Zest Airways (ZestAir) of the Philippines has placed a firm order with Airbus for its first brand new single aisle A320.

The aircraft will join an existing fleet of two A320s that the airline purchased in the open market in 2008.

Ambassador Alfredo M. Yao, President and CEO ZestAir said, “With our plans to expand our operation to the Southeast Asian region, it becomes necessary to grow our fleet size.

Our A320s provide our passengers with added space, comfort and has proven to be reliable and operate at cost efficient levels.”

Philippines-based ZestAir currently serves a network of 18 destinations across the Philippines.

With the delivery of its newly ordered aircraft the airline will be able to extend its network to international destinations in Asia.

Cebu Pacific has increased its outstanding A320 orders to 15, with a new firm order for five aircraft.

Scheduled for delivery from 2013, the new aircraft will join an existing A319 and A320 fleet flying on the low cost carrier’s extensive domestic and regional route network. The initial batch of 10 aircraft is scheduled for delivery between 2010 and 2013.

“The A320 Family has played a key role in enabling us to offer a high quality, value-based product,” said Lance Gokongwei, President and CEO of Cebu Pacific. “Our latest order will make it possible for us to maintain our expected growth pattern over the coming years. It will also help us to continue our network expansion to reach more destinations across the region.”

Manila-based Cebu Pacific is one of the leading low cost carriers in Asia, flying to 46 domestic and international destinations. Altogether, the carrier has now placed firm orders for 27 A320 Family aircraft, with 12 already delivered. The carrier currently operates 21 aircraft from the family, including nine leased aircraft, with an average age for the fleet of just 1.9 years.

Etihad Airways has selected GE Aviation, Rolls-Royce, Engine Alliance and International Aero Engines (IAE) to power the new Airbus and Boeing aircraft that it ordered at last year’s Farnborough International Airshow.

The Farnborough deal included 100 firm orders and options and purchase rights for a further 105 aircraft, which will be delivered between 2011 and 2020.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline confirmed firm orders at this week’s Paris Air Show for:

- 78 GEnx engines, to power its 35 new Boeing 787 aircraft

- 45 Engine Alliance GP7200 engines, to power its 10 new Airbus A380 aircraft

- 44 IAE V2500 engines, to power its 20 new narrow-body Airbus A320 aircraft

Rolls-Royce and GE Aviation will supply engines for the airline’s new Airbus A350 fleet and future Boeing 777 aircraft deliveries, respectively, as previously announced at Farnborough: Continue Reading

AirAsia X has signed a firm order for 10 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft.

The low cost, long haul airlinehas selected the A350-900 variant for its fleet, which will be configured to seat 425 guests in a two-class layout.

AirAsia Group CEO Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes said, “Business is all about timing and long-term strategy. At AirAsia we have always planned for the long term. By buying the Airbus A350, AirAsia and AirAsia X have now got its strategy fixed all the way to 2020. The vision of creating the world’s first long-haul and short-haul low cost airline is complete and we are all very excited.”

Valued at a list price of US$ 2.2 billion, the deal comes with an option of another 5 A350 aircraft. Deliveries are scheduled between 2016 and 2018, which will further complement AirAsia X’s fleet of A330s. The airline has ordered 25 A330s that are due to be delivered through 2015, of which 2 aircraft have delivered so far since October 2008. Continue Reading

Philippine Airlines is flying back to Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental, beginning June 16. PAL will use brand-new Airbus A319-100 on the route.

The daily Ozamiz service – PR 163 – departs Manila at 11:45, arriving Ozamiz 13:10. The return flight – PR 164 – leaves Ozamiz 13:50 to land in Manila at 15:15. Philippine Airline’s 134-seater A319-100 jet aircraft has eight Recaro seats in Mabuhay class where passengers are served hot meals.

Ozamiz City – PAL’s 19th destination in its domestic network – was first served by PAL in 1951 using the most reliable workhorse aircraft of that era, the DC-3.

Starting June 16, 2009, PAL will still honor Air Philippines tickets to Ozamiz after the low-cost carrier turns over its operations at Ozamiz to PAL. Air Philippines ticket-holders to Ozamiz should check-in at NAIA Terminal 2.

Jetstar Asia has launched a series of marketing campaigns designed to boost inbound tourism to Singapore from six key Southeast Asian countries.

Targeting 11 cities from six major countries in the Jetstar network, the new campaign will promote short break travel to Singapore from 1 July until the end of October this year.

Supported by a major multi-media advertising campaign in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Taiwan, Jetstar Asia in collaboration with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will be inviting consumers to book their travel during this period to receive free incentives including flight and accommodation. Continue Reading

Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Saturday announced it is offering a new round of low fares — as low as US$ 98 — to 20 trans-Pacific and regional routes, including to Australia.

Philippine Airlines, in a statement, said the five-day sale from June 1 to 5 dubbed “Way to Go”, covers the travel period from September 1 to December 25, 2009 on five trans-Pacific destinations — San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Honolulu and Vancouver — and from July 1 to November 30, 2009 on 12 regional destinations, including Australia.

“During these difficult times, we are offering our loyal passengers the opportunity to travel at much lower prices, without sacrificing quality of service, safety and comfort,” said PAL president Jaime J. Bautista.

The all-in, round trip, economy fares (exclusive of government taxes) are available through PAL’s website (philippineairlines.com ), at any PAL ticket office or accredited travel agents.

Tickets must be purchased within 24 hours after getting a confirmed booking, but not later than June 5, 2009.

The promo covers Manila outbound tickets as well as Cebu-Narita-Cebu, with return flights dated no more than 21 days after departure for tickets to the US, Canada and Australia. For other destinations, trip must be completed within eight days.

The regional points covered by the promo include Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei, Bangkok, Singapore, Saigon, Jakarta, Shanghai, Osaka, Beijing, Fukuoka, Nagoya, as well as Sydney and Melbourne in Australia.

The new round of low fares have all figures ending in 8.

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Philippine Airlines flight schedules, promo fares, advisories, products and services, including mileage points earned by Mabuhay Miles members, can now be conveniently accessed through WAP-enabled cellphones as an alternative means of retrieving information posted on the PAL website.

The PAL mobile service can be accessed by holders of WAP-enabled mobile handsets by logging on to philippineairlines.mobi

The PAL Mobile Service includes such information as actual flight status, travel advisories, promo fares (buy one-take one, discount privileges, etc.), Econolight and PAL Express fares and schedules, excess baggage rates, balance check on mileage points earned for Mabuhay Miles members, and other PAL products and services.

Flight bookings/reservations still have to be completed by calling the PAL Reservations (855-8888) or visiting any PAL ticket office.

Philippine Airlines is increasing flights to Canada, the United States and on key domestic routes despite a global crisis that is expected to dampen tourist traffic worldwide.

The flag carrier was quoted by AsiaOne.com as saying that its service to Vancouver, currently five times a week, will become a daily flight starting on March 23 to address the needs of a “sizeable Filipino migrant community in Canada” and to cater for the business and leisure segments of the market.

The airline said it would also add a flight a week to both Los Angeles and San Francisco over the summer, taking weekly services to 10 and eight respectively for those cities.

PAL suffered a net loss of 176 million USD in the first half of the current fiscal year to March 2009 due to a surge in fuel prices, said the news network.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates announces new promotional fares to Manila, Philippines. This new promotion which starts with KD 60 for a one-way ticket and KD 80 for a return flight is valid for travel until the end of March 2009, excluding taxes.

Through understanding the current market demands in Kuwait, Etihad Airways continues to become a leader at offering great destinations with very special fares for its travellers to renowned cities in Europe, Africa and the United States, and now the Far East.

Magdi Labib, Kuwait country manager said: “The Far East is a popular destination for travellers in Kuwait, and with Etihad’s new fares to the Philippines, we are making it easier than ever for travellers to go through new experiences in different countries.” Continue Reading

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Shanghai Airlines announced on Monday that it will open a direct service from Shanghai to Hanoi as of next month.

This will be Shanghai Airlines’ second destination in Vietnam following Ho Chi Minh City.

The airline said its Boeing 727-800 airplane will offer three flights a week on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday from Shanghai beginning March 27. Flights from Hanoi will be available on Monday.

Wednesday and Saturday is the only direct air service so far between the two cities.

The Friday the 13th early morning flight of Cebu Pacific, 5J562, from Tacloban to Manila was cancelled forcing passengers to take alternative flights later on the day.

A bird strike caused engine trouble for Cebu Pacific flight 5J651 as it was landing at the DZR Airport in Tacloban Airport in Leyte early morning of Friday, February 13.

Early information revealed that the said plane was landing at Tacloban Airport when a bird got sucked, breaking the engine’s three blades. The Cebu Pacific airbus 319 was able to land safely and the 125 passengers safely alighted from the plane, thanks to the quick and sound judgment of the pilot.

Cebu Pacific’s Ms. Michelle de Guzman confirmed the incident saying that “a Cebu Pacific flight from Manila had a bird strike as it approached Tacloban airport this morning. The plane landed normally and will undergo servicing and maintenance.” Continue Reading