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THAI is pinning hopes of a revival to its 1990s heyday on a new leadership team, jet purchases and improving its brand as tourism booms in the region. But the new president and chairman taking the helm are political appointees without aviation experience and several executives said the airline needs to adjust to a market where the good times of having a near-monopoly at home are long over. Challenges for the new team include cutting costs, managing a mixed fleet, coping with loss-making subsidiaries as well as healing long-time rifts between government-appointed management and airline veterans. Thailand has been the beneficiary of a boom in tourist arrivals, particularly from China, but as foreign airlines have rushed to add flights, THAI has reported annual losses for four of the last five years. “Thai Airways did not adapt quickly enough and competes in one of the world’s toughest industries,” former THAI president Piyasvasti Amranand said. The structure of state enterprises in Thailand slows decision-making because the carrier needs to seek approval from many agencies for decisions, he said. On paper, prospects are good for THAI. Air traffic is booming in Asia. Also, Thailand expects 37.5m visitors this year, up 6% from 2017, most of whom arrive by air. But Thai Airways’ new president, Sumeth Damrongchaitham, who started the job this month after an 18-month search, has his work cut out.<br/>

United will fly Boeing 787s to Europe from its Newark Liberty International airport by next summer, as it preps for the introduction of its latest Dreamliner variant. The carrier plans to operate the 787 on "six international Atlantic routes" from Newark in its next summer schedule, which begins 31 March 2019, United says in an internal newsletter to pilots. The aircraft will be staffed with 160 pilots, including 55 captains and 105 first officers, at Newark, the airline says. United has considered a Newark base for its new 787-10s since at least May. At the time, the carrier suggested it could base them at the New York-area airport and fly them to Europe. The airline's president Scott Kirby called the 787-10 a "phenomenal European" aircraft in August, saying they would eventually fly out of Chicago, Newark and Washington Dulles without providing a timeline. The latest communique from United does not say if the 787s bound for Newark will be -10s or either of the smaller Dreamliner variants, the -8 and -9. The 787-10 is a stretch-of-a-stretch, offering airlines more seats – and improved economics – in exchange for slightly less range. United will configure its 787-10s with 318 seats, including its new Polaris business class and premium economy seats, compared to 252 seats on its -9s and 219 seats on its -8s.<br/>

United wants to cut delays. Its solution: Fewer lines. The airline Tuesday changed its boarding process: United reduced the number of boarding lines from five to two. Passengers in groups one and two will board in a single line. Remaining passengers will be asked to remain seated until they are called to board through the second line. They'll be announced by group. The new procedure is part of a long-term effort boost ticket sales. United hopes to please passengers by eliminating long lines at the gate, said Jack Atkins, a research analyst at Stephens Inc. Improving the boarding experience is a low cost way to improve United's customer service, Atkins said. New boarding procedures have helped its competitors. Delta has over the past several years boosted its on-time numbers, which has allowed it to boost its profit and to attract new customers, Atkins said. Over time that allowed them to hike fares. That's what United is shooting for. "It won't be faster, but the gates will be less confusing and have less of a cattle barn look," said Mike Boyd airline consultant at Boyd Group International. "The old procedures induced people to stand in line an hour ahead of time. This will be much better, but what people in Group 2 are going to do is still stand in their line an hour ahead of time to get overhead bin space." The overhaul was requested by a large number of customers, said Sarah Murphy, United's operations strategy chief.<br/>

Lufthansa Group subsidiary Brussels Airlines is making changes to its long-haul network, reinforcing its presence in Africa as it ends flights to Mumbai, India for economic reasons and refocuses the capacity on its core intercontinental region of Africa. As of next year, Brussels Airlines will add three extra flights per week to Banjul, Gambia, taking it to a daily service and will operate three out of seven weekly frequencies to Dakar, Senegal as a direct flight from Jan. 7. The carrier will stop flying to and from Mumbai, India, from Jan. 6, with customers still able to connect to the destination via Frankfurt and Munich, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland with partners Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines, it said. The carrier began serving Mumbai in March 2017 but said “the route does not deliver the anticipated results.” Customers who had already booked flights after Jan. 6 are being offered alternative travel solutions. The carrier, which announced a short- and medium-haul network expansion over the summer, also said it was adding two further year-round short-haul destinations—4X-weekly to Kiev (Ukraine) service from October and a 3X-weekly service to Wroclaw (Poland) from February.<br/>

EgyptAir launched on Monday its inaugural flights to Hong Kong, in line with a plan to increase the number of global company destinations. Two flights via Airbus 300-330 aircraft will be scheduled on Mondays and Fridays from Cairo to Hong Kong. A 25% discount is offered by the airline company on all tickets to Hong Kong through to September 30. Chairman of EgyptAir Holding Company Ahmed Adel said last week that the company is always seeking to open up new markets, highlighting that destinations in the Far East are viewed as promising markets in the aviation and air transport fields. <br/>