It is “game on”, indeed. Following successfully achieving the 20% corporate market share earlier than originally envisaged which saw the increasingly stiff competition in the lucrative business travel market pushing down domestic business fares to an unprecedented low level since the collapse of Ansett Australia in September 2001, Brisbane-based Virgin Australia did not stand still. Neither did its aspirations stop soaring when Australia’s second-largest carrier recorded a 113% increase in …Read More
Tag Archives: A330-200
Qantas/Emirates partnership to reshape competitive landscape
The full-year FY2011/12 financial results of Australian flag carrier Qantas Airways paint of a bleak picture, as the flying kangaroo posted its first after-tax loss of A$244 million (US$254.8 million) since its privatisation in 1995, amid record high jet fuel prices and intense competition from Gulf carriers on the lucrative Australia-Europe, or “kangaroo route”. In response, Qantas cancelled its firm order for 35 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners in order to rein …Read More
Airbus is right on A330 improvement strategy
Having decided against re-engining the twin-aisle medium to long-haul A330 aircraft which is likely to undermine the business case of its A350-800 sibling (“Airbus mulls re-engined A330 along with sharklets“, 5th Mar, 12), Airbus is adopting the least risky option of offering new, higher gross weight variants of the A330 aircraft family that not only will see the A330 being more capable than it has ever been, but also provide …Read More
Boeing 787 could revolutionise US long-haul market
When the first Boeing 787-8 entered service with Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) in September 2011, it marked the beginning of a new era in long-haul international travel, not unlike the introduction of the Boeing 767 on medium-haul international routes back in the 1990s. In the period since then, many more 787s have been built and delivered (Boeing has built 66 787s at press time, including the first one produced …Read More
Airbus mulls re-engined A330 along with sharklets (Update1)
When European plane-maker Airbus gave indication in late January that it was considering an update to its Airbus A330-300 aircraft by increasing its maximum take-off weight (MTOW) amongst other enhancements, it represented the first step in a process designed to rejuvenate Airbus’ A330 line of aircraft and propagate its production into the next decade. For the medium term, Airbus is mulling a number of improvements to the larger Airbus A330-300 …Read More
Airbus faces a crucial year on A350 development
European plane-maker Airbus, a unit of the European Aeronautics, Defence & Space Co. N.V., has enjoyed a record year of 2011 buoyed by an order bonanza at its re-engined A320neo (new engine option) aircraft programme, which accounted for 1,226 of the 1,419 net orders recorded in the year, after taking into account customer cancellations from the tally of 1,608 gross orders, including the exclusion of bankrupt carrier American Airlines’ (AA) …Read More
Boeing 787 more cost efficient than A330, new report finds
As the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner faced a perennial string of delivery delays since its roll-out in July 2007, the competing Airbus product, A330-200 high gross weight (HGW) version gained traction as airlines sought to cut their fuel costs amid skyrocketing oil prices. Early parts which are heavier, in addition to the discovery of a delamination issue prompting the side-of-body modifications and the addition of fasteners, coupled with a 2%-4% higher …Read More
LAN-TAM merger beneficial to Latin American airline industry
After more than a year since Chilean carrier LAN Airlines SA and Brazil’s TAM SA announced its US$3.2 billion merger in August 2010 that, according to Bloomberg data, will create the largest Latin American airline as well as the world’s second-largest airline by market capitalisation at US$11 billion, after Air China whose market value stands at US$11.3 billion, the airlines are close to completing the deal which is expected to …Read More