Airline News - Asia / Pacific

Airguide Online, Dec 22, 2008

Dec 21, 2008

A former Qantas Airways maintenance employee has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for carrying out work on aircraft without being properly qualified. Timothy McCormack was today sentenced to three years and five months in prison by a judge in Sydney. According to reports from the courthouse he will not be eligible for parole for at least two years. McCormack, 27, had earlier pled guilty to several dozen charges, including performing unauthorised maintenance work on aircraft, forging a licence and falsifying Civil Aviation Safety Authority exam results. Dec 17, 2008

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand has reduced fares to Australia by an average of 15%, with some dropping by up to 45%, while Pacific Island fares have fallen twice in the same period. Thompson said that across the rest of the network ANZ has increased dramatically the number of lowest available fares, including doubling the number of cheapest fares on domestic services. It has had a long-running feud with Auckland over its landing charges and has suggested moving some domestic flights to Whenuapai Airbase in West Auckland. Dec 19, 2008

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines will start service from Los Angeles to Sydney (daily from July 1 aboard a 777-200LR) and Sao Paulo Guarulhos (thrice-weekly from May 21 aboard a 767-300ER). Dec 19, 2008

Japan Airlines, Air New Zealand, Boeing

Japan Airlines and Air New Zealand plan to test second-generation biofuel blends in 747 aircraft. JAL's mix for its Jan. 30 flight will consist primarily of camelina, while ANZ is testing jatropha oil in a flight on Dec. 30. In a 737 test flight from Houston on Jan. 7, Continental Airlines plans to test a biofuel mix derived from algae. Dec 17, 2008

Japan Airlines, Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, Honeywell

Japan Airlines said that it will operate a 747-300 test flight from Tokyo Haneda on Jan. 30 in conjunction with Boeing, Pratt & Whitney and Honeywell. It will use biofuel primarily derived from camelina plants. A blend of 50% biofuel and 50% traditional jet fuel will be tested in one of the aircraft's four JT9D engines. The biofuel will be a mixture of three second-generation feedstocks: Camelina (84%), jatropha (under 16%) and algae (under 1%). The flight will be the first using fuel derived from camelina and the first to use a combination of three feedstocks. It also will be the first biofuel test flight on an aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney engines. It will last about 1 hr. Dec 16, 2008

Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines will launch four-times-weekly Singapore-Abu Dhabi-Kuwait City service on March 15 aboard a 777-200. It will continue to operate a thrice-weekly SIN-AUH and will add a fourth weekly SIN-Dubai-Cairo flight on March 12. It launched four-times-weekly SIN-DXB-Riyadh on Dec. 14. Dec 17, 2008

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