THAI will seek board approval this month to purchase new jets amid a surge in tourist arrivals that has boosted demand, the airline’s top executive said Tuesday. The airline expects to fill 79% of seats in 2018, up from 78.2% in Q3 of last year, acting president Usanee Sangsingkeo said. Thailand expects 37.55m tourists to arrive this year, up 6% from 35m in 2017. Usanee did not elaborate on the purchase plans, but research firm CAPA Centre for Aviation in November said the airline was looking to buy eight to nine narrowbody and 20 widebody jets for delivery from 2019 to 2022. <br/>
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SIA Tuesday a 62% rise in Q3 net profit as growing passenger numbers and higher cargo revenue offset a decline in ticket prices and rising fuel costs. The carrier, a benchmark for Asia’s premium airlines, made S$286m in the three months ended Dec 31, up from $177m a year before. The airline, like rival Cathay Pacific, has been undertaking a transformation programme designed to cut costs and to boost revenue amid competition from Chinese and Middle Eastern rivals and low-cost carriers. <br/>
Among Turkish blue chips, there’s no stock that’s had a better 12 months than Turkish Airlines. Now the surge is making some money managers nervous. An improvement in tourism, easing tensions with major partners, passenger growth, increased foreign inflows to Turkish equities and a weaker lira all supported the carrier’s earnings in 2017. The shares had been battered by a disastrous year earlier that saw a coup attempt, bombings, and a consequent tourism crisis. “We might have approached the level of irrational exuberance with the stock, given the recent volatile nature of Turkey’s diplomatic relations,” an analyst said, referring to disputes with members of the EU, the US and Russia. <br/>
Passengers aboard a United flight from San Francisco to Honolulu had a scary trip over the Pacific Ocean Tuesday, after the casing around one of the engines ripped apart. Flight 1175, with more than 370 people on board, landed without incident at Honolulu International, a United spokesman said. "Scariest flight of my life," a passenger from San Francisco wrote on Twitter. She posted photos of the aircraft's engine with its cowling missing. The spokesman said he could not immediately say whether or not the engine on the Boeing 777 continued to function after the cowling came off. The pilots declared an emergency before the plane landed safely. The FAA will investigate the incident. <br/>