Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport

Asia Pacific airports move up the ranks in 2011, with Beijing this year to overtake Atlanta

The rankings of the world’s busiest airports for 2011 show key developments and lasting changes in global aviation, although the world’s busiest airport by total passenger movements, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, continued to hold off Beijing, the world’s second busiest airport, in 2011, according to Airports Council International (ACI). It is, however, expected that Beijing, driven by exponential GDP growth, will overtake Atlanta in 2012, ending the airport's 14-year reign in the top spot.

While Beijing Capital is the dominant airport in China, it is on track to become be the world’s busiest hub by the end of this decade, leaving London and even ambitious Dubai in its wake. And new developments will ensure the city of Beijing has an airport in the top spot: its new airport at Daxing, south of Beijing, could have up to nine runways and ultimate capacity to handle around 370,000 passengers per day, or a staggering 135 million passengers p/a. This would increase capacity at Beijing area airports to around 220 million p/a – almost a quarter of a billion passengers.

Tiger-backed Mandala resumes operations with focus on Indonesia’s largest routes

Indonesia’s Mandala Airlines has resumed operations and emerged from bankruptcy as a new affiliate of Asian LCC group Tiger Airways. Mandala’s first flight in 15 months operates today (05-Apr-2012) on one of Indonesia’s largest domestic routes, Jakarta-Medan. But the new Mandala, which only operated domestic services before its Jan-2011 grounding, will focus primarily on international routes starting with Medan-Singapore and Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur.

Mandala last week announced Jakarta-Medan and Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur as its first two routes as a Tiger partner carrier, with flights commencing on 05-Apr-2012 and 04-May-2012, respectively. But Tiger’s booking engine indicates that Mandala will start operating international flights earlier - on 20-Apr-2012 with one daily frequency on the Medan-Singapore route. More routes, primarily international but also some domestic, are expected to be added over the next few months as Mandala rapidly spools up its fleet of Tiger-sourced Airbus A320s.

Singapore Airshow 2012: Pacific Royale launch to intensify full service competition in Indonesia

Competition in Indonesia is about to intensify further as Pacific Royale prepares to launch services next month with an initial fleet of two Fokker 50s and two A320s based in Surabaya and Batam. Pacific Royale is targeting Garuda and Indonesia’s other full service carriers with a low-density two-class product on its A320s that includes lightweight fibre optics-based in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems in both cabins. The carrier’s business plan envisions rapid growth including 20 to 25 A320s, which will form the backbone of Pacific Royale’s fleet, within three years.

Pacific Royale will launch with domestic services but regional international services, primarily from Indonesia’s second largest city of Surabaya, are planned as part of a second phase which is slated to begin by mid-2012. Medium to long-haul international services with A330s are also being considered as part of a third phase which could begin as early as late 2012. While Pacific Royale will have several routes from Jakarta, where it has established its headquarters, it will focus primarily on relatively underserved point-to-point markets which bypass the congested capital.

Singapore Airshow 2012: Garuda Indonesia, Citilink and Lion accelerate fleet expansion

Indonesia’s two largest airline groups, Garuda Indonesia and Lion Air, are further accelerating the expansion of their fleets as they look to capitalise on their leading positions in one of the world’s biggest emerging markets.

The two groups – which include Garuda budget carrier Citilink, Lion Air regional subsidiary Wings Air and soon Lion Air’s new full service unit Space Jet – are now committed to at least triple the size of their combined fleets from the current figure of about 180 aircraft.

Other Indonesian carriers, including Indonesia AirAsia, Batavia, Mandala and Sriwijaya, are also expected to rapidly grow their fleets as the total number of commercial aircraft operating in Indonesia could approach 1000 aircraft towards the end of the next decade.

Garuda posts 3Q profit and strong growth figures fuelled by robust Indonesian economy

Garuda Indonesia has returned to the black after a challenging 1H2011 and has a bullish outlook, particularly in the fast-growing Indonesian domestic market. Garuda aims to tap into the expected 14% to 16% annual growth in Indonesia’s domestic market by pursuing rapid expansion at its budget unit Citilink, which it expects will be profitable starting in 4Q2011, and establishing a new regional jet operation from 2H2012.

Garuda is now preparing to spin off the Citilink unit into a separate company in early 2012, which will enable the LCC to pursue faster growth. Citilink recently began operating its first Airbus A320 and aims to be operating 20 of the type by the end of next year. Garuda is also planning to soon place an order for 18 large regional jets, which will be used primarily to improve connections at secondary bases.

Jetstar's new North Asia focus leaves room for Qantas Singapore expansion to Europe and India

Jetstar is planning to expand its Singapore-based fleet by 50% over the next six months as the low-cost carrier group looks to North Asia for the next phase of its dramatic expansion. As the largest low-cost airline group in the Asia-Pacific region continues to expand at a rate of about 20% per annum, additional capacity will not be directed west towards South Asia, the Middle East or Europe but primarily to North Asia, where Jetstar sees the most opportunities given North Asia’s very low LCC penetration rate. This strategy could signal growth for the Qantas brand in South Asia and Europe as the group looks at potentially announcing next month the launch of a new Singapore-based full-service carrier.