Aerospace Diary

Open Skies Open Opportunities for Embraer in Asia by  Neelam Mathews  - January 14, 2015, 3:44 PM The Embraer E195 found its first operator in Indonesia when Kalstar Aviation agreed to lease two of the narrowbodies from Aldus Aviation. (Image: Embraer) As the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) prepares to partially implement an  Open Skies policy  by the end of the year, airlines in the region increasingly eye expansion in low- and mid-density cities. Indonesian operator Kalstar Aviation did its part on Tuesday, when it announced a lease deal covering two Embraer E195s with Dublin-based Aldus Aviation. It plans soon to announce routes from Kalimantan, its base. “We are proud to be the first Embraer operator in Indonesia and we look forward to enhancing our operations,” said Kalstar CEO Andi Masyhur. “The E195 gives us an opportunity to open new routes and provide better connectivity, freque...

Written by  Neelam Mathews  Tuesday, 07 October 2014 06:00 With Thailand’s aerospace industry booming, Neelam Mathews reports on the country’s latest MRO developments Thailand’s focus on aerospace is fast making it an emerging centre for component manufacture and maintenance  While investors have indicated that they would like the return of an elected government, in July alone, Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) approved applications for 15 industrial projects valued at $1.6bn, indicating business was back to normal. A string of incentives are making investors bullish about moving their business to a country that has already become the third largest in the world in terms of automobile manufacture. Building the future Recognising that infrastructure is a basic need, deputy secretary general of the BOI, Ajarin Pattanapanchai, has said that plans for an aerospace industrial park will be announced soon.  The country is looking to encourage Tier 2 ...

FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW  »  2014 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Along with Thailand’s Board of Investment, Amata Corp., a developer and manager of industrial parks in Southeast Asia already established in Bangkok, Chonburi and Rayong, as well as in Vietnam, has big plans for an aerospace cluster in Thailand, which could include MRO facilities serving airlines such as Thai Airways. July 15, 2014, 6:20 AM In view of its success in nurturing a thriving automobile industry–the ninth largest in the world–and as Asia edges toward becoming the world’s largest growth market for aviation, Thailand’s Board of Investment ( BOI ) is considering building an aerospace industry starting with Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers servicing global  OEM supply chains. The  ASEAN  Economic Community ( AEC ) regional economic integration plan envisions establishment of a single market and production base by 2015. Thailand already has an $800 million a...

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE  »  SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Myanmar’s flag carrier, Myanmar Airways, flies seven Airbus A320s. (Photo: Myanmar Airways) September 9, 2013, 10:10 AM As it embarks on a series of reforms under a new government that took office in March 2011, Myanmar has set its sights on next year for the release of a national civil aviation policy to prepare for a traffic boom that threatens to overwhelm its woefully inadequate air transport infrastructure. The country’s fast growing airline industry now counts seven domestic carriers, and four more airlines owned by Myanmar nationals have submitted applications to launch operations. Government forecasts predict an increase in annual visitors to six million in 2017. Overcrowding has already become so dire that the Department of Civil Aviation ( DCA ) has restricted the number of airlines that can operate out of Yangon International Airport ( YIA )...

PARIS AIR SHOW  »  2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS June 20, 2013, 11:10 AM The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) open-skies agreement, to be implemented by 2015, will open up big business in the region for aircraft  OEM s, according to Dinesh Keskar, Boeing Commercial Airplanes senior v-p of sales Asia-Pacific and India. The agreement is intended to boost connectivity and increase traffic growth by granting open market access to all international airports in Southeast Asia to airlines of the 10 Asean member states. Asia has a 40 percent market share of the airline travel market and with booming economies,  GDP  growing, high disposable incomes and no recession, potential in Indonesia, India and China is big, Keskar said. As budget carriers make their mark in Asia, large carriers such as Lion Air and AirAsia are making the presence of narrowbodies apparent. “The opening of routes and the pace of Asean ...

Neelam Mathews Jan 5, 2013 Specially-designed livery was launched by Prime Minister of Malaysia to commemorate the start of ‘Program Integrasi 1Malaysia’ with AirAsia to promote the diversity of Ithe country. What a way to flaunt it! Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of AirAsia commented, “I am very proud to be Malaysian and I am sure my extended family of AirAsia Allstars (our staff), whether they are Malaysians or not, are also proud to embrace the concept of 1Malaysia – which personifies the true identity of our country. The success of AirAsia is also attributed to Dato’ Sri Najib’s decision to open up our skies before year 2015, when the Open Skies policy will be implemented throughout the Asean region and I would like to applaud him for that move." Fernandes stressed the reduction of airport tax was also a catalyst that propelled AirAsia “to what we are today. And having this special 1Malaysia aircraft livery is just a small gesture for the support the government has gi...

Neelam Mathews Aug 7, 2012   AirAsia Asean, the regional base of AirAsia, was officially launched in Jakarta today. The launch coincides with the eve of the 45 th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). AirAsia Asean was set up as part of the regional expansion strategy of the group, which now includes six airlines, five of which are anchored in Asean: the short-haul carriers AirAsia Malaysia, AirAsia Thailand, AirAsia Indonesia, AirAsia Philippines and AirAsia Japan, and the long-haul carrier AirAsia X. Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of AirAsia, and Kamarudin Meranun, Deputy Group CEO of AirAsia, will be based at the AirAsia Asean office.  “The establishment of the AirAsia Asean office in Jakarta as our regional base is to help to more fully deliver on our pledge – Now everyone can fly – to all the people of Asean and beyond.  We are blessed to be located in a part of the world where economic growth is expected to be sustaine...

Posted by- Sitanshu Kar from Singapore Saturday, June 02, 2012 Defense Minister AK Antony  said contentious issues relating to maritime domain should only be ‘resolved through the process of dialogue, consensus building and within the framework of accepted principles of international law’. Addressing the 11th Asia Security Summit, also known as Shangri La Dialogue, in Singapore,  Antony said the international community must ‘remain sensitive to the problems of smaller nations and ensure that their rights, as equal members of the global community, are not overlooked or compromised’. He said the spirit of cooperation among international community shown in anti-piracy measures can be extended to ‘de-conflict contentious maritime issues’. “Large parts of the common seas cannot be declared exclusive to any one country or group. We must find the balance between the rights of nations and the freedoms of the world community in the maritime domain. Like individual freedoms, the ...

Regulatory/Legislative Aviation Daily Mar 25 , 2010 , p. 12 Neelam Mathews An open-skies agreement among 10 of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries may be signed by their transport ministers at the 16th ASEAN summit in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam, on April.8. The 10 members of ASEAN (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), recently adopted a multilateral agreement that seeks to liberalize market access, as well as ownership and control requirements, for air carriers in the region. The agreement is a precursor to an eventual single aviation market arrangement targeted for 2015. Talks on the ASEAN open-skies framework among member countries started in 2003. They included phased plans for liberalizing intra-ASEAN freight and passenger air services. The open-skies pact will liberalize air space among the 10 members to enable regional carriers unlimited flights among capital cities. The...