Vol. 28 No. 3 June-July 2021 orientaviation.com A RECKONING FOR INDIA’S LEADING LCCs Who will be the winners beyond the pandemic? Complicated journey Taiwan’s “good pandemic” Vietnam’s multi-billion into the skies for halo slips as COVID dollar aviation infrastructure Asia-Pacific airline fleet cases surge strategy to 2030 Willis Lease does it again. Introducing Revolving Credit Lease Engine Financing REDUCE COSTS. INCREASE FLEXIBILITY. OWN YOUR OWN SPARE ENGINE. ✔ More liquidity (including for future maintenance) ✔ More flexibility for airlines looking for long-term ownership of engine assets ✔ Payment cash flows that mirror the way engines produce airline revenue [email protected] | +1 561.349.8950 | willislease.com CONTENTS Volume 28, Issue 3 COVER STORY 14 GAUGING ORIENT AVIATION MEDIA GROUP THEIR 17/F Hang Wai Commercial Building, 231-233 Queen’s Road East, CHANCES Wanchai, Hong Kong Editorial: +852 2865 1013 Each of India’s three E-mail: [email protected] leading LCCs face the same Website: www.orientaviation.com challenge – staying in the air Publisher & Editor-in-Chief until COVID-19 fades away Christine McGee and passengers return. E-mail: [email protected] Who will the winners be? Anjuli Bhargava reports. Associate Editor & Chief Correspondent Tom Ballantyne Tel: +61 2 8854 1458 M: +61 4 1463 8689 E-mail: [email protected] North Asia Correspondent Geoffrey Tudor COMMENT 24 Vietnam airlines forecast explosive growth to Tel: +81 3 3373 8368 5 Shortsighted governments failing their flag 2030 E-mail: [email protected] carriers INDUSTRY ADDENDUM Photographers ADDENDUM 25 Aircraft lessor Avolon and Vertical Aerospace Rob Finlayson, Graham Uden, Ryan Peters 6 Airports must offer digital passenger processing announce world’s largest air taxi order or face bloated check-in queues Chief Designer 6 Taiwan’s newest international carrier approved Chan Ping Kwan to fly to U.S. Printing Printing Station (2008) NEWS BACKGROUNDERS 8 Complicated journey into the skies for region’s airline fleet ADMINISTRATION 10 COVID-19 delivers one more blow to struggling General Manager flag carriers Shirley Ho E-mail: [email protected] 25 Australian drone manufacturer Carbonix signs MoU for Honeywell’s smallest SATCOM system ADVERTISING 25 HAECO Hong Kong completes first Air Hong Asia-Pacific, Europe & Middle East Kong C-Check Defne Alpay 26 AFI KLM E&M names new Asia-Pacific sales boss Tel: +44 771 282 9859 26 Collins Aerospace broadens Air China relationship E-mail: [email protected] with 10-year contract for airline’s next generation The Americas / Canada fleet Barnes Media Associates 12 Pandemic’s experience prepares SIA Group for 26 ATR and Skyways Technics increase MRO service Ray Barnes “new aviation world” offerings for Asia-Pacific regional aircraft Tel: +1 434 770 4108 20 Taiwan’s “good pandemic” halo slips as COVID-19 Fax: +1 434 927 5101 cases surge E-mail: [email protected] 21 Electronics industry accelerates vaccinations to contain virus outbreaks at Taipei science parks 22 Gradual airline recovery ahead predicts Qatar Download our 2021 media planner at: Airways boss, Akbar al Baker orientaviation.com/advertising 23 Emirates Airline to operate near 90% pre- Follow us on Twitter @orientaviation pandemic schedule despite US$5.5 billion annual loss JUNE-JULY 2021 / ORIENT AVIATION / 3 WE’RE AT YOURS. On the ground or in the skies, with Airbus Services we remain by your side. As operations begin to resume once again, our adapted range of tailored solutions ensure you meet today’s challenges in the safest conditions possible. Be it reactivating assets, managing fleets or adjusting your routes – we’ll help you do whatever it takes to retain your passengers’ trust. Once again. We make it fly. airbus.com COMMENT Shortsighted governments failing flag carriers In normal times, the reluctance of governments to inject regional carriers have sought soft loans from Thailand’s additional cash into their State-owned airlines would be government to help stay alive during the pandemic. Initially understandable, particularly if the management of the carriers they collectively asked for US$770 million – to no avail. In has been questionable and profits never come. desperation, they reduced the amount to $450 million. To At times, these losses were the result of government date, no funds have been approved and Thailand’s leadership interference rather than bad management. But in the period has gone silent on the matter. of the pandemic, undoubtedly the worst crisis in the history In most of the Asia-Pacific, and in much of the rest of of aviation, the decision of some governments to withhold the world for that matter, governments have recognized even minimal assistance to their national flag carriers is not the importance of airlines and aviation in general to their only deplorable, but shortsighted from national economic economies. They have provided government backed loans or perspectives. even direct subsidies to carriers, supported retrenched staff Flag carriers do exactly what the name suggests. They with wage subsidies, suspended or reduced fees and charges carry their nations’ flags across the globe, cementing trade for airlines and taken other policy positions to underpin links and communications with the world. Operated properly, the operations of their airlines. Singapore’s establishment high quality and recognizable brands such as Singapore of a US$11.3 million fund to support Changi Airport staff Airlines, Qantas Airways, Korean Air and All Nippon Airways affected by enhanced safety measures is a recent example of reflect national standards and bring prestige to their countries. enlightened government policy that its neighbours could well It is extremely difficult therefore, to understand why some apply to their own airline and airport sectors. governments in Southeast Asia – Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia As a result of such short-term thinking, some of Southeast and the Philippines in particular – have been lagging far behind Asia’s carriers, particularly the smaller ones, may not make it to the rest of the region in providing maximum backing for their the other side of the pandemic. home airlines. Thailand’s military government, for example, The Asia-Pacific is a tourism hot spot. As international has done little to sustain its troubled flag carrier, Thai Airways air traffic begins its recovery, any shrinkage in local airline International. services will mean more profits from flying in the region will Nor has it offered relief to other local airlines, including be snapped up by foreign carriers, causing much longer Bangkok Airways, Nok Air, Thai VietJet and Thai AirAsia, term damage to several of Asia’s mid-level and emerging when it is absolutely needed. For more than a year these economies. ■ TOM BALLANTYNE Associate editor and chief correspondent Orient Aviation Media Group A trusted source of Asia-Pacific commercial aviation news and analysis ORIENT AVIATION JUNE-JULY 2021 / ORIENT AVIATION / 5 ADDENDUM AIRLINES AIRPORTS PEOPLE Airports must offer digital passenger processing to avoid bloated check-in queues The days of Asia-Pacific airport pre-crisis peak times, reaching an hubs thronging with passengers unacceptable three hours”. are long gone. When COVID-19 “And that is with many wanes and passengers return airports deploying pre-crisis level to flying in their pre-pandemic staffing for a small fraction of millions, they could be in for pre-crisis volumes. Nobody will a shock at their departing and tolerate waiting hours at check-in destination airports. or border formalities. We must Horrendously lengthy waiting automate the checking of vaccine times are in store for passengers, and test certificates before traffic the International Air Transport ramps up. The technical solutions Association (IATA) warned last exist. But governments must agree month, with the Asia-Pacific under digital certificate standards and particular threat, the association align processes to accept them. forecast. especially if states do not about 30% of pre-COVID-19 And they must act fast,” he said. IATA’s regional director harmonize entry requirements or levels,” IATA said. “The greatest IATA said if governments Asia-Pacific, Conrad Clifford, introduce incompatible standards. increases in processing times are required COVID-19 health told Orient Aviation earlier this The need for collaboration at check-in and border control, credentials for travel, integrating month that “international travel between governments and where travel health credentials are them into already automated is effectively non-existent in industry for this region is being checked mainly as paper processes is the solution for a the region at the moment with absolutely critical.” documents. smooth restart. This would need borders still closed”. Clifford was speaking after “Modelling suggests that globally recognized, standardized, “But when international travel IATA released an assessment without process improvements, and interoperable digital does resume, this could be a huge of the time passengers spent in the time spent in airport certificates for COVID-19 testing headache for airlines and airports the travel process of check-in, processes could reach 5.5 hours and vaccine certificates. in the region if digital processes security, border control, customs per trip at 75% pre-COVID-19 “This cannot wait. More and for managing travel health and baggage claim pre-COVID-19 traffic levels and eight hours more people are being vaccinated. credentials (COVID-19 testing and compared with the same process for each air journey at 100% More borders are opening. vaccine certificates) are not in when the pandemic passes. pre-COVID-19 traffic levels.” Booking patterns tell us pent-up place,” he said. Before the virus outbreak, it IATA director general, Willie demand is at extremely high “Only Singapore has took passengers an average of 1.5 Walsh, said unless there is an levels. But governments and the announced it will accept travel hours in travel processes for every automated solution for COVID-19 competent authorities are acting health credentials presented airline journey made.