Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews Dec 3, 2014 Steeped in the heat of intense competition, Asia-Pacific airlines must now confront additional challenges related to safety and health pandemics. With the loss of Malaysia Airlines flights  MH 370  and  MH 17  earlier this year, it came as no surprise that safety became the prime focus at the recent 58th Assembly of Presidents of Association of Asia Pacific Airlines ( AAPA ) in Tokyo. The 16-member  AAPA , which recently added Air Astana to its membership base, articulates views on common areas of interest of airlines in the region that jointly fly 5,911 aircraft, carrying 31 percent of global passenger traffic and generating $163 billion in annual revenues. “ AAPA  urges governments to improve efforts in the sharing of accurate intelligence and information related to flight safety on a global basis and to support the development of an augmented distribution system for the enhanced sharing of conflict zone ri...

Neelam Mathews Nov 19, 2014 The AAPA 2014 Annual Assembly of Presidents in Tokyo was a delight in more ways than one- am referring to the Sake ofcourse! But seriously, following a host of mostly useful sessions, come night and added to the fantastic Imperial Hotel food and drink was a brilliant performance by Japanese artistes who then asked IATA DG to come and try his hand. Tony Tyler is a great sport-have seen him dancing to the beat of the Beach Boys in Hong Kong , to playing a guitar in Astana and now this! His talents seem to know no bounds. Nice to see CEOs- ANA and Garuda CEOS also followed him exhibit the spirit of our industry. Enjoy!

by  Neelam Mathews  -  November 18, 2014, 9:23 AM Association of Asia Pacific Airlines members hope to see some relief from downward yield pressures next year. (Photo: Flickr:  Creative Commons (BY-NC)  by  Pieter v Marion ) Profitability remains elusive for Asian carriers facing challenges of surplus capacity even though most economies across the Asia-Pacific region continue to grow. “This is likely to continue in 2015…We hope it will stabilize next year,” said Association of Asia Pacific Airlines ( AAPA ) director general Andrew Herdman in Tokyo at a press briefing on the first day of group’s November 18 to 19 annual Assembly of Presidents.  Already, anecdotal evidence suggests deferment of delivery and reduction in staff as aggressive pricing intensifies, Herdman added.  However, after years of no growth, air cargo volumes have accelerated, a positive note for Asian airlines that account for 38 per...