Ho Chi Minh City, January, 2024 – Vietjet continues to expand its international flight network with the new route between Ho Chi Minh City and Chengdu, China. The combination will help contribute to promoting trade and tourism between the two cities and two countries, Vietnam and China.
To celebrate the New Year 2024 and the new route Ho Chi Minh City – Chengdu, Vietjet offers thousands of VND0 (*) tickets for passengers who book tickets from today on www.vietjetair.com or the Vietjet Air mobile app with the flight period from February 10, 2024 to March 30, 2024.
Visiting Chengdu, tourists have opportunities to explore the vibrant Chinese culture with famous attractions such as Jinli Ancient Street, Anshun Bridge, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, or easily come to Jiuzhaigou – a world heritage site recognized by UNESCO, etc. Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City is a bustling economic hub of Vietnam with various options traveling in Vietnam and the region via Vietjet’s flight network.
Toulouse, France, September 29, 2023 – Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd ADR (OTC: CPCAY) has announced the purchase of an additional 32 Airbus Group NV (OTC: EADSY) A320neo Family aircraft as it continues to invest in expanding and modernising its fleet. The agreement doubles the Cathay Group’s total orders for the A320neo Family to 64, of which 13 have already been delivered.
The 32 additional aircraft will comprise both the A321neo and A320neo which will join the fleets of Cathay Pacific and HK Express.They will principally serve destinations in the Chinese Mainland and elsewhere in Asia.
The A320neo Family incorporates the very latest technologies including new generation engines, Sharklets and aerodynamics, which together deliver at least 20 percent lower fuel burn and CO2 emission savings. With more than 9,700 orders from over 130 customers, the A320neo Family is the world’s most popular single aisle aircraft.
Marignane, France, July 19, 2023– Airbus (OTC: EADSY) Helicopters has received certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for the H175 helicopter. This certification will allow H175 deliveries to begin in China, one of the most demanding markets worldwide for civil helicopters with a growing need for the super-medium segment. Four H175s will be delivered to Chinese customers in 2023.
To sustain the helicopter market growth in China, Airbus Helicopters is committed to jointly work with the Chinese industry to develop the Chinese civil market with products such as the H175, aiming to serve the interests of the Chinese people and the economy. In service since 2015, Airbus’ H175 belongs to the super-medium class of helicopters. Combining long-range with advanced quality of flight, it provides the best solution for a number of missions, including offshore crew change, SAR, all public services, and private and business aviation. The 53 H175s currently in service have accumulated over 185,000 flight hours in 13 countries.
February 18, 2022 – Alstom (OTC: ALSMY) Chinese joint venture, Shentong Bombardier (Shanghai) Rail Transit Vehicle Maintenance Co., Ltd., has been awarded a contract from Shanghai Shentong Metro Group Co., Ltd. (Shanghai Metro) to provide whole lifecycle maintenance service for 204 Movia metro cars (34 trains) on Shanghai’s Line 12 phase 2 and phase 3 project. The total contract is valued at approximately €43.6 million (330 million CNY excl. VAT).
Under the contract, SHBRT will adopt the condition-based maintenance regime by deploying the advanced maintenance tools, including Alstom’s Orbita advanced train monitoring system, Automatic Vehicle Inspection System, etc., to improve the safety, reliability, availability and efficiency of Shanghai’s Line 12 fleet. The scope of the contract includes preventive maintenance, corrective maintenance, balanced overhauls, safety inspections, train cleaning and train escort services for 204 metro cars. The project is expected to be completed in November 2027.
AirAsia Group Berhad (Kuala Lumpur: 5099.KL) is pleased to announce that Dr. Stanley Choi Chiu Fai has joined the Group as a substantial shareholder via his wholly-owned entity Positive Boom Ltd. on 18 February 2021. He acquired 167.1 million AirAsia shares in the first tranche of the private placement, raising his shareholding in the group to 332.5 million shares equating to a 8.96% stake.
Dr. Stanley Choi is the Chairman of Head & Shoulders Financial Group, as well as the Chairman and Executive Director of International Entertainment Corporation (IEC), a company listed on the main board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange (1009.HK). He is also the only co-founding member from Hong Kong for YunFeng Capital – a private equity fund started in 2010 by a group of successful entrepreneurs and influential industry leaders, named after its co-founder Jack Ma Yun, founder of Alibaba Group, and David Yu Feng, founder of Target Media.
His previous directorships include his appointment as Executive Director of Target Insurance (Holdings) Limited (stock code: 6161.HK) from 2014 to 2019, Director of ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Co. Limited (stock code: 6060.HK) from 2013 to 2016 and Executive Director of Media Asia Group Holdings Limited (stock code: 8075.HK) from 2011 to 2015.
The successful businessman possesses more than 20 years of experience in financial services and merger & acquisition transactions, with a particular focus on private equity investment. He was a seed investor of Kidswant, a Chinese-startup that has now become a leading maternity, baby and children’s product retailer in China with a valuation of over USD3 billion.
Dr Stanley Choi, Chairman of Head & Shoulders Financial Group said: “It is my great pleasure and honour to gain a substantial ownership stake in AirAsia Group – the world’s best low cost airline and one of Asia’s biggest known brands that has successfully pivoted into digital business as well. I believe the worst period in the aviation industry’s history has now passed. I am confident that air travel will bounce back and that under Tan Sri Tony’s and Datuk Kamarudin’s leadership, and with vaccines being rolled out across the region and globally, AirAsia has a very bright future ahead. I look forward to working with everyone at AirAsia.”
Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, Executive Chairman of AirAsia Group said: “We are thrilled to welcome Dr Stanley Choi as a strategic shareholder of AirAsia Group, bringing an impressive track record and solid reputation as a business powerhouse to our Group. We are confident that he will add value to our digital business development in China through his vast experience and network with top digital players in the country.
Dr Stanley Choi graduated with a Master’s Degree of Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, United States in 1996. In 2013, he obtained a Doctoral Degree of Business Administration from the City University of Hong Kong.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The head of the Berlin engine plant run by Mercedes-Benz has defected to rival Tesla <TSLA>, German union IG Metall said on Wednesday, calling on employees to protest over his departure.
IG Metall declined to name the head of the plant, which has been run by Rene Reif, one the most experienced manufacturing executives at Mercedes-Benz who helped expand manufacturing capacity for Daimler <DAI> in China.
Reif used to be head of engineering and manufacturing at Beijing Benz Automotive Co. Daimler’s Chinese joint venture, which has a manufacturing capacity of around 480,000 cars and started building the electric Mercedes-Benz EQC last year.
Tesla declined to comment on whether it had found a new manager for a Gigafactory being built on the outskirts of Berlin but the electric carmaker is on a global manufacturing expansion push, building or expanding new factories in Texas, Germany and China.
Last month, a source told Reuters that a Tesla manager who oversaw the construction of the electric carmaker’s Gruenheide plant, had left his position.
Daimler said on Wednesday that Reif, 57, the manager of its Mercedes-Benz Berlin plant, which makes powertrains, would go into early retirement at the end of the year, at his own request.
Mercedes-Benz Werk Berlin, Deutschland: Montage des Mercedes-Benz V6 Dieselmotor OM642
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Mercedes-Benz Berlin Plant, Germany: Assembly of the Mercedes-Benz V6 diesel engine OM642
German unions have lamented the fact that traditional carmakers are cutting investment into combustion engine technologies as regulators clamp down on emissions and as demand for vehicles is hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
IG Metall said there would be a protest in front of the Mercedes factory on Thursday and called on Daimler to present solutions that would help to guarantee the future of the plant.
The union said Daimler managers had outlined cost savings plans and union officials fear the Berlin plant’s future is at risk.
Daimler said Clemenz Dobrawa, who currently heads up the Mercedes-Benz battery manufacturing plant in Kamenz, had taken over leadership of the Mercedes-Benz plants in Hamburg and Berlin earlier this month.
“Thanks to his activity as representative in Kamenz, he brings important know-how for the transformation toward electromobility,” Daimler said, adding the Berlin plant would be restructured to serve an ‘Electric First’ strategy.
(Reporting by Edward Taylor and Ilona Wissenbach. Editing by Jane Merriman)
A China Eastern Airlines aircraft is seen at Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Transportation Department plans to issue a revised order in the coming days that is likely to allow some Chinese passenger airline flights to continue, government and airline officials said.
On Thursday, China said it would ease coronavirus restrictions to allow in more foreign carriers, shortly after Washington said it planned to bar Chinese passenger airlines from flying to the United States by June 16 due to Beijing’s curbs on U.S. carriers.
The change should allow U.S. carriers to resume once-a-week flights into a city of their choice starting on June 8, but that would be still significantly fewer than what the U.S. government says its aviation agreement with China allows.
The Transportation Department did not immediately comment.
The department said on Wednesday Chinese carriers could operate “the same number of scheduled passenger flights as the Chinese government allows ours.” It added the order was to “restore a competitive balance and fair and equal opportunity among U.S. and Chinese air carriers.”
The U.S. order would halt the four weekly U.S. roundtrip flights by Air China <0753.HK>, China Eastern Airlines Corp, China Southern Airlines Co <1055.HK> and Xiamen Airlines Co.
U.S. and airline officials have privately raised concerns about the revised Chinese rules and it is unclear if carriers would agree to fly just once a week to China when they have sought approval for two or three daily flights.
Delta Air Lines <DAL.N> and United Airlines <UAL> asked to resume flights to China this month. Both said they were reviewing the order from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
American Airlines <AAL> is sticking with its previous plan to resume service to China at the end of October, spokesman Ross Feinstein said.
The CAAC said all airlines can increase the number of international flights involving China to two per week if none of their passengers test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, for three consecutive weeks.
If five or more passengers on one flight test positive upon arrival, the CAAC will bar the airline for a week. Airlines would be suspended for four weeks if 10 passengers or more test positive.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; additional reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Editing by Chris Reese, Richard Chang and Bernadette Baum)
Virgin Australia’s share price dipped below 10 cents on Monday – days after credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded its outlook to negative.
The drop represents an enormous fall from a high of $2.19 in February 2007. Virgin played down the developments, claiming any speculation of the future of the business was “untrue and misleading”.
Last week, Australian Aviation reported that the wider group announced a $97 million half-year loss and its intention to cut its Tigerair fleet.
BEIJING/SHANGHAI, March 2 (Reuters) – Shares in HNA Group-controlled companies rose on Monday after the Chinese aviation and tourism conglomerate said it had asked the government to help it resolve liquidity risk caused by the coronavirus outbreak which has put heavy pressure on the airline industry.
HNA directly owns or holds stakes in a number of local Chinese carriers, which have suffered in recent weeks from widespread flight cancellations and plummeting demand.
Hainan Airlines Holding Co Ltd, the flagship of HNA Group Co Ltd, rose by over 3% by 0400 GMT, while HNA Technology Investments Holdings Ltd surged nearly 40%.
Other units such as HNA Investment Group Co Ltd and HNA Technology Co Ltd also saw their prices climb.
HNA Group said on Saturday it had asked the Hainan provincial government to lead a working group as it was not able to deal with the liquidity risk itself.
The group had acknowledged liquidity issues before the coronavirus outbreak started. In December, Chairman Chen Feng said HNA had faced cash flow shortage that forced it to delay salary payments.
Its Saturday announcement has driven heavy discussion in China on whether there will be a carving up of its assets.
Two weeks ago, HNA-related shares likewise rose on a media report that said China’s government planned to take over the debt-laden conglomerate.
“The implementation of a government acquisition would be challenging as HNA’s structure is complex,” Warut Promboon, head of credit research at Bondcritic, said on Monday. “Overall, it is credit positive. HNA has grown too fast and is too big that it needs to be broken down. The restructuring will be best under the state support.”
FILE PHOTO: A traffic light is seen in front of a logo of General Electric at the company’s plant in Birr
(Reuters) – The U.S. government is considering whether to stop General Electric Co from continuing to supply engines for a new Chinese passenger jet, according to people familiar with the matter, casting uncertainty over China’s efforts to enter the civil aviation market.
The potential restriction on the engine sales – possibly along with limits on other components for Chinese commercial aircraft such as flight control systems made by Honeywell International Inc – is the latest move in the battle between the world’s two largest economies over trade and technology.
The issue is expected to come up at an interagency meeting about how strictly to limit exports of U.S. technology to China on Thursday and at another meeting with members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet set for Feb. 28, sources said.
The White House and the U.S. Commerce Department, which issues licenses for such exports, declined to comment, as did a GE spokeswoman. The departments of Defense, State, Energy and Treasury did not respond to requests for comment.
For years, the United States has supported American companies’ business with China’s budding civil aviation industry.
The government has provided licenses that allow those companies to sell engines, flight control systems and other components for China’s first large commercial aircraft, the COMAC C919. The narrow-body jet has already engaged in test flights and is expected to go into service next year. COMAC is an acronym for Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd.
But the Trump administration is weighing whether to deny GE’s latest license request to provide the CFM LEAP-1C engine for the C919, people familiar with the matter said, though GE has received licenses for the LEAP engines since 2014 and was last granted one in March 2019.
The CFM LEAP engine is a joint venture between GE and France’s Safran Aircraft Engines. The proposal to halt the deliveries of the engines was also reported on Saturday by the Wall Street Journal.
Safran did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and French government officials could not be reached for comment.
Aside from aircraft engines, flight control systems are up for discussion at the February meetings. Honeywell International has received licenses to export flight control systems to COMAC for the C919 for about a decade, and one was approved in early 2020, according to a person familiar with the matter.
But future permission for such sales for COMAC’s passenger aircrafts may be up for debate. Honeywell also has been seeking a license for flight control technology to participate in the development of the C929, China’s planned wide-body jet venture with Russia, the person said.
The flight control system operates moving mechanical parts, such as the wing flaps, from the cockpit.
A spokeswoman for Honeywell declined to comment.
An aerospace trade group official said his organization would like to weigh in on any policy shifts.
“If there are any changes, we would hope they would engage with us, as they’ve done before,” said Remy Nathan, vice president for international affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association.
At the heart of the debate over a possible crackdown on the sale of U.S. parts to China’s nascent aircraft industry is whether such shipments would fuel the rise of a serious competitor to U.S.-based Boeing Co or boost China’s military capabilities.
People familiar with the matter said some administration officials are concerned the Chinese could reverse engineer some items, though others say an abundance of LEAP engines in China has not brought that about to date.
If the United States were to move ahead with the measure, one person familiar with the matter said, China could retaliate by ordering more planes from Airbus SE , rather than crisis-hit Boeing, which relies on China for a fourth its deliveries.
The Trump administration’s meetings about technology issues also are set to include a discussion of whether to impose further restrictions on suppliers to Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, which is on a U.S. trade blacklist.
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld and Alexandra Alper; additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
FILE PHOTO: China’s home-grown C919 passenger jet taxis after landing on its maiden flight at the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai
