Antara reports that Adam Air is embarking on a fleet expansion plan that could see it flying 50 to 60 jets within five years. “We plan to add more planes to our fleet, around four or five additional aircraft each year. So in five years we will have about 50 to 60 aircraft. Right now we have 23,” spokesman Danke Dradjat said. He said that it was undecided yet whether Adam Air would continue to fly only Boeing 737 series jets or switch to Airbus, but it would depend on “terms and conditions” offered by the two manufacturers.
Reuters reports that Vietnam Airlines on Thursday said it would sign a contract to buy 10 Airbus A350-900XWB passenger jets and 20 single-aisle A321 jets on Friday. “This is part of the agreement reached earlier,” an official of Vietnam Airlines said. In early October, the airline signed a draft agreement to buy the 30 Airbus aircraft during a visit to Paris by Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dung. The Airbus deals are worth US$3.8b at list prices, including $2.4b for the crucial A350 order where the competition between Boeing and Airbus is at its fiercest.
Reuters reports that Orient Thai Airlines plans to order 20 new aircraft, eight Boeing 787-9s and 12 Boeing 737-900s, at a cost of US$2.5b in April 2008, chairman Udom Tantiprasongchai said Wednesday. Delivery of the first plane was expected in 2011 and the new aircraft would replace ageing ones and expand its fleet to 30-35 from 18 now, Udom said. “The new aircraft will help expand our fleet and replace existing ones. We have 18 planes and some of them are due to be decommissioned,” he said.
Ap reports that Tiger Airways will exercise an option to buy 20 more A320s to expand its Asia-Pacific network, the airline’s CE said Tuesday. “We are placing another firm major order for 20 Airbus planes. The group will have 70 Airbus planes by 2016,” Tiger Airways CE Tony Davis said at a briefing on the airline’s outlook.
Thanh Nien Daily reports that Pacific Airlines will launch the Ho Chi Minh City-Hai Phong flight route this week. The inaugural flight will take off on Friday at 12:15 p.m. from Saigon and at 4:45 p.m. from Hai Phong. The flights will run daily.
Northern Territory News reports that Tiger may start a new route between Darwin and the Philippines. Tourism Minister Kon Vatskalis met Tiger CE Tony Davies in Singapore on Sunday evening. They discussed expanding services out of Darwin. “He didn’t make any promises,” Vatskalis said, “But we did talk about a possible Philippines service.”
Jetstar has just announced their Xmas “specials”, including:
Phuket from $15
Bangkok from $25
Phnom Penh from $39
Siem Reap from $39
Ho Chi Minh City from $45
Jakarta from $48
Surabaya from $48
Macau from $48
Manila from $75
Denpasar from $88
Hong Kong from $109
Taipei from $109
Rangoon from $109
To take advantage of these deals, you need to book by 16 December and travel between 07 January and 31 May 2008. Fares quoted above are for one-way travel and exclude a raft of extra charges including airport taxes, admin fees, insurance surcharge, fuel surcharge and facilitation fee — they’re also not valid for peak periods and public holidays.
Kantipur reports that Orient Thai Airlines is beginning thrice-weekly flights between Bangkok and Kathmandu from December 18. “The flights will be operated with 170-seater MD-82 aircraft,” said Ajay Simha of Orient Asia International, the general sales agent of the airline in Nepal.
Bernama reports that Firefly is having a year-end sale on all its destinations departing from Penang and Subang with tickets priced from RM9.99. The destinations are Langkawi, Kuantan, Kota Baharu, Terengganu, Johor Baharu, Ko Samui and Phuket. The offer is available until December 31.
Thanh Nien News reports that Vietnam Airlines said Thursday it would buy five more ATR 72-500 to operate its short-haul local and international flights. Vietnam Airlines chairman, Nguyen Sy Hung, said the local market for air transportation was rising with passengers travelling between Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Da Lat, and neighbouring cities in Laos and Cambodia. The value of the agreement was not disclosed but the airline said it would receive the first ATR aircraft in January 2009 with the rest delivered by 2011.
