August 2010 Archives

Check in counters at the new terminal

The new arrival hall

Earlier this week, Cathay Pacific gave a sneak preview of its new cargo terminal, which will start operations in early 2013. The terminal has been in the works for some time (it was first announced in 2008) but the carrier suspended construction last year after the financial downturn hit.

Things are up and running again, after work resumed in April. Cathay's CEO Tony Tyler says the HK$5.5 billion facility will be the "one of the biggest, busiest and most efficient in the world". Hong Kong's secretary for transport and housing Eva Cheng estimates that the 10ha terminal will increase the cargo handling capacity of Hong Kong International Airport by about 50% to 7.4 million tonnes a year (the new terminal can handle 2.6 million tonnes a year).

The facility is also being touted as a green building. For example, heat generated from the air-conditioning system will be used to heat water, while water produced by air-handling units will be used for irrigation and flushing.

Tiger Airways and Thai Airways International grabbed headlines three days ago with their announcement to form a new low-cost carrier in Bangkok, turning up the heat in the already competitive low-cost carrier market in the Asia Pacific.

The deal, however, seems to have not gone down that well with those in power in Thailand. Transport minister Sophon Zarum was quoted as saying that the deal was finalised "too fast" and wants to know how it will affect Nok Air, Thai's low-cost affiliate.

A senior executive at Thai has dismissed Zarum's remarks as "politicking". Here is where it gets interesting.

Zarum is a member of Thailand's Bhumjaithai political party, of which Newin Chidchob is the de facto leader. Chidchob, the former right-hand man of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is banned from politics until 2012 but remains highly influential.

Chidchob is known to be close to the folks behind King Power, which operates duty-free shops in Thai airports. And King Power is apparently "friendly" with Thai AirAsia, the associate of Tiger's rival AirAsia, says the Thai senior executive. The duty free shopping giant and the carrier have a tie-up that allows AirAsia passengers to shop at King Power through the airline's website.

King Power also has a 5% stake in Nok Air, which could explain why Chidchob's allies could be concerned over the Thai-Tiger joint venture. It is worth mentioning that Thai, which has a 39% stake in Nok, has said that its low-cost associate will not compete directly with the new airline. Nok will instead focus on domestic routes, Thai has clarified.

Politicking aside, all eyes will surely be on the new airline. Tiger has spoken extensively about finding new bases and has been tight-lipped about its plans until now. And with ambitious expansion plans as well from rivals Jetstar and AirAsia, it looks to be exciting times ahead for the low-cost carrier market in Asia.

Flight SQ803, scheduled to depart at 08:45hrs, was taxiing out to the runway for departure when its right wing-tip struck the tail of another aircraft, an SIA spokesman has confirmed. Reports online say the other aircraft was a stationary Air China 737-800.

The SIA 777 was returned to the gate and an assessment is being carried out, adds the SIA spokesman, who says the flight was subsequently cancelled. All 248 passengers have been put up in Beijing for the night.

While SIA did not go into details behind the cause of the incident, reports suggest that the airport was shrouded in fog this morning. China's state media, citing an official from China's Civil Aviation Administration, has also reported that pilot error was a likely cause of the collision.