The govt has suggested that THAI and its subsidiaries expand their route system throughout Southeast Asia so Bangkok will become a gateway to the region and serve growing tourism here. The recommendation was handed down to the carrier - which actually has been cutting routes to stem years of operating losses – by deputy prime minister Somkid Jatusripitak Monday. If implemented, THAI would cooperate with other airlines to connect Asean countries including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to Thailand with flight routes, Somkid said. "THAI could be the real gateway of Asean," he said. The deputy prime minister who oversees economic affairs said THAI was exiting its long period of losses and planning growth. He said he believed the airline had already bottomed out. <br/>
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Air Canada will end service to New York JFK this April. The airline’s last flights from the airport will be April 3. Air Canada currently flies to New York JFK from its hub at Toronto Pearson, offering 2 daily Air Canada Express flights between the cities. Air Canada says its exit from JFK will allow it to focus on its existing service to the New York City area's 2 other major airports: LaGuardia and Newark Liberty. “As JFK offers limited options for convenient arrival and departure times due to slot constraints, we have elected to re-focus on our main New York City-area operations at LaGuardia and Newark,” a spokesman said. Air Canada becomes the second big Star Alliance carrier to exit New York JFK in the past year. United abandoned JFK in October, shifting its JFK flights to Newark as part of a broader slot swap with Delta Air Lines. <br/>
Air carriers should be allowed to share information about unruly passengers to help keep the skies safer, Canada’s largest airline says. A carrier can ban people with a history of disruptive behaviour from taking further flights with that airline, Air Canada notes in a submission to the federal govt. But legislation does not permit airlines to exchange information about passengers, even when they believe them to be a safety risk to others. In the submission to a federal review of the Canada Transportation Act, Air Canada says safety “should always be first and foremost.” A report flowing from the review — likely to include some recommendations about air safety — is expected to be made public in coming weeks. <br/>
Ethiopian Airlines Group has invested US$100m in expanding and upgrading its aviation academy at Addis Ababa Bole International. The carrier said this project is in line with its Vision 2025 strategic road map and is the largest aviation academy in Africa. It will be able to take 4,000 students a year at the end of 2025. As an Authorised Training Organisation, the Ethiopian Aviation Academy offers Boeing 777, 787, 737, 767/757 and Bombardier Q400 full flight simulators. The carrier is also considering extending its training centre to add an Airbus A350 simulator. “We have already started discussions with Airbus and CAE,” Ethiopian Airlines Group CE Tewolde Gebremariam said. It offers also a full range of fleet cabin emergency, evacuation and door trainers, and more than 20 pilot training aircraft. <br/>
Air India plans to get back its lost status as the king of domestic skies and challenge the competition from IndiGo. The airline plans to raise its capacity on domestic routes by using wide-bodied Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes on high-capacity routes. Currently, it uses the narrow-body Airbus A320 on such routes. Simultaneously, the airline will fly the A320s between the Tier-II and Tier-III cities, which experts believe has a huge potential due to the govt’s stress on regional route expansion. “Immediately, we need to strengthen the domestic market and increase capacity. We will strengthen the existing routes by adding capacity, because there is a huge potential in this market,” said a top Air India official. IATA data show that domestic sector in India grew 20.2% in 2015 - the highest in the world. <br/>