Aircraft News - Asia / Pacific.

Oct 23, 2006 Airbus, Boeing, Philippine Airlines 

Philippine Airlines said on Friday it wanted to add eight wide-bodied planes to its fleet and would decide by the end of the year whether to buy them from Boeing or Airbus, for delivery from 2008. The Philippine flag carrier will use the new aircraft to expand its routes to the United States and Canada and to return to Europe after an absence of about a decade. He said PAL, Asia's first commercial airline, was considering buying or leasing either Airbus A340-600 or Boeing 777-300ER planes. Oct 20, 2006

Airbus, Boeing, Philippine Airlines

Philippine Airlines expansion is on top of the 20 narrow-bodied Airbus planes that PAL is set to acquire, starting this year, for more than USD$840 million. On Friday PAL unveiled the first of the 20 planes, an A319, which it plans to use for domestic and regional flights. PAL officials said the list price of each wide-bodied plane was around USD$250 million. The airline now has nine wide-bodied planes -- five Boeing 747-400s and four Airbus A340-300s -- flying to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas in the United States and Vancouver, Canada. PAL flies to 19 domestic and 24 international destinations. It wants to expand its foreign routes to include Seattle and San Diego initially. The airline had a fleet of 32 aircraft at the end of March. PAL, which shut briefly in 1998 due to labor disputes before entering into a 10 year rehabilitation program, is aggressively expanding despite a projection of a global industry loss of USD$1.7 billion this year, volatile fuel costs and only a modest expected rise in global passenger traffic of 4.8 percent. Oct 20, 2006

Airbus, Indian Airlines 

Indian Airlines Lands New Airbus Plane. State-run Indian Airlines on Thursday received the first jet of a 43 aircraft order placed with Airbus, the first new purchased planes added to its fleet in 12 years. Oct 19, 2006 Airbus, Qantas

Qantas Won't Cancel Airbus A380 Order. Australia's Qantas Airways said it would not cancel its order for Airbus's new A380 superjumbo, despite a two-year delay in receiving its first planes from the order. Oct 19, 2006 Airbus, Singapore Airlines 

Singapore Air Could Cancel Airbus Order. Singapore Airlines could cancel an order for nine Airbus A380 superjumbos if there are excessive delays to its delivery, French newspapers reported on Wednesday. Airbus has not have given Singapore Airlines a precise schedule for all the deliveries, La Tribune said. The order for nine A380s comes on top of a firm order of 10 aircraft signed last year by the airline. Airbus has revealed a string of internal problems which have led it to delay the first deliveries of its superjumbo A380 aircraft. Oct 19, 2006

Boeing, Korean Air

Korean Air to order 10 freighters, 'considering' new passenger aircraft. Korean Air will place an order for 10 freighters by year end, most likely a combination of 777Fs and 747-8Fs, and also is "considering" orders for the 777-300ER and/or the 747-8 Intercontinental, according to senior executives who briefed reporters yesterday in Seoul. Oct 17, 2006

Boeing, Singapore Airlines

Singapore Air Boeing 747 Drops Bolt On Sydney. Singapore Airlines said it has put one of its Boeing 747-400s out of service after the aircraft lost a bolt while flying over Sydney on its way to the city-state on Wednesday. Oct 19, 2006

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Oct 16, 2006