Thai lands at Hong Kong’s Terminal 2

Thai Airways has become the sixth airline to operate to Hong Kong International’s Terminal 2 (left), which officially opened in 1 June. Thai joins Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, Emirates, Jetstar Asia Airways, Bangkok Airways and Siem Reap Airways International at Terminal 2.

These six airlines now serve more than 100 departing flights a week from the terminal and airport officials predict Terminal 2 will account for about 15% of the passengers departing HKIA by te end of this year.

“Terminal 2 complements the facilities and services in Terminal 1, and gives us vitally important room to grow,” says Stanley Hui, CEO of Airport Authority Hong Kong. “In the months ahead, Terminal 2 will serve an even larger number of airlines and departing passenger traffic.”

In addition to offering passenger check-in services, Terminal 2 operates as a multi-modal hub where air, land and sea transport converge seamlessly. Each day, Terminal 2’s coach station serves over 6,000 passengers, who board buses to local hotels and 70 mainland destinations.

In 2009, an automated people mover will connect Terminal 2 to the new SkyPier which will receive ferries from the Pearl River Delta.

ICAO sets 2010 deadline for e-passports

All states should embrace machine-readable passports (MRPs), or e-passports, by 1 April 2010 in order to improve security and safety at airports, claims the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

ICAO secretary-general, Dr. Taieb Cherif, says the technology “improves the overall national security of states in the fight against terrorism and criminal mobility. With the introduction of this infrastructure, we are witnessing the beginning of a new era in travel document verification and authentication.” He claims it will also support more efficient border control procedures.

Dr. Cherif says ICAO will support states’ plans to issue machine readable travel documents and will help to ensure standards and best practices are followed to establish and maintain confidence in the systems.

“I encourage those states that require assistance with their machine readable travel documents or electronic machine readable travel documents to contact the ICAO Technical Co-operation Bureau and see how they can benefit from its proven track record.”

ICAO estimates that up to 120 states have begun the process of introducing MRPs. Of these, around 50 states have included biometric details in their specifications.

ICAO is working with donor states, international organisations and other United Nations offices to support those states with insufficient resources to introduce MRPs by the deadline.

UK to switch taxes from passengers to flights

The British government is planning to replace air passenger duty with a tax based on flights rather than passengers. Chancellor Alistair Darling (left) announced yesterday (Wednesday), “I propose that aviation makes a greater contribution in respect of its environmental impact and for this to be as environmentally effective as possible, from 2009, I intend to levy the duty not on individual passengers but on flights.” He also stressed that it is “right” that aircraft emissions should be part of the EU emissions trading scheme.

“It is right to tax emissions, not passengers. That means reflecting a combination of aircraft type and distance flown,” says EasyJet CEO Andy Harrison. “However, the reform should not be used as an excuse to further increase the burden of tax on passengers. EasyJet, for example, already covers its carbon costs more than four times over.”

British Airways says, “Our share of Air Passenger Duty (APD) revenue for the government is now £400 million (US$815.6 million) a year. With this money, the government could offset our entire CO2 emissions four times over.”

Ryanair says the reformed APD would be “just another tax on ordinary passengers from government ministers swanning around on private aircraft. This Labour government lied when it proposed to spend the £1 billion raised from doubling APD on the environment. Not a penny has been spent on the environment and they are back stealing more from ordinary passengers going on holidays.”

Airbus Orders Jump To 854 After Strong September

Airbus has reported 854 plane orders to the end of September versus 226 at the same point last year.

The Toulouse-headquartered company posted 141 orders in September versus just four in the same month a year earlier.

Thirty-six deliveries in September lifted the total for the first nine months to 330 from 320 at the same point last year.

US rival Boeing had 329 deliveries for the same period, its web site showed.

Boeing had 893 net orders as of October 2, subtracting 10 order cancellations.

Airbus uses gross figures which do not reveal how many plane orders were cancelled.

Wizz Air Orders 50 Airbus A320s

Wizz Air, a leading budget airline in eastern and central Europe, signed a deal with Airbus to buy 50 narrow-body A320 aircraft, the companies said on Wednesday.

Wizz Air, which is expanding its 70 route European network, also has an option to buy 25 additional A320's by 2016, they said in a presentation.

"The new deal increases the total order made by Wizz Air for A320 to 82," the companies said.

The 50 new planes are to be delivered in 2011-2014, while the option covers the period 2014-2016.

The total value of the order is USD$3.5 billion based on listed prices, but airlines usually receive a discount to the official price.

Boeing Says 787 On Track For May 2008 Delivery

Reuters - Boeing said on Monday it still expected to deliver its first lightweight 787 Dreamliner aircraft on time by May 2008, despite delays to its test flight schedule.

"It is still our objective to meet that May 2008 delivery but in doing that we have had to compress our flight-test schedule," Randy Tinseth, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Vice President for Marketing, told reporters.

"It is an aggressive schedule but we believe we can do it."

Tinseth said the plane was still set for its first test flight between mid-November and mid-December after a three month delay due to a shortage of bolts and problems programming the flight control software.

The plane must complete 1,300 flight-test hours and 3,700 ground-test hours between the first flight and certification of the plane, Tinseth said, describing the schedule as "challenging".

The first 787 is due to be delivered to Japan's All Nippon Airways.

Boeing, which competes with Airbus for the title of world's biggest plane maker, is forecasting 28,600 new aircraft worth about USD$2.8 trillion will be bought over the next 20 years on the back of rising demand for passenger travel and air cargo.

Tinseth, speaking on a visit to Australia, said Boeing now expected 580 planes worth USD$73 billion would be bought in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific by 2026.

Boeing upped its forecast from 440 planes worth USD$60 billion previously due to rapid growth in low-cost airlines which were bumping up orders for single-aisle planes.

He said fuel prices were expected to remain volatile, although Boeing's 20 year forecast assumed they would moderate over the next 20 years.