Air Asia will launch flights from Kuala Lumpur to Hainan in May. The low-cost carrier already has four routes linking Kuala Lumpur to China: Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Macao.

Established in 2001, the Kuala Lumpur-based airline has now carried more than 46 million passengers.

To keep fares low, the airline does not provide free food or beverages on board.

The uniforms of the hostesses raised complaints in the Malay parliament. A Wanita Umno delegate from Kelantan said the uniforms of the female cabin crew of budget airline AirAsia are too short and ’show too much skin.’

Kubang Kerian delegate Datuk Zaleha Hussin said the uniform was an embarrassment to women.

She called on the Government to compel the carrier to change the uniform of the stewardesses, which she felt was too revealing.
Source: China View

Air New Zealand will have a new twice weekly direct Auckland-Beijing service. Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe and said the direct service would operate from July 18.

The service, subject to all necessary Chinese regulatory and operating approvals, would operate out of Auckland on Wednesday and Friday and out of Beijing on Thursday and Saturday using the airline’s new Boeing 777-200ER aircraft.

Rob Fyfe said the new service would build on the success of the airline’s Auckland-Shanghai service which was launched in November 2006.

He said, ‘Chinese visitor numbers to New Zealand continue to boom, increasing approximately 14% year-on-year, and its rapidly developing economy offers significant potential for both Air New Zealand and the broader New Zealand tourism industry.’

To provide sufficient capacity for the Beijing flights, the airline will cut its Auckland Shanghai service to three times a week until November 2008.

Rob Fyfe said from November next year the airline planned to operate five services a week to Shanghai, plus the two Beijing flights.

Group general manager international airline Ed Sims said, ‘Our direct Shanghai service was primarily aimed to serve its 17 million citizens. By offering a direct service to Beijing, we expect to gain a greater number of customers looking to travel to New Zealand from other parts of China, and from Europe. It will also provide Kiwis with an easy and convenient way to travel deeper into China.’
Source: Stuff

European aircraft producer Airbus has authorized a Shenzhen company to be its first maintenance center in Asia.

Lufthansa Technik Shenzhen , not a name that rolls off the tongue, will provide repair and overhaul services in line with Airbus’ requirements, according to an agreement signed by the two companies.

The Shenzhen company has started serving Chinese Airbus operators, helping to cut costs and increase efficiency as they no longer need to send aircraft parts to Europe for repair. It is also expected to provide maintenance services to other customers in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company has received approval from Airbus and the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to join the Airbus Spares repair station network. Airbus is trying to set up a comprehensive after-sales service network in China. It has built customer service and technical support stations in 20 cities.

In 1997, it invested US$80 million in an advanced training center in Beijing to help domestic airlines train more than 14,000 pilots, crew members and maintenance technicians.

China’s northern port city Tianjin was selected as the first Airbus overseas assembly plant this year and is expected to turn out its first aircraft at the end of 2008.

Airbus announced last year that it would renew cooperation with the China Aviation Suppliers Import and Export Group on training and support services for another 20 years.
Source: People’s Daily Online

Shenzhen Airlines has said passengers will soon be able to use their mobile phones and connect to the Internet during flights. The airline will be the first in China to offer the service.

Swiss technology firm OnAir is providing the service and said the move will allow travelers to call and send text messages from their mobile phones and access the Internet on laptops during flights.

Three aircraft from Shenzhen to Beijing and Shanghai will introduce the service ahead of the Beijing Olympics next year.

The OnAir service will be installed across Shenzhen Airlines’ full fleet of Boeing 737 and Airbus A320-family aircraft by mid-2009.

OnAir has earlier signed deals with other Asian and European airlines that want to introduce the technology, according to Benoit Debains, chief executive officer of OnAir. He didn’t elaborate on which airline is or will be the first in the world to provide the service in the air. Nor did he say how much the airlines will charge per call. Many passengers would like it to be $50 a minute. Or more.
Source: China Daily

Shenzhen Airlines now flies from Shenzhen to Lhasa in a bid to get a slice of the booming tourism industry in the Tibet Autonomous Region. With a stopover in Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, it will take about five-and-a-half hours to fly from Shenzhen to Lhasa.

Liu Jianping, vice-president of Shenzhen Airlines said, ‘As the first air route to link Tibet and Shenzhen, the new route will greatly promote the exchanges in economy, culture and tourism between Lhasa, Chongqing and Shenzhen.

‘It will also play a positive role for Tibet in attracting outside investment and tourists from the Pearl River Delta areas.’

The carrier will have four flights every week. Tibet’s tourist arrivals are expected to pass three million by the end of this year and double that by 2010 according to a forecast by the tourism authority.
Source: China Daily