Emirates expands its Asia presence
Highlights
Bonza, an Australian low-cost airline, announced last April 29th the suspension of operations. The company had six Boeing 737 MAX 8s in its fleet, including aircraft with Australian and Canadian registrations.
Its first flight was on January 31st, 2023. Tim Jordan, Bonza’s CEO, had said on its first anniversary, “It really is a Bonzaversary to remember’ since our inaugural flight on 31 January 2023′ Bonza has expanded to operate 38 routes to 21 destinations from three bases and’ of these routes’ 84% are unique to Bonza”.
“We have big plans for 2024 and the Australian public will benefit. We predict we will save domestic travelers around an additional $250 million next year. Competition in Australian skies is a fantastic thing for Australian travelers and more than 750,000 customers have already experienced the benefits of Bonza,” he concluded.
Bonza was forced to cease operations after lessor AIP Capital removed flight manuals from some of the airline’s aircraft.
Emirates continues its expansion in Asia with the launch of new routes, as well as an increase in weekly frequencies.
What are the airline’s current destinations in this market?
Ahmedabad, Angeles City, Auckland, Baghdad, Bangalore, Bangkok, Basra, Beijing, Brisbane, Cebu, Chennai, Cochin, Colombo, Delhi, Denpasar, Dhaka, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Jakarta, Karachi, Kolkata, Kuala Lumpur, Lahore, Male, Manila, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, Osaka, Perth, Peshawar, Phnom Penh, Phuket, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sialkot, St. Petersburg, Sydney, Tehran, Tokyo (HND and NRT) and Trivandrum.
We will review Emirates’ new developments later in the report.
Air India
As of June 1st, the airline will start operating between Mumbai and Dubai with its new Airbus A350-900s. According to our database, Air India performs this route on Airbus A319, Airbus A320 and Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
Daily (A350)
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Mumbai – Dubai will be Air India’s second international Airbus A350 route, after Delhi – Dubai.
Aurora
The carrier will open a new international connection from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk beginning June 11th. In line with its website, services will be available until late August.
Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Harbin is currently its only international destination to/from the Russian city. The other connections are Blagoveshchensk, Iturup, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Okha, Petropavlovsk, Shakhtyorsk, Sovetskaya, Tymovskoye and Yuzhno-Kurilsk, all in Russia.
Bhutan Airlines
From September, the airline plans to add services to Bangalore and Mumbai.
Operations will be combined with Kolkata, using Airbus A319-100 aircraft in both cases.
Mumbai · September?24th
Monday
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Thursday
Bangalore · September 25th
Tuesday
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Friday
Guangzhou, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Nanning, Siem Reap (Cambodia) and Zhengzhou are the current routes of Cambodia Angkor Air in Phnom Penh. For its part, the airline operates to Da Nang from Siem Reap.
Cebu Pacific
Starting July 16th, Cebu Pacific will launch services between Manila and Bangkok (DMK). As stated on its website, the carrier will offer three weekly flights on this route using 180-seat Airbus A320-200 jets.
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
Cebu Pacific
Starting July 16th, Cebu Pacific will launch services between Manila and Bangkok (DMK). As stated on its website, the carrier will offer three weekly flights on this route using 180-seat Airbus A320-200 jets.
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
China Eastern
For the following month, China Eastern Airlines will be flying between Beijing Daxing and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi.
The first operation will be on May 27th, according to its website. These services will be carried out on Airbus A320s with a capacity of 158 passengers in single class, until late June.
Daily except Thursday
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Daily except Friday
China Southern
The airline will open five new international routes from China between June and July.
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In addition, last May 11th, China Southern Airlines inaugurated its services between Shenzhen and Mexico City. We will talk more about this in the Latin America report.
China West
At 19:39 on May 16th, China West Airlines’ first flight from Chongqing landed in Hanoi. The company will offer two frequencies per week on Airbus A320s.
Tuesday and Saturday
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In the next Asia/Oceania report, we will mention two new routes that China West will inaugurate in mid-June.
Emirates
As mentioned above, the airline will have the following changes in the Asian market, all from/to Dubai:
Furthermore, Emirates resumed services between Dubai and Phnom Penh on May 1st. The company will operate under the following schedule, in accordance with our database:
Daily
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Iran Airtour
Iran Airtour’s Airbus A310-324, registered EP-MDH, entered service last May 12th. The Iranian airline had incorporated this 33-year-old aircraft in May 2023, following its retirement from Mahan Air.
Fleet
Jetstar Japan
On May 8th, the Japanese carrier began international operations with Airbus A321LRs.
The Tokyo Narita – Shanghai Pudong route will be offered between two and three weekly times as follows:
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Jetstar Japan also operates this leg on Airbus A320-200 aircraft.
Korean Air
As of July 19th, the South Korean carrier will offer three services a week between Jeju and Tokyo Narita. Operations will be performed with 173-seat Boeing 737-900ER planes.
Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
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The Japanese capital will be Korean Air’s first international destination from Jeju, as its current destinations are Busan, Cheongju, Daegu, Gwangju, Jinju, Seoul Gimpo, Ulsan and Yeosu. Busan and Seoul Incheon are its connections from Tokyo Narita.
Lao Airlines
Guangzhou, new Lao Airlines destination.
The company began flights from Pakse, Laos, on May 19th using Airbus A320 aircraft.
Sunday
Monday
?Current routes – Pakse
Malaysia Airlines
The airline announced the expansion of its network, with the opening of three new international connections from Kuala Lumpur (all with Boeing 737-800s):
Myanmar Airways International
MAI plans to launch operations between Yangon and Doha from June 1st. Services will be on 140-seat Airbus A319s, under this schedule:
Tuesday and Saturday
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领英推荐
MAI Routes to/from Yangon
Cambodia
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China
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India
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Laos
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Malaysia
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Myanmar
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Singapore
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South Korea
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Thailand
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United Arab Emirates
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Vietnam
Nauru Airlines
The company expands its services to Australia with a new route from Palau.
At the time of publication, Nauru Airlines will perform this route once per week by Boeing 737-800 with capacity for 189 passengers.
Tuesday (first flight May 21st)
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Wednesday (first flight May 22nd)
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Nauru Airlines is the only carrier operating between Australia and Palau.
Qanot Sharq
As of June 23rd, the Uzbek airline intends to inaugurate flights between Tashkent and Shanghai Pudong, which will be operated with a weekly frequency on Airbus A320s.
Sunday
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Monday
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Fergana, Jeddah, Moscow, Namangan, Nha Trang, Phuket, Samarkand and Sharm el-Sheikh are Qanot Sharq’s current routes from/to Tashkent.
Qantas
In Q4, Qantas confirmed it will boost flights to the Asian market.
Connections to Bangalore and Singapore will have the following changes, in addition to a new start:
Brisbane
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Sydney
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On the other hand, the airline will discontinue services between Sydney and Shanghai from July 28th. It currently operates five times a week using Airbus A330-300s.
Somon Air
The Tajik carrier launched services between Khujand and Urumqi in mid-May. At the time of publication, Somon Air will offer a weekly flight on 189-seat Boeing 737-800s.
Thursday
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Friday
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Somon Air has six aircraft in its fleet (4 Boeing 737-800 and 2 Boeing 737-900).
SpiceJet
Effective May 31st, the Indian low cost airline will have a daily frequency between Delhi and Phuket. These services will be operated on Sky Angkor Airlines’ leased Airbus A320s with the following schedule:
Daily
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From Delhi, Bangkok is the carrier’s only current destination in Thailand, which is offered once a day with Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Spring Airlines
The Chinese low cost carrier will add a new route to Vietnam as of July 6th.
According to its website, Spring Airlines will operate four weekly between Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City:
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday
Tigerair Taiwan
During July, the Taiwanese airline will begin three new connections from Taichung, which will be carried out by Airbus A320-200 aircraft.
Nagoya · July 1st
Monday and Friday
?Tokyo Narita · July 2nd
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
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Busan · July 3rd
Wednesday and Saturday
Xiamen Airlines
Xiamen Air’s operations between Quanzhou and Bangkok (BKK) will commence on June 15th.
In accordance with its website, services will have three frequencies per week on Boeing 737-800s with 189 seats.
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
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Current Xiamen Air routes in Bangkok and Quanzhou
Bangkok
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Quanzhou (international routes)
New aircraft deliveries this month
(includes new factory aircraft and used aircraft entering fleets).
Eastern Airlines’ Boeing 777-212(ER), registration N771KW, will operate for Garuda Indonesia under this same registry.
Following the cessation of Bonza, its Boeing 737 MAX 8s are now returning to their lessors. For more information about the planes that were part of Bonza’s fleet, you can click here.
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