Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has advised its passengers on last-minute flight cancellation and retiming due to the current haze situation.
Its operations director, Izham Ismail, said specific stations were under close watch for possible closure or interruption of certain airports including KL International Airport (KLIA).
“MAS is working closely with the airport authorities in monitoring the situation and will adjust our flight operations into and out of the affected airports when necessary.”
MAS has formed a haze secretariat to monitor the situation on an hourly basis and provide updates three times daily.
The airline also encouraged passengers to check the status of their flights at www.malaysiaairlines.com or call prior to leaving for the airport and for updates.
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That is pretty bad visuals judging by the picture above. The haze has now turned to create havoc in Malaysia after doing it to Singapore the previous week.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on Monday said there have been no significant delays in aircraft departures and arrivals despite the haze situation in the country.
As a precaution, airfield lights are turned on in the daytime to enhance the visibility of runways.
Changi Airport can allow aircraft to land safely when the runway visual range is more than 550 metres.
But with more stringent measures, aircraft can still land if the visual range is between 300 and 550 metres.
The measures include putting on standby secondary power supply for essential equipment, such as runway lights, and allowing more time between aircraft landings and take-offs.
Authorities said with reduced visibility, some delays and disruptions to aircraft operations, including flight cancellations, could be expected.
If the visual range falls below 300 metres, CAAS said Changi Airport will not be able to accept aircraft landings for safety reasons.
But planes can continue to take off safely, in accordance with each airline's policy.
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Judging by this article, it seems that Changi Airport is only capable of ILS Cat 2 landing of RVR 300-550 metres. Well done to the airport controllers and such for a cool handling of the haze situation.
A SilkAir flight had to return to Singapore on Monday morning, due to the worsening haze condition in Pekanbaru.
The SilkAir flight, MI 252, had arrived at Syarif Kasim II airport in the provincial capital of Riau province at about 8am.
Airport duty manager, Mr Baiquni, told The Straits Times that the flight was unable to land due to low visibility at the airport.
"The haze was thick and the pilot had to circle around the airport to find a way to land the plane.
"His first attempt to land from the west failed. He tried again to land from the north, but again, he couldn't do so. The pilot then decided to return to Singapore," he said.
Mr Baiquni added: "Visibility was only 300 metres this morning. Planes need a visibility level of at least 2,000 metres to touch down or take off."
A total of 11 flights were affected between 8am and 11am today. An AirAsia flight flying in from Bandung had to be diverted to Kuala Lumpur, while a Lion Air flight from Jakarta was diverted to Medan. The rest of the eight flights were delayed either at Syarif Kasim II airport or from their place of origin.
Normal operations resumed at the airport after 11am, when the sky cleared up.
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Haze wrecking havoc in the region, with visuals severely affected and flights are embroiled into the matter. The forests in Sumatra are still burning and the haze situation is not showing any signs of let up. With the wind direction now blowing towards Malaysia, it will affect bigger airports like KLIA. Changi Airport handled the situation pretty well, let's hope the haze will clear up soon. Pray for rain in Sumatra.
A Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet was forced to make an emergency landing during an internal US flight on Sunday, due to a problem with its brake system, United Airlines said in a statement.
"United flight 94 from Houston to Denver returned to Houston Sunday due to a brake indicator issue," the US carrier said.
"Following standard operating procedures, as a precautionary measure, the flight landed in emergency status. The aircraft landed safely at 11:58 a.m. C.T. and our maintenance team is conducting a review of the aircraft," the statement continued.
The flight had departed nearly three hours earlier, at 9:12 am local time (0214 GMT).
A spokeswoman for Boeing, which makes the Dreamliner, said the problem with the braking system forced the plane "back to base," without giving details of the malfunction or how long it might take to repair it.
Leach said a Boeing field service representative was on the scene in Houston to help the airline with the issue, including getting the airplane back into service and dealing with stranded passengers.
It marks the latest problem to plague Boeing's flagship plane and at least a third one in a month.
An All Nippon Airways flight on the Dreamliner was cancelled on June 12 when an engine would not start. A day earlier, a Singapore-bound flight operated by Japan Airlines had to turn back mid-flight because of a problem with the anti-icing system.
The worldwide fleet of Dreamliners was grounded for four months earlier this year when problems were discovered with its battery systems.
A global grounding order was issued in January after lithium-ion batteries overheated on two different planes, with one of them catching fire while the aircraft was parked.
Boeing admitted in April that despite months of testing it did not know the root cause of the problems, but rolled out modifications it said would ensure the issue did not recur.
Nevertheless, in a bid to show it was back on track after the technical issues with the jetliner, the aerospace company announced at the Paris Air Show on June 18 that it was launching a new version of the Dreamliner, with over 100 orders worth about US$30 billion.
The new-generation 787-10 is bigger than its two brothers in the fuel-efficient Dreamliner family, and Singapore Airlines and ALC were its two biggest customers on Tuesday, with 30 orders each.
United committed to buying 20 planes while British Airways will get 12 and leasing company GECAS 10.
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Another issue for the Dreamliner. Seems to be no end to it. But what matters most is that all passengers are safe.
The Chinese aircraft leasing company Hong Kong Aviation Capital said on Thursday it had agreed to buy 60 Airbus jetliners in a deal worth up to US$6.3 billion (4.7 billion euros).
HKAC chief executive Donal Boylan has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Airbus that covers "the purchase of 40 A320neo and 20 A321neo aircraft," a statement said.
They are the latest, fuel-efficient versions of Airbus' best-selling medium-range aircraft, and the total number of planes carries a list price of $6.3 billion, though substantial discounts are the norm for large orders.
"This is our first direct order with any aircraft manufacturer and our first commitment for the A320neo" Boylan was quoted as saying.
HKAC is one of a number of growing aircraft leasing companies which account for a growing percentage of all aircraft purchases, and the size of the deals allows them to negotiate better rates than small airlines.
"We are delighted to have HKAC as our new customer for the Neo, the world's bestselling single-aisle aircraft," Airbus Chief Operating Officer John Leahy said.
Alain Guillot, an expert in aerospace and defence at consultants AlixPartners has estimated that between 2007 and 2012, the share of planes belonging to leasing companies has grown by 20 per cent.
"Planes being rented out represented 35 per cent of the worldwide fleet in service in 2012," excluding private aircraft, he said.
Guillot has also calculated that nearly half of Airbus and Boeing order books are filled with deals done with leasing companies.
Airbus has indicated that sales via leasing will make it easier for many airlines to operate its A380 superjumbo airliner.
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These leasing companies are high on confidence that all their orders will be leased out without trouble, having seen a number of them making huge aircraft orders. This should mean the market will get better in the near future, but probably mostly in Asia Pacific region.
South Korea's two largest airlines, Korean Air and Asiana, said on Thursday they had both decided to ban shark fin from their cargo flights as part of a growing global campaign against the Asian delicacy.
Korean Air, which flies to 45 countries, said in a statement that it had stopped shipping shark fin from June 10.
"Korean Air has joined a campaign to protect an ecological system by imposing a complete ban on the shipment of shark fin," the statement said.
Asiana, the country's second largest airline, said it was following suit.
"Our airline has decided to stop shipping shark fin," an Asiana spokeswoman told AFP, without saying when the ban would be enforced.
Shark fin soup is served by many hotels and Chinese restaurants in South Korea and is a staple at wedding banquets and corporate parties.
Global shark populations have been decimated by the trade. Humans kill about 100 million sharks each year, mostly for their fins, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, which says 90 per cent have disappeared over the past 100 years.
The move brings Korean Air and Asiana into line with a number of other Asian carriers, including Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific which stopped shipping shark fin as cargo last September.
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A piece of news that will affect our stomachs. With Cathay Pacific Cargo also banning such imports, it is left with only a selected few cargo airlines flying the fins around for people's consumption, no pun intended. If the figures are to be believed, 90% disappearance of sharks in the past decade is an alarming figure. Perhaps it will be good that the rest of the cargo airlines will follow suit and ban flying the fins within their fuselage.
Fast-growing budget carrier AirAsia said Thursday it had ordered 100 engines worth US$8.6 billion from manufacturer CFM International to power Airbus A320 airliners ordered last year.
The deal inked on Wednesday in France includes 64 new LEAP-1A engines for fuel-efficient A320neo jets, the Malaysia-based carrier said in a statement.
Asia's largest budget carrier by fleet size said the order also includes a 20-year service agreement.
CFM - a joint venture between GE Aviation of the United States, and France's Safran - said the LEAP engines provide up to 15 per cent better fuel efficiency.
AirAsia ordered 100 A320s for US$9.3 billion in December.
Airbus said at the time that the deal made AirAsia the biggest customer for single-aisle A320 airliners in the world, with a total of 475.
The airline serves about 70 destinations in 20 countries across Asia.
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A huge deal for the engine maker, one which will propel the company forward. With massive plane orders being made in recent months, the choice of engine used is a massive market for these engine makers. Clinching a deal of such size will be very beneficial for the company. Not only will they provide the initial power-up, they will also provide the maintenance service, which is another huge chunk of money involved.
