18 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION
AIRLINES
Fiji Airways is expanding its route
network in North Asia with three
times a week nonstop flights between
Nadi and Tokyo Narita with Airbus
A330-200/300s due to start in July- It will be the first time since
2009 Fiji Airways will fly to Japan.
- Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines plan
to boost capacity between Auckland
and Singapore with the addition of a
third daily flight starting in October
2018 and running until March 30
- Their joint-venture schedule
then reduces to 19 flights a week from
March 31 to October 26 2019.
- Still on Air New Zealand, the Star
Alliance member has opened its new
premium passenger lounge at Perth
Airport, the latest example of its
investment in the Australian market
as it seeks to attract more travellers
fromthis side of the Tasman onto its
long-haul services.- Further, Air New Zealand says it will
operatethe Boeing 787-9 between
Adelaide and Auckland on a year-
round basis following the successful
introduction of the next generation
widebody in October 2017.
In more Air New Zealand 787 news,
thekiwi carrier has been forced to
wet-lease an Airbus A330 and A
to help replace capacity being lost
through the forced withdrawal of
some Boeing 787-9s due to engine
issues. Air New Zealand had been
forced to cancel some international
flights and retime others in response
to two incidents involving the
Rolls-Royce engines on its 787-9s.
The International Air Transport Association
(IATA) says airlines around the
world are collectively expected to
post US$38.4 billion in profits in
calendar 2018 amid strong passenger
demand and an improvement
in the cargo sector. This would
represent an improvement from the
US$34.5 billion estimated profit
for calendar 2017 and the fourth
consecutive year of sustainable profits,
with a return on invested capital of
9.4 per cent exceeding the industry’s
average cost of capital of 7.4 per cent.- Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president
and chief project engineer for the
777X program Michael Teal said the
airframer is studying some potential
“tweaks” to its proposed 777-8X
offering in order to meet Qantas’s
Project Sunrise ambition of flying
nonstop from Australia’s east coast to
London and New York by 2022. “If
you look at the exact airplane we have
on paper today, which is not at firm
Debrief News briefs from across aviation
Samoa Airlines began
operations on November 14,
offering six weekly Apia-
Auckland flights and two flights
a week between Apia and
Sydney using leased Boeing
737-800 I-NEOS.ANDREW ALEY