Asian Airlines & Airports
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New Changi Terminal
Mar 10th
Weary travellers tired of the basic facilities at Singapore Airport’s Changi Budget Terminal (The Shed) will probably welcome news that the Shed is to be demolished. This is to make way for a new 16 million ppa terminal, Changi Terminal 4, which will open in 2017.
A Changi Airports Group (CAG) spokesperson said the Budget Terminal will close on 25 September this year, and works would take four years to complete. Existing carriers using the Budget Terminal will move to Terminal 2, and include Berjaya Air, Cebu Pacific, Firefly, South East Asian Airlines and Tiger Airways. Between them, these carriers processed over 4.5 million passenger movements last year, and the airport managers are confident the new setup will handle what they see as increased demand.
In 2011, Changi handled more than 46 million passengers, 10.7% up on 2010.
Beijing Plans for World’s Largest Airport
Mar 10th
According to reports from some local China media, and despite protests to the contrary from Chinese Civil Aviation sources, it seems China is putting as much effort into aviation infrastructure as into new railways.
A new airport, situated at Langfang in Hebei Province will be built within five years, according to a report in the Yanzhao Metropolis Daily. Situated around 20minutes by train (40km) from Beijing, the new airport will have nine runways and be able to handle 130million passengers and 5.5million tons of freight per year.
The existing facilities at Beijing Capital International Airport catered for almost 74million passengers in 2010, but is creaking at the seams, say experts. With annual increase passenger traffic increasing at about 15% a year, it has reached capacity and needs replacing.
Incheon Airport signs Bumper $9 Million Kurdistan Deal
Mar 10th
Beginning in June this year, South Korea’s Incheon Airport will oversee the entire management, supervision, subcontracts, engineering and construction QA, costs and testing for a new airport at Duhok, Kurdistan.
Being managed for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the project will span three years, and will see at least ten Korean specialists working on the $200million project. The facility will cater for 500,000 mppa, says the Kurdistan Peyamner News Agency.
C.W Lee, president of Incheon Airport, said: “This contract is highly meaningful in that it is our second big deal in the Middle East. Building on the leading brand power of Incheon Airport, we will clinch other similar deals down the road and further our reputation as an A-list airport company.”
Airshow Flies High
Mar 10th
Singapore Airshow defied talk of a slowdown in the industry and region, with a record attendance for last week’s industry bonanza. “Singapore Airshow 2012 has been a success for everyone,” asserted Jimmy Lau, Managing Director of Experia Events, organiser of Singapore Airshow.
Despite some hassles around entrance routing and a labyrinthine exhibition floor plan, some 145,000 visitors and attendees passed through the well-manned security gates over the six days. During the four trade days from 14-17 February around 45,000 men in suits from 128 countries/regions, attended. Tickets for the public days on 18-19 February saw around 100,000 visitors over the two days.
“We have set a new record for the value of deals announced,” said Lau. “And over 70% of exhibitors have already reaffirmed their commitment to take up exhibition space in 2014.”
Singapore Airshow returns from 11 to 16 February 2014 at Changi Exhibition Centre.
Kingfisher in a Flap
Mar 10th
Beer-based airline Kingfisher yesterday announced “reduced operations” but promised to return to full service within days. Blaming the cuts – over 32 flights or almost 15% of all routes – on “unexpected events” including bird strikes, the latest bad news comes hot on the heels of Kingfisher’s recent woes including an almost 4.5billion rupee Q3 2011 loss, postponement of its oneWorld membership, and a bank freeze late last year.
Kingfisher boss Vijay Mallya was upbeat nonetheless, his statement saying that: “this has happened in the past not just to us but also to Air India. We have resolved issues before and will do so again.” With India’s commercial aviation market straining under intense competition for routes, rock-bottom fares and high fuel prices, Kingfisher is just one of several major carriers involved in a war of attrition in an attempt to hang on to market share.
Despite Vijay Mallya’s assertion late last year that he had: “personally stepped in to provide a third level of comfort to lenders,” it looks like Kingfisher is finding it extremely tough to source the extra several hundred million dollars estimates indicate that it will need to maintain operations.
As *one*world CEO Bruce Ashby noted in a recent interview: “These are turbulent times for the airline industry in India … We have been working closely with Kingfisher Airlines over the past months and it has become increasingly clear recently that the airline needs more time to resolve the financial issues it is confronting.”
