Air China to commence Beijing Chiang Mai service

By BA Staff

Air China Limited will introduce a new thrice a week service between Beijing and Chiang Mai from November 7, 2013.

Located in Thailand's northern mountainous region, Chiang Mai is Thailand's second largest city and also northern Thailand's political, economic and cultural centre. This city, celebrated for its Buddhist traditions, is also called "Rose of the Northern Thailand".

Air China will deploy a Boeing 737-800 on this route with flight numbers CA823 and 824.

On Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays the flight departs Beijing at 18:30 arrives Chiang Mai at 22:40. The return flight leaves Chiang Mai at 23:45 arrives Beijing at 05:00, the next morning.

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Ethiad Airways increases stake in Virgin Australia to 19.9 percent

By BA Staff

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, confirmed its equity stake in Virgin Australia Holdings had reached 19.9%.

This follows a series of on-market purchases of Virgin Australia shares over recent weeks. The Abu Dhabi-based airline now holds more than 515 million shares in the airline.

At 19.9%, Etihad Airways has reached the threshold approved by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board in June 2013.

James Hogan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways, said: 

“We are delighted to have reached this milestone. It reflects our strong support for the business strategy and management team of Virgin Australia and our enduring commitment to the Australian market. It also reflects the close working relationship between our two airlines and we look forward to strengthening its commercial foundations. The strategic partnership continues to deliver significant revenue streams and other benefits to each airline. Increasing our equity in Virgin Australia will further enrich the commercial benefits which the partnership delivers for both airlines as well as increasing the benefits to Australian travellers and visitors to Australia.”"

Etihad Airways and Virgin Australia signed a ten year strategic partnership agreement in August 2010 that includes code-sharing on flights, joint sales and marketing activities, and reciprocal earn-and-burn on their respective frequent flyer programs.

Those benefits include seamless connectivity to more than 40 codeshare destinations in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Thailand and loyalty program privileges such as priority baggage handling, priority boarding and airport lounge access for top tier program members.

Combined, Etihad Airways (25) and Virgin Australia (3) operate 28 flights a week between Abu Dhabi and Australia and passengers have access to a combined global network of more than 280 destinations.

Etihad Airways began flying to Australia in March 2007, when it launched services to Sydney. Flights to Melbourne and Brisbane followed in 2009. The airline has carried more than 2.5 million passengers between Abu Dhabi and these three Australian gateways in the past six years. The airline plans to operate services to Perth in Western Australia in the future.

Etihad Airways also holds equity investments in airberlin, Air Seychelles, Virgin Australia and Aer Lingus, will acquire 49% of Air Serbia from January 2014, and, subject to regulatory approval, will acquire 24% of India’s Jet Airways. It also has codeshare partnerships with 47 airlines worldwide.

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Thai Airways makes wholesale changes to India service in winter 2013-14

by Vinay Bhaskara

Bangkok based full service carrier Thai Airways International has announced a series of changes in its Indian services in the winter 2013-14 season as per the Airline Route blog

On its Bangkok-Delhi services, beginning 30th September, services will increase from 11 weekly to 14 weekly.

Daytime Thai flights TG323/TG324 will increase from four flights per week to daily using a 299 seat Airbus A330-300 aircraft in a two-class configuration (36J / 263Y). TG-323 departs Bangkok at 07:35, arriving at Delhi at 10:30. The return flight TG-324 departs Delhi at 11:55 arriving at Bangkok at 17:25.

The red-eye flights TG315/TG316 are also seeing an increase, with Boeing 747-400s replacing the existing Boeing 777-300s, an increase from 364 seats (34J / 330 Y) to 374 (49J / 325 Y) or 375 seats (50J / 325 Y), depending on the day. The up-gauge represents a large increase in premium cabin capacity by almost 45% regardless of the 747 configuration used on the route.

TG 315 departs Bangkok at 20:40, arriving at Delhi at 23:40. The return red-eye (overnight) TG 316 departs Delhi at 00:55, arriving at Bangkok at 06:20, in time for connections to Thai's morning departure bank to Asia and Australia. Both flights are operated daily.

Bangkok - Hyderabad was planned to increase from four flights per week to five using the A330-300, but these plans have been shelved, with services remaining at four per week this winter.

The daily Bangkok-Mumbai services have been down-gauged from Boeing 747-400 to Airbus A330-300s for the winter season, a capacity downgrade of around 20% (roughly 35% in premium cabins).

Additionally, Thai's low cost wing Thai Smile, which by January 2014 will serve 19 destinations across India, China, Laos, Macau, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, is also shaking up its India operations. Thai Smile has a fleet of six 174 seat (30Y+ / 144 Y) Airbus A320-200s with its primary hub at Bangkok and a secondary hub at Phuket. Thai Smile is shifting its flight numbers to and from India, and increasing services as well.

Flight Number Changes

• Bankgok-Ahmedabad flights are shifting from TG 765/766 to TG 2935/2936
• Phuket-Delhi flights are shifting from TG 761/762 to TG 2931/2932
• Phuket-Mumbai flights are shifting from TG 763/764 to TG 2933/2934

Frequency Increases

• Bangkok-Ahmedabad increases from two to four weekly flights
• Phuket-Delhi increases from two to four weekly flights
• Phuket-Mumbai increases from two to three weekly flights

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Airbus achieves 8,000 aircraft delivered milestone

Photo courtesy Airbus S.A.S. Used under fair use.

Earlier this month, Airbus achieved a historic milestone when it delivered its 8,000th aircraft – an A320 for the Indonesian wing of AirAsia.

Over the years, Airbus S.A.S. has grown from a single aircraft model company to an aircraft manufacturer, offering aircraft covering every segment of the market from 100 to 500+ seats.

Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Group Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia said

“AirAsia has a long-standing, special relationship with Airbus. This is a very special moment for all of us. The people behind Airbus and their commitment in delivering the best product are key to our fruitful relationship, and we are extremely proud to have the 8,000th Airbus as a member of our fleet. It’s the same pioneering, forward-looking mindset and a lot of hard work that have brought both AirAsia and Airbus to their respective leading positions today,” “The excellent fuel efficiency and economics of Airbus aircraft are key contributors to AirAsia’s success – we are confident that these modern aircraft will enable us to continue our ambitious growth plans.”

Fabrice Brégier, Airbus President and CEO said

“It’s particularly fitting that our 8,000th delivery goes to AirAsia - one of the world’s fastest growing airlines,” “In an increasingly challenging and diverse worldwide economic context, we are more than ever focused on delivering real value to our customers. We will achieve this by continuing to innovate, together with our customers, in all fields of the business to stay ahead of the game and offer the most efficient products and services.”

AirAsia Group is the largest low-cost airline in Asia is the largest customer for the A320 Family, having ordered a total of 475 aircraft, comprising 264 A320neo and 211 A320ceo. Meanwhile, Airbus widebody aircraft are the choice of the group’s long haul affiliate AirAsia X, which has ordered a total of 26 A330-300s and ten A350 XWBs. A total of 141 Airbus aircraft are flying today in AirAsia’s colours out of its 16 bases in the region, which include Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.

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Thai Smile to commence direct Phuket flights from Mumbai and New Delhi

by Devesh Agarwal

Thai Airways subsidiary, Thai Smile will commence direct flights from the island holiday destination of Phuket to Mumbai and New Delhi. Each city will be served twice a week.

Mumbai flights will commence on March 31, with flights to New Delhi to start on April 2.

AirlineRoute reports the following schedule is loaded in to the Amadeus Global Distribution System (GDS), but is not yet available to book.

Phuket – Mumbai 2 weekly
TG763 HKT2235 – 0115+1BOM 320 25
TG764 BOM0230 – 0830HKT 320 36

Phuket – Delhi 2 weekly
TG761 HKT2205 – 0055+1DEL 320 14
TG762 DEL0155 – 0755HKT 320 25

Bangkok – Ahmedabad 2 weekly
TG765 BKK1930 – 2300AMD 320 37
TG766 AMD2359 – 0620+1BKK 320 37

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Air India commences circuitous flights from New Delhi to Agra

Air India operated its first flight to Agra earlier today.

Following a circuitous route (Delhi-Varanasi-Agra), this flight has a schedule that leaves much to be desired.

Image courtesy gcmap.com

The flight will be operated with an all-economy class Airbus A320 aircraft, three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Flight AI 406 departs New Delhi at 1245, arrives Varanasi at 1400. Departs Varanasi at 1435 arrives Agra at 1530. Departs Agra at 1605 and arrives Khajuraho at 1645 hours. One the return flight AI 405 will leave Khajuraho at 1720 arrive in Varanasi at 1810 hours. Depart from Varanasi at 1845 and reach Delhi at 1955.

Only a politician who is not answerable for the route profitability can have thought up of such a convoluted routing.

One would expect at least one of the network planners at Air India to advise their political masters that no passenger in his or her right mind will take a flight of 2h45m when they can take a train between New Delhi and Agra and reach in 1h50m.

One can drive from Delhi to Agra on the new Yamuna Expressway and reach in a lesser time.

And all this at 12 Noon?!?!?! Which tourist wants to waste their whole day?

Unfortunately the connectivity to Khajuraho is poor at best, and both Air India and Jet Airways who serve this city, fleece their passengers mercilessly. 30 day advance purchase New Delhi Khajuraho roundtrip fares start from Rs. 16,415 quickly shooting up to Rs. 22,487. In comparison a roundtrip flight across the country from New Delhi to Bangalore for the same travel dates will cost Rs. 10,200.

And then we wonder, why India received less half the number of foreign tourists compared to a small country like Thailand.

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AirAsia shifts Bangkok operations from Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang airports

In a move that will lose it international passengers arriving in to Thailand, AirAsia, has shifted its operations at Bangkok from Suvarnabhumi International Airport to the old Don Mueang International Airport today.

AirAsia’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Tony Fernandes commented

“I am extremely happy with our move to Don Mueang International Airport, which is probably Thailand’s biggest and first low cost airport. Operating out of low cost airports has always been something that we have been fighting long and hard for.” “Less congestion and shorter taxi time will result in less fuel consumption and less delays.”

Photo: AirAsia

Mr. Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai AirAsia, revealed that on the night of 30 September, AirAsia began transferring its fleet of 22 Airbus A320s from Suvarnabhumi International Airport to Don Mueang International Airport over a period of eight hours; starting from 20:00 up to 04:00. All other equipment, including baggage carts and passenger steps were transferred within 24 hours.

AirAsia is hoping to benefit from a less congested terminal at the new airport, as well as its proximity to central Bangkok. While this will give the carrier an edge for Bangkok based passengers, it will lose a lucrative market of international passengers who arrive and depart at Suvarnabhumi airport and transit to and from the many cities within Thailand and other ASEAN destinations.

AirAsia flights with flight codes FD, AK and QZ will operate over 160 flights per day from Don Mueang, to over 77 destinations across Thailand, Asia and Australia. AirAsia is expecting to carry eight million passengers in 2012 to and from Bangkok.

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Thai Airways takes delivery of its first Airbus A380; becomes ninth operator of the superjumbo

National carrier Thai Airways International (Thai) has taken delivery of the first of its ordered six Airbus A380 super jumbo, becoming the ninth airline to operate the world’s largest airliner. The aircraft, tail number HS-TUA, was handed over to Captain Montree Jumrieng, Executive Vice President Technical, Thai, by Kiran Rao, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing, Airbus, at a special ceremony in Toulouse today.

The Thai A380's are powered by the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines. The aircraft is configured with 507 seats in a three class configuration. All classes feature new cabin designs, with 12 private suites in First Class, 60 fully flat sleeper seats in Royal Silk Class and 435 seats in Economy. All seats are equipped with the latest on-demand in-flight entertainment systems, communication outlets and individual power supply.

Thai will inaugurate commercial service of its A380 on the Bangkok Hong Kong and Bangkok Singapore routes. Shorter flights will allow for quicker training of flight, cabin, and ground crews. As more aircraft are delivered, the airline will begin service to Frankfurt at the end of the year, followed by Tokyo and Paris in early 2013. It is surprising though, Thai has no immediate plans of operating its A380 to London Heathrow, the airport which receives the A380s of the maximum number of airlines.

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