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An artist’s impression of an Airbus A321LR in Jetstar livery. AIRBUS/JETSTAR
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Insights from the world of aviation
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA NEWS
Virgin Australia has received the necessary traffic rights to commence nonstop flights between Brisbane and Tokyo Haneda Airport from the end of March 2020. On October 29, Australia’s International Air Services Commission (IASC) said it had awarded Virgin Australia one of the two available slots for nonstop flights to Haneda. The Brisbane-Tokyo Haneda nonstop flight would be operated in partnership with Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA).
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While Brisbane-Tokyo Haneda was given the green light, Virgin Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah announced at the airline group’s annual general meeting in Brisbane on November 6 the curtain would come down on the airline’s Melbourne-Hong Kong service in February 2020. Scurrah said the route “continued to underperform in line with the political landscape”. The airline would continue to fly between Sydney and Hong Kong.
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Still on Virgin Australia, the airline also announced a slew of route changes as part of an ongoing review of its fleet and network that began earlier in 2019. This included ending Canberra-Perth from 6 December 6 2019, Gold Coast-Perth from 19 January 19 2020 and Sydney-Christchurch from 29 April 29l 2020, while there were also frequency reductions on Sydney-Tamworth and Sydney-Auckland. “Flying to the right destinations, with the right customer demand, and the right sized fleet will improve our financial performance,” Scurrah told shareholders.
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On the other side of the ledger, Virgin Australia planned to re-enter the Melbourne-Denpasar market with nonstop flights using Boeing 737-800 equipment from 29 March 29 2020. Scurrah said it had previously been a “very profitable” route in the airline’s network. In 2016, Virgin Australia handed the route to its low-cost carrier (LCC) unit Tigerair Australia, which ended its services to Bali from Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth in early 2017 due to an impasse with Indonesian regulators.
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Further on Tigerair Australia, Scurrah said the company was looking to “re-focus Tigerair flights on key holiday destinations” and would withdraw two Airbus A320s from the LCC’s fleet and drop three routes – Brisbane-Darwin and Proserpine-Sydney in February 2020, and Adelaide-Brisbane in March 2020. Tigerair Australia operates a mix of A320s and Boeing 737-800s and is moving to an all-Boeing fleet.
QANTAS GROUP NEWS
Qantas has reported total revenue of $4.56 billion for the three months to 30 September 30 2019, up 1.8 per cent from $4.49 billion in the prior corresponding period. The trading update published on October 24 noted market conditions were challenging, with weaker demand for corporate travel in the financial services and telecommunications sectors, as well as among small businesses and price-sensitive leisure travellers. On a more positive note, the resources-related markets had improved.
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Still on the trading update, Qantas said the airline group would have an “increased focus” on cost reduction efforts in the second half of 2019/20. “Given the slower revenue environment, we have a strong focus on cost reduction to make sure we keep delivering on our transformation targets,” Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said in a statement. “Part of this is about taking opportunities to reduce complexity and constantly improving how efficiently we manage our business.”
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Jetstar group chief executive Gareth Evans said on November 1 the first of 18 Airbus A321LRs on order were expected to arrive in August 2020. Evans told reporters in Sydney the long-range narrowbody would be configured to carry 232 passengers in a single-class layout at 29-inch pitch. Jetstar planned to use the A321LRs on Australian domestic routes, as well as on international services from Australia to Asia and the South Pacific.
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Almost a quarter of Qantas shareholders have supported calls for the airline to undertake a review of the way it conducts involuntary transfers of asylum seekers on behalf of the Australian government. While the resolution put forward by the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) at the company’s annual general meeting in Adelaide on October 25 failed to pass, the 23.56 per cent who voted in favour represented a significant increase from 2018, when 6.43 per cent supported a similar resolution proposed by the ACCR. Qantas directors had recommended shareholders vote against the resolutions, arguing the proposals were not in the their best interests and the review was unwarranted.
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Qantas has received one of the two available new slots for Australian carriers at Tokyo Haneda Airport. The airline had been hoping to secure both slots to add a second Sydney-Tokyo Haneda service and switch its Melbourne-Tokyo Narita flight to the close-in Haneda Airport. However, Australia’s International Air Services Commission (IASC) decided to give Virgin Australia one slot and Qantas one slot. In response to the decision, Qantas said in late October it would announce how it planned to use its one slot at a later date.
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AIR NEW ZEALAND NEWS
Air New Zealand announced on October 23 it would commence three times weekly nonstop flights between Auckland and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey with Boeing 787-9s from 29 October 29 2020. The New Zealand flag carrier will be the first airline in Oceania to offer nonstop flights from this part of the world to the United States east coast. The 7,655 nm Auckland-Newark route would have a flight time of 15 hours and 40 minutes northbound and 17 hours and 40 minutes southbound.
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However, the launch of nonstop flights to Newark has come at the expense of Air New Zealand’s Auckland-Los Angeles-London Heathrow flight, with the Los Angeles-London Heathrow fifth-freedom leg being discontinued from October 2020. The end of flights to London would result in the closure of the airline’s London cabin crew base, as well as the loss of about 25 jobs among sales and ground staff. Air New Zealand acting chief executive Jeff McDowall said the airline lacked the home market advantages and scale of the North American and European airlines flying between Los Angeles and London Heathrow.
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Air New Zealand announced on October 11 a Kiwi was returning home to run the national carrier. Retail executive Greg Foran (inset), who has been president and chief executive of Walmart’s United States operations since 2014, will take his place as Air New Zealand chief executive in the first quarter of 2020. Air New Zealand chairman Dame Therese Walsh said the board was thrilled to have attracted a “world class Kiwi back home”, noting Foran grew up in Hastings and Hamilton on the country’s North Island.
AIRLINE NEWS
Cathay Pacific has taken the honour of being the first airline to operate the Airbus A350-1000 to Australia after deploying the aircraft on one of its three daily Melbourne-Hong Kong services. The first flight with the next generation Airbus widebody touched down in Melbourne on Sunday October 27. The next day, Cathay Pacific also began flying the A350-1000 between Perth and Hong Kong.
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Still on the A350-1000, Qatar Airways became the second airline to operate the type to Australia when it switched its daily Doha-Sydney-Canberra service from the Boeing 777-300ER to the A350-1000 at the end of October. And it will add a second A350-1000 route to this part of the world in 2020, when it upgauges its Doha-Adelaide service to the A350-1000 from March 29 2020.
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American Airlines announced in late October it planned to start two new seasonal services to New Zealand, with Dallas/Fort Worth-Auckland and Los Angeles-Christchurch nonstop flights to begin in October 2020. The new routes were launched four months after the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) approved an expanded partnership between American and Qantas. American said it would fly Boeing 787-9s on Dallas/Fort Worth-Auckland, while 787-8s would serve the Los Angeles-Christchurch route.
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Singapore Airlines commenced Airbus A350-900 operations on its Singapore-Melbourne-Wellington service at the end of October 2019. Having the A350-900 replace the Boeing 777-200 that previously served the route represented a product upgrade for passengers, given the Airbus widebody had 42 lie-flat business class seats with direct aisle access, 24 premium economy seats in a 2-4-2 layout and 187 economy seats in a 3-3-3 configuration rather than an older generation cabin on the 777-200s that were gradually being retired. And while the A350-900 had 13 fewer seats than the 777-200 (253 versus 266), Singapore Airlines had previously announced it was would increase the route to five times weekly from 1 January 1 2020 – from four times a week currently – meaning there would be an overall increase in capacity.
OEM NEWS
Boeing has forecast the airlines in Australia, New Zealand and the nations of the South Pacific would require 820 new aircraft over the next 20 years to meet the expected growth in passenger traffic into, out of and within the region. The manufacturer’s 2019-2038 Current Market Outlook (CMO) for Oceania, published in mid-October, said the 820 aircraft comprised 10 in the regional jets segment, 560 in the single-aisle segment, 250 in the widebody segment and nil in the freighters segment. The only change from the prior year’s CMO was in the widebody segment, which was reduced by 50 aircraft.
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GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) have joined forces to launch a freighter conversion program for the Boeing 777-300ER. The pair said in mid-October it expected to secure regulator approval from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI) for the 777-300ERSF (Special Freighter) supplemental type certificate (STC) within three years. GECAS said it was committed to 15 firm orders for the aircraft along with options for 15 more and would supply the prototype aircraft from its owned portfolio.
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Boeing has pushed back first delivery of its 777-X program from mid-2020 to early 2021 due to flight testing delays caused by ongoing engine issues and more recently, a door blowing off during stress testing. Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg outlined the new timetable for the program during the company’s third-quarter earnings presentation in Chicago in late October. The first flight was expected to take place in early 2020.
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In late October, Airbus brought an A220-300 regional jet on a demonstration tour of the Asia Pacific, which included stops in Auckland, Brisbane, Port Moresby, Port Vila and Sydney, among other destinations. The demonstration tour used an A220-300 YL-AAS from launch customer, Latvia’s airBaltic. Airbus single-aisle family product marketing manager customer affairs Souren Agopian talked up the versatility of the regional jet, telling reporters in Sydney the aircraft’s published range of 3,200 nm would be able to cover “pretty much all of Oceania” from Sydney, which included the islands of the South Pacific, as well as Denpasar in Indonesia.
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Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce gave the aircraft the thumbs up, telling reporters on a demonstration flight of the aircraft in Sydney on October 29 the A220-300 looked like a “very good aircraft”. Further, Joyce said: “I think the passengers would love it. It feels very quiet, that’s one thing you do notice. Even the toilets are big.” Joyce said Qantas was planning to make a decision on the replacement of its regional and narrowbody fleet some time in 2020.
AIRPORT NEWS
Vocal and public campaigning from Australia’s two largest airline groups has failed to sway Australia’s Productivity Commission from changing its position that there was no need to introduce a negotiate-arbitrate mechanism to resolve disputes between airport users and operators. The Productivity Commission’s final report on its inquiry into Australia’s airports repeated the position in its draft report that the current regulatory arrangements were fit for purpose and had benefitted the community. Further, it said Australia’s largest airports – Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, which are subject to monitoring by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) – had “not systematically exercised their market power”.
DEFENCE NEWS
Boeing Defence Australia has opened a new defence test facility at Wacol, south of Brisbane. Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price helped cut the ribbon on the new facility in late October. Boeing Defence Australia said in a statement the “ground-breaking environmental and electromagnetic test facility” would enable all the design, development, testing and assembly work for its battlespace communication system, known as Project Currawong, to be completed locally.
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As 2019 draws to a close, so too does the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 2OCU’s Air Warfare Instructor Course (AWIC) mission operating the F/A-18A/B “classic” Hornet. The last Hornet Operational Conversion course, which started in July and was expected to conclude in December, would coincide with the final flight for the 2OCU Classic Hornet. The unit was expected to be re-established at Luke AFB in Arizona to take delivery of its first F-35A Lightning IIs.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack announced in late October the federal government planned to develop a regional aviation policy statement in partnership with airlines, regional airports, local communities and state and territory governments. The initiative was announced at the Regional Aviation Association of Australia national convention on October 28. “This policy statement will canvass strategies to ensure regional aviation remains competitive and viable into the future and we will also be listening closely to the views of regional development and tourism organisations and business,” McCormack said in a statement.
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