BRIEFING - ASIA AVIATION - SEPT 26, 2011
http://asian-aviation-news.aerosoftseo.com/
http://asian-aviation-news.blogspot.com/
INDIA'S SWAJAS AIR CHARTERS SETS IPO PRICE BAND AT RS 90-100
NEW DELHI - India's Swajas Air Charters has fixed the price band at Rs 90-100 per share for its Rs 37.5-crore (US$7.5 million) initial public offer, which opens on Monday.
"The company proposes to enter the capital markets on September 26 with a public issue ... has fixed the price band at Rs 90 to Rs 100 per equity share of Rs 10 each," Swajas Air Charters said in a statement.
PHILIPPINES SEES 20 DOMESTIC FLIGHTS CANCELLED DUE TO PEDRING
MANILA - As of 10:30 am local time on Monday, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) announced that 20 domestic flights were cancelled due to bad weather spawned by tropical storm Pedring.
The MIAA said AirPhil Express and Zest Air had provided flight advisories regarding its flight cancellations because of the storm.
KOREAN AIR WINS US$400 MLN ORDER FROM U.S. AIR FORCE
SEOUL - Korean Air Lines Co. (KSE:003490), South Korea's top air carrier, said Monday that it has clinched a US$400 million order from the U.S. Air Force to improve and repair F-15 fighter jets.
Under the deal with the U.S. Air Force, Korean Air will work on 60 F-15 fighters stationed in the Pacific region by 2016, replacing their tail wings and re-wiring them in line with the U.S. military's project to improve its combat strength.
ANALYSIS - SKY'S THE LIMIT FOR CHINESE OWNERS OF PRIVATE JETS
BEIJING - Chinese entrepreneurs who made their fortune by producing ordinary items for everyday life are becoming more flamboyant in how they spend their wealth.
Swish clothes, flashy houses and luxury cars are not enough, it seems, and the rich are now snapping up yachts, racing motorcycles and helicopters.
MACAO'S VISITOR ARRIVALS UP 14.4% IN AUGUST
MACAO - Macao's visitor arrivals in August reached 2,698,003, a 14.4 per cent rise over the same month of 2010, according to figures released on Friday by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).
The figure marked a new record of visitor arrivals in a single month during the Summer holidays, with same-day visitors (1,411,916) accounting for 52.3 per cent of total visitor arrivals and 838,919 coming from the Chinese mainland, said the DSEC.
NEPALI PLANE CRASH KILLS 19 AFTER MOUNTAIN FLIGHT
KATHMANDU - Nepali police said all the 19 passengers and crew members on a Buddha Air flight, which crashed in Lamatar Kotdanda village of Lalitpur Sunday morning, have been confirmed dead.
Local private carrier Buddha Air's twin otter plane crashed while returning from a mountain flight.
CHINA TO LAUNCH NEW ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION PROJECT
BEIJING - Two more national projects for science and technology development in environmental protection will be launched later this year, according to an officer from China's Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) during the 7th environment and development forum hosted by the All China Environment Federation on Thursday.
The projects will be in the areas of air pollution control and the decontamination of soil.
AIR MISHAP AVERTED AT CHENNAI AIRPORT
CHENNAI - Weeks after an airliner skidded off the runway at an airport in the south Indian state of Kerala, yet another air mishap was averted at Chennai airport here on Saturday when a private airliner, cleared for take-off, stopped on the runway just as an Air India flight was about to land.
Airport authorities have sought an explanation from Jet Airways as to why it stopped despite being cleared for take-off.
OMAN AIR AND BANK DHOFAR SIGN AIRCRAFT FINANCE AGREEMENT
MUSCAT - Oman Air has recently signed a finance agreement worth $52 million with Bank Dhofar for the purchase of two Embraer 175 jets, as part of a deal to purchase five Embraer aircraft from the manufacturing company in Brazil.
The new aircraft will enhance and expand Oman Air's regional and domestic network.
QANTAS UNDER PRESSURE OVER AFFLIATE'S LINKS TO FIJIAN REGIME
AUCKLAND - Australian flagship carrier Qantas (ASX:QAN) is under pressure to explain why its Fijian affiliate Air Pacific appears to be actively supporting Fiji's military regime.
Documents leaked to a blog site show Air Pacific, in which Qantas has a 46 per cent share, has paid a US legal firm US$24,000 to draft a government decree that limits union influence.
ASEAN, GERMANY INK PACT TO ADDRESS FOOD SECURITY
JAKARTA - The Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN, S. Pushpanathan, on Friday signed an implementation agreement with the country director of Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Sabine Markert, to address food security and impact of climate change in ASEAN Member States.
"With the current development on climate change, ASEAN and Germany have the same concern in addressing the adverse impact of climate change on food security," Pushpanthan said as quoted in a statement of the ASEAN Secretariat.
DEPLOYING SPY DRONES IS TOP PRIORITY FOR S.KOREAN ARMY: LAWMAKER
SEOUL - Deploying unmanned surveillance aircraft is the most important task among the Army's armament plans to better monitor North Korea's military activities, according to a lawmaker on Monday.
It was the second time that the Army placed the deployment of spy drones at the top of its annual arms procurement projects, said Rep. Song Young-sun of the minor opposition Future Hope Alliance, citing a report she obtained from the Army.
10 INDIANS AMONG 19 KILLED IN NEPAL PLANE CRASH
KATHMANDU - Ten Indians, mostly from south Indian state Tamil Nadu, were among 19 people Sunday killed when a small plane carrying them crashed near the Nepalese capital while attempting to land after an aerial viewing trip of Mount Everest.
All 19 people, two Americans and a Japanese national, were killed in the crash, officials said. The Beechcraft turboprop plane, broke into pieces. Six Nepalese, including three crew members of Buddha Air were killed in the crash.
TURKISH PM CITES PACT WITH U.S OVER DRONES
ANKARA - Turkey and the United States have agreed in principle over Turkey's request concerning U.S. unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAV), or drones.
"We have placed our offer. We can either buy them or lease them. Our talks are continuing. There is nothing negative about the issue. And yes we have an agreement in principle," Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday.
TURKISH PM CITES PACT WITH U.S OVER UNMANNED DRONES
ANKARA - Turkey and the United States have agreed in principle over Turkey's request concerning U.S. unmanned drones.
"We have placed our offer. We can either buy them or lease them. Our talks are continuing. There is nothing negative about the issue. And yes we have an agreement in principle," Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday.
INDONESIA'S MANDALA SIGNS DEALS WITH SARATOGA, TIGER AIRWAYS
JAKARTA - Indonesia's PT Mandala Airlines, the Saratoga Group and Tiger Airways have signed a conditional purchase agreement and various other commercial as well as legal documents.
The signing of all the documents was done on Friday (September 23), PT Mandala Airlines said in a press statement received here on Saturday.
TAIWAN AIRLINE SHARES OUTPERFORM MARKET ON OIL PRICE PLUNGE
TAIPEI - Shares of China Airlines (TAIEX:2610) and EVA Airways (TAIEX:2618), the two biggest international carriers in Taiwan, staged a rally Friday due to an overnight plunge in international crude oil prices, dealers said.
Falling crude prices are expected to help the two airlines cut operating costs and improve their bottom lines in the second half of this year after they saw growth stagnate during the first six months.
CUSTOMS WORKERS TO GO ON STRIKE AT AUSTRALIAN AIRPORTS
MELBOURNE - Passengers can expect delays at Australia's international airports on Tuesday as customs and quarantine workers stop work.
Thousands of staff at airports, ports and mail handling facilities are expected stop work for between one and two hours to attend meetings across the country.
TAIWAN-JAPAN OPEN SKIES PACT STILL UNDER NEGOTIATION: OFFICIAL
TAIPEI - An aviation pact between Taiwan and Japan is still under negotiation and no clear timetable is available now, said Taiwan's Association of East Asian Relations on Friday.
The exact wording of the open skies agreement to liberalize commercial aviation services between the two countries is still being discussed because the Japanese are more discreet about it, said Yen Ping-ho, deputy secretary general of the association.
AIRLINES TO CUT CROSS-STRAIT FARES FOR TAIWANESE VOTERS
BEIJING - Taiwanese and Chinese airlines will offer discounts averaging 50 per cent on air fares to Taiwanese business people in China who are returning to Taiwan for the Lunar New Year holiday or to vote in the 2012 presidential election.
The Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, a Taiwanese business association in China, announced Friday that it has reached an agreement with airlines across the Taiwan Strait to provide the discount.
LIVERPOOL HOSTS WORKSHOP ON TRADE, INVESTMENT IN VIETNAM
HANOI - A workshop on promotion of trade and investment in Vietnam was held in the UK port city of Liverpool on Sept. 20.
Representatives from Vietnam's Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Industry and Trade and Planning and Investment talked about the economic situation, investment opportunities and environment in the country, which offers a stable society and political environment, with 50 per cent of its population in working ages.
