Transportation Industry

Aircraft Finance & Leasing News - Asia / Pacific

AirGuide Business, Sept 8, 2008

Sep 8, 2008

Air China, Air Macau

Air China subsidiary Air Macau plans to request a new capital injection from its stakeholders and lease three A320s/A321s to CA this month in order to alleviate its financial crisis, according to the Macau Daily News. The amount of the cash injection will be determined soon by a stakeholders' conference. Air China holds a 51% stake in Air Macau, whose other stakeholders include TAP Portugal's SEAP investment fund (15%), casino company Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (14%), the Macau government and EVA Air. Sep 4, 2008

Kunpeng Airlines, Embraer

Kunpeng Airlines took delivery of the first of five 98-seat Embraer E-190s ordered in July . Sep 3, 2008

Mitsubishi Aircraft, All Nippon Airways

The Mitsubishi Regional Jet is scheduled to enter service in 2013 with All Nippon Airways, which ordered 15 MRJ-90s with 10 options in March to help launch the program. Mitsubishi projects a requirement for 5,000 regional aircraft over the next 20 years, and it hopes that the MRJ will win 1,000 of those. Sep 3, 2008

Hainan Airlines, Embraer

Hainan Airlines announced that its Chang'an Airlines subsidiary leased out two Embraer E-190s to Grand China Express Airlines for one year. Sep 2, 2008

Kingfisher Airlines, Airbus

Kingfisher Airlines aims to sell some of the five Airbus A340-500s it has on order, but wants to keep at least two so it can launch ultra-long-haul services from Bangalore to San Francisco. The carrier's executive vice-president, Hitesh Patel, says all five A340-500s are to be delivered in October and it is working to sell two or three. Patel says Kingfisher experienced difficulties raising financing for the A340-500s, but that issue has been resolved. "With the price of fuel... we felt it was in our best interests to hold onto [just] a couple of the A340s," rather than five, he says. Kingfisher was due by the end of August to have taken delivery of four of the five A330s it has on order. Sep 2, 2008

Malaysia Airlines. ATR

Malaysia Airlines subsidiaries MASwings and Firefly each took delivery of a new ATR 72-500 that will replace an F50. It is MASwings' first ATR 72 and Firefly's second. Sep 1, 2008

Qantas Airways, Boeing

Qantas Airways is considering ordering Boeing 777-300ER long-range widebody twinjets because it has concluded that it will need a second type to operate alongside Airbus A380s to fully replace its fleet of aging Boeing 747-400s. The Oneworld carrier's chief executive Geoff Dixon says the airline is in discussions with Airbus and Boeing on acquiring additional long-haul aircraft to replace its 747-400s. Qantas operates 30 747-400s and has 20 A380s on order, the first of which is due to be delivered in September. The airline says no decision has been made on which type of aircraft will be acquired and no proposals have been put to the board. In 2006 Qantas evaluated the ultra-long-range 777-200LR, but decided against placing an order. Last year the carrier called on Boeing to develop a longer-range 787. If Qantas adds 777-300ERs it could facilitate the launch of more services from Australia to continental Europe. The airline routes most of its Europe-bound traffic through London Heathrow. Sep 1, 2008

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