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Malaysia Airlines is watching the testing of the Airbus A330neo due to enter service next year as it evaluates an order for around 30 long-haul aircraft, CEO Peter Bellew said Friday. Malaysia Airlines is transforming its operations as it recovers from two tragedies in 2014, when flight MH370 disappeared in what remains a mystery and flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine. “We need to work out longer-term which aircraft will replace the A330-300 we have. That’s a choice between (Boeing) 787-9s and the A330neos,” Bellew said. “We’ll be watching test flights of A330neos with great interest over the next 6 months,” he said, adding he would also keep a close eye on the performance of the Rolls-Royce engines that power the jet. Malaysia has just picked up six second-hand A330 aircraft from lessor AerCap which were previously flown by insolvent German carrier Air Berlin. Bellew said that deal bought them some time on an order decision. “We don’t have to make a decision on that for 12 months if we don’t want to. But it’s a relatively good time to buy at the moment, it could be before the end of the year, but our shareholder will need to evaluate it,” he said.<br/>

Qantas CE Alan Joyce says passengers can look forward to continued falling fares with the new ultra long-haul planes his airline has challenged Boeing and Airbus to build. Joyce said he wanted to be flying to London and New York from Australia's east coast by 2022 and being able to avoid stops would be more economic for his airline. Boeing is developing the advanced 777X with massive composite wings that fold-up at their tips to allow them to use existing airports and with aerodynamics and new engines that could allow them to fly up to 16,110km. Joyce said the cost of flying had been falling in real terms for years and this would continue. "We have seen the benefits of technology passed on to consumers and I think with the advent of this aircraft that's going to be the trend." Qantas was also keen on flying directly from the eastern states to Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro in the future. Aircraft burned large amounts of fuel taking off and landing and incur extra airport and handling costs. "Both Boeing and Airbus say they're up for the challenge - the head of Airbus said it was a bit like the space race a bit like getting to the moon," said Joyce.<br/>

Royal Jordanian Airlines expects to make an operating profit this year as it pushes ahead with a turnaround plan, its chief executive told Reuters on Friday. "I am pretty confident that after the first five months of this year, which were not very good, that we are going to have an operating profit in this year," said Stefan Pichler, who took over as CEO in June. "We've worked very hard to develop a turnaround programme to get back to profitability," he said. Pichler said the board had approved the turnaround plan last week and Royal Jordanian would now work on a fleet plan. Jordan's flag carrier currently flies a mix of Embraer, Airbus and Boeing jets and Pichler said ideally it would move to a single narrowbody supplier in the future. "We are discussing with all suppliers," he said. He said Royal Jordanian was looking to focus on its regional market in the Levant and wanted to be poised to take advantage of the Syrian market when it reopens. Pichler said Royal Jordanian was trying not to put too much capacity into the market as it seeks to fly fuller planes. "We don't want to get into a capacity war in the Gulf," he said.<br/>