Aircraft News - Asia / Pacific.

Oct 9, 2006

Jet Skids Off Indonesia Runway In Smoky Haze. A passenger jet skidded off the runway upon landing in thick haze in Indonesia on Tuesday as forest fires in the country spread a pall of smoke around the region. A Boeing 737-200 jet skidded 50 metres off the runway in the town of Tarakan in Indonesia's East Kalimantan province on Borneo island. The haze, caused mostly by farmers and plantation owners setting fires to clear land, has forced many flights to be delayed or cancelled in Indonesia in recent days, with five cancellations in the Sumatra island province of Jambi on Tuesday. Purwasto, a senior official in Indonesia's Environment Ministry, said that the PSI reading was "more than 100" in the worst-hit parts of the country. Each year, uncontrolled slash-and-burn practices by farmers, plantation owners and loggers on the Indonesian islands send a smoky haze to Singapore, Malaysia and southern Thailand. The NEA said satellite pictures showed 97 hotspots and dense smoke haze in Sumatra, a large Indonesian island west of Singapore. The haze has also begun to envelop Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, obscuring hills surrounding the city. But residents said it was nowhere near as bad as last year's choking smog. The Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah on Borneo were the worst affected on Tuesday. In one area of Sarawak, which has been blanketed by heavy smog for weeks, the air-pollution index approached "very unhealthy" levels at the daily 0300 GMT reading. Local media said authorities plan to seed clouds over Sarawak in an effort to clear the haze, but have not said when the operations will begin. Oct 3, 2006

Airbus, Malaysia Airlines

Malaysia Air Should Cancel A380 Order - Union. Loss-making Malaysia Airlines should cancel an order for six Airbus A380 superjumbos to save costs, the national carrier's major trade union said on Wednesday. The 7,000-strong MAS Employees' Union called for the order to be scrapped after Airbus announced another delay to production of the world's largest passenger jet and said it would be unable to start delivering the planes on time. An airline spokesman said he had no immediate comment. Malaysia Airlines ordered the A380s several years ago, before it began to address its financial problems with a turnaround plan to cut unprofitable routes. Oct 4, 2006

Airbus, Qantas

Australia's Qantas Airways said it would not receive its first A380 until August 2008, two years late. It expects to receive four of the planes by the end of that year and seven by mid-2009.In the meantime it said it was reviewing its capacity needs. Qantas did not rule out canceling the A380 order. JP Morgan analyst Matt Crowe said while Qantas might consider scrapping the superjumbo order, it was unlikely to do so. Qantas's Borghetti declined to comment on whether the airline would claim further damages from Airbus on top of the AUD$104 million (USD$77 million) it already expects to receive. Qantas's comments echoed statements on Tuesday from Virgin Atlantic Airways and Dubai airline Emirates, the biggest buyer with an order for 43 superjumbos worth USD$13 billion at list prices. Oct 4, 2006

Airbus, Singapore Airlines

Singapore Air To Get A380 Compensation. Singapore Airlines said on Wednesday it would receive compensation from Airbus for the delay in the delivery of its superjumbo A380 aircraft and the first plane would be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2007. It added the compensation sum was confidential. Airbus was previously due to deliver the first USD$300 million double-decker to launch customer Singapore this year, but the inaugural delivery was now delayed until October 2007, 10 months late. Airbus parent EADS said on Tuesday it pushed back its troubled A380 superjumbo by another year, and issued a new profit warning, as difficulties installing wiring stalled the delivery of the superjumbo, now running two years later than planned. Airbus has sold 143 passenger versions of the plane to 14 airlines. Oct 4, 2006

Alteon Training

Alteon Training yesterday began operations at its Singapore Training Center, which will open officially in early 2007. "With this latest addition, Alteon now offers seven training locations in the Asia/Pacific region," President Patrick Gaines said. Located near Changi Airport, the Singapore center will be capable of training more than 6,000 pilots and flight attendants annually. Oct 3, 2006

Boeing, Nippon Cargo

Boeing delivered a third 747-400ERF to Nippon Cargo Airlines yesterday. NCA has a further seven on order. Oct 4, 2006

Boeing, Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines finalized a purchase agreement yesterday for 20 787-9s for which it signed a letter of intent in June. It also has purchase rights on 20 more dash 9s. Value of the firm order is $4.52 billion at list prices. Deliveries will be scheduled between early 2011 and mid-2013 and will be for fleet renewal as well as growth, SIA said. No engine selection has been made. Boeing has received firm orders and commitments for 444 787s with options and price rights on another 325. Oct 3, 2006

China Aircraft Services

China Aircraft Services Ltd. signed a franchise agreement with Airport Authority Hong Kong that will permit it to add base maintenance services to its existing line maintenance offering at Hong Kong International Airport when the current agreement expires in 2008. The new agreement will have a 25-year term. Oct 2, 2006

Editor: Aram Gesar, eMail: [e-mail]

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Oct 2, 2006