Asia-Pacific: September 2007 Archives

Northwest Airlines has taken another type out of its fleet, taking the last Boeing 747-200 ‘classic’ out of regularLY scheduled service with its final operation on the Tokyo Narita to to Saipan to Seattle route. The plane arrived in Seattle on time as Flight 8 and continued from Seattle to the Northwest home base of Minneapolis/St. Paul as Flight 170, and was then retired. The 430-seat plane, N624US, was built for Northwest in 1979. The airline’s two remaining 747-200s will continue to operate for some 18 months as charter aircraft. Northwest replaced the 747-200 with the Airbus A330 on the Tokyo Narita-Saipan route.

Everyone complains but no one does anything. Well, one airline maintenance department has finally found a solution: placate the gods. Nepal Airlines found that the sacrificial goat – literally – was the answer to a problem with one of its Boeing 757s. The plane’s deicing system wouldn’t activate after hours of trouble-shooting and repeated repair attempts. So officials at Katmandu’s dominant carrier, also known as the lion of Tribhuvan International Airport, did what any logical person would do when logic doesn’t work: they reverted to the old ways. They found a pair of goats, one white and one black, and sacrificed them in front of the plane. Presto, problem solved. The plane took off for Hong Kong, no problems.

Cathay Pacific’s strategy of building its network around the hubs of Hong Kong and Beijing is the key to its continuing success, says Tony Tyler, the newly installed chief executive of Cathay Pacific Airways.

He was speaking here at the AsiaExpo centre during the opening Congress session at the Asian Aerospace exhibition.

“Hubbing is what it’s all about,” says Tyler, with Cathay Pacific focused on Hong Kong International Airport and partner Air China developing Beijing International Airport.