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China's BOC orders 82 Boeing planes worth US$8.8b

Aircraft leasing firm BOC Aviation said Monday it has ordered 80 Boeing 737 planes and two B777-300ERs worth a total $8.8 billion at list prices, to meet expanding client needs as travel booms in Asia.

The Singapore-based company, owned by the Bank of China, said the bulk of the orders was for 50 B737 MAX 8 planes and 30 next-generation B737-800s. The 80 planes have a value of US$8.14 billion based on 2014 catalogue prices published on Boeing's website. The orders will allow BOC Aviation to build on its fleet for the next seven years, the company said in a statement.

The firm said it has also ordered two B777-300ER aircraft, worth a total US$660 million at catalogue prices. Both planes have already been placed with an existing customer, it added. US aircraft maker Boeing said in a separate statement that the order is the "largest in BOC Aviation's 20-year history" and is part of the leasing firm's effort "to grow its portfolio of fuel-efficient airplanes".

Robert Martin, BOC Aviation's managing director and chief executive, said the fresh B737 orders followed a similar purchase made in 2006 for 50 B737 next-generation aircraft. "This is a continuation of our commitment to be responsive to airline customers which are expanding or replacing older fleets," he said. "The 737 is known for its operational and fuel efficiency, and BOC Aviation expects healthy demand for the next generation 737 and 737 MAX in the next seven years."

As of Jun 30, BOC Aviation said its fleet of 251 delivered aircraft included 118 Boeing aircraft operated by 27 airlines. At the Farnborough airshow in July, BOC Aviation also ordered 43 Airbus single-aisle A320 passenger jets worth US$4.4 billion at list prices.

Boeing has projected a travel boom in the Asia Pacific region over the next 20 years from 2013, fuelled by a rising middle class and strong regional economic growth. "As income levels rise, Asia Pacific is set to become the largest air travel market in the world. In 2033, approximately 48 per cent of global traffic will be to, from, or within the region," Boeing said in its latest regional forecast.

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Cathay Pacific profits soar but competition hurts yields

Cathay Pacific said on Wednesday (Aug 130 its first-half net profit soared to HK$347 million (S$56 million) on higher passenger demand, but the Hong Kong flag carrier warned of a "challenging" outlook as surging competition held down fares.

The figure for the six months ending June 30 compared with a net profit of HK$24 million in the same period last year. Its first half revenue rose 4.6 per cent to HK$50.84 billion. But despite its upbeat performance, the blue-chip airline faces several challenges including persistently high jet fuel prices.

"The operating environment for the Cathay Pacific Group - and the aviation industry as a whole - remains challenging," group chairman John Slosar said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. "On the plus side, we continue to strengthen our passenger network and the connections available through Hong Kong," he said.

Aviation analyst Daniel Tsang told AFP the huge increase in net profits was on account of the airline's improving passenger operations, which contributed to a sharp jump in revenues. The airline's passenger revenue in the reported period was up 4.4 per cent to HK$36.52 billion compared to the previous year, helped by the introduction of new long-haul routes to destinations such as Doha and Newark.

FALLING PASSENGER YIELDS

However, Tsang said the airline will need to improve its passenger yields, a key measure of airlines' profitability, to maintain this earnings trend. Passenger yield, the measure of the average fare paid by a passenger per mile, fell 3.5 per cent to HK66.6 cents, reflecting weaker ticket prices in the face of surging competition.

"For this upward trend to be sustained, arresting this yield decline is paramount and a prerequisite," he said. Revenue for its air cargo business, which took a toll for more than two years due to the weak economy and demand for shipments, rose 3.4 per cent compared to the first half of last year, at HK$11.66 billion.

But over-capacity in the air cargo market created downward pressure on rates, with the airline seeing cargo yield falling by 6.9 per cent. "We expect our cargo business to be better in the second half of 2014 than it was in the first half. We are well placed to take advantage of any increase in demand," the airline said. Cathay also indicated that high fuel prices were partly mitigated by operating more fuel-efficient aircraft.

Five new aircraft, including two Boeing 777-300ERs, were delivered to Cathay during the reported period, as it retired two Boeing 747-400 passenger aircraft. Eleven new aircraft will be delivered in the second half of 2014, as it continues to modernise its fleet. "Cathay is pretty aggressive in renewing its fleet. By end of 2014, it will only have seven gas-guzzling 747-400s," analyst Tsang said.

The International Air Transport Association in June said airline profits are improving and that it expects airline companies to record combined net profits of $18 billion for 2014, down from its earlier forecast of $18.7 billion made in March.

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Malaysian jet with 298 on board crashes in Ukraine

A Malaysian airliner carrying 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed on Thursday in strife-torn east Ukraine, with US officials saying it was shot down by a surface-to-air missile.

Ukraine's government said the jet was shot down in a "terrorist act", while comments attributed to a pro-Russia rebel chief suggested his men may have downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 by mistake, believing it was a Ukrainian army transport plane.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meanwhile said Kiev bore responsibility for the crash, which came as Ukrainian forces battle pro-Moscow insurgents in the east of the country.

As Malaysian investigators headed to the scene, the UN Security Council called an emergency session on Friday to discuss the disaster -- the second to strike the airline in just four months.

Shocked world leaders called for an international inquiry to determine the causes of a disaster with potentially far-reaching political implications, with Britain demanding a UN-led probe.

There was no sign of survivors at the crash site, where an AFP reporter saw horrific scenes, with dozens of mutilated corpses and body parts strewn through the smouldering wreck of the Boeing 777.

Charred debris stinking of kerosene stretched for kilometres across the rebel-controlled zone in the Donetsk region. A top rebel leader said his forces were prepared to agree to a short ceasefire to allow for the recovery operation.

Shell-shocked locals said the impact felt "like an earthquake" in their village of Grabove, near the Russian border.

"Those poor people," said Natalia, 36. "Do you think they understood a thing about this war in Ukraine -- even we don't understand it."

At Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, from where the ill-fated jet took off, an AFP reporter saw family members in tears, while Dutch television broadcast harrowing images of passports found in the wreck, including those of children.

Europe's flight safety body Eurocontrol said Ukrainian authorities had closed the airspace over the east of the country, after a string of countries advised their carriers to stay away.

In Amsterdam, Malaysia Airlines vice president Huib Gorter said 283 passengers and 15 crew were aboard the plane. That total included 154 Dutch nationals, 27 Australians and 23 Malaysians.

The airline said on Twitter that Ukrainian air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane at 1415 GMT, about four hours into its flight, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border.

The disaster comes just months after Malaysia's Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 with 239 on board. That plane diverted from its Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight path and its fate remains a mystery despite a massive multinational aerial and underwater search.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Twitter he was "shocked by reports that an MH plane crashed" and announced an "immediate investigation."

Najib later told reporters a team of investigators had been dispatched to Kiev, along with a disaster assistance team.

Europe and US stock markets were sent tumbling by the crash, which escalated tensions fuelled by broadened US and EU sanctions aimed at pressuring Russia to force the rebels in Ukraine's east to end their three-month insurgency that has claimed more than 600 lives.

US President Barack Obama offered assistance to "help determine what happened and why".

Boeing also said it was ready to assist in any way.

The Kremlin said Putin and Obama -- at loggerheads over the new wave of sanctions -- had discussed the crash. Obama later called Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Najib.

Two US officials told AFP that intelligence analysts were reviewing the data to see whether the missile used to down the aircraft was launched by pro-Moscow separatists, Russian troops across the border or Ukrainian government forces.

"We are working through all the analysis," said one official.

But that there was little doubt that the plane was struck by a surface-to-air missile, the official said.

"That's what we strongly believe."

In Detroit, US Vice President Joe Biden said the plane was "apparently... and I say apparently because we don't have all the details yet... shot down. Not an accident. Blown out of the sky."

There were conflicting claims of responsibility after the shocking new development in crisis-torn Ukraine, where fighting between separatists and the Western-backed government has claimed over 600 lives.

Poroshenko's spokesman said he believed pro-Russian insurgents downed the jet.

"This incident is not a catastrophe. It is a terrorist act," the spokesman, Svyatoslav Tsegolko, said on Twitter.

The Ukrainian leader said Kiev's armed forces "did not fire at any targets in the sky" and vowed "those behind this tragedy will be brought to justice".

Rebels in the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic claimed the airline split in two after being shot down by a Ukrainian jet -- which was then shot down in turn.

But a social media site attributed to the top military commander of the Donetsk People's Republic, Igor Strelkov, said the insurgents shot down an army transporter at the exact site of the Malaysia Airlines crash.

The comments suggested separatists targeted the jet in the mistaken belief it was an An-26 Ukrainian army transport plane.

"We just downed an An-26 near Torez. It is down near the Progress mine," said the VK page attributed to Strelkov.

"And here is a video confirming that a 'bird fell'," said the post, providing a link identical to that published by Ukrainian media in reports about the Malaysia Airlines jet.

Alexander Borodai, prime minister of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic", meanwhile told AFP that separatist forces would be ready to commit to a truce for several days to allow full access to the site.

The crash came with tensions already soaring after Kiev accused Russia of downing a Ukrainian military plane on a mission over the east of the country on Wednesday, the first direct claim of a Russian attack on Ukrainian forces.

Russia's defence ministry -- which NATO claims has massed some 12,000 troops along Ukraine's porous border -- dismissed the claim as "absurd", news agencies reported.

The dramatic developments on the ground came alongside the already serious fallout from fresh US and EU sanctions slapped on Russia.

Moscow condemned the measures as "blackmail" and warned of retaliatory action against Washington, which targeted major players in Russia's finance, military and energy sectors in the sanctions.

In eastern Ukraine, fierce fighting has intensified in recent days with some 55 civilians killed since the weekend, as efforts to revive talks on a ceasefire between Kiev and the rebels falter.

Ukrainian forces made a string of major gains after Poroshenko tore up an unsuccessful truce earlier this month, but progress has slowed since rebels retreated into two major regional centres where they have pledged to fight to the end.

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Boeing wins plane orders from US leasing groups

US aircraft maker Boeing said on Tuesday that it had won a number of orders for its passenger planes from American leasing companies potentially worth a total of about $10.0 billion.

Air Lease Corporation has ordered 26 Boeing jets in a deal valued at $3.9 billion (2.9 billion euros), the companies announced on the second day of the Farnborough airshow near London.

Air Lease is buying six long-haul 777-300ER jets and has confirmed an order for 20 single-aisle 737 MAX 8 planes.

"Additional 777-300ER and 737 MAX airplanes in our portfolio provide the economics and passenger-pleasing experiences our airline customers require," said Air Lease chief executive Steven Udvar-Hazy.

"The 777 has maintained a broad customer base and will continue to do so well into the future. The 737 MAX represents game changing efficiencies and improvements for the environment in the single-aisle market," he added.

Boeing added that US lessor CIT had ordered 10 787-9 Dreamliners, valued at $2.5 billion at current list prices.

"These aircraft will add to our growing fleet of fuel efficient aircraft that remain in high demand from our airline customers, who also seek state-of-the-art aircraft that provide increased comfort and convenience for the travelling public," said Jeff Knittel, president of CIT Transportation & International Finance.

Intrepid Aviation meanwhile ordered six 777-300ERs and has an option to buy four more in a deal totalling about $3.2 billion, Boeing said on Tuesday.

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Singapore Airlines plane in near miss at Houston

A Singapore Airlines (SIA) plane leaving Houston flew too close to another aircraft on Friday, resulting in a near collision.

NBC News said the SIA flight took off from Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport shortly before 7 pm in the US on Thursday, which was Friday in Singapore.

The SIA pilot did not level off when he reached 4,000 feet as required, resulting in the aircraft being less than 2,000 feet away from a Delta Air Lines plane that was preparing to land in Houston, NBC said.

When contacted, an SIA spokesman confirmed "there was a loss of separation" involving an SIA Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and another plane in Houston.

Flight SQ61 had departed Houston on July 3 and arrived safely in Moscow on July 4. There were 235 passengers and 18 crew on board.

"Investigations are taking place and as a result we regret we are not able to provide any additional info," he said.

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Mismanaged approach, complex cockpit cited in Asiana crash

A mismanaged approach for landing in a highly automated cockpit was the probable cause of last July's crash of a South Korean airliner in San Francisco, US investigators said on Tuesday.

Three young Chinese citizens died and 182 people suffered injuries when Asiana Flight 214 from Seoul clipped a sea wall with its landing gear, then crashed and burst into flames, in the first commercial airliner disaster in the United States since 2009.

"In this investigation, we have learned that pilots must understand and command automation, and not become over-reliant on it," said acting chairman Christopher Hart of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

"The pilot must always be the boss," added Hart, a licensed pilot himself, at the end of a day-long NTSB hearing that concluded the federal agency's probe into the July 6, 2013 disaster.

While the Boeing 777 was in the hands of "a seasoned flight crew with a good safety record, they misunderstood the automated systems at their command," Hart said.

The NTSB, which never explicitly assigns blame, refrained from explicitly accusing the Asiana crew of pilot error.

Instead, it cited a long and varied list of contributing factors, from the Boeing 777's automated throttle system to pilot fatigue and jet lag after an otherwise routine 10-1/2 hour trans-Pacific hop.

Investigators testified that captain Lee Kang-Kuk, a seasoned Airbus A320 pilot transitioning to the bigger Boeing 777, cut the autopilot on final approach into San Francisco, where the instrument landing system was out of service on an otherwise clear sunny day.

Doing so put the auto-throttle on hold, meaning it would no longer automatically control airspeed, explained investigator-in-chief Bill English.

When the jet dipped below the correct glide path, Lee reacted by pulling the nose up - but the auto-throttle, still on hold, failed to deliver an expected burst of engine power that would have enabled the airliner to make the runway.

"The Boeing 777 is one of the more sophisticated and automated aircraft in service," Hart said.

"But the more complex automation becomes, the more challenging it is to ensure that pilots adequately understand it," he added.

English said Asiana, established in 1988 as a rival to Korean Air, emphasized "maximum use of automation" by its pilots, including the use of autopilots at as low as 1,000 feet (330 meters) from the ground.

Without mentioning Lee by name, English said the captain lacked sufficient practice in hand-flying the airplane, without the help of instrumentation.

"Pilot skills degrade if not practiced," he noted.

Lee flew into San Francisco with an instructor in the co-pilot's seat, Lee Jung-Min, who himself was freshly certified to train new 777 pilots. A first officer was in a jump seat.

While finding issues in the cockpit, the NTSB hailed the fact that 99 percent of the passengers and crew survived - and that 98 percent "self-evacuated" from the burning wreckage.

Flight attendants had performed "admirably and bravely," said Hart, who stressed the role that seat belts played in saving so many lives.

Of the three fatalities, one was hit by an exit door, while the others - hurled out of the aircraft on impact - had been seen by other passengers not buckling their seat belts for landing.

One of those passengers was later struck by a fire truck as she awaited help beneath the left wing.

For the flying public, Hart said, the lesson is clear: "Pay attention to your cabin crew's instructions. Make sure you are buckled in."

Asiana meanwhile said the NTSB "has properly recognised the multiple factors that contributed to the accident, including the complexities of the auto-throttle and autopilot systems, which the agency found were inadequately described by Boeing in its training and operational manuals."

"We again express our great sorrow for the accident, the loss of life and the injuries sustained by the passengers and crew."

"The NTSB made four training recommendations to Asiana, all of which Asiana has already implemented," the airline added in its statement.

In a statement, Boeing "respectfully" disagreed with the NTSB's suggestion that the complexity of its automated cockpits was a factor in the first fatal accident ever involving its 777 model, in service for two decades.

It said its auto-flight system had been used successfully for more than 200 million flight hours across several airplane models, and for more than 55 million safe landings.

"The evidence collected during this investigation demonstrates that all of the airplane's systems performed as designed," Boeing said.

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Boeing, Scoot in Dreamliner pilot training tie-up

Boeing and Scoot on Friday announced a five-year pilot training agreement to support the Singapore-based airline's fleet transition to 787 Dreamliners.

Under the agreement, Boeing Flight Services, a business unit of Boeing Commercial Aviation Services, will provide 787 flight training to Scoot pilots at Boeing's Singapore training campus.

An anticipated 32 Scoot pilots will undergo training this year.

"We are proud to provide Scoot’s growing airline in a growing region with the industry's best flight training as they add the 787 to their fleet," said Sherry Carbary, vice president of Boeing Flight Services.

"Aviation opportunities or airlines and pilots are expanding rapidly in the Asia Pacific region, and we're pleased to offer a robust network of experienced instructors and training devices close to our customers across the region," she said in a statement released by Boeing on Friday.

The 2013 Boeing Pilot & Technician Outlook, a respected industry forecast of personnel demand, projects a requirement for 498,000 new commercial airline pilots and 556,000 new maintenance technicians to fly and maintain the new planes entering the world fleet over the next 20 years.

In Southeast Asia, 51,500 pilots and 64,700 technicians are needed to fill the gap.

Scoot chief executive officer Campbell Wilson said: "This is an exciting time for Scoot, as we expand our services throughout the Asia Pacific region, and work with Boeing for world-class flight training."

Scoot will acquire 20 Boeing 787s beginning in late 2014.

Scoot expects to take delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 aircraft on November 25.

Scoot's CEO said its pilots will test the Dreamliner in Washington first before flying it to Singapore in December.

The Dreamliner is scheduled for the Singapore-Taipei-Tokyo route.

All six of Scoot's current Boeing 777 fleet will be replaced by the Dreamliner by the middle of next year.

By March 2016, 11 Boeing 787 should be in service.

Scoot will also take delivery of nine more Dreamliners by 2019.

Wilson said: "Next year doubles our fleet size -- so it will allow us to increase frequency to some destinations, allow us to add new destinations. It's also much more fuel-efficient -- at 27 percent much more fuel-efficient per seat.

"So it allows us to fly to cities that currently we really can't economically serve, and of course that lower structure allows us to continue offering really, really good value air fares, so people can fly more often and scoot 'outta' here."

The aircraft were ordered in 2012 by parent company Singapore Airlines.

Scoot currently operates 777s on medium- and long-haul low-cost flights between Singapore and Sydney, Gold Coast, Bangkok, Taipei, Tokyo, Tianjin, Shenyang, Nanjing, Qingdao, Seoul, Perth and Hong Kong.

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MH370 pushes troubled Malaysia Airlines to wider Q1 loss

Malaysia Airlines announced Thursday that its net loss widened in the first quarter as the impact of flight MH370's disappearance added to the struggling carrier's woes.

The state-controlled airline said it posted a net loss of 443 million ringgit ($137 million) for the three months ending March 31, compared to a 279 million ringgit loss in the same quarter in 2013.

The result was the airline's fifth straight quarterly loss and also the worst since the fourth quarter of 2011, when it recorded a net loss of 1.28 billion ringgit.

"The results were made worse with the impact on air travel in general following the disappearance of MH370," said Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, the airline's group chief executive.

"Operations were slowed for several weeks since early March when MH370 disappeared. Marketing activities were halted out of respect for the families of those on board the Beijing-bound Boeing 777 aircraft."

The debacle over the missing plane has compounded the problems faced by Malaysia Airlines, which had already lost a combined $1.3 billion over the past three calendar years as it founders in the face of intense industry competition.

Analysts say it faces a continued grim outlook in coming years unless it is forced to undergo aggressive reform, which has been resisted by powerful employee unions and other vested interests.

In a statement on Wednesday, the airline said "a thorough review of the business plan is being undertaken and all avenues are being explored to ensure the long-term sustainability of the company."

The carrier has undertaken a series of "turnaround" plans over the years, but each has failed to stem the tide of red ink blamed by analysts on poor management, a bloated work force, powerful unions, and industry competition.

MH370 disappeared on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard. An extensive search in the Indian Ocean has found no trace of the plane.

The incident has ravaged the carrier's worldwide image and especially hurt bookings in the lucrative and previously growing China market.

Two-thirds of those on board MH370 were Chinese and the crisis has triggered fierce criticism in China of the airline and Malaysia's government.

The airline, which is 69 per cent owned by government investment company Khazanah Nasional, said the first quarter loss was due in part to rising fuel costs.

Ahmad Jauhari said the airline must find ways to boost revenue to ensure its "future survival and sustainability in a market that is not showing any signs of letting up on competition", but he offered no specifics.

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SIA to launch premium economy class in 2015

Singapore Airlines will launch a premium economy class in the second half of next year.

SIA’s CEO Goh Choon Phong made the announcement at the carrier's fourth quarter and full year earnings briefing on Friday.

The move comes as SIA responds to intense competition in the full service airline space.

SIA is aiming to sell more tickets to a wider group of customers.

The new premium economy class is targeted at business and leisure travellers wanting more legroom than is available in traditional economy class.

SIA had previously said that there were no plans to introduce that category of seats.

Mr Goh said: “A decision was taken last year, having gotten the latest review and also feedback from customers, etcetera -- that we think it's time for us to introduce the premium economy.

“So a lot of work has since been done between then and now, and we're now able to say that we are looking at introducing it in the second half of next year.

“You can rest assured that when we set our mind to do something, it will be done well. And we will, of course, announce the product as it becomes more available, because we're still in the process of finalising some of the details."

No details were given, but analysts said rival carrier Cathay Pacific could serve as inspiration.

The premium economy class accounts for up to 15 per cent of seats on Cathay, and each seat costs double of that in economy.

Paul Yong, vice president of Equity Research at DBS Vickers, said: "We think that they should have done it earlier, but better late than never.

“And the rationale behind it really is that this segment has seen significant acceptance from consumers. We've seen that Cathay Pacific actually introduced this product in the middle of 2012, and seems to have been quite successful."

At its full year results briefing, SIA also spoke on how it plans to meet rising challenges in the airline industry.

It is sticking to its multi-brand strategy, and intends to step out of its home base to set up hubs with joint venture partners Tata Sons and Nok Air in New Delhi and Bangkok, respectively.

Greg Waldron, Asia Managing Editor of Flightglobal, said: "With its use of budget carriers, the SIA group has been able to maintain 50 per cent capacity share out of Changi Airport since the last 10 years. So they've been very successful in defending their capacity at their key hub airport.

“The problem is, I think there have been some issues retaining profitability from this move to Tigerair, from moving people to Scoot. I think that's been an issue for them."

At the same time, SIA will invest US$325 million to upgrade 19 planes -- roughly a fifth of its fleet size.

Those new cabin products, such as new seats, are already available on flights to London and Tokyo.

But once the upgrade is completed, one could soon be flying to places like Hong Kong, Sydney, and San Franscisco on them.

The same 19 planes will also be fitted with the premium economy class seats.

The new cabin class will be first rolled out on SIA's Boeing 777-300ERs, followed by its Airbus A380s, and A350s.

The carrier reported its fourth quarter and full year earnings on Thursday.

For its fiscal fourth quarter ended in March, SIA posted a net profit of S$27 million, down 60 per cent from the same period a year ago.

For the full year ended on March 31, it booked a net profit of S$359.5 million -- a drop of 5.4 per cent from a year ago.

In trade on Friday, SIA's shares closed 0.4 per cent lower at S$10.21.

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Air France unveils luxury first-class seat

Air France unveiled its new first-class section in Shanghai on Wednesday, fuelling an international luxury-seating race to win over Asia's rising number of high fliers.

The airline's "haute couture" suite will feature a seat that reclines into a bed stretching 2.01 metres long and 77 centimetres across (6 ft 7 ins and 30 inches) -- one of the most spacious in the world.

A total of 76 of the seats will be fitted into the airline's 19 Boeing 777-300 jets at a cost of 50 million euros (US$70 million), the company said as it showed off the new offering in an expenses-paid trip for journalists to China's commercial hub.

"In 2012, we made a promise to identify which products (we needed to improve) to push Air France up into the ranks of the major airlines," said the company's CEO, Frederic Gagey. "Those 50 million euros were needed to propel Air France to the top of those companies."

"It's our clients who will judge the product. We are extremely proud of the result and extremely confident. The improvement in the range affects all of our classes and not only first," he said.

Air travel in Asia is set to take off as growing middle classes take to the skies, prompting increasing competition for well-heeled passengers, and industry expert Didier Brechemier, of the Roland Berger Strategy consultancy, said that "first class is a tool in terms of image".

The launch came days after the Emirati airline Etihad revealed a first-class sofa that converts into a bed extending 2.04 metres long and 66 centimetres wide, which will go into Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 planes.

Singapore Airlines currently boasts the most spacious first-class seat, which it revealed in July last year at 2.08 metres by 90 centimetres.

First class occupies just a sliver of the air-travel market, with Air France's 52,000 such customers a year representing an occupancy rate of 38 percent, 0.3 percent of total long-haul passengers and 1.8 percent of long-haul revenue, said Bruno Matheu, head of Air France's passenger business.

But with return ticket prices averaging 9,000 euros (US$12,500) across the company's network the luxury seats are highly profitable and he said they "generate more revenue than if we filled that space with economy or business-class seats".

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MH370 search estimated to be US$100m, the costliest ever

The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is set to be the most expensive in aviation history, analysts say, as efforts to find the aircraft deep in the Indian Ocean show no signs of slowing.

The Boeing 777 vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board, after veering dramatically off course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and is believed to have gone down in the sea off Australia.

Australia, which is leading the search in a remote patch of water described as "unknown to man", has not put a figure on spending, but Malaysia has warned that costs will be "huge".

"When we look at salvaging (wreckage) at a depth of 4.5 kilometres, no military out there has the capacity to do it," Acting Transport and Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Thursday.

"We have to look at contractors, and the cost of that will be huge."

Ravikumar Madavaram, an aviation expert at Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific, said Malaysia, Australia and China, which had the most nationals onboard the flight, were the biggest spenders and estimated the total cost up to now at about US$100 million.

"It's difficult to say how much is the cost of this operation... but, yes, this is definitely the biggest operation ever (in aviation history).

"In terms of costs this would be the highest," he told AFP.

In the first month of the search -- in which the South China Sea and Malacca Strait were also scoured by the US, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam -- the Pentagon said the United States military had committed US$7.3 million to efforts to find the plane.

Meanwhile the Indian Ocean search, in which assets have also been deployed by Australia, Britain, China, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand, has failed to find anything conclusive.

Hopes rest on a torpedo-shaped US Navy submersible, which is searching the ocean floor at depths of more than 4,500 metres in the vicinity of where four signals believed to have come from black box recorders were detected.

David Gleave, an aviation safety researcher at Britain's Loughborough University, said the costs "will be of the order of a hundred million dollars by the time we're finished, if we have found it (the plane) now".

But he said the longer it took to find any wreckage, the more costs would mount because scanning the vast ocean floor "will take a lot of money because you can only search about 50 square kilometres a day".

Salvaging anything would also depend on how deep the ocean is at the crash point and how dispersed the wreckage, with weather and politics also complicating factors, he said.

The fate of MH370 has drawn parallels with the hunt for Air France Flight 447 which plunged into the Atlantic in 2009.

The two-year operation to recover its black box, which involved assets from France, Brazil and the US, has been estimated to have cost 80-100 million euros, according to figures cited by France's Investigation and Analysis Bureau (BEA).

Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre says its main focus is still on finding flight MH370.

"It is one of the most difficult searches ever undertaken and could take some time," JACC said in a statement to AFP.

"The cost of the search is significant. The exact figure has not yet been calculated.

"The cost is being shared by our international partners who have contributed their people and military and civilian assets to help with the search."

As the search continues, all international partners are meeting their own costs. But governments and militaries will need to consider the broader cost implications of the search down the track, said Kym Bergmann, editor of Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter.

"I don't think that the Australians would be getting any change at all out of A$1 million day," he told AFP.

Bergman said it would likely be the most expensive aviation search given how long it had already dragged on.

"It must be starting to worry military planners," he said, adding that any decision to scale back would cause heartache to the families involved.

Malaysia-based Madavaram agreed, saying at present it was still "politically insensitive" to cut spending.

"I think they will continue one or two months irrespective of the costs," he said. "But then if nothing is found, it will become a wild goose chase, and people will start questioning it.”

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Japan's ANA orders 40 Boeing, 30 Airbus planes worth US$16.4b

All Nippon Airways (ANA) said Thursday it would buy 70 new planes worth $16.4 billion, with almost half from Airbus in a move that marked a victory for the European aircraft maker as it tries to prise open the lucrative Japanese market.

The airline will buy 40 planes from Boeing, its major supplier that has had a virtual stranglehold in Japan for decades, and 30 from Airbus to increase its fleet ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a statement said.

The order includes 14 of Boeing's troubled Dreamliner as well as 20 units of the 777-9X, and six 777-300ERs.

It will also buy seven Airbus A320neo and 23 Airbus A321neo.

The aircraft will be delivered between 2016 and 2027 and will increase the size of the ANA fleet to 250 aircraft.

The new Boeing aircraft will serve mainly international routes while the Airbus aircraft will operate both overseas and domestic trips, ANA said.

"ANA Group's introduction of these new aircraft will help it respond to the needs of the increasing number of passengers expected to arrive in Japan in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and will support the Japanese government's plans to boost the annual total of foreign visitors to Japan to 20 million," the firm said.

The orders, collectively the biggest in ANA's history, came as the airline aims to expand its international presence.

"The aircraft we have selected will enable us to modernise and expand our fleet further as we seek to become one of the world's leading airline groups," said Shinichiro Ito, president and chief executive of ANA Holdings.

"These new aircraft will give us maximum flexibility and improved fuel efficiency and will allow us to meet the growth in demand, both internationally and in our domestic Japanese market," he said in a statement.

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Asiana crash: Rescuers failed to assist run-over teen

Video footage from the helmet of a rescuer on a plane crash in San Francisco last year appears to show emergency teams failing to assist a teenaged survivor, moments before she was accidentally run over by a fire truck.

Three passengers died when Asiana Airlines Flight 214 clipped a seawall with its landing gear, skidded off the runway and burst into flames at the end of an otherwise routine flight from Seoul to San Francisco on July 6.

One of the victims, Ye Mengyuan, 16, had been pulled alive from the plane and placed near one wing.

But the Chinese teenager was later run over and killed by a fire truck, which did not spot her lying under a layer of fire retardant foam. US prosecutors decided in October not to bring charges against the firefighter driving the truck.

CBS on Thursday broadcast segments of the video, allegedly obtained by a person close to the family of the victim.

The footage shows that firefighters knew there was a person lying on the landing strip after the accident.

The video shows a truck with rescuers approaching. The man with a camera installed on his helmet sticks out his hand and asks the truck to stop.

"There's a body right there, right in front of you," he says.

Then, a group of rescuers are seen running past the girl's body without stopping to check her vital signs.

Another 182 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 777 were injured, in the first fatal commercial airline crash in the United States since 2009.

The San Francisco Fire Department declined to comment on the video.

The department has already apologised to the girl's family.

Countering reports that the police had released the video, police official Gordon Shyy said "We would not release anything that relates to an investigation that is ongoing."

A lawyer for the Ye family, Justin Green, told CNN "the video is the best evidence of what happened. It shows at least five firefighters who saw her, who understood she was there and none of them did the basic steps to check if she was alive."

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Cathay Pacific orders 4 more long-haul Boeing planes

Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific ordered four additional long-haul planes from Boeing on Friday, a week after it ordered 21 Boeing 777-9X planes, in a move to modernise its fleet.

The airline said it would purchase an additional three Boeing 777-300ER passenger planes along with a Boeing 747-8 freighter, with a total list price of HK$7.4 billion (US$954.25 million).

Cathay did not reveal the amount it is paying to the US manufacturer, but airlines usually negotiate a discount from a plane's catalogue price.

"Both the 777-300ER and the 747-8F offer a highly efficient solution on Cathay Pacific's ultra-long-haul routes," the airline's chief executive John Slosar said in a statement released on Friday.

Slosar said the 777-300ER's, which are expected to be delivered in 2015 and the 747-8F, to be delivered in 2016, combine "superb operating economics with a significant reduction in emissions".

Cathay last Friday ordered 21 long-haul Boeing 777-9X planes, the aircraft manufacturer's newest member of the 777 family, at a list price of US$7.48 billion.

The yet-to-be launched 777X series includes advanced technology including composite wings and engines that Boeing says consume 20 per cent less fuel than today's model.

The airline said the planes, which will seat up to 400 passengers and be delivered between 2021 and 2024, were ideal for long-haul destinations in North America and Europe.

The airline said in August it swung to a lower-than-expected net profit of US$3.1 million in the first six months, after losing money in the same period of 2012. Gains in passenger numbers were offset by persistently high fuel prices and falling cargo revenue.

This year, Cathay has increased daily services to popular destinations such as Los Angeles, Chicago and London.

The airline is set to take delivery of 93 aircraft between 2014 and 2024 at a total list price of US$28.63 billion.

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Cathay Pacific orders 21 Boeing 777X planes

Cathay Pacific said Friday it has ordered 21 long-haul Boeing 777-9X planes at a list price of US$7.48 billion, as the Hong Kong carrier modernises its fleet off the back of disappointing earnings this year.

The yet-to-be launched 777X series is Boeing's newest member of the 777 family, with advanced technology including composite wings and new engines that Boeing says consume 20 per cent less fuel than today's model.

Cathay did not reveal the amount it is paying to the US manufacturer, but airlines usually negotiate a discount from a plane's catalogue price.

"The 777-9X promises us improved payload range capability and reduced operating costs, in addition to a significant reduction in environmental emissions," the airline's chief executive John Slosar said in a statement.

"Cathay Pacific is committed to modernising its fleet to provide a superior experience to passengers," Slosar said, adding that the airline was "delighted to be an early customer" for the next generation of the 777 series.

The airline said the planes, which will seat up to 400 passengers and will be delivered between 2021 and 2024, were ideal for long-haul destinations in North America and Europe.

"The huge investment we are making in new aircraft underscores... our commitment to maintaining Hong Kong's position as one of the world's great aviation hubs," Slosar said.

The airline said in August it swung to a lower-than-expected net profit of US$3.1 million in the first six months, after losing money in the same period of 2012. Gains in passenger numbers were offset by persistently high fuel prices and falling cargo revenue.

The high price of jet fuel had affected its business adversely, Cathay said in a statement then, adding that it was withdrawing older planes and operating more long-haul services using fuel-efficient Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

The airline faced a difficult year in 2012 when profit plunged more than 83 per cent over the full 12 months, buffeted by high fuel prices and the global financial crisis.

Starting from 2014, the airline is expecting the delivery of 12 Boeing 777-300ERs, and will see 50 of this aircraft type in its fleet by 2020.

This year, Cathay took delivery of six new aircraft in the first six months, including two Airbus A330-300s, three Boeing 777-300ERs, and one Boeing 747-8F freighter.

It has increased daily services to popular destinations such as London, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto.

The airline Emirates placed an order in November for 150 Boeing 777X aircraft -- 35 777-8Xs and 115 of the larger 777-9X variant, in a contract the Dubai-based carrier said was valued at US$76 billion.

Boeing said the Emirates orders were commitments worth US$55.6 billion.

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways last month placed an order for 25 777X passenger jets, including 17 777-9X models and eight 777-8Xs.

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Engine of Singapore Airlines flight sucks in container

One of the engines of a Singapore Airlines flight sucked in an empty container on Thursday afternoon.

The incident happened as the Boeing 777 (SQ421) flight from Mumbai was taxiing into the bay at Changi Airport.

Singapore Airlines said there were no injuries to anyone on the ground or on board the aircraft.

All passengers have since disembarked and investigations will be carried out.

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Asiana pilot felt "stressed" prior to San Francisco crash

The pilot of a South Korean airliner that crashed in San Francisco in July felt stressed about touching down without a functioning instrument landing system to guide him, according to documents made public Wednesday.

Three passengers died when Asiana Airlines Flight 214 clipped a seawall with its landing gear, skidded off the runway and burst into flames at the tragic end of an otherwise routine flight from Seoul on July 6.

Another 182 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 777 were injured, in the first fatal commercial airline crash in the United States since 2009.

A summary of Captain Lee Kang-Kuk's interview with US air accident investigators was released Wednesday as part of a day-long National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearing in the US capital.

"We have the opportunity today to ensure that the lessons of this tragedy are well-learned and that the circumstances are not repeated," NTSB chairwoman Deborah Hersman said.

According to the NTSB summary, Lee -- a seasoned aviator undergoing transition training to the Boeing 777 -- told investigators he felt "very stressful" about making a visual approach.

The instrument landing system (ILS) at San Francisco had been out of service since June due to construction work, calling for a hands-on approach on an otherwise fine summer day.

Under normal circumstances, the ILS would let pilots know if they were too high or too low. A visual approach requires looking out the window and taking cues from an array of approach lights at the runway's edge.

"Asked about whether he was concerned about his ability to perform a visual approach, he said, 'Very concerned'," the NTSB summary said.

"Asked what aspect he was most concerned about, he said 'the unstable approach'" -- the ability to set up an airplane for landing at a precise speed, direction and rate of descent.

"He added, 'exactly controlling the descent profile and the lateral profile… that is very stressful'."

Lee had flown Airbus A320s for Asiana from 2005 until February this year, when he began training to master the bigger 777.

He had 9,700 hours of flight experience, but only 35 hours in the Boeing 777.

Earlier in his career, he told investigators he had twice landed at San Francisco, once manually, as co-pilot of an Asiana Boeing 747.

In the co-pilot's seat at the end of the 10-1/2 hour flight was Lee Jung-Min, who had 3,200 hours' experience in the Boeing 777 but was only recently certified to instruct other pilots on its operation.

Bill English, the NTSB investigator leading the Asiana probe, said the autopilot was switched off about three miles out, and that the airspeed dipped as low as 103 knots, or 34 knots below the ideal approach speed.

The aircraft, meanwhile, descended so low that an array of approach lights at the end of the runway -- a key visual aid to landing -- showed four red lights, a situation that would call for an aborted landing.

A final NTSB report is not expected before the middle of next year.

None of the ill-starred flight's four pilots, 12 flight attendants and 291 passengers, many of them South Korean and Chinese nationals, were scheduled to testify Wednesday.

All three of the fatalities were young Chinese women, including one who was fatally hit by a fire engine as she lay stricken near the runway.

Giving expert testimony, Nadine Sarter, who studies the impact of automation on human performance, said a complex automation system was most likely to be a hindrance at the very instant it is most needed.

"In that sense, it could get in the way," said Sarter, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan.

"Pilots sometimes rely too much on automated systems and may be reluctant to intervene" when a situation calls for hands-on control, added Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) scientist Kathy Abbott.

Captain Dave McKenney of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) said today's pilots are expected to use automated systems so often that they get "few chances" to keep up their manual skills.

He underscored the challenges of landing at San Francisco, where pilots would be busy not only setting up for landing, but also looking out for other traffic to avoid a mid-air collision.

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Cockpit automation under scrutiny in Asiana crash probe

US air accident investigators hold a hearing Wednesday into the role that sophisticated cockpit automation might have played in the fiery crash of a South Korean airliner in San Francisco.

Three passengers died when Asiana Airlines Flight 214 clipped a seawall, skidded out of control and burst into flames upon landing after an otherwise routine flight from Seoul on July 6.

Another 182 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 777 were injured -- and first indications suggested the pilots approached the runway at well below the optimum speed for landing.

Wednesday's nearly 12-hour hearing was supposed to be a two-day affair, but its scheduled start Tuesday was postponed.

Keith Holloway of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the hearing will "gather additional factual information" as the federal agency moves closer to a final report on the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 777.

"Typically it takes about 12 months to complete a full investigation," he told AFP. "This is just one phase, a fact-gathering stage, of the investigation."

None of the four pilots, 12 flight attendants and 291 passengers, many of them South Korean and Chinese nationals, are lined up to testify.

Instead the hearing at an NTSB conference centre in downtown Washington will hear expert testimony on such issues as cockpit automation in the Boeing 777 and the training of Asiana pilots in its operation.

It will also dwell on the effects of automation on pilot performance in the moments prior to an accident, airport emergency response and the crash-worthiness of aircraft interiors.

All three of the dead were young Chinese women, including one who was fatally hit by a fire engine as she lay stricken near the runway.

Landing just before noon on a clear and sunny Saturday, but with San Francisco airport's instrument landing system reportedly out of service, Flight 214 had been cleared by air traffic controllers for a visual landing on Runway 28 Left.

Amateur video of the moment of impact showed the aircraft's nose up, and its rear hitting the ground first, before it bounced abruptly then spun around 180 degrees, shedding its tail.

Large sections of the fuselage were gutted in the ensuing fire.

On the scene two days later, NTSB chairwoman Deborah Hersman said the aircraft was coming in to land at a speed significantly below the 137 knots (158 miles per hour, 254 kilometres per hour) that it should have been holding on final approach.

"We are not talking about a few knots here or there. We're talking about a significant amount of speed below 137," she told reporters.

Initial investigation also found the precariously slow speed triggered the Boeing 777's stall warning system -- a vibration on the controls known as a "stick shaker" -- four seconds prior to impact.

San Francisco airport is among the busiest in the United States, handling more than nine million international and 33 million domestic travellers in the year to June 2012.

Asiana has defended the two pilots at the controls at the time of the July 6 accident, Lee Kang-Kuk and Lee Jung-Min, saying they were "competent" veteran aviators whose experience included dozens of flights to and from San Francisco.

It also said in July that "there were no engine or mechanical problems" on the aircraft, which it acquired in 2006.

Lee Kang-Kuk, a pilot for some 10 years, was midway through training to fly the Boeing 777 and its all-digital instrument panel, known in pilot jargon as a "glass cockpit."

Lee Jung-Min, with many flying hours in the "triple seven," acted as co-pilot and instructor.

Two other pilots were on board as well -- not unusual for a long transpacific journey that would call for a mid-flight change of cockpit crew.

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Firefighters caused death of Asiana crash victim: coroner

One of the victims of this month's Asiana Airlines jet crash in San Francisco survived impact but was killed on the tarmac when she was run over by an emergency vehicle, officials said on Friday.

Results of the autopsy on 16-year-old Chinese student Ye Mengyuan, one of three people killed in the July 6 disaster, had been keenly awaited after firefighters admitted a tarmac accident was possible.

The girl, who was "alive at the time," died due to "multiple blunt injuries that are consistent with being run over by a motor vehicle," San Mateo county coroner Robert Foucrault told reporters.

San Francisco fire chief Joanne Hayes-White offered her "condolences and apologies to the family... in light of the coroner's findings in this tragic accident."

"Obviously this is very difficult news for us -- we're heartbroken," Hayes-White said. "We're in the business of saving lives."

The city fire chief said the entire emergency operation was still under review.

"I continue to be very proud of all the men and women of our department. Many of our members risked their lives to save passengers and crews that day," she said, lamenting the "tragic accident."

A police inquiry found that Ye was hidden under a layer of white foam, used by firefighters as a flame retardant in the wake of the crash upon landing of Asiana Flight 214.

Hayes-White said the vehicle involved was likely "one of the specialized rigs at the airport," adding: "There were many surrounding the aircraft."

She said fire department personnel were cooperating with both a police probe and the one led by the US National Transportation Safety Board.

The two other people killed in the crash were also female Chinese youths.

More than 180 others injured in the crash of the Boeing 777, which had left Shanghai and made a stop in Seoul before heading to San Francisco.

Two of them were still in critical condition on Friday, with "spinal cord injury, abdominal injuries, internal bleeding, road rash and fractures," San Francisco General Hospital said in an update.

The passenger jet had 307 people on board, including 16 crew members. More than 120 people escaped unharmed.

The crash was the carrier's first passenger jet crash in 20 years.

According to preliminary findings from the NTSB, the plane crashed because it was flying too low and too slowly as it approached the runway.

The tail of the aircraft broke off as the plane clipped a seawall short of the runway, skidding out of control and quickly catching fire.

It has also emerged that the otherwise experienced pilot was undergoing his first major training on the Boeing 777, and it was his co-pilot's first time working as instructor.

Asiana has argued the pair were "competent" veterans with around 10,000 flying hours including dozens of flights to San Francisco.

Officials in South Korea have said that Asiana, the country's number two airline, will be subject to a weeks-long government investigation.

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Not a nice thing to know when your motto is to save lives yet you caused the death of a young life. The white foam didn't help matters and in the chaotic scene after the crash, such an incident is unfortunate, my condolences to the girl's family.