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  • #16
    AirAsia vows innovative IFE as Samsung teams with Tune Box

    AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes is vowing to offer passengers a "modern and innovative in-flight entertainment experience" now that Samsung has teamed with Tune Box to turn Android-powered Galaxy tablets into portable IFE for passengers in addition to electronic flight bags (EFBs) for pilots.

    The partnership between Tune Box - the new digital media arm of Tune Group, of which Fernandes is chair - and Samsung comes as the latter firm is making its mark in the IFE space. For instance, the company recently announced an agreement to supply 6,000 units of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to American Airlines.

    "Samsung is delighted to work with Tune Box. This enables us to achieve our goal to spearhead new innovations to revolutionize the aviation industry. The aviation industry is a tough proving ground for any technology but we are confident that by partnering [with] Tune, we will be able to demonstrate the robustness of our products and solutions," said Samsung Malaysia Electronics managing director Kwon Jae Hoon.

    Tune Box recently formed a joint venture with EFB specialist Flight Focus. The firms are working to leverage the Flight Focus 'Platform' Class III EFB architecture already installed on the fleet of Malaysia-based AirAsia's long-haul affiliate AirAsia X to support the streaming of videos, television programming and audio selections provided by Tune Box.

    Passengers will be able to access the wireless IFE solution through their own devices by the end of the first quarter or rent a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 from the carrier. Additional battery packs will be offered on board, said Tune Box co-founder Sami El Hadery, "so there should be sufficient battery within those devices to last the flight".

    For EFB solutions, the Samsung Galaxy tablet technology "will be used to bring innovation into the cockpit to help flight crews perform flight management tasks more easily and efficiently", said Samsung and Tune Box.

    However, AirAsia is also clearly eyeing the offerings for its own shorter-haul fleet, as indicated by Fernandes' stated commitment to "boost customer satisfaction, remain at the forefront of technology, and grow our ancillary business", from the partnership between Tune Box and Samsung.

    Also, during a press briefing in Paris, AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani said: "I think what you'll see is we're probably the guinea pigs and once they [AirAsia] see how successful this is and the auxiliary income that will come, we were the first at least within the group to launch pre-selected seats at a time when free for all was the de rigueur amongst low cost carriers and we showed that you can do that and maintain turnaround times. They adopted it a year later. We introduced pre-booked meals. They adopted it a year later. It is a matter of time, you know. We get to try all the new stuff and I'm sure there is money to be made on a three hour, four hour flight as well."

    He also revealed that AirAsia X has a separate initiative "to come up with power solutions at the seat because manufacturers always say there is enough power but we know it doesn't happen so we are developing some solutions to have power on board our seats. We already have them for flatbed seats and we're looking have some power sockets at least our hot seats for example."

    Flight Focus and Tune Box, meanwhile, recently announced they have selected the Iridium OpenPort-Aero service as their global connectivity solution for their EFB and IFE products. "With the addition of Iridium OpenPort-Aero to its products, it has found the perfect match between EFB, IFE and global connectivity," say the companies.

    http://www.flightglobal.com/articles...with-tune.html

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    • #17
      AirAsia X looks to begin Sydney service

      AirAsia X continues to push hard to add Sydney airport to its Australian destinations from Kuala Lumpur.

      Detailing the routes and territories the airline was looking at expanding into, AirAsia X chief executive Azran Osman-Rani said that offering flights to Australia's largest and most populous city was among the carrier's priorities.

      "We are really looking at getting into Sydney," he said, and although its attempts to do so have so far failed to win the approval of the Malaysian authorities, Osman-Rani is hopeful the situation will change.

      Japan is another area of expansion for the airline, which will begin services to Osaka from Kuala Lumpur on 30 November, in addition to its current service to Tokyo.

      Speaking at the World Low Cost Carriers Congress in London on 21 September, Osman-Rani indicated that AirAsia X has further plans for Japan. He added that passenger numbers have returned following the earthquake and tsunami in March.

      When asked whether the carrier would add further Japanese destinations, he said: "Give us another 12 months."

      http://www.flightglobal.com/articles...y-service.html

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      • #18
        Emirates commences A380 service to Hamburg

        Emirates operated its first Dubai-Hamburg scheduled service on 24-Sep-2011, helping to mark the airport's 100th anniversary celebrations. This is the first scheduled A380 service for the airport. The carrier plans to operate A380s to Munich from 01-Jan-2012.

        http://www.centreforaviation.com/new...hamburg-121385

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        • #19
          EasyJet founder Stelios to launch new, unrelated airline

          EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou is planning to establish a new airline unconnected to the UK budget carrier, called Fastjet.

          Details about the planned carrier have yet to emerge, but EasyJet said today that it has received notice from Haji-Ioannou that he "intends to set up airline branded Fastjet and that a website, www.fastjet.com, has already been established".

          EasyJet added: "To the extent that any activity of Fastjet, Sir Stelios or any company controlled by him infringes or would infringe those rights [under EasyJet's agreement with Haji-Ioannou and EasyGroup], EasyJet will take necessary action to protect the rights of EasyJet and the interests of its shareholders."

          The carrier "emphatically rejects" claims by Haji-Ioannou that EasyJet breached the terms of a binding comfort letter and that this letter is no longer in force.

          EasyJet added that it "continues to seek constructive dialogue" with Haji-Ioannou.

          http://www.flightglobal.com/news/art...irline-362559/

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          • #20
            Air New Zealand increases stake in Virgin Australia

            Air New Zealand (ANZ) lifted its stake in Virgin Australia (VA) from 14.99% to 19.99%, in a move ANZ CEO Rob Fyfe said will continue ANZ’s “strategy to develop scale and reach in this region.”

            Fyfe confirmed ANZ has no intention of making a takeover bid for VA.

            In a complex deal announced Monday, the increased interest is held through an equity derivative agreement with Deutsche Bank, which gives ANZ an increased economic interest of up to 5% in VA, subject to certain conditions. One condition is that the purchase does not cause VA to breach its foreign ownership cap of 49% specified in the Australian Air Navigation Act. Under the agreement, ANZ is guaranteed a minimum additional exposure of 3.5% and up to a maximum additional exposure of 5%.

            The outlay for the minimum exposure of 3.5% will be A$23 million ($22.5 million), while the outlay for the maximum 5% will be A$32.8 million. ANZ said it intends to work with VA to bring its interest out of the derivative and into physical shares as soon as possible within the constraints of the foreign ownership cap. Prior to entering into the equity derivative arrangement, ANZ received Australian Foreign Investment Review Board approval to purchase up to 19.99% of VA.

            Fyfe confirmed to the Australian airline’s chief executive John Borghetti in a telephone call Monday there is no intention to make a takeover bid for VA.

            “Our increased investment in Virgin Australia continues Air New Zealand’s strategy to develop scale and reach in this region,” Fyfe said. “The transtasman alliance with Virgin Australia was the first step in this strategy, followed by our initial investment in January of this year. This increased investment demonstrates our continued belief in the strategy that Virgin Australia is pursuing and our confidence in the Virgin Australia management team to deliver this strategy,” Fyfe said.

            “The transtasman alliance that we have with Virgin Australia is now well underway and delivering great results for customers and also for both airlines. Our combined share in the transtasman market has grown significantly year on year,” he said. “As we noted at the time of our original investment, our stake in Virgin Australia also provides us with an interest in the number two airline in Australia and, through this, access to opportunities in the growing Australian domestic market,” said Fyfe, noting, “Air New Zealand has no intention to enter the Australian domestic market in its own right.”

            http://atwonline.com/airline-finance...australia-0926

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            • #21
              Kingfisher Airlines to phase out Kingfisher Red no-frill class product

              Kingfisher Airlines stated (28-Sep-2011) the carrier would "do away" with its low-cost subsidiary Kingfisher Red as there are "enough" passengers for the full-service carrier (IANS/PTI/AFP/The Hindu Business Line/Business Standard/NDTV/Live Mint/Hindustan Times/Reuters/Manorama Online/DHNS/Rediff/DNA India/Economic Times, 28-Sep-2011). "We are doing away with Kingfisher Red because we don’t intend to compete in the low-cost segment,” Dr Mallya said, adding that there are enough operators and capacity in the low-cost space. The carrier is undertaking a cabin reconfiguration which will add significant number of seats while simultaneously phasing out the Kingfisher Red no-frill class product. The reconfiguration process will be concluded in the next four months. The carrier currently offers three classes of service: Kingfisher First, Kingfisher Class Economy and Kingfisher Red No Frills Economy. Following re-configuration of all Airbus aircraft, the number of economy seats across the Airbus fleet will increase by approximately 10%. Kingfisher Airlines commenced service in 2005 as a full-service airline and two years later acquired LCC Air Deccan, renaming it Kingfisher Red to compete.

              http://www.centreforaviation.com/new...product-121950

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              • #22
                The article is quite confusing. IT doesn't currently offer 3 class aircraft service. Kingfisher First is actually the business class of IT. Kingfisher Red is a LCC off shoot of IT.

                The only way they can increase the number of Y in the current 320 and 319 is to reduce the number of Kingfisher First or to reduce the pitch in this business class Vijay Mallya likes to call First.

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                • #23
                  Qatar Airways to make A320neo announcement at Dubai Airshow

                  Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker stated the carrier is still evaluating its fleet requirements for smaller aircraft, but will make an announcement on the A320neo at Dubai Airshow in Nov-2011, according to an Arabian Business report. Also expected is an announcement for a top-up order of A380s.

                  Meanwhile, Qatar Airways and Boeing announced (30-Sep-2011) the delivery of the airline's 100th aircraft, a B777-200LR. The Doha-based airline now operates 27 B777s of various types, including 16 B777-300ERs, two 777Fs and nine B777-200LRs.

                  http://www.centreforaviation.com/new...airshow-122448

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                  • #24
                    Tiger Australia settles in for medium-term with new director but growth restrictions

                    Tiger Airways Australia is settling in for the medium-term with a re-launched network it has built up, which is now approximately one-third of its Jun-2011 pre-grounding size. The immediate future will see former Virgin Blue executive Andrew David take the reigns from Tony Davis, who is leaving the company.

                    Tiger is also lowering its lead-in fares to pre-grounding levels, but no headline fares of AUD15 inclusive or zero (plus taxes) have been offered yet, and may not be as long as Tiger faces no price undercutting and seeks to build network volume with requisite approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). Its growth outlook is focused on Melbourne Tullamarine, with service resumption from Melbourne Avalon unlikely in the next year.

                    Tiger operating at 31% of previous ASKs, 15% of sectors


                    Since re-launching services from Melbourne Tullamarine to Sydney on 12-Aug-2011 after a reprieve from CASA, who grounded the carrier on 1-Jul-2011 over safety concerns, Tiger has built up its Australian network to include 33 weekly services to Sydney, thrice-daily to Brisbane, double-daily to Gold Coast and daily to Perth. Tiger is now operating an average 4.6 million available seat-kilometers per day, 31% of the 15.1 million ASKs it operated in Jun-2011 prior to its grounding. These 75 weekly sectors represent 15% of Tiger’s pre-grounding sectors.

                    The disparity is for two reasons. A CASA condition to restrict Tiger to operating a maximum of 18 sectors a day for August – implemented to help Tiger correctly steer itself and for CASA to carefully watch the carrier – meant Tiger had to choose which routes to operate. It has so far favoured major routes from Melbourne to Brisbane (1379km away), Gold Coast (1328km) and Perth (2706km) that are longer than Tiger’s pre-grounding average sector length of approximately 900km. CASA’s sector restriction also incentivised Tiger to operate routes that would give it the largest cash flow; Tiger estimates the six week grounding cost it SGD2 million (USD1.5 million) per week.

                    Continue reading at http://www.centreforaviation.com/ana...er-fares-59837

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                    • #25
                      ROUTES: SriLankan in talks to add six 777s or A330s

                      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/art...-a330s-362829/

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                      • #26
                        IAG not ruling out LCC offshoot: Walsh

                        IAG CEO Willie Walsh stated that while British Airways and Iberia are the two core brands of the group, he has not ruled out the possibility of owning or launching a LCC, which would be in line with the group’s “a multinational, multi-brand organisation” aim, according to a report in Marketing Week.

                        “We would launch low cost if it makes sense. We assess any opportunity to see if it will add value to the group,” he said. Iberia, whose short-haul operations have been hurt by excessive LCC exposure, is currently evaluating launching an LCC to take over the airline’s short-haul network.

                        http://www.centreforaviation.com/new...t-walsh-122827

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                        • #27
                          Kingfisher Airlines CEO Sanjay Aggarwal, responding to media speculation about the carrier's recently-announced focus on the full-service sector, justified (05-Oct-2011) its plans to close its LCC in four months, stating the operating costs involved in the LCC operation are the same as in a full-service carrier but the revenues and yields lower. Full details of the carrier's rationale and future focus is as follows (PTI/Live Mint/Financial Express/IANS/Hindustan Times/Business Standard, 05-Sep-2011):

                          - Operating costs: Mr Aggarwal stated the operating costs of full service carriers and LCCs in terms of fuel, airport charges, engineering and maintenance and crew costs are similar in India. However, full-service carriers incur additional costs on global distribution, in-flight catering, ground amenities and FFPS. These additional costs are more than recovered through higher yields;

                          - LCC fleet expansion and yield dilution: Mr Aggarwal noted the rapid pace of fleet expansion by LCCs in India. "In addition to large aircraft orders placed at time of start up in 2004/2005, the Indian LCCs in the recent months have placed orders for over 250 aircraft. In the last two years, capacity induction of the LCCs has outpaced the demand growth in the domestic market. The induction of so many additional aircraft in the low cost/low fare segment will potentially lead to substantial over capacity and a price war with declining yields," he said;

                          - Business travel/opportunity costs: With continuing economic growth, business related travel is "increasing significantly", with this sector not as price sensitive as the classic low cost/low fare segment, Mr Aggarwal said. The carrier stated its existing two cabin configuration of full service and no frills has meant a lack of premium business class or full service economy class product on all its routes which has meant it "is losing a certain amount of business class traffic on many routes";

                          - Full-service product: Kingfisher stated that over the past six months, its full-service product has "generated higher yields and load factors which is consistent with the assessment that the business travel segment is more sustainable than the extremely price sensitive low fare segment". Mr Aggarwal continued: "Of the incremental yield, only 25% is spent on providing the extra services associated with a full service carrier. The remaining 75% is net contribution to the bottom line";

                          - LCC/Full-service carriers: There are currently five airlines participating in the LCC segment, but only three FSCs. "While competition certainly exists in this full service segment, such competition is tempered because of the frequent flyer loyalty programmes that are offered by each one. In short, we believe that the competition will be far more intense in the low fare space than in the full service space," Mr Aggarwal said;

                          - oneworld Alliance: Kingfisher’s integration into the oneworld alliance is on track;
                          Fleet configuration: The carrier is reconfiguring all its Airbus aircraft over the next four months including its single cabin aircraft into dual cabin aircraft with a reduced premium business class cabin and an increased number of full service economy class seats leading to a capacity increase of approximately 10%. The economy class product will remain the same, with the space requirement for additional economy seats to be made available by reducing the number of business class seats. The carrier expects the reconfigured aircraft to have the seat equivalency of a LCC but an opportunity to generate much higher revenue as demonstrated by current yields. "Kingfisher will achieve incremental business class revenue as a result of wider and uniform availability and the airline will also generate incremental revenue through its increased full service economy class capacity," Mr Aggarwal said;

                          - Fleet/network size: There will be no reduction in Kingfisher’s fleet size or its network.

                          http://www.centreforaviation.com/new...trategy-122870

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                          • #28
                            Peach Aviation's uniforms revealed

                            Peach Aviation, ANA’s low-cost offshoot, has unveiled the cabin crew’s uniform, which reflects the carrier’s “fresh and trendy” feel.

                            The jackets are of the same fuchsia pink as the carrier’s livery, with a white lining, while the bottoms are in a more sober colour.



                            According to the carrier’s website, Peach will offer “a fun and fresh travel experience,” which is succinctly summarised by the acronym of the carrier’s name: Pan-Asia, Energetic, Affordable, Cute & Cool and Happy.

                            Peach Aviation is poised to begin operations in March next year, kicking off with flights to Sapporo and Fukoka from its base at Osaka Kansai Airport.

                            http://www.businesstraveller.com/asi...forms-revealed

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                            • #29
                              Fastjet 'targeting long-haul markets'

                              Sir Stelios Haji-Iaonnou is working on plans to launch a transatlantic airline which would pit him against British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, according to the UK's Sunday Telegraph.

                              In an interview, the paper says it is unlikely to compete with easyJet, the low-cost airline in which Sir Stelios and his family hold a 37.4% stake, and instead plans to target long-haul markets.

                              It added that Fastjet is only one of a number of names the billionaire is considering registering and he may also register 'Stelios' as a brand.


                              http://www.businesstraveller.com/mid...g-haul-markets

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                              • #30
                                Mmmmm....peachy!

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