Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews Dec 16, 2013              I thought I must have read it wrong - Nok Airlines and Scoot signing an MoU to establish a new low-cost airline to be based in Bangkok! How the dynamics of aviation have changed with the maturing of budget carriers in Asia. The name of the game is beating recession and volatile economic times through adapting- and boy how have they done it!  How now, one wonders, will Thai AirAsia cope? Obviously, the pie isn’t big enough to go around. Or is it? The new airline will be named NokScoot and will be based at Don Mueang International  Airport. It will operate widebody aircraft on medium and long-haul international routes.  Nok will have up to 51% and Scoot will have 49%. The initial investment will be THB2 billion  (about SGD80 million). “We are excited at the prospect of expanding Nok’s presence overseas, and to be doing so  with the assistance o...

Neelam Mathews Aug 23, 2012 Starting Sept 16, Thai Smile, a subsidiary of Thai Airways (Thai) will be starting daily services to Hyderabad from Bangkok on brand new A-320 aircraft. “Thai Smile started twice daily non-stop service Macau in July and now the airline will connect India conveniently to Macau,” said Ravinder Talwar, Area Sales Manager, India Thai to Aerospace Diary. The service will replace the four flights a week of Thai to Hyderabad   to seven. Thai Smile is a new service by Thai with a fleet of all new Airbus A320 aircraft configured with 2 classes of service; ‘Smile’ Economy Class and ‘Smile Plus’ short haul business class service. Thai Smile will operate under the same Airline Operator Certificate, TG, to selected international destinations within 1-3 hours flight time from its hub at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok. Travel with THAI Smile is designed to be vibrant, fun, speedy, trendy and while the airline is not a budget carrier like N...

Singapore Air Show » February 16, 2012 by  Neelam Mathews Lufthansa Technik Philippines.   Weak airline profits are increasing pricing pressure on the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market. That’s a big challenge–but by no means the only one–facing MRO providers in 2012, the Year of the Dragon, according to Lufthansa Technik chairman August Henningsen. “We’re happy we’re in a growth market, not a shrinking one,” he told a press conference in Singapore yesterday. LHT has a not insignificant 60-customer presence in the Asian market, and this week the German group has been confirming more new business. Yesterday, SriLankan Airlines signed a five-year component supply contract through which LHT will support its Airbus A320 fleet. Spare parts will be supplied to the airline’s home base at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, whic...