Is the premium economy trend finally catching on as Air Canada becomes the latest airline to announce its introduction as “a new class of travel”, starting with the Montreal-Paris non-stop route in July 2013. New, perhaps for the Canadian carrier, but not quite globally. Eva Air of Taiwan was one of the first carriers to introduce the premium economy class, when it launched its operations in 1991. There was a …Read More
Air Canada and WestJet shake up Canadian skies
The usual lack of excitement in the Canadian aviation scene is about to change. Air Canada’s new low-cost carrier (LCC) Rouge will take to the skies in July next year. It will start with two Boeing 767s and two Airbus A319s, flying initially from Toronto and Montreal to leisure destinations in Europe and the Caribbean, with plans to expand the fleet to 50 aircraft eventually and to also fly to …Read More
Can Air Canada succeed with budget long-haul where others have failed?
AS the popular folk ballad ‘Blowing in the Wind’ goes, “When will they ever learn”? In announcing plans to consider launching a long-haul budget carrier, has Air Canada not learnt from the failure of Hong Kong-based Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, which commenced operations first between Hong Kong and London in 2006 and then between Hong Kong and Vancouver in 2007 only to fold up its wings in 2008? So also …Read More
A case for universal full airfare disclousre
On January 24th, the United States kicked in mandatory full airfare disclosure by airlines in advertisements to include all taxes and surcharges. Across the globe in Australia, the authorities there were taking Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia to court for misleading advertisements. According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), AirAsia’s web site did not show the full disclosure fares for some routes out of Melbourne, Perth and the Gold …Read More
Acquiring bmi boosts Virgin Atlantic’s growth potential
Since acquiring the United Kingdom (UK) carrier British Midland Airways, or bmi, in 2009, turning around the loss-making airline before selling it to another airline has always been one of the many options being considered by its parent Lufthansa. As Europe’s largest airline by revenues appointed Morgan Stanley recently to look at all potential options for the ailing UK carrier which has been battered by this year’s Arab Spring in …Read More
New Boeing 777X likely to be a highly efficient derivative
Since announcing at this June’s Paris Air Show a 4,000 lbs of increase in engine thrust of the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine powering the largest aircraft variant in the Airbus A350 XWB (Extra Wide Body) aircraft family, which enables the A350-1000′s range to increase by 400 nautical miles (nm) or carry 4.5 tonnes of additional payload over the same distance, as well as an increase of 10 tonnes in the …Read More
Air Canada levies baggage fee, risks losing customers
Travel light, which may be the message if you want to save bucks. But for Air Canada, it has come across as a matter of additional revenue to charge passengers who purchase tickets on 7th September and thereafter for travel to the United States a fee of C$25 for the first checked bag. The current charge of C$30 for the second bag will also be raised to C$35. That makes a …Read More
Cathay Pacific’s premium economy to improve profitability
After more than two years in the making since Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways started re-evaluating the business case of the premium economy class during the global financial crisis from 2007 to 2009, as well as at least two failed attempts to launch one during the past decade, the oneworld alliance member finally looks set to launch a premium economy class in early March 2012. Cathay Pacific’s premium economy endeavour, …Read More
Emirates soaring skywards
The largest carrier in the Arab world, Emirates Airline, has posted a record-breaking full year 2010 profit of AED5.9 billion (US$1.6 billion), just shy of the unprecedented HK$14 billion (US$1.8 billion) in 2010 net profit posted by its peer Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways (“Sky is (not) the limit for Cathay Pacific“, 14th Mar, 11). However, being located at the centre of the world connecting different destinations in Asia and …Read More