Hong Kong’s four main carriers will halve their services into Mainland China, as part of special arrangements made in light of a novel coronavirus outbreak in China. The Hong Kong government said in a 28 January press briefing that the carriers — Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon, Hong Kong Express, as well as Hong Kong Airlines (HKA) — will cut capacity to 24 points in Mainland China. Service frequency between Hong Kong and these points will go from about 480 flights weekly, to about 240 flights from 30 January, until further notice. Hong Kong has already moved to suspend flights between Hong Kong and Hubei province since 24 January. The coronavirus outbreak originated from Wuhan city, the capital of Hubei province. The move to reduce the number of flights to Mainland China comes as part of a broader move by the Hong Kong authorities to “reduce the risk” of the coronavirus outbreak from spreading. Cathay and Cathay Dragon say in a separate media release that the capacity reduction will take place till the end of March. “We are actively reviewing our flight schedules at the moment and will be updating them progressively over the next 48 hours,” the carriers state. Cirium schedules data indicates that Cathay and Cathay Dragon jointly fly to 22 cities from Hong Kong. Meanwhile, HKA says its cancellations will last till 11 February. The service cuts will affect 10 points on its Mainland China network, including destinations such as Haikou, Chengdu and Tianjin. The carrier flies to 11 points in Mainland China, schedules data reveals. As for HK Express, it only flies to Ningbo. The carrier did not state if it was fully suspending the route, or reducing its frequency. According to Chinese state media, as of 29 January, the death toll in China from the outbreak hit 132, with the number of confirmed cases to be more than 5,900. Apart from China, other countries affected by the outbreak include Singapore, Australia, Canada, the USA, France, Japan and Thailand. Sri Lanka is the latest country to report a case. In the wake of the outbreak, the city of Wuhan, which is the epicentre of the outbreak, has been placed on an indefinite lockdown, with all transport links in and out of the city — including its airport and train stations — shut off. At least 10 other cities have been placed on similar lockdown measures.

Source: Cirium

The US military has confirmed one of its planes crashed in eastern Afghanistan on Monday. Col Sonny Leggett said: "While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire." The aircraft crashed in Deh Yak district, Ghazni province, an area with a strong Taliban presence. It is unclear how many people were on board. Col Leggett denied Taliban claims that additional aircraft had crashed. Taliban social media accounts have posted unverified footage showing a burnt-out plane with US Air Force markings. The video shows a Bombardier E-11A - the type of jet used by the US Air Force for electronic surveillance over Afghanistan. Afghan authorities had initially said the crash plane belonged to state-owned airline Ariana, but the company quickly said all its planes were accounted for. While helicopters have proven vulnerable and accident-prone in Afghanistan, the loss of a US fixed-wing aircraft is relatively rare. But the Taliban are not believed to have the sorts of anti-aircraft missiles needed to bring down a high-flying aircraft. The plane involved is an E-11A, one of only four in the whole US Air Force. Essentially it is an adapted Bombardier executive jet, chosen for its ability to fly at high altitude and with extended range. It is packed with electronics: its job is to enable better communications between air and ground forces, and between different types of aircraft operating in difficult terrain or using incompatible data links. It is a bit like the wi-fi range extender that you install in a room with a poor signal. The aircraft - along with similar electronics mounted on unmanned systems - have played an important role in the Afghan conflict, where the mountainous landscape is a major problem for modern military communications.

Source: BBC

India’s government is seeking expressions of interest from investors following its approval, in principle, for the divestment of flag-carrier Air India – with the entire share capital on offer, along with the whole of Air India Express and 50% of its handling joint venture AISATS. Financial services specialist EY has been appointed to advise and manage the proposed transaction. Air India’s authorised capital – as of November last year – stood at Rp350 billion ($4.9 billion) and its paid-up share capital amounts to Rp326.6 billion with all the shares held by the president of India. The formal preliminary information memorandum for the divestment states that Air India, along with Air India Express, has a 50.6% share of international Indian traffic among domestic carriers and an 18.4% share including other global operators. It adds that the Star Alliance company has 98 destinations, of which 56 are domestic, and offers 75 others through its codeshares. The document details the carriers’ fleets and gives an overview of the Indian airline market as well as the country’s ground-handling market. It sets out the proposed reallocation of debt and liabilities from the date that any divestment transaction closes. The document says the debt to be retained in Air India and Air India Express will remain at Rp232.86 billion. There will be no reallocation of debt and liabilities of AISATS. Through the publishing of the memorandum the government is providing interested bidders – whether individuals or members of a consortium – with information on the company and instructions for submitting an expression of interest. These expressions must be put forward by 17 March. Bidders have the option to access the “virtual data room” as well as confidential information. Interested bidders shortlisted after this first stage will be permitted to participate in the second stage, through which they will receive a request for proposals, continued access to the virtual data room, and other information. "The [qualifying bidders] will be required to undergo a transparent bidding process for the proposed transaction,” says the memorandum. Qualified bidders who participate in the financial bid submission will be required to apply for a security clearance process, to which the completion of the transaction will be subject. The highest bidder in compliance with the terms of the request for proposals will be considered the confirmed selected bidder. Air India has interests in other entities, including its engineering services division, all of which are being transferred to a separate company – Air India Assets Holding – and will not be part of the divestment.


Source: Cirium