Shanghai Pudong closes cargo terminals due to COVID cluster

Qantas resumes intercontinental flights in mid 4Q21

Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) is bringing forward the restart of its international flights to November 14, 2021, following the Australian government’s surprise announcement that Australia’s borders will open in November.

The national carrier has announced it will operate three weekly return flights between Sydney Kingsford Smith and London Heathrow and Sydney and Los Angeles Int'l respectively with its B787-9s. More flights will be added pending demand.

With its international operations grounded since March 2020, Qantas initially planned to restart its intercontinental flights gradually from December 18, 2021, onwards when Australia is expected to have reached a Cabinet-set vaccination threshold of 80%. Its Perth Int'l to London service has been postponed until at least April 2022 due to the latest Western Australia border settings.

Canberra has not yet disclosed the exact date of the re-opening of borders, meaning Qantas may yet have to adjust the commencement dates. It said flights would be brought forward if borders re-open earlier, or moved to later, if necessary. Passengers would...

China Eastern Airlines invests ¥310mn in catering unit

US-China tensions hit COMAC, Boeing

COMAC (Shanghai Pudong) is struggling to stick to its planned certification timeline for the C919 due to American restrictions on parts' exports to China, Reuters has reported.

The Chinese state-owned manufacturer planned to certify its narrowbody jet and deliver the first unit to China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao) by the end of the year. However, the US Department of Defence's (DOD) designation of COMAC as a military end-user has made it much more burdensome for US companies to secure export licences. Sources said that while suppliers are now being issued licences, the bottleneck continues to affect the C919's certification and production ramp-up.

The manufacturer did not display the aircraft during the recently ended Zhuhai Air Show, China's largest aerospace trade fair.

Meanwhile, at the opposite end of a brewing geopolitical dispute, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo criticised the Beijing government for allegedly blocking Chinese airlines from ordering "tens of billions of dollars" worth of Boeing aircraft. China pledged to increase imports from the United States, including...

Laos suspends scheduled domestic operations

Lao Airlines (QV, Vientiane) and Lao Skyway (LK, Vientiane) have suspended all domestic flights from Vientiane to the provinces until further notice as COVID-19 cases hit a new high in the capital city.

The suspension of domestic flights became effective on September 20, 2021. This followed a government-imposed lockdown from September 20 until September 30 after a spike in the dreaded Delta variant of the disease was reported on September 18 involving factories in Vientiane.

Destinations affected and served by both airlines include Luang Namtha, Luang Prabang, Oudomxay, and Pakse, as well as Lao Airlines' flights to Savannakhet and Lao Skyway's rotations to Phongsaly, Sam Neua, and Xieng Khouang, according to the ch-aviation schedules module.

The only international flights that arrived at Vientiane on September 28 were a Lao Airlines flight from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (Thailand) and a China Eastern Airlines flight from Kunming Changshui (China), Flightradar24 ADS-B data revealed. Lao Airlines is due to conduct two more special...