Best on the Web | September 2020
Our round-up of Asia-Pacific regional aviation news this month includes interesting stories on Tonga’s Real Tonga, Taiwan’s Mandarin Airlines, Nepal Airlines, India’s Flybig and the Philippines’ Cebu Pacific. Tonga Domestic Air Services in Limbo RNZ The South Pacific nation of…
QantasLink to Boost Regional Services as Virgin Australia Cuts Back
QantasLink is boosting its regional services to maintain connectivity with regional towns and cities, following Virgin Australia’s announcement that it will exit nine domestic routes. The airline says it will launch a five-times weekly service between Brisbane and Port Macquarie,…
ZeroAvia Adds Hydrogen-Electric Ground Operations Vehicle
UK-based startup ZeroAvia is adding hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles in its next step to develop zero-emission hydrogen ground infrastructure for its hydrogen-electric aircraft. The addition of the Toyota Mirai fuel-cell ground operations vehicle is significant because it demonstrates that hydrogen infrastructure…
Virgin Australia Axes Regional Routes Following ATR Phase-Out
Under the new ownership of US-based Bain Capital, Virgin Australia will fly a significantly smaller domestic network using an all-Boeing 737 fleet. Virgin Australia says in a statement that it plans to fly just 20 domestic routes across Australia, cutting…
India’s SpiceJet Aims To Launch Seaplane Services End-October
Low-cost carrier SpiceJet plans to begin commercial operations of mainland India’s first seaplane service on 31 October. A SpiceJet official who did not want to be named confirmed to Smart Aviation APAC that the airline is looking at an end-October…
COVID-19 Creating New Challenges for Humanitarian Aid Flights in Africa
KASAS, a Kenyan charter airline with the world’s largest Dornier 228 fleet, is facing unprecedented challenges operating humanitarian flights during the pandemic. It operates Dornier 228 flights on behalf of many non-government organizations (NGOs) ranging from local ones to the…
