Air China will suspend its flights on the Beijing-Hawaii route from Aug. 27 after a review of its network, China’s flagship carrier said on Tuesday, as travel demand remains weak amid an escalating US-China trade war. Passengers who have purchased tickets for travel after that date will receive a full refund, Air China said in a statement on its website. The passenger load factor for Air China’s thrice-weekly Beijing-Honolulu route averaged 66.37% last year, according to Chinese aviation data provider Variflight. That was well below the average load factor of 76.69% for Air China’s international flights last year. Hawaiian Airlines last year pulled out of the same non-stop service between Honolulu and Beijing, which it opened in 2014, citing slower-than-expected growth in demand. Its CEO Peter Ingram said the route was suspended due to lack of growth and not because of trade tensions with China. The Air China announcement comes at a sensitive time in US-China relations as the world’s two biggest economies are locked in a year-long trade war that has disrupted global supply chains and rattled financial markets.<br/>
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Singapore Airlines just picked a fight with Emirates in a grab for India’s international travellers, and a slice of one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets. Singapore Air’s unprofitable Indian venture Vistara completed its first overseas flight -- between New Delhi and Singapore -- on Wednesday. It’s the start of an uphill battle against Middle East airline giants, led by Emirates and Etihad, that dominate India’s offshore routes. For Singapore Air, ambushed all over Southeast Asia by budget airlines, the prize is clear. The number of passengers in India will more than triple to 520m by 2037, the IATA says. And of the 63m people that flew to and from the country last year, two thirds were carried by foreign airlines. Vistara, 49% owned by Singapore Air and 51% by Indian conglomerate Tata Group, started out in January 2015. India doesn’t allow foreign airlines to fly between local airports, unless they partner with a local company to start a domestic airline. The carrier operates 30 Airbus and Boeing jets and has a local market share of 5%, the smallest among six major players. It also plans to fly to Dubai and Bangkok. According to the CAPA Centre for Aviation, Vistara could break even in the year ending March 2020. Vistara is a key element of Singapore Airlines’ multi-hub strategy, and the launch of international operations offers additional opportunities to it, a spokesman for the Southeast Asian carrier said. <br/>
Asiana Airlines recently received a painting and a thank-you letter postmarked in the United States. They were an expression of appreciation from a Korean girl, 8, whose life was saved last month thanks to an Asiana pilot's quick decision to make an emergency landing and the cooperation and patience of 470 passengers. According to Asiana, the girl, surnamed Choi, who lives in the US, was on an Incheon-bound flight from New York with her mother on July 8. The girl began suffering severe abdominal pain and fever about 90 minutes after takeoff. A doctor on board said she needed hospital treatment immediately. The captain decided to make an emergency landing at Anchorage International Airport in Alaska while seeking the cooperation of passengers. The plane landed and the girl was taken to hospital. To make the unplanned landing, the plane had to dump 15 tons of fuel worth 20m won ($16,480) ― an aviation rule for emergency landing. The plane was delayed four hours before taking off for Incheon but none of the 470 passengers complained, according to Asiana. Instead they praised and applauded the captain and cabin crew after touching down at Incheon. In the painting Choi wrote, "Thank you for saving my life. Thank you so much!" In an attached letter, her father also expressed his gratitude. <br/>