Long-haul flights half way across the globe are making a comeback even with oil prices close to their highest in 4 years. About 6 months after Qantas started a direct service from Perth to London, SIA is bringing back its 10,400-mile jump to New York Oct 11, pipping Qatar Airways’ Doha-Auckland route to reclaim the title of the world’s longest commercial flight. SIA will use an Airbus A350-900 Ultra Long Range aircraft on the route as well as for non-stop services to Los Angeles starting in November. The jet carries a maximum of 161 passengers, compared with 253 on the airline’s existing A350-900s. That means more space, with 67 flat-bed seats in a 1-2-1 configuration for business class and 94 premium economy places in a mostly 2-4-2 arrangement at the rear. <br/>
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SIA has been named as one of the top 50 "Genius Companies" in an inaugural annual list compiled by Time Magazine. According to Time, the firms identified are "inventing the future", "driving progress now" and "bear watching for what they do next". Companies were picked based on factors including originality, influence, success and ambition, Time said in its latest issue. SIA is the only South-east Asian company on the list and one of a small number of Asian companies named. It is also the only airline on the list. Other global companies that made the list include Airbnb, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Netflix, Nike and SpaceX. The companies are not ranked. The recent accolade comes as the airline prepares to relaunch a 19-hour service from Singapore to Newark Liberty International Thursday. <br/>
The CE of LOT says his country needs a new mega-airport to show Poland means business. The Central Airport (Centralny Port Lotniczy or CPL), as the project is called, would be situated in the Baranow district between Warsaw and Lodz, 15 minutes from Warsaw's central station by train. "It's the biggest undertaking in the modern history of Poland," said deputy infrastructure minister Mikolaj Wild, who is overseeing the project. It could be "the gateway from the EU to the east," he added. The US$19b airport would handle 45m passengers a year, rising to 100m. But the govt has so far been vague about where the money will come from. The head of the Polish Development Fund, PFR, Pawel Borys, said in 2017 that the state-owned financial group had a rough plan for financing the investment which would not burden the state budget. <br/>
United Airlines plans to study the economic impact of its hub at San Francisco International on the Bay Area economy. United is in the early stages of working on that study, the airline's California regional president Janet Lamkin said, following formal remarks made by senior executives Oct 7 at the company's "SFO Family Day." United is eager to highlight the value of operating a hub at San Francisco International. Its economic impact in the Bay Area may be overshadowed by the venture capital and innovation that makes the regional economy a national powerhouse. United seems to have awakened to the opportunity it has in the Bay Area, especially with recent industry consolidation that saw the loss of Virgin America, now part of Alaska Airlines. <br/>
SWISS has added 3 Saab 2000 turboprops to its fleet, wet-leased from Adria Airways, and will end the wet-lease of one Austrian Airlines Bombardier Q400, all as of Oct 28. Starting then, Adria will take over SWISS’ wet-leased Zurich-Lugano route from Austrian for economic reasons, a spokesperson said. Adria will operate a 50-seat Saab 2000 that is better suited to this domestic route than Austrian’s 76-seat Q400. Lugano will be the only destination that Adria serves for SWISS. Adria said that about one-third of flights in the 2018 first half were wet-lease services. It flew close to 10,000 flights in the 1H, up 2.4% from the year-ago period, of which more than 3,300 were aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance services. Adria this fall added 6 Saab 2000s to its fleet from Jetstream Aviation Capital. <br/>
South African Airways has appointed Deon Fredericks as interim CFO, with the aim of finding a permanent replacement within 12 months. Fredericks, who will take up the new role Oct 15, succeeds interim CFO Robert Head, whose contract expired Sept 30. Fredericks is joining SAA on a 12-month secondment from 39% state-owned South African telecommunications provider Telkom. SAA chairman Johannes Bhekumuzi Magwaza said this appointment will “ensure that SAA’s strategic objective of transforming the business into a financially sustainable aviation group is achieved.” Last month, loss-making SAA said it has “enough” access to working capital and will not file for bankruptcy. The airline claimed a “material improvement” to its Q1 performance, with some routes delivering their first profits in more than a decade. <br/>