News from Asia 亚洲新闻

UKRAINE INTERNATIONALL HEADS TO SRI LANKA

Ukraine International Airlines is launching service to the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, effective December 12th. The route will be operated with B737-800 equipment and will be an extension of its existing Abu Dhabi service originating from Kiev. There is no existing non-stop service from Kiev to Colombo, with Etihad and SriLankan Airlines serving the Abu Dhabi to Colombo market.


SICHUAN AIRLINES ADDS NEW SERVICES FROM CHENGDU

Sichuan Airlines is set to launch two new routes from its Chengdu base with a weekly service to Taichung, launched October 18th, and Harbin via Shijiazhuang, effective October 31st. There is no carrier operating the Taichung sector from Chengdu, however Harbin is operated non-stop from Chengdu by Air China.


NEW OSAKA ROUTE FOR HONG KONG EXPRESS

Hong Kong Express has announced that it will commence a new non-stop daily service to Osaka Kansai, effective December 11th. The route will be operated on a daily basis with B737 aircraft. According to October scheduled data, the route is currently served by Air India on a thrice-weekly basis, Cathay Pacific on a thrice-daily and All Nippon on a daily basis. IATA BSP data shows that over 644,000 O+D passengers flew the route between July 2009 and July 2010, with Cathay Pacific having a 54% share of the market.


IT'S A GOA

Air India will begin new non-stop services from its Delhi hub to the leisure market of Goa, effective October 31st. The route will be served daily and will compete with heavy low-cost presence on the route. Spicejet operates a double-daily, Indigo an eight-times weekly and GoAir serves the routes 12 times weekly.


SRILANKAN AIRLINES BOOSTS KARACHI OFFERING

SriLankan Airlines will add a fourth weekly service from its Colombo hub to Karachi, Pakistan this month. IATA BSP data shows that over 30,000 O+D passengers flew the sector between July 2009 and 2010 with Qatar Airways and Emirates benefitting from leakage between the city pairs.


SKYTEAM OPERATOR ADDS NEW HANEDA SERVICE

SkyTeam member, Korean Air will launch a new daily service from its Seoul Incheon hub to Tokyo Haneda to be operated with B737-900 equipment. The only other carrier operating this route is Asiana Airlines, which operates a twice-weekly B767 service. There is multiple service between Incheon and Tokyo Narita, with Korean itself offering four-daily flights.

Richard Maslen

Richard Maslen has travelled across the globe to report on developments in the aviation sector as airlines and airports have continued to evolve and…