Asia > Transportation

Transportation in Asia

  • China begins to mass produce regional jetliner ARJ21-700

    CHINA, 2017/07/11 A Chinese aircraft manufacturer has been certified to mass produce the country's home-grown regional jetliner ARJ21-700. The Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) said it obtained the production license from the General Government of Civil Aviation on Sunday. The company plans to deliver five ARJ21-700 jetliners by the end of this year.
  • China to add freight train service to south Asia

    CHINA, 2017/07/11 Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, is preparing to launch a second freight train service to south Asia. The new line will start from Lanzhou, travelling through Kashgar in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to the Gwadar Port of Pakistan, Xu Chunhua, director of Lanzhou International Trade and Logistic Park, said at the China Lanzhou Investment and Trade equitable. In May last year, a rail and road cargo service opened between Lanzhou and Kathmandu, Nepal.
  • New heights for ASEAN–China commercial diplomacy in aviation

    ASIA, 2017/06/27 In 2010 ASEAN and China concluded an air transport agreement to establish a liberalised market access regime for both sides’ airlines. From presently on the benefits from the arrangement were unbalanced, with China making much bigger gains in access than the ASEAN states. A closer look at this imbalance makes clear the need for a authentic single market in aviation across ASEAN. The ASEAN states had attempted to negotiate as a bloc to increase their bargaining position against China. Up to this point, market access had been governed by bilateral agreements between the individual ASEAN states and China. These agreements typically imposed strict caps on the number of flights or types of aircraft operated by each party’s airlines in the other’s market.
  • Saudi Aramco-Hyundai in $5.2 billion shipyard deal

    SOUTH KOREA, 2017/06/02 Saudi Aramco is to build the region's biggest shipyard in a $5.2 billion joint venture with South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries and others, the partners said on Wednesday. The yard, to be constructed on the kingdom's Gulf coast, will have the capacity to produce four offshore rigs and 40 vessels, inclunding three supertankers, a year, the national-owned oil giant said in a statement. Lamprell, a United Arab Emirates-based provider of services to the energy industry, and Bahri, the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia, have as well signed on to the venture.
  • First Chinese-built passenger jet makes maiden flight

    CHINA, 2017/05/08 The initial Chinese-built passenger jet has taken to the skies for a politically charged maiden flight that authorities claimed would propel the country into a new era of aviation. The C919, a twin-engine airliner designed to compete with the Airbus 320 and Boeing 737, took off from Shanghai’s Pudong International airport just next 2pm on Friday and landed back there again 80 minutes later. The symbolic flight, which the government has celebrated as further evidence of China’s rise, was broadcast live on national-controlled television. “Today this is it! We have witnessed the successful takeoff!” said Yang Chengxi, a reporter for national-broadcaster CGTN, as the single-aisle jet powered into the skies over China’s financial capital.
  • Air India sets new world record with all-women crew

    INDIA, 2017/03/11 In a quest to set a new world record, Air India has operated a flight around the world with an all-women crew ahead of International Women’s Day. The flight, which departed from here on February 27 for San Francisco, returned at the Indira Gandhi International airport next flying across the globe. The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200LR, flew over the Pacific last week on its journey to San Francisco, while the return flight flew over the Atlantic, encircling the globe, Air India said.
  • Commercial airline industry's 2016 safety performance data released

    WORLD, 2017/03/11 The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for the 2016 safety performance of the commercial airline industry. • The all accident rate (measured in accidents per 1 million flights) was 1.61, an development from 1.79 in 2015. • The 2016 major jet accident rate (measured in hull losses per 1 million flights) was 0.39, which was the equivalent of one major accident for each 2.56 million flights. This was not as good as the rate of 0.32 completed in 2015 and was as well above the five-year rate (2011-2015) of 0.36. • There were 10 fatal accidents with 268 fatalities. This compares with an average of 13.4 fatal accidents and 371 fatalities per year in the previous five-year period (2011-2015).
  • Garuda to show no mercy to passenger cracking bomb joke

    INDONESIA, 2017/03/06 National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia says it will take firm action against a passenger who joked about having a bomb on board and caused a long delay in takeoff for a flight from Makassar, South Sulawesi, to Jakarta on Friday. Garuda Indonesia vice president of corporate communications Benny S. Butarbutar said on Saturday that the aircraft crew and aviation security officers instantly combed the plane next the man, identified only as HI, repeatedly claimed that he had a bomb in his carry-on bag.
  • Singapore's Marco Polo Marine Flags Doubt on Continuing as a Going Concern

    SINGAPORE, 2016/09/24 Marine logistics firm Marco Polo said it has substantial doubt about being able to continue as a going concern due to a cash crunch, as it sought noteholders' approval to defer redeeming bonds worth S$50 million ($37 million) by three years. "There cannot be any assurance that the issuer or the group will be able to continue as a going concern," the Singapore company said in a securities filing to the stock exchange.
  • Air freight demand growth slows in May

    WORLD, 2016/07/10 The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released world air freight data showing that request measured in freight ton kilometers (FTKs) slowed in May with increase falling to 0.9% year-on-year. Yields remained pressured as freight capacity measured in available freight ton kilometers (AFTKs) increased by 4.9% year-on-year. Freight request decreased or flat lined in May across all regions with the exception of Europe and the Middle East. These regions recorded increase in air cargo volumes of 4.5% and 3.2%, respectively, in May, compared to the same period last year. Broad weakness in world trade volumes, which have largely tracked sideways since the end of 2014, accounts for about 80% of air freight's sluggish performance.