AIRLINE NEWS

GARUDA INDONESIA will no longer be offering first class seating to London from June 20 onwards as it looks to switch from a three-class to two-class Boeing B777-300ER, according to industry website airlineroute.net. The configuration change for flights GA086/87 on the carrier’s Jakarta-Singapore-London Heathrow route will increase the overall number of seats from 314 to 393 at the expense of its first class cabin. TIGERAIR AUSTRALIA has been forced to axe its services to Bali effective February 3 following the decision by Indonesian authorities not to provide the carrier with final approval to operate to and from Bali. According to a statement by the carrier, authorities in Indonesia had required “an alternative regulatory solution for Tigerair’s operations to Bali” – a solution the airline says would have taken at least six months to put in place. “As a result of this development, Tigerair Australia has made the difficult decision to withdraw from flying between Australia and Bali permanently,” the airline’s statement said. CHINA SOUTHERN will be changing equipment on its Guangzhou (CAN)-Vancouver (YVR) service to a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner for the summer season. Starting March 26, the Chinese carrier will replace the 777-300ER that currently operates the route with a Dreamliner. EVA AIR’S Taipei-Chicago service will increase its number of flights from four times weekly to daily. The Taiwanese carrier had originally planned to increase the number of flights on the Boeing 777-300ER operated route starting May 5, however this has now been revised to May 29. This route was launched in November 2015.