AIRLINE NEWS

ANA will reduce its Tokyo (Narita)–Chengdu route from seven weekly flights to four as part of an Asiawide service adjustment exercise. CATHAY PACIFIC will launch a four times weekly service from Hong Kong to Boston, its sixth US destination, from May 2015 using a four-class 777-300ER. QANTAS has announced that it will add three weekly flights on its daily Melbourne–Los Angeles rotation and boost the Sydney–Santiago service from three to four flights per week starting from January 21. QATAR AIRWAYS will up the frequency of its Doha– Dubai route from both Dubai International Airport and World Central Al Maktoum airport to 14 flights per day and four per day respectively, starting October 26. SPRING AIRLINES, China's only privately owned low-cost carrier, has started flying from Shanghai Pudong to Seoul Incheon four times a week from September 23 with a 180-seat A320. ROYAL JORDANIAN (RJ) has taken delivery of its first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, making it the second airline in the Middle East to operate the aircraft. The two-class configuration has 24 seats in business and 246 in economy. Thailand-based low-cost carrier NOK AIR has taken delivery of its first Q400 NextGen turboprop at Bombardier’s facility in Toronto, an extended variant featuring 86 seats. TIGERAIR Taiwan, a joint venture between the Tigerair Group and China Airlines, launched its maiden flight from Taipei to Singapore on September 26 using one of its first three delivered Airbus A320s. LUFTHANSA has become the third carrier after Singapore Airlines and Emirates to fly the A380 to India. Starting from October 26, the German flag carrier will offer superjumbo services from Frankfurt to Delhi and Mumbai. XIAMEN AIR is the third Chinese carrier to take delivery of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The airline intends to use the Dreamliner on its upcoming longhaul routes to Europe, North America and Australia. EMIRATES has begun deploying its iconic Airbus A380 to Frankfurt daily. Simultaneously, the UAE has announced the addition of flights to Oslo. JAPAN AIRLINES (JAL) has signed a purchase agreement with Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp to buy 32 aircraft, which follows an agreement by the carrier to purchase 27 planes from South American manufacturer Embraer, due for delivery next year. VIRGIN ATLANTIC is to axe Mumbai and Tokyo Narita from its network early next year, in addition to ceasing seasonal services to Vancouver and Cape Town.