1. AirAsia X to hop on Kangaroo route
The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation says A$1,000 return flights between Australia and UK are on the horizon. CAPA says AirAsia X plans a Gold Coast-Kuala Lumpur-London launch by late 2008, and a second Australian destination from October. Key points from the latest CAPA report include-AirAsia X to offer regular fares between Australia and UK for A$1,000 (plus taxes/charges);  Promotional fares could be much cheaper;  Kuala Lumpur-London Stansted services to commence by the end of 2008 with two leased A340s;  AirAsia X to announce second Australian destination by May-08, with services from Oct-08; Third Australian destination from Feb/Mar-09; "Active discussions" with Melbourne although other cities bidding aggressively.
Source: Business Standard; 27.3.2008

2. Air China on the move
Air China has moved its operations at Beijing Capital International Airport to the new Terminal 3. The move signals the next step in an important string of milestones for China's national flagship carrier. "Over the past year, Air China has made a number of strategic moves that has put our airline on course to becoming a leading regional and global player," said Kong Dong, deputy chairman of Air China. "In December 2007, we joined Star Alliance. This emphasizes our commitment to international standards and provides our frequent flyers with a truly international network. "Now we are moving into Terminal 3, which will expand our network potential and make us the airline of choice, not only for flights to and from China, but also across Asia and the world. "And in August 2008, we will join hands as an official Olympic sponsor to welcome visitors to the Beijing Olympic Games. We are extremely excited about the year ahead," Kong said. With more flights going into and out of Beijing than any other international or domestic airline, Air China is poised to benefit from the recent Terminal 3 expansion. The airport is now the world's largest by landmass, and with 90 million passengers forecast by 2012 it is scheduled to become the world's largest airport in terms of passenger numbers. Terminal 3 expansion, along with its third runway, will also propel the Beijing airport from ninth to third busiest air hub in the first year.
Source: Business Standard; 27.3.2008

3. Emirates launches low cost carrier
Emirates has responded to the growing influence of budget carriers in the Middle East by launching its own low cost carrier. Emirates Executive VP Commercial Operations, Ghaith Al-Ghaith, has been appointed CEO of the new airline. The unnamed Dubai LCC will be part of the Emirates Group, operating to destinations up to 4.5 hours flying time from its base. This includes the Middle East, all the key points in the India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Northeast Africa, Southern Europe and Central Asia. The new carrier plans to lease or buy single-aisle aircraft (B737s or A320s) and will begin operations within a year. However, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation believes it is only a matter of time before A380 equipment is eventually deployed at the airline "a move that would strike fear into airline managements in Europe and Asia". CAPA said Emirates has 58 A380s on order, or 30% of the entire global A380 orderbook. The carrier has previously indicated it could operate low cost services with A380 equipment. The airline is currently officially planning a higher density medium-haul configuration with 604 seats, although the A380-800 model is licensed to handle 853 in an all-economy layout. The Emirates LCC move follows the success of Air Arabia, based in the neighboring emirate of Sharjah, which has reported outstanding profitability since its launch and has recently established cross-border JVs in Morocco and Nepal to target the North Africa/Europe and Asian markets, respectively. Kuwait-based LCC, Jazeera Airlines, has also established a base in Dubai.
Source: Economic Times; 20.3.2008

4. Abacus seeks the sexiest hack
Abacus International is hosting the Abacus Hack Day on March 26-27 for the second time. Aimed to encourage and empower local innovations and differentiated solutions amongst the Abacus developer community, the event in Singapore will see around 30 participants coming together from all over Asia and U.S. to show off what hacks (or software) they can put together within a 24-hour window. 'Hack' is a jargon to mean "an incredible good piece of work that produces exactly what is needed". There is no restriction on the type of hack that can be submitted - all that is needed is ingenuity and the ability to make the hack work. The teams or individuals will pit idea against idea in a 24-hour coding marathon, vying for the following awards:

1) Ultimate Geek Hack
2) Sexiest Hack
3) What were you smoking about?
4) Most Marketable (for travel industry)
5) Hacker's Choice
Source: Economic Times; 20.3.2008

 5. JetBlue latest in line to use LAX
JetBlue Airways Corp. has never been a big user of Los Angeles International Airport. "Then out of the blue last month, the low-cost carrier stunned LAX officials by asking for gates there. Moreover, it wanted them in Terminal 6 next to Virgin America, the airline started by eccentric British billionaire Richard Branson," says the LA Times. It was no surprise to industry observers. Mr Branson is once again shaking up the industry with an airline that is offering low fares and unusual onboard amenities, says the newspaper. The result at LAX is that competition there is getting more lively than ever. LAX passengers flying to popular domestic destinations such as San Francisco and New York are getting some of the lowest fares in years despite record fuel prices."We've become a hotbed of competition," said Paul Haney, the airport's deputy executive director. "I don't know if we could say that without Virgin America."Since Virgin America began flying out of LAX in August with fares as low as $44 one-way, competitors have been beefing up flights and lowering fares. The result is that even JetBlue has been prompted to enter the market.Forest Hills, N.Y.-based JetBlue, which has had its part in shaking up the industry with discount fares since it started flying in 2000, said last month that it would begin serving LAX passengers with four daily flights to New York and Boston beginning in May. The sudden flurry of choices for flights to some of the more popular destinations has been a boon for LAX consumers, who are seeing fares as much as half of what they had been used to paying.
Source: Economic Times; 20.3.2008

6. BA increases Iberia shareholding
British Airways has increased its shareholding in Iberia from 10.1% to 13.15%. It has bought 28,745,767 shares of the Spanish airline at an average price of €2.34 per share. The airline, which abandoned takeover plans for Iberia last November, said it was planning further investment in the airline. BA chief executive officer Willie Walsh said: "This purchase reflects the strategic importance we attach to our relationship with Iberia and our continued confidence in its management. We will consider further opportunities to increase our stake."
Source: Financial Times; 20.3.2008

 7. Etihad opens new Bangkok office
Etihad Airways has opened a new office in Bangkok located the 11th floor of Tonson Tower, centrally located on Ploenchit Road in the city. Mr. Florian Preuss, Manager Thailand and Mekong Region, Etihad Airways said, "We believe that our new office will provide an elegant ambience in which our customers can expect to receive the same high level of service on the ground as they do in the air. The attention to detail is indicative of our strong customer focus and our commitment to providing exemplary service." The new premises feature separate, personalized customer service areas, which aim to ensure privacy and comfort for Etihad's customers.
Source: Financial Express; 20.3.2008 

8. Air Mauritius to connect Bangalore from April 29, 2008
With healthy load factors accounting for 78 per cent on the Mumbai route, 75 per cent on Delhi route and approximately 68-71 per cent on the Chennai route, Air Mauritius is gearing up to launch its fourth gateway Bangalore from April 29, 2008 and a series of media campaigns with new strategies to strengthen its position in the Indian market. The airline is slated to launch three media campaigns across both the electronic and print mediums. States Rajesh Busgheet, Regional Manager Indian Sub-Continent and Middle East, Air Mauritius, "We will be commencing our electronic campaign on Zee TV from April 1, 2008. The focus of the campaign will be on promoting the destination and its leisure offerings to the end consumer. In addition, we will also be running our print campaigns in the same month." With regards to the print campaigns, plans are underway to focus on network connections that promote Mauritius and beyond for Indian travelers. Triangular destination offers from Mauritius are also on the cards but are being worked upon. The next interesting development will be the onward connection to Australia connecting Perth, Sydney or Melbourne via Mauritius as a stop-over, which accounts for the same flying time from any Far East destination. Elaborating on the plans, Busgheet mentioned, "There is a huge traffic going to Australia, and travelers want newer options for their transit. Going via Mauritius will also allow them the benefit to explore the destination as visa is not an issue. Apart from just connecting Australia, we are also looking to promote connections to South Africa." Plans are underway for the advertising campaign to promote connections to Australia through student traffic. In this regard, the airline will offer special fares to students. With all the advertising campaigns well in process and good load factors, number of other developments are being undertaken. "We are refurbishing five A340's and converting them into two class configurations Business (34) and Economy class (251). These aircraft service the Mumbai Mauritius route apart from other international sectors. The new aircraft will be inducted on the Mumbai route from July 2008," informed Busgheet. Indian traveller can also look forward to the new Mauritius Madrid connection that will commence from July 7, 2008.
Source:TravelBiz Monitor; 27.3.2008

9. Emirates to offer 2 flights daily to Delhi
The Dubai-based Emirates Airlines is to operate a double daily flight to Delhi from July 2, apart from increasing its operations to eight times a week to Ahmedabad from March 30 this year. In a statement the airline has said that from March 30 it will operate twice-a-day between Dubai and Delhi every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. From July, the airline will make the twice-a-day service daily.
Source: Business Line; 27.3.2008

10. ‘Deccan’ soon to go off from the skies
The 'Deccan' brand is likely to be extinguished once the merger of Deccan Aviation and Kingfisher Airlines is completed, quite in reversal of what was last said on the matter."Deccan will cease to exist as the merger process is about to be completed," Mr Vijay Mallya, Chairman of United Breweries’ group-owned Kingfisher Airlines, said on Thursday. While he did not elaborate on the brand as it were, a person with knowledge of developments in the low-cost carrier that the name of Deccan would be changed after merger procedures are over. It may be recalled that in December last year at the time of the approval of merger by the boards of both companies; Capt Gopinath, Deccan Aviation’s Chairman had said that brand Deccan would continue to remain even after the merger with Kingfisher Airlines. He was unavailable for comment on the new development. Capt Gopinath would be a director in the merged entity, most likely in the Vice-Chairman's post. Air Deccan is widely regarded to have pioneered the low-cost carrier model for the Indian aviation industry. It was re-branded as 'Simplify Deccan' sometime back, when its interiors, livery and other aspects had also been changed. Elaborating on the development, Mr Ravi Nedungadi, President and Chief Financial Officer of UB Group, said, "While there will be no change in the low-cost model of Deccan, we will decide on whether to keep the name (for the low-cost service) or change it in another two to three months. It is not a corporate decision and would depend on the surveys regarding the brand in the market." The Karnataka High Court has convened a meeting on April 17 for the merger of Kingfisher Airlines and Deccan Aviation, Mr Mallya told a group of journalists in Baramati on the occasion of first grape crushing of the season at his winery on Thursday. Late last year, Kingfisher Airlines picked up a 26 per cent stake in Deccan Aviation for Rs 550 crore and made an open offer for 20 per cent stake taking its holding to 46 per cent. After the stock ratio is finalized, UB Holdings will have in excess of 51 per cent in the merged entity.
Source: Business Line; 27.3.2008