Pilot’s Diary: Ferry Flight to Japan
Domestic Japanese carrier New Central Airservice (NCA) recently took delivery of a new Dornier 228, which arrived from RUAG MRO International’s manufacturing centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. Steffen Gemsa, the captain of the ferry flight, tells Smart Aviation APAC that it…
Analysis: Buying The CRJ Program Fails To Solve Mitsubishi’s Problem
Bombardier’s decision to exit the commercial aircraft business by selling the CRJ program to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, leaves the regional jet market open now to three main players: Boeing-Embraer with the E-Jet E2, Airbus with the A220 and Mitsubishi with…
Regional Express Eyeing Northern Territory Expansion
Australia’s Regional Express (Rex) will be meeting business and local government stakeholders in the Northern Territory in the coming weeks as it considers starting regional operations out of Darwin. Rex deputy chairman, John Sharp, says that Rex management will be…
Rolls-Royce Acquires Siemens’ Electric Aircraft Business
Rolls-Royce is set to acquire Siemens’ eAircraft business to boost its aircraft electrification capabilities and strategy, in a deal that will be completed late 2019. The move is important to Rolls-Royce as it believes electrification – promising cleaner and quieter…
Myanmar’s National Carrier Losing Millions
Details on the extent of Myanmar National Airlines’ (MNA) losses, since it expanded its international operations, has emerged. The national assembly’s Joint Public Accounts Committee says the national carrier’s losses have amounted to over 21 billion Burmese kyat (US$13.7 million)…
Australia’s Alliance Airlines Expanding Darwin Hub
Alliance Airlines is expanding its regional hub in the Northern Territory capital Darwin to cater to increased demand from the mining and tourism industries. Scott McMillan, the airline’s managing director, says they are adding two Fokker 70s and one Fokker…
Malaysia’s Sarawak State Pushing to Have Its Own Airline
Malaysia’s federal government is urging the Sarawak government to consider carefully the latter’s intentions to take over MASwings or establish a new airline to serve East Malaysia. Chong Chieng Jen, a senior politician from Sarawak who is deputy minister of…
Opinion: Dornier 228 versus Twin Otter
From speaking to operators in Asia Pacific, the top two choices for new short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft, seating up to 19 passengers, is the Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400 and the Dornier 228. These two types…
Solomon Airlines Helping to Fund Tourism Infrastructure Development
The biggest challenge facing the Solomon Islands, as it attempts to catch up with more successful tourist destinations in the South Pacific, is a shortage of hotel beds. The chief executive of Solomon Airlines, Brett Gebers, says the issue is…
Real Tonga Anticipates Chinese-led Tourism Boom
Real Tonga, the carrier of the Pacific island kingdom of Tonga, expects further growth in tourism numbers as more Chinese tourists arrive. “Tourism is obviously starting from a low base, but it is clear that the Chinese coming through Fiji…
Best on the Web | May 2019
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 channelnewsasia.com Malaysian Airlines’ subsidiary Firefly says it is…
Developing the Seaplane Business in Indonesia
The seaplane business is still in its infancy as operators continue to find it difficult managing operations with the seaplane stalwart de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter. Managing director of Jakarta-based charter airline Airfast Indonesia, Arif Wibowo, says the main…
