Airport News - Asia / Pacific.

Jan 21, 2008

Wait for it? Airlines take us on flights of fancy. The reliability of air travel between Australia's two biggest cities has hit a record low with levels of punctuality at their worst since figures became public. The latest statistics, released last week, show almost a third of flights between Melbourne and Sydney in November arrived more than 15 minutes late or were cancelled. And the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics data shows nearly four in 10 flights from Tullamarine to Sydney a route operated by Qantas and Virgin Blue arrived late or not at all. Jan 18, 2008

Regarding the reliability of air travel between Australia, last month, The Sunday Age revealed the 2007-08 year was on track to become the worst year on record for flights between Australia's two biggest cities. While the November cancellations are slightly below the 2007-08 average, a huge increase in delayed planes means 32.9% of all flights between Sydney and Melbourne were late or cancelled. Since 2003, airlines have given their domestic performance figures to the bureau, which is part of the new Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. The figures reflect an overall decline in the reliability of domestic air travel throughout Australia. They show that, overall, 77.4% of flights arrived on time and 1.4% were cancelled in November well below the four-year average of 85.6% and 0.9% . Jan 18, 2008

From January 1 2008 any bird strike can be reported by completing a form on the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) website. Birdstrikes can be extremely hazardous to aircraft and reporting of incidents became mandatory in 2004. To date, airports, aircraft operators and private pilots have filed birdstrike reports by faxing or posting a form, but the online option makes the process much simpler, benefiting the CAA and the aviation community. Since reporting of incidents was made mandatory, there has been a 67% increase in the number of reports received - in 2006 there were 1,780. However, the number of birdstrikes classified as serious has remained unchanged, averaging 57 per year. Modern aircraft engines are designed to be resistant to multiple strikes by birds of up to 5.5lbs (2.5kg) in weight. Jan 3, 2008

Air China

Air China, the official airline partner for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has vowed to cut delays and improve employees' English language skills ahead of the Games. The rules announced by Li also require airlines to keep one or two planes in reserve at Beijing and other airports receiving many Olympic visitors. Travel agents will be banned from selling more tickets than seats on domestic flights between July and September. Airlines that seriously fail the standards will not be allowed to apply to expand services for two years, Li warned. Even as the rules were announced, thousands of passengers at airports in eastern China were waiting for flights delayed by days of fog, Xinhua also reported. Jan 15, 2008

Qantas Airways, Virgin Blue

Qantas Airways said all domestic carriers experienced a decline in reliability in the second half of 2007 compared to the same period in 2006. A spokesman said Qantas did better than Virgin Blue throughout 2007. However, November had been a particularly bad month for weather on the east coast of Australia. "High winds in Sydney meant the airport was often reduced to a single runway," he said. Virgin Blue spokeswoman Heather Jeffery said: "We can't speak for the industry but November doesn't appear to have been a stellar month for anyone. She said several factors were at play: air traffic congestion, delays due to weather, minor unscheduled maintenance and record passenger numbers. Jan 18, 2008

Singapore Changi Airport 

Singapore Airport new terminal is designed to run on lower energy costs compared to the older terminals, mainly via natural lighting from the 919 skylights and by positioning air-conditioners nearer to floor-level. But booming air travel is seen by environmentalists as bad news for greenhouse emissions, with aviation likely to be a controversial topic in discussions run by the United Nations to choose a pact to follow the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. The terminal has a striking five level high wall of hanging plants, a butterfly garden and koi ponds dotted amid its gleaming 380,000 square metres (4 million sq ft). Singapore is competing against Hong Kong and Bangkok to be the region's top aviation hub. Jan 10, 2008

Singapore Changi Airport

Singapore Changi's new Terminal 3 opened for operations yesterday Jan. 9 after months of intensive preparatory tests, which included 50 trial flights of which 20 were actual flights. First arrival was SQ001 from San Francisco at 11:50 and first departure was to London Heathrow at 12:50. T3 will increase Singapore's annual capacity to 70 million passengers. Jan 10, 2008

Sydney Airport 

Sydney Airport welcomes Transaero as its newest international airline. The Russian based carrier has commenced a regular charter service between Moscow and Sydney flying a Boeing 767. The CEO of Sydney Airport, Russell Balding, welcomed Transaero as Sydney Airport's thirty ninth international carrier. Moscow becomes Sydney Airport's fifty second international destination. Jan 9, 2008

ZZ

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