Aviation News in Brief 8 May 2020

BOC Aviation signs sales-leaseback deal: BOC Aviation announced that it has signed a purchase-and-leaseback agreement with Wizz Air for six new Airbus A321neo aircraft. All six aircraft will be powered by Pratt & Whitney GTF PW1100G-JM engines, and are expected to be delivered in 2020 and 2021. AIR Convention Asia is postponed to 2021: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the AIR Convention Asia 2020 event has been postponed to 2021. Safety concerns together with coronavirus travel restrictions also became a reason for some of the airlines and speakers to cancel their participation in the conference. The event’s promoters have launched a project named AIR Convention Digital Week united by the theme “Next steps for aviation amid COVID-19: a survival guide for aviators”. Thus, the event, earlier postponed from May to June 2020, will now take place in an online setup. Australia’s Avalon Airport introduces touchless airport check-in: Elenium Automation announced it has expanded its relationship with Avalon Airport, signing a deal that will make Avalon the first airport in Australia to implement touchless self-service to help ensure passenger safety and experience when the airport recommences flights. Avalon Airport will become the first airport in Australia to implement this technology as an addition to Elenium’s full suite of automation technologies. Instead of touching screens, passengers at Avalon Airport will control their interaction with the kiosks and bag drops via head movement. Cameras in kiosks and bag drops will link the movement of the passenger’s head with the movement of a cursor on the screen. In addition, passports can be read by holding them open in front of a camera, rather than by inserting them into a passport slot. This technology reduces the risk that a virus is transferred between multiple passengers touching the same devices. Airbus April orders and deliveries: Airbus logged nine commercial orders in April for A320 models Avolon.  By 30 April, Airbus’ gross orders in 2020 totalled 365 aircraft. After cancellations the net orders stand at 299 aircraft. During the month, 14 deliveries were made from the A320, A330 and A350 XWB aircraft families. Business in April brings the overall total orders logged by Airbus since its creation to 20,407 commercial aircraft, which includes 15,572 A320 family aircraft, 1,819 A330s, 930 A350 XWBs, 642 A220s and 251 A380s. In April, 12 A320neo family aircraft were delivered. For Airbus widebody aircraft, one A350 XWBs was provided in the A350-900 configuration; along with one A330ceo. Airbus’ backlog of aircraft remaining to be delivered as of 30th April stood at 7,645, comprised  6,217 A320 family aircraft, 529 A220s, 322 A330s, 568 A350 XWBs and nine A380s. Korean Air’s international flights: Korean Air will operate 32 of its 110 international routes throughout the month of June; its international flights will operate at 20 percent capacity compared to planned operations. Korean Air has added more international passenger flights to its June schedule to prepare for increased travel demand after COVID-19 restrictions per country are relaxed. The airline expects to secure more routes and capacity for cargo transport by reopening some of its international flights. Routes with expected demand for both passengers and cargo have been selected for reopening. Qatar Airways announces phased rebuilding of network: Qatar Airways has announced that the airline will begin a phased approach to expanding its network in line with passenger demand evolution and the expected relaxation of entry restrictions around the world. Having maintained flights to at least 30 destinations where possible during the COVID-19 crisis and to most continents, helping to take over 1 million people home, the airline has been in a unique position to closely monitor global passenger flows and booking trends to confidently begin planning the gradual reintroduction of additional flights and destinations to its network. The gradual expansion will focus initially on strengthening connections between the airline’s hub in Doha with the global hubs of its partner airlines around the world including London, Chicago, Dallas and Hong Kong along with reopening many major business and leisure destinations such as Madrid and Mumbai. Cargo company Tigers launches PPE portal: Tigers has launched a new dedicated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) section on its eShop, powered by its freight portal SmartHub:Connect. The global logistics and transportation company has also released new software updates for SmartHub:Connect, giving customers shortcuts to buy and process documentation for the shipment of PPE. Tigers is also managing the door-to-door transport of 5 million medical masks from Guangzhou in China, to Sydney, Australia. The masks are travelling on a total of four A33C charter flights operated by China Southern Airlines. Pakistan International Airlines chooses Amadeus: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has reached an agreement with Amadeus, giving PIA full access to Amadeus’ global travel seller network. Through this new agreement, Amadeus-connected agencies will now be able to book PIA’s full suite of domestic and international inventory through the Amadeus Travel Platform. Amadeus-connected travel agents will have full access to PIA’s flight schedules, load changes, seat maps and ancillaries, including real-time updates. Download the latest issue of Asian Aviation here. 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