ROUTES 2011 News

[alberttky 0]

Singapore Changi Airport is hoping an upcoming link to Vladivostok in eastern Russia will be the first of many new Russian routes, as it looks to expand its long-haul network.

 

Vladivostok Avia will begin twice-weekly flights to Singapore, via Hong Kong, on 21 October.

 

Lim Ching Kiat, Changi senior vice-president market development, said the airport is "actively talking to Russian airlines" in a bid to attract additional Russian services.

 

"Over the last few years, Singapore to Russia traffic has been looking very good," he said, adding that there is "still room to grow" in this market and several Russian carriers are "quite interested" in initiating links between the two nations.

 

Changi is also focusing on airlines in Africa, Europe and North America with a view to further expand its long-haul network, and are at Routes to boost relations with carriers in those regions.

 

The airport is working towards announcing a service to Russia or Europe with a "significant airline" within the next 12 months, Kiat said.

 

Closer to home, China remains a key market and the airport is "working actively" to attract new Chinese routes.

 

Changi is "on track" in 2011 to break its record 42 million passenger barrier, which it achieved in 2010. It aims to break the 50 million barrier by 2013.

 

In terms of adding capacity, Changi senior vice-president corporate and marketing communications Ivan Tan said the airport has an "internal idea" of when it might look towards expansion, but "we are not ready to share those plans".

 

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/routes-singapore-changi-looks-to-russia-for-long-haul-expansion-362783/

[alberttky 0]

Legacy airlines will become increasingly reliant on budget carriers to provide feed to their long-haul networks - and the long-haul, low-cost model is pretty much dead in these times of high oil prices.

 

These were the main conclusions reached during a World Route Development Strategy Summit session to discuss the ever-blurring line between low-cost and legacy airlines.

 

In capacity-constrained airports such as London Heathrow, legacy carriers can still be profitable without relying on low-cost feed, said Javier Suarez, senior manager network planning at Spanish carrier Vueling.

 

However, he does not believe this to be the case in airports with room to grow, such as Madrid-Barajas.

 

"Iberia faces competition here from Ryanair and EasyJet. [Airlines in this situation] will have two airlines operating for them - a regional airline and they will also need a low-cost carrier to compete with the existing low-cost carriers," said Suarez.

 

Moving on to the subject of the viability of airlines with a long-haul, low-cost model, Virgin Atlantic commercial director Edmond Rose said that while there is a possibility of success on shorter sectors, with fuel representing such a "massive chunk" of costs it would be "difficult to compete" on the longer routes.

 

"Long-haul, low-cost may work in the 5-8h sector, but for all long-haul airlines fuel represents 35-40% of their costs and it's difficult to come in with a higher aircraft utilisation [on longer sectors]," said Rose.

 

However, in an obvious dig at certain Middle Eastern carriers, Suarez said he "considers Gulf carriers as long-haul, low-cost carriers" because "they don't pay for fuel". Ouch.

 

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/routes-long-haul-low-cost-model-dead-in-the-water-362790/

[alberttky 0]

SriLankan Airlines is looking to add six widebodies as part of a plan to double its fleet during the next five years, and is considering the Airbus A330-300 and the Boeing 777.

 

Speaking to Flightglobal's Airline Business Daily at the World Route Development Forum in Berlin, SriLankan's newly-appointed chief executive Kapila Chandrasena said the carrier wants to add "roughly six widebodies" to its fleet to replace its Airbus A340-300s, with deliveries beginning in 2014.

 

The airline is in talks with Airbus and Boeing but has yet to decide whether it will purchase or lease the aircraft. "We are looking at a possible blended approach, where we own 25% and lease 75%," said Chandrasena.

 

In the meantime, SriLankan is taking used A330s from lessors including Air Lease Corporation and International Lease Finance Corporation.

 

Under its turnaround strategy for the next five years, SriLankan aims to "roughly double" its fleet from 15 to 30 aircraft, said Chandrasena. Its fleet renewal will be partly funded by a $500 million equity infusion from the Sri Lankan government, which owns the airline.

 

SriLankan Airlines hopes its strategy of strengthening its regional network and capitalising on the tourism growth opportunities that have arisen since the end of Sri Lanka's civil war two years ago will see it return to profitability in 2013.

 

The airline is also keen to join an alliance "as soon as practicable", said Chandrasena.

 

"Oneworld and Star are preferred, if the opportunity exists, but we need to know more about SkyTeam to see if that could be a strategic fit," he added.

 

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/routes-srilankan-in-talks-to-add-six-777s-or-a330s-362829/

[BC Tam 2]

..... the long-haul, low-cost model is pretty much dead in these times of high oil prices

If industry players are saying that, mean market analysts probably similarly swayed ?

Fair bet then that is one major issue delaying D7's market float ?

[alberttky 0]

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) will open its new runway 07L/25R Oct. 21, creating increased capacity that has attracted interest from airlines wanting to start new services, a Fraport executive told ATW this week at the World Route Development Forum in Berlin.

 

"Slot requests for the winter 2011-12 schedule increased by 8%. We know from experience that not all of this demand will turn into actual flights, but we can confirm some major coups for the upcoming winter season," communications manager-international press Robert Payne said. For instance, All Nippon Airways will be deploying its first Boeing 787 to FRA from Tokyo Haneda starting in January and Singapore Airlines will start operating an Airbus A380 from Singapore to FRA, continuing on to New York JFK, from January. Emirates has announced a third daily service to Dubai and Continental Airlines will launch a second daily service from Newark, while home carrier Lufthansa will resume Rio de Janeiro flights and launch several new short-haul routes.

 

The new northwest runway is FRA's fourth and will increase capacity 50%, from 83 coordinated aircraft movements an hour to 126. Capacity will be gradually ramped up and the plan is to grow flight movements between 4% and 7% annually.

 

With a length of 2,800 m., the new runway is shorter than the airport's other runways, which all extend over 4,000 m. It will be used strictly for landings (bi-directionally) by aircraft smaller than the 747. Payne said, "We have been operating at maximum [runway] capacity for some years but this is putting us back in the ball game, big time."

 

At present, 114 airlines offer 4,635 flights per week to 300 destinations in 110 countries from/to FRA. Passenger throughput was 53 million in 2010 and Fraport's goal is to eventually bring this to 90 million passengers annually.

 

The fourth runway is the first big cornerstone in FRA's "Expansion 2020" program, which also includes an expanded passenger terminal pier for Star Alliance carriers, a new terminal and a major expansion of its cargo facilities and capacity. FRA is Europe's largest cargo airport. It is the third largest in terms of passenger numbers, after London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle.

 

The new "Pier A Plus" is under construction and will have seven aircraft stands, of which four can accommodate the A380. It has a design capacity of 6 million passengers annually. It will open next summer and will be dedicated to Star carriers.

 

The new Terminal 3 will have the capacity to handle 25 million passengers annually. The first stage of construction on that facility should begin by the end of 2016/early 2017. In line with the airport's integrated terminal concept, FRA's people mover (or "Sky Line") will be extended to Terminal 3, Payne confirmed.

 

http://atwonline.com/airports-routes/article/frankfurt-airport-prepares-open-new-runway-eyes-growth-1005?cid=nl_atw_airports&area=14&YM_RID=albert.tiong@gmail.com

[Jim Liu 0]

SriLankan Airlines is looking to add six widebodies as part of a plan to double its fleet during the next five years, and is considering the Airbus A330-300 and the Boeing 777.

 

Speaking to Flightglobal's Airline Business Daily at the World Route Development Forum in Berlin, SriLankan's newly-appointed chief executive Kapila Chandrasena said the carrier wants to add "roughly six widebodies" to its fleet to replace its Airbus A340-300s, with deliveries beginning in 2014.

 

The airline is in talks with Airbus and Boeing but has yet to decide whether it will purchase or lease the aircraft. "We are looking at a possible blended approach, where we own 25% and lease 75%," said Chandrasena.

 

In the meantime, SriLankan is taking used A330s from lessors including Air Lease Corporation and International Lease Finance Corporation.

 

Under its turnaround strategy for the next five years, SriLankan aims to "roughly double" its fleet from 15 to 30 aircraft, said Chandrasena. Its fleet renewal will be partly funded by a $500 million equity infusion from the Sri Lankan government, which owns the airline.

 

SriLankan Airlines hopes its strategy of strengthening its regional network and capitalising on the tourism growth opportunities that have arisen since the end of Sri Lanka's civil war two years ago will see it return to profitability in 2013.

 

The airline is also keen to join an alliance "as soon as practicable", said Chandrasena.

 

"Oneworld and Star are preferred, if the opportunity exists, but we need to know more about SkyTeam to see if that could be a strategic fit," he added.

 

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/routes-srilankan-in-talks-to-add-six-777s-or-a330s-362829/

 

I was at their briefing, and UL has outlined its plan to launch or resume 11 cities between 2012 and 2014.

[Mike P 0]

UALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd's (MAHB) participation in the 17th World Route Development Forum in Berlin last month, generated encouraging outcomes that will further enhance flight connectivity to Malaysia.

 

MAHB said among the expected outcomes is the announcement by Bangkok Airways to begin operation from Koh Samui, to Kuala Lumpur as early as March 2012, and Transaero Airlines commencing scheduled flights from Moscow to the capital on a weekly basis from Dec 30 this year until March 25 next year.

 

"In addition, Finnair has confirmed that it will be operating 14 charter flights from Helsinki (Finland) to Langkawi between December 2011 and March 2012.

 

"Air Astana will be adding a third frequency to its Almaty (Kazakhstan)-Kuala Lumpur service, whilst Mahan Air will begin its service from Isfahan (Iran) to Kuala Lumpur, both before the end of 2011," it said in a statement today.

 

The World Route Development Forum, also known as World Route, is the meeting place for airlines, airports, tourism authorities and other stakeholders to discuss and negotiate air service development opportunities.

 

Leading the MAHB's team was the managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad together with general manager marketing, Mohamed Sallauddin Mat Sah.

 

The company conducted 30 pre-scheduled meetings with airlines network/route planners to share information and explore potential new services to the main gateways of Malaysia, including the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the other four regional international airports in Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Penang and Langkawi. - BERNAMA

 

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/11/business/20111111134945&sec=business

 

For UN, I try to make some dummy booking on DME - KUL, departing on 30th Dec and returning on 14th Jan. All classes are sold out and left Premium Economy.... How could that possible?