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Tag: overseas

Australia Back on Tourist Map as International Visitors Return

Qantas flights from eight overseas destinations are touching down in Australia today, bringing the first international tourists in almost two years and an eagerly anticipated boost for the country’s tourism industry.

The Qantas Group will fly more than 14,000 passengers into Australia this week as quarantine and border barriers for international tourists come down.

QF12 from Los Angeles was the first to land at 6.20am and flights from other international destinations including Vancouver, Singapore and London will arrive into Sydney throughout the day. Jetstar’s first unrestricted international flight JQ18 will touch down in Melbourne from Phuket at 10.05am and QF70 from Delhi to Melbourne will arrive at 1.35pm.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said bookings had been strong since the Australian Government announced the country was opening to international visitors, and today’s arrivals will be the first of many.

Qantas restarted its international network for Australian citizens and visa holders on 1 November 2021, with a number of routes coming online since then. Sydney to Dallas recommenced flying on 16 February, and flights to other destinations are scheduled to relaunch in coming weeks including:

  • Melbourne to Honolulu (Jetstar) – From 1 March
  • Sydney to Honolulu (Jetstar) – From 3 March
  • Melbourne to Denpasar (Jetstar) – From 14 March
  • Sydney to Denpasar (Jetstar) – From 15 March
  • Brisbane to Singapore – From 27 March
  • Sydney to Manila – From 27 March
  • Sydney to Denpasar – From 28 March
  • Darwin to Dili – From 30 March
  • Brisbane to Los Angeles – From 1 April

Hawaiian Airlines to Focus on Critical Flights and Cargo Service

  • Airline to serve San Francisco and Los Angeles daily
  • American Samoa weekly starting in April

Hawaiian Airlines is reducing its April flight schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic with a commitment to continue offering its guests and cargo customers essential service within the Hawaiian Islands and between Hawai‘i and California and the U.S. territory of American Samoa.

The airline will maintain a reduced but still robust schedule of Neighbor Island flights, while bolstering all-cargo service to ensure goods continue to reach communities statewide.
 
“As Hawai‘i’s airline, we understand that our operation is essential to the state. We serve both guests who rely on us for important travel and the transportation of critical cargo,” said Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Peter Ingram. “This has been the hallmark of our mission for 90 years and our dedication to our guests remains unchanged as we look to overcome this global crisis together.”
 
Starting Sunday, Hawaiian’s long-haul transpacific network will consist of one daily nonstop flight between Honolulu (HNL) and Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO), and one weekly flight connecting Hawai‘i to its Pacific island neighbor of Pago Pago, American Samoa (PPG). All routes will be operated with wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft.
 
The California routes present cargo opportunities to help maintain service for shippers affected by the reduction in passenger flights due to the state of Hawai‘i’s mandatory 14-day quarantine for overseas arrivals starting tomorrow in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The HNL-PPG route maintains vital service for the territory of American Samoa.
 
Guests traveling on Hawaiian’s Neighbor Island network will continue to enjoy convenient options throughout the day with 41 daily roundtrip flights scheduled for April. From Honolulu there will be 38 daily flights, including 13 to Maui, eight to Kona, seven to Kaua‘i, six to Hilo, and two each to Lāna‘i and Moloka‘i. From Maui there will be one roundtrip each to Hilo, Kaua‘i and Kona in addition to Honolulu service.

Hawaiian’s schedule reductions for April resulted from the state of Hawai‘i’s quarantine entry restriction and the ensuing drop off of travel to and from the islands. Hawaiian is operating its regularly scheduled long-haul flights through today before it begins suspending routes tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Hawaiian has expanded interisland cargo service to facilitate the movement of essential goods ranging from food to medical equipment and machinery.
 
On March 3, a fleet of all-cargo ATR-72 aircraft operated by ‘Ohana by Hawaiian began offering flights five days a week between Honolulu and Kahului (OGG) on Maui and Kona (KOA) on the western coast of the Island of Hawai‘i. The new routes add to all-cargo service launched in summer of 2018 between HNL and Līhu‘e (LIH) on Kaua‘i and Hilo (ITO) on the eastern coast of the Island of Hawai‘i.

Hawaiian also utilizes its Boeing 717 passenger fleet to carry critical, time-sensitive cargo like pharmaceuticals and Blood Bank of Hawai‘i shipments.

Hawaiian is still experiencing an unprecedented volume of calls from guests and respectfully asks that only those with immediate travel needs contact the airline for assistance. Options to reach Hawaiian’s reservations team, to make online changes to tickets, and to see a list of travel waivers are available at  Hawaiian’s COVID-19 hub.
 
The airline also explains how it is keeping employees and guests safe by disinfecting aircraft and airport spaces, modifying boarding processes to prevent congestion at the gate, and adjusting in-flight services such as by distributing disposable sanitizing wipes.

Airbus Posts Strong January Orders, Delivers 31 Jets

PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus <EADSY> posted its biggest January order haul in at least 15 years on Thursday as it booked a major leasing order that has been in the pipeline for several months, and carried out 31 aircraft deliveries.

The European planemaker said it had taken orders for 296 aircraft in January, including the recently finalised order for 102 planes from Air Lease Corp <AL> as well as 100 jets from U.S. low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines <SAVE>. After cancellations, it started the year with 274 net orders.

Cancellations included 20 single-aisle jets from Colombia’s Avianca, balanced by 20 orders for broadly similar aircraft from leasing company BOC Aviation in what some industry sources have described as a swap to ease their financing. Neither firm was available for comment.

Lufthansa <LHA.DE> canceled two A350 wide-body jets.

Rival Boeing, whose sales and deliveries have been affected by the grounding of its 737 MAX, has yet to post January data.

Airbus said on Thursday its deliveries from an overseas assembly plant in China had been halted amid the coronavirus outbreak. Airbus has joined other local companies in extending a routine shutdown planned for Chinese New Year, due to the impact of the health scare on its supply chains and logistics.

Airbus is expected to give targets next week and barring a worsening of the coronavirus crisis could shoot for record deliveries of at least 900 jets in 2020 as Boeing remains on a backfoot due to the MAX grounding, industry analysts say.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

FILE PHOTO: Logo of Airbus is pictured at the aircraft builder’s headquarters of Airbus in Colomiers near Toulouse

Record $4 Billion Airbus Fine Draws Line Under ‘Pervasive’ Bribery

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: The Airbus logo is pictured at Airbus headquarters in Blagnac near Toulouse

PARIS/LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Airbus <EADSY> bribed public officials and hid the payments as part of a pattern of worldwide corruption, prosecutors said on Friday as the European planemaker agreed a record $4 billion settlement with France, Britain and the United States.

The disclosures, made public after a nearly four-year investigation spanning sales to more than a dozen overseas markets, came as courts on both sides of the Atlantic formally approved settlements that lift a legal cloud that has hung over Europe’s largest aerospace group for years.

“It was a pervasive and pernicious bribery scheme in various divisions of Airbus SE that went on for a number of years,” U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan said.

The deal, effectively a corporate plea bargain, means Airbus has avoided criminal prosecution that would have risked it being barred from public contracts in the United States and European Union – a massive blow for a major defence and space supplier.

Prosecutors said individuals could still face criminal charges, however.

Airbus, whose shares closed down 1%, has been investigated by French and British authorities for alleged corruption over jet sales dating back more than a decade. It has also faced U.S. inquiries over suspected violations of U.S. export controls.

“In reaching this agreement today, we are helping Airbus to turn the page definitively” on corrupt past practices, French prosecutor Jean-Francois Bohnert said.

France’s financial prosecutor said the company had also agreed to three years “light compliance monitoring” by the country’s anti-corruption agency.

The U.S. Department of Justice said the deal was the largest ever foreign bribery settlement.

CODE NAME ‘VAN GOGH’

In a packed hearing at London’s Royal Courts of Justice, an Airbus lawyer said the settlements “draw a clear line under the investigation and under the grave historic practices”.

Outlining detailed findings, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said Airbus had hired the wife of a Sri Lankan Airlines executive as its intermediary and misled Britain’s UKEF export credit agency over her name and gender, while paying $2 million to her company. The airline could not be reached for comment.

Click the link below to read the full story!

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/airbus-pay-4-billion-settle-152542295.html

India Renews Plan to Sell Off Air India

The Indian government is in the market to sell its stake of Air India – and on Monday set a March 17 deadline for initial expressions of interest.

Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group and US-based fund Interups are already reported to be submitting theirs.

It’s not the first attempt at a sale: in 2018 the government failed to divest 76 per cent of the airline, and with it over five billion dollars of debt.

Air India workers protested ….

And potential bidders opted out because of stringent conditions attached – such as retaining all employees.

This time, the government has indicated, it’s open to revising some provisions.

Though bidders must assume liabilities, including debt at just under 3.3 billion dollars.

And substantial ownership and control must remain with an Indian entity.

The sale might face opposition from within prime minister Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP Party – one lawmaker describes the deal as quote ‘anti-national’.

But if successful, the buyer gets over 7,000 landing slots in India and overseas …

Together with the carrier’s low-cost arm and a stake in its cargo and ground-handling operations.

As for staff, Air India currently has around 13,000 permanent and contract personnel on its books …

Including 1,850 pilots.