of domestic departures.

Air India had been looking at sending its efficient fleet of Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners to Tokyo, but complications have arisen due to problems with the Japanese government. However, there has been progress towards getting Air India's Dreamliners approved to fly into Japan, and as Air India is set to take delivery of at least two more Dreamliners by the end of 2013, this plan could shift. 

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Japan Airlines to introduce new menus and services on Japan Honolulu flights

by Devesh Agarwal

BEDD for Resort salmon with ginger-fried pork

Japan Airlines (JAL) will offer new restaurant inspired in-flight meal services on its new service from Japan to Honolulu, Hawaii, USA which starts this autumn.

In business class JAL will introduce "BEDD for Resort", a special menu crafted by Star chef Chikara Yamada.

The Japanese menu is seasonal autumn salmon with ginger-fried pork and the western menu is steak of Japanese beef fillet with special sauce périgueux.

JAL will provide menu of "Ore-no Kinaishoku for Resort" on Honolulu routes in collaboration with Ore-no French and Ore-no Italian which are popular restaurants in Japan.

Japanese beef fillet with special sauce périgueux by Chef Chikara Yamada

In economy class, the airline is working with Kazuhide Nose, Chef of Ore-no French and Toshihiro Yamaura, Chef of Ore-no Italian for a new in-flight meal service, "Ore-no Kinaishoku for Resort". The main dish is Ore-no Beef Stroganoff, designed by Chef Nose with side dishes and dessert are Ore-no Zensai, Ore-no Salad with truffle oil dressing as well as Ore-no Sweets - Tiramisu, by Chef Yamaura, will be served between September and November 2013.

Economy class meal. Ore-no Kinaishoku for Resort beef Stroganoff

Between December and February 2013, the airline will switch, offering an Italian main dish designed by Chef Yamaura, and French side dishes and dessert designed by Chef Nose

The new menus will be served in both classes on flight to Honolulu from Tokyo (Narita), Nagoya (Chubu) and Osaka (Kansai), starting from September 1, 2013.

Kua 'Aina Hawaiian Hamburger Sandwich

On the Tokyo Haneda to Honolulu, Hawaii service JAL is offering a new breakfast menu in collaboration with KUA ‘AINA, a famous restaurant chain in Hawaii and Japan, which as been serving its famous burgers and succulent char-grilled sandwiches since 1975.

The airline is also re-timing its meal service, from after take-off to before landing for the flight departing from Tokyo (Haneda) at 23:40 from October 1, 2013, to ensure passengers have adequate time for rest.

For ladies, from October 1 onwards, the airline is providing a "womens' only" area comprising of four seats in the rear of the economy class which will be set up for make-up and nursing babies.

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Japan Airlines and Jetstar Japan start codeshare and mileage tie-up

by Devesh Agarwal

Japan Airlines (JAL) will start code-share and mileage program partnership with Jetstar Japan (airline flight code: GK) - a joint-investment with the Qantas Group, Mitsubishi Corporation and Century Tokyo Leasing Corporation.

JAL, which started code-sharing with Jetstar (the Australian LCC) in 2007, on routes between Japan and Australia, will now be codesharing with Jetstar Japan on all its domestic flights for customers connecting to and from JAL's international services at Tokyo (Narita) and Osaka (Kansai) and Nagoya (Chube). JAL will not be selling segments on flights operated by Jetstar Japan that are without connections to JAL's international services.

Customers will be able to create a single itinerary with international and domestic flights with the "JL" code, operated respectively by JAL and Jetstar Japan. This provides a network with a wider choice of flights and timings, as well as faster transfers for customers.

Reservations, sales and JAL mileage redemption of flights operated by Jetstar Japan will begin from February 27, 2013, for flights commencing from March 6, 2013.

JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) members can utilise their accrued mileage to redeem tickets on Jetstar Japan flights. Jetstar Japan will be the 17th airline that JAL has similar arrangements. Other airlines with which JAL has mileage tie-ups are all the oneworld alliance members and their subsidiaries, Air Berlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, Finnair, Iberia, LAN, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas Airways, Royal Jordanian, S7, and Air France, Emirates, China Eastern, Hokkaido Air Commuter, Bangkok Airways beyond the alliance.

For more details on eligible Jetstar Japan routes and required mileage for redemption, visit the dedicated page on JAL's website.

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Japan Airlines wants to start Tokyo Bangalore service, but not in the near future.

Japan Airlines (JAL) wants to start a Bangalore Tokyo service, but does not have any plans to do so in the near future, Masaru Onishi, Chairman of the airline, told Bangalore Aviation on the sidelines of the Oneworld event to mark the entry of Malaysia Airlines in to the alliance.

Onishi went on to say, with the growing investment of Japanese companies in India, particularly in the Delhi and Bangalore geographies, India is definitely on the radar screen of the airline, but the lack of high enough demand for India Japan O and D (origin and destination) traffic is making it difficult for airline to firm-up its plans for expanding services to India.

The airline operates a daily flight between New Delhi and Tokyo. The other major Japanese carrier, All Nippon Airways, also operates a daily services between Tokyo and New Delhi and Mumbai.

Onishi went on to detail JAL's strategy. The airline is facing shrinking domestic markets. Short haul international flights to Korea and China are stable but are moving to the Low Cost Carrier segment like AirAsia Japan, and to Chinese airlines. Medium and long haul routes are where JAL wants to focus and India factors in to these plans.

We we asked about JAL tapping in to the large India to US West Coast market, Onishi explained that JAL already had very high passenger load factors on its trans-Pacific flights, that too from high yield markets like Japan, which makes the airline uncompetitive in low yield markets like India.

Despite this the Chairman is positive on the growth of Japan Airlines' services to India.

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Japan Airlines faces much smaller impact of Boeing 787 grounding

by Devesh Agarwal

The impact of the month old grounding of their Boeing 787 Dreamliners on Japan Airlines (JAL) appears to much smaller when compared to fellow Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA). "We operated only six Dreamliners out of a fleet of 200 aircraft, so the total impact of the Dreamliner grounding on us is very small" JAL CEO Masaru Onishi told Bangalore Aviation on the sidelines of the Oneworld event to mark the entry of Malaysia Airlines in to the alliance, on January 31.

Onishi-san explained that JAL operated six Dreamliners to Boston, San Diego, Singapore and Moscow, keeping one aircraft spare, a much smaller number when compared to the 24 Dreamliners in the fleet of fellow Japanese carrier ANA.

Keeping in mind his airline's focus on passenger convenience, he went on to say, that JAL had minimised disruptions by deploying Boeing 777s on the higher demand routes serviced by the 787, and 767s on the lower demand routes. JAL had also transferred some of its passengers on to fellow oneworld member American Airlines. While JAL did not transfer any passenger on to ANA, they did receive transferred passengers of ANA.

One route that was affected was Tokyo Narita - San Diego, which was specifically planned for 787 operations only. For JAL to operate the flight using 777s, the airline had to take specific certifications which take about three weeks. The airline has already commenced the certification process, but the San Diego flight is suspended till JAL completes the formalities and obtains the certification. [Editor's note: This morning Japan Airlines announced that it was indefinitely delaying the launch of its Narita Helsinki route, scheduled to commence on February 25.]

On operating costs, Onishi san conceded that airline was taking a hit. "With [Boeing] 777s we achieve about 60% passenger load factor compared to 80%+ in the 787s."

Onishi-san also appeared to be resigned to the fact, that the battery problem, which has resulted in the grounding of the global 787 fleet, is not going to be resolved any time soon. "We have had discussions with Boeing and they are doing their best to fix it [the problem], and we hope they do it within two months, but I cannot say for sure".

When asked what will be Japan Airlines' stand on compensation or their order book especially if the fix took longer than the anticipated two months, Onishi san refused to speculate, saying "Let us not focus on such issues right now. More important is the fix."

Onishi-san also indicated that JAL is committed to its 787 orders.

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Japan Airlines to serve Miyazaki beef on international First Class

Japan Airlines (JAL) will be introducing the award-winning Miyazaki beef in its in-flight meals for First Class on international routes from Tokyo (Narita) to Europe and North America between January 9 and March 31, 2013, to commemorate the launch of JAL Sky Suite 777 - the airline's latest cabin product on its 777-300ERs.

Produced in Miyazaki Prefecture situated in the southern islands of Kyushu, Japan, Miyazaki beef is rated over level A-4 by the Japan Meat Grading Association for its outstanding quality of meat. It won the top-most accolades in five of nine categories in a nationwide wagyu (Japanese beef) quality contest that is held every five years, for two consecutive contests (2007 and 2012), and is recognized as the most superior beef in Japan and a well-known prime label overseas.

For the period between January 9 and February 28, 2013, JAL will serve the high grade beef in First Class as a main western meal selection. Customers can enjoy the luxuriously juicy and tender Miyazaki beef fillet "alla Rossini", matched with fragrantly seared foie gras and apple - a menu specially crafted by Seiji Yamamoto, Michelin 3-star chef and owner of distinguished Japanese restaurant Ryugin.

There will be a change of menu from March 1, 2013 and the airline will continue to utilize Miyazaki beef in the new line-up until March 31, 2013.

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AirAsia Japan to commence flights between Tokyo and Seoul

Low cost carrier AirAsia Japan, is commencing a flight on the busy Tokyo Narita Seoul Incheon route from October 28. The flight will be operated on an Airbus A320 aircraft in an all economy configuration with a capacity of 180 seats.

Flight JW893 departs Tokyo Narita 14:15 arrives Seoul Incheon 17:00
Flight JW892 departs Seoul Incheon 17:45 arrives Tokyo Narita 20:00

Both countries have a common time zone of GMT +9 hours.

Special promotional fares are being offered starting today till October 17, 2012 for the travel period from October 28, 2012 to March 30, 2013.

The new route announcement was made simultaneously by AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes in Seoul and AirAsia Japan CEO Kazuyuki Iwakata in Tokyo.

Interested readers can follow AirAsia in Korea via Facebook or via Twitter.

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Nippon Cargo Airlines takes delivery of first Boeing 747-8 freighter

Tokyo Narita based Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA), became the first Japanese operator of the 747-8 Freighter.

The airline currently operates eight 747-400 Freighters with two 747-400 Freighters on lease with other airlines.

The environmentally focused Nippon Cargo Airlines will also operate the delivery flight of this aircraft using biofuel. The new airplane will become the first 747-8 to use a blend of environmentally progressive biofuels (jet kerosene and used cooking oil) to fly across the Pacific Ocean.

Nippon Cargo Airlines, one of the launch customers for the 747-8 Freighter in 2005 and also part of a team that helped develop the aircraft, plans to begin revenue service with its new 747-8 Freighter by mid-August on Asia and North American routes.

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AirAsia Japan takes delivery of its first Airbus A320; to commence operations August 1

AirAsia Japan, a 67%-33% joint venture between Japan's ANA Group, which owns All Nippon Airways, and Malaysia's AirAsia has taken delivery of its first Airbus A320 aircraft in Toulouse, France.

The Japanese low cost carrier will start commercial services on August 1st from Tokyo's Narita International Airport to the Japanese cities of Sapporo and Fukuoka, and from August 3rd to Okinawa with an initial fleet of two A320 aircraft.

AirAsia Japan will go international when it starts flights to Korea in October. Seoul Incheon airport, and Pusan, with the fleet growing to four aircraft by the end of 2012.

AirAsia Japan’s A320s are in the standard LCC configuration of 180 seats in an all economy cabin. Like the A320 fleet of AirAsia, the AirAsia Japan A320s are also powered by CFM56 engines.

AirAsia Japan President Kazuyuki Iwakata was beaming

“We are extremely happy to take delivery of our brand new Airbus A320. Our aim is to provide opportunities for everyone to fly with low fares. With the A320’s cabin comfort and operational reliability, we want to offer better access, in particular for the Japanese travelling public, and make them feel easy to fly,”

AirAsia Japan, was established in August 2011, and shall operate under the AirAsia brand.

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American swaps JFK-Narita for JFK-Haneda

According to numerous reports at various travel sites, US carrier American Airlines will be ending flights between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, while simultaneously resuming flights between JFK and Tokyo’s other airport, commonly known as Haneda. Indeed, inventory on AA.com reflects these changes, as do other booking engines.

Flights to Haneda will resume on June 1st, 2012, with flights to Narita ending on the same date. JFK-Narita will continue to be served by American’s OneWorld partner Japan Airlines (JAL), with whom American has Antitrust Immunity for all trans-Pacific routes. Antitrust immunity allows American and JAL to function as a single carrier on routes across the Pacific, sharing all revenues, costs, and profits.

American had previously received approval from the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) in June of last year to delay its resumption of JFK-Haneda to June 1st, 2012 . JFK-Haneda had been temporarily stopped by American in the face of the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake in Japan. The carrier has continued to operate JFK-Narita over the past year. Both services were operated with 247 Boeing 777-200ERs in 3-class configurations.

The move comes after American previously ended nonstop service to India with the cancellation of Chicago-Delhi being announced earlier this month. They have also cancelled a slew of other routes and frequencies as part of a broader 3% pull-down in capacity for the first and second quarters of 2012 as the carrier grapples with Ch.11 bankruptcy proceedings. Cuts have been, to an extent concentrated in Chicago (and Dallas due to the end of turboprop flights there by American Eagle), though the net effect is essentially a drop in the bucket at American’s second largest hub. See the table below for a full list of announced route cuts since AMR’s bankruptcy announcement in early December.

Routes Cut

Chicago-Calgary Chicago-Delhi Chicago-Tri Cities

Dallas-Augusta (GA) Dallas-Burbank Dallas-Fayetteville

New York JFK-Tokyo Narita

Los Angeles-Boise Los Angeles-San Juan

Miami-Fort Myers Miami-Savannah Miami-Valencia (VN)

American’s switch to Haneda was driven at least in part, by their Trans-Pacific joint venture with JAL. By reducing capacity on the JFK-Narita sector, American and JAL are able to retain more pricing power in a competitive market. Furthermore, they can reduce wasteful overlap of capacity and allow American to more effectively utilize the 777 dedicated to that route.

There is however, a far more tenuous rationale for the reinstating of services to Haneda. When international flights to Haneda were announced in 2009, it was hailed as a great win for business travelers; who would get access to the more conveniently located Haneda. However , the restrictive slot timings (international flights can only operate between 10 pm and 8 am) meant that most foreign carriers could not effectively time their flights, especially on long haul flights. This change in particular affected US carriers flying from the East Coast, and American was no exception. The following is American’s planned flight schedule into Haneda:

AA 135 D: JFK-HND 1855-2215 772
AA 134 D: HND-JFK 0655-0640 772

On the outgoing side, the flight departs from JFK in late evening, which is good for travelers who can get a full day of work in before the flight. However, the 10:15 arrival poses numerous problems. Tired flyers will have to force themselves to stay awake during the entire JFK-Haneda flights so that they can fall asleep upon arrival in Tokyo and prevent jet lag. They’ll lose a whole night in Tokyo (as opposed to arriving in the morning to a full business day), perhaps getting stranded at the airport due to the end of train service to Tokyo around 12, and even connections are limited. Haneda is a large operation for partner JAL, and part of the rationale for serving Haneda is better tapping into JAL’s large network of domestic and international flights there. But American’s late arrival forestalls any such connections; the only possible ones are an 11:00 flight to Singapore, and a flight after midnight to Bangkok. So it will be interesting to see whether American can make service to Haneda work this time around, given all of the constraints.

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Japan Airlines to operate Boeing 787 Dreamliner between Tokyo and New Delhi

Earlier today, Japanese national carrier Japan Airlines (JAL) announced that it would be introducing 5 weekly Boeing 787 services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport and New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) from the northern summer 2012 schedule which begins at the end of March, 2012.

The Dreamliner replaces the existing 5 weekly Boeing 777-200ER service.

Japan Airlines will also be introducing 787 services on the Narita-Moscow and Tokyo Haneda- Beijing routes in a similar timeframe, with direct flights between Tokyo Narita and Boston starting on April 22.

However, the plans could be derailed since Boeing is facing additional delays on the General Electric GEnx powered 787s.

The current Boeing 777-200ER used on the route seats 245 passengers in 3-class seating arrangement (56J/40Y+/149Y), thus the Boeing 787s, which has been reported to seat 186 passengers in a 2-class configuration, will represent a significant capacity reduction.

According to Japan Airlines’ booking engine photos, the 787’s business class will seat 42 passengers in a 2-2-2 configuration, while the economy class cabin will feature 144 seats in a 2-4-2 configuration. However Bangalore Aviation has learned that the business class cabin will feature the uncomfortable Shell Flat NEO seats, not a new generation of business class seats as many had hoped. Shell style seats, which feature hard seat backs (i.e non-reclining) and seat cushions that slide out, are notoriously uncomfortable for passengers

It is interesting that JAL chose to reduce capacity to Delhi, and remove the premium economy product, while it has been reported that this same route is doing extremely well for Indian national carrier Air India. Coincidentally Delhi-Tokyo is one of the routes Air India plans to introduce its 787s on.

With the 787s representing the new standard in onboard passenger comfort, we’re not sure that JAL could afford to not place the 787 on this route. The carrier only services New Delhi, leaving the commercial capital of Mumbai to All Nippon Airways which operates a very scaled down Boeing 737 Business Jet service.

Regardless, congratulations are in order for JAL: they will be the second carrier to start 787 operations to India after Air India.

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Massive earthquake hits Japan. Sendai airport flooded. Narita and Haneda disrupted

A massive earthquake with an 8.9-magnitude hit northern Japan earlier this morning triggering tsunamis. The epicenter was estimated at 373 kilometers (231 miles) north-east from the capital, Tokyo.

Narita and Haneda airports are shut down and there is major disruption to all flight schedules to and from Tokyo. Osaka Kansai and Sapporo airport are operational but they are going to fill up with diverted flights quickly.

Sendai airport is completely flooded. These horrifying pictures were captured by me from the TV broadcast of CNN.

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Video: Rough landing by Korean Airlines Boeing 777-300ER at Tokyo Narita

Thanks to NYCAviation I found this video of a Korean Airlines Boeing 777-300ER doing a tippy-toe Bollywood gyrating landing at Tokyo's Narita airport.


Also do take the time to visit NYCAviation and see the video of a rather terse and snippy argument between an American Airlines flight and the ATC tower at New York JFK.

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Tokyo Narita's main runway opens following FedEx MD-11F crash

The New Tokyo International Airport at Narita opened its main runway earlier this morning at 09:10 local (00:10 UTC) following yesterday's accident and crash of a FedEx Boeing MD-11 freighter which claimed both the crew and the aircraft.

The crash has shut down the 4,000 meter (13,123 ft) long main runway 16R/34L. The airport was forced to rely on the secondary Runway 16L/34R which, at 2,180 meters (7,152 ft) is just about half the the length of the main runway.

A spokesman for the airport said the first arrival was a Lufthansa intercontinental passenger flight from Frankurt at 09:24 (00:24 UTC)

The spokesman confirmed that the wreckage of the MD-11F was removed in the wee hours of this morning. He added that 101 flights were cancelled and about 50 were diverted to other Japanese airports since the crash.

Use these links for real-time information from Narita airport on international flight arrivals and international flight departures. Here is a list of all the airlines operating at Narita airport.

In the meantime FedEx released the names of the two crew who perished in the accident.

Captain Kevin Kyle Mosley, 54, of Hillsboro, Oregon, USA, joined FedEx Express on May 1, 1996. He has 12,800 flying hours experience.

First Officer Anthony Stephen Pino, 49, of San Antonio, Texas, USA, joined FedEx Express on July 10, 2006. He has 6,300 flying hours experience.

Our prayers with the bereaved families and prayers for the departed.

Blue Skies and Tail winds!!!!

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Video: FedEx MD-11 crashes at Tokyo Narita airport, crew killed, airport shut down

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First posted - March 23, 01:00 GMT

A FedEx MD-11 freighter registration number N526FE performing flight 80, from Guangzhou, China crashed at Tokyo Narita International Airport in heavy winds, and burst in to flames. The two crew on board were killed. The main runway at the international gateway airport to Tokyo has been shut down.

Image courtesy Wikipedia

Most airlines have been forced to divert incoming flights to Tokyo Haneda, Osaka, Nagoya and other airports, as the longest runway of two at Narita has been closed.

The FedEx plane landed hard, tipped onto its left wing and burst into a bright orange fireball of flames, the video of the crash from Tokyo Broadcasting System shows. I have upload the video since the TBS website does not allow resizing of the small video window. The copyright remains that of TBS.

The three engined MD-11F an improvement of the old DC10 made by McDonnell Douglas, now a part of Boeing, is the mainstay of FedEx's freighter fleet who has 58 aircraft in its fleet.


This crash is reminiscent of the July 31, 1997 crash of another FedEx MD-11F at Newark. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) faulted the pilots for the crash of FedEx Flight 14, from Anchorage, Alaska to Newark.

Airport officials are unclear how long the main runway would be closed at Narita. International Japanese carriers Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) have cancelled 29 and 10 flights respectively.

Having flown frequently to Narita I can attest to the tough time pilots have in the frequently occurring crosswinds. Both runways are aligned in a roughly North South direction (156/336 degree headings on the compass), and the airport often has strong crosswinds in an easterly and westerly direction. Paucity of land prevents the authorities from building a crossing runway at the airport.

METARS (21:48 UTC):
2009/03/22 21:00 RJAA 222100Z 30013G28KT 260V330 9999 FEW020 13/M01 Q0998 NOSIG RMK 1CU020 A2948
2009/03/22 21:00 RJAA 222100Z 30013G28KT 260V330 9999 FEW020 13/M01 Q0998 NOSIG
2009/03/22 21:08 RJAA 222108Z 31025G35KT 9999 FEW020 12/M01 Q0998 RMK 1CU020 A2949
2009/03/22 21:30 RJAA 222130Z 32026G40KT 9999 FEW020 12/M02 Q0999 WS R34L NOSIG
2009/03/22 21:30 RJAA 222130Z 32026G40KT 9999 FEW020 12/M02 Q0999 WS R34L NOSIG RMK 1CU020 A2952 P/RR
2009/03/22 21:30 RJAA 222130Z 32026G40KT 9999 FEW020 12/M02 Q0999 WS R34L NOSIG

Japan's meteorological agency had issued an advisory of gales for the area around the airport.

Update 1 - 04:30 GMT

FedEx has put out a statement

A FedEx Express MD-11 was involved in an incident today en route from Guangzhou to Narita, with two crew members on board. The incident occurred upon landing. We are sad to report that there were no survivors.

Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of these crew members. This loss pains all of us at FedEx. Right now our focus is on doing everything we can to assist those involved at this difficult time.

We are thankful for the quick response of emergency teams on the ground and will continue to work closely with the applicable authorities as we seek to determine the cause for this tragic incident.

Update 2 - 06:00 GMT

Widespread flight disruptions are being reported at Narita airport. Read the full article.

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All Nippon Airways slashes capacity, gears-up for 2010 'big-bang'

All Nippon Airways (ANA) of Japan, is planning strategies similar to their world-wide airline counterparts in these times of global recession. Suspending operations, reducing flights and switching to smaller aircraft, essentially slashing capacity to keep passenger load factors high, in an effort to keep the business going this year.

India is one of the more badly affected countries by ANA's re-alignments. It used to operate a 38 seat all business class Boeing 737-781ER Business Jet between Mumbai and Tokyo Narita thrice a week. This will come down to twice a week. ANA also has a code share arrangement with Jet Airways and transits passengers via Singapore.

Talking about the Indian operations, Kenji Sugino, Director – Sales, Administration and Marketing, ANA said

“Despite the global slowdown, India is one of the growing markets for ANA. We are positive about this year and are expecting good load factors and sales margins. We are going to play strategically in the Indian market this year.”

“We were receiving a good 60-70 per cent of passenger load on Mumbai – Narita route. Post 26/11, ANA is receiving about 30 per cent loads on Mumbai – Narita route. Now, the loads are about 50 per cent, but due to recession, it's not logical to operate flights half empty. However, the reduction of flights on Mumbai – Narita route is temporary and will be rescheduled once the market demand goes high. We are positive about this year and assume that the market will stabilise by mid-2009.”

76 seats for a population of 1.1 billion ??? In my opinion, both Japanese and Indian carriers are just handing over business to ASEAN carriers by their lack of capacity.

ANA has also rolled out strategic plans for its worldwide operations announcing it will slash nine per cent of its international service in the next fiscal year (April 2009 to March 2010). It will withdraw the Boeing 747 service on the Tokyo - Paris and Tokyo - Frankfurt routes, and will introduce smaller aircraft on the Washington route.

ANA is looking to the first quarter of 2010 when, as launch customer, it will receive its long awaited Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Unlike rival Japan Airlines (JAL) whose traditional focus is on international operations from Tokyo Narita airport, ANA has always put Tokyo Haneda and domestic business first; and it is gearing up to take full advantage of the huge business opportunity expected by the massive expansion of Haneda and Narita airports in 2010 – described by ANA President and Chief Executive, Mineo Yamamoto, as the ‘Big Bang’ for Japanese aviation, coupled with deliveries of the Dreamliner.

For now, financially, ANA expects a group net loss of JPY nine billion ($ 100.4 million), instead of a previously projected profit of JPY 17 billion. ANA also slashed its group operating profit forecast from JPY 55 billion to JPY eight billion.

Tomohiro Hidema, Executive VP of Finance, ANA stated in a media release

“Given the likelihood of the situation worsening in the foreseeable future, we are faced with an operating environment vastly different from the recent past, one that offers challenges of a much harsher nature.”

The Japanese airline industry have already asked their government for financial aid.

Read the ANA press releases detailing their business plans and their financial results.

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Singapore Airlines suspends Bangkok services indefinitely

Singapore Airlines will suspend all its flights to and from Bangkok until further notice due to the security situation, and a lack of operational service staff, at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The suspension includes those flights scheduled between Tokyo Narita and Bangkok, in addition to flights between Bangkok and Singapore.

Customers booked on flights in the near future are advised to monitor for news about flights on the Singapore Airlines website. When a decision is made to resume flights, an announcement will be made.

At this time, given the situation at Suvarnabhumi Airport, it is not possible to say when flights will resume, but it is hoped the situation can return to normal soon so customers can resume their travel plans, or return home.

Singapore Airlines will waive all cancellation and change fees for customers with tickets to Bangkok on Singapore Airlines flights issued prior to 26 November, for travel up to and including 7 December, 2008 [see Editor’s Note following].

Customers whose flights are being disrupted should contact their travel agent, or if the booking was made directly with Singapore Airlines, contact any Singapore Airlines Reservations Service Centre (in Singapore, 6223 8888).

Singapore Airlines apologises to customers for the inconvenience caused by this disruption, however seeks the understanding of customers that the security situation in Bangkok would compromise the safety of operations.

Cancellation and Change Fees

• Cancellation and Change Fee Waiver
• Valid for tickets issued prior to 26 November 2008 for travel on a Singapore Airlines flight into Bangkok;
• Valid for travel up to and including 7 December 2008;
• Customers may change the routing of their journey, defer the date of travel or cancel, without penalty;
• Any change of date or routing will be charged at the new fare for that journey less the fare for the journey paid to Bangkok, with no amendment fee (eg, if travel is deferred to a higher season, the seasonal surcharge difference will still apply);
• The same conditions apply for KrisFlyer redemption tickets.

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