Our round-up of Asia-Pacific regional aviation news this month includes interesting stories on Malaysia’s Firefly, TrueNoord in Singapore, FAT Taiwan and Australian charter airline Cobham
Firefly aims to add more Seletar-Malaysia routes
Malaysian Airlines’ subsidiary Firefly says it is looking to fly to Singapore’s Seletar Airport from more Malaysian cities, such as Ipoh and Kuantan. Firefly was the first commercial airline to move to Seletar Airport from Singapore’s main airport in Changi, and now only operates serves Singapore from Kuala Lumpur’s Subang Airport.
Firefly CEO Philip See says it is treating Seletar as a completely new route. This is because there is little awareness about Singapore’s Seletar Airport, which is 15km northwest from Changi Airport.
Regional aircraft lessor TrueNoord opens Asia office in Singapore
Dutch lessor TrueNoord has opened a representative office in Singapore to expand its presence in Asia. TrueNoord specialises in regional aircraft, leasing Embraer 190-E2s to Air Astana and Taiwan’s Mandarin Airlines, as well as ATR 72-600s to Indonesia’s Wings Air and India’s IndiGo.
Taiwanese regional airline FAT Taiwan suspends flights as aging aircraft exceed limits
Taiwan’s Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT) has cancelled short-haul flights to Boracay in the Philippines and Danang in Vietnam, citing Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA)-imposed caps on flight hours as its reason. The CAA says it had warned the airline previously about the cap. The authority limits FAT’s flight hours to 1,350 a month because of the age of its fleet, which includes McDonnell Douglas MD-80 family aircraft.
The cancellations mean travel agents have had to book tickets with other airlines for their stranded clients.
Australian charter operator Cobham adds Embraer 190-E2
Australian charter operator Cobham Aviation Services has acquired a 98-seat Embraer E190-E2 to service Western Australian mining charter contracts. This includes flights for Chevron Australia’s Gorgon natural gas project in Barrow Island, as well as other resource company projects in Goldfields.
