Japan Airlines plans to make Spring Airlines Japan, a low-cost carrier partly funded by China's Spring Airlines, a consolidated subsidiary by the end of June. JAL will make an additional investment of several billion yen to acquire a majority stake in Spring Airlines Japan. It will strengthen ties with the LCC, which has a strong customer network in China, in anticipation of a recovery in demand for tourism and visits to acquaintances after the coronavirus pandemic. Spring Airlines Japan, which operates out of the city of Narita, east of Tokyo, was established in 2012 with investment from China's Spring Airlines and other companies. JAL currently holds a small stake in it. Based out of Narita International Airport, Spring Airlines Japan operates flights to three domestic airports: New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, Hiroshima Airport and Saga Airport. It also operates flights to Chinese cities including Tianjin and Harbin. Its strength lies in the large customer base of Shanghai Spring International Travel Services, the parent company of Spring Airlines.<br/>
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Cathay Pacific plans to shrink its order of Boeing’s newest marquee aircraft, the 777X, as the long-lasting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic trigger a rethink on the top-of-the-range commercial jets. The airline would “optimise” its order, two sources briefed on the matter said, slashing it from 21 planes – worth some HK$58b (US$7.4b) – to between 10 and 15. Since July last year, Cathay has said multiple times that it was in “advanced negotiations” with Boeing while already deferring aircraft deliveries from rival supplier Airbus. The move to reduce the current order would shave billions off the cost, but one source added the airline was considering other aircraft for its future needs. A Cathay spokeswoman said the Boeing order would be delayed, but declined to confirm the reduction in the number of planes. “As mentioned in our annual results press conference, Cathay Pacific is in advanced negotiations with Boeing to reschedule its 21-aircraft 777-9X order to 2025 and beyond,” she said. A Boeing spokesman said: “I cannot comment on customer conversations. But Cathay is a valued customer and we continue to work closely with them.”<br/>
The heads of Australian arch-rivals Qantas and Regional Express have again traded barbs in the latest escalation of a bitter dogfight between the two carriers. In separate, harshly-worded columns published days apart in the Australian Financial Review, Rex deputy chairman John Sharp and Qantas group chief Alan Joyce did not mince words in criticising each other. Sharp fired the first salvo on 21 April, in an opinion piece titled ‘No Mr Joyce, Qantas’ ‘best game’ doesn’t beat Rex’, where he responded to comments made by Joyce that “when Qantas plays its best game, it always wins”. Reiterating the point that Qantas had always tried to “discredit” Rex and “cast doubts about Rex’s viability”, Sharp claimed that the Australian flag carrier as “technically insolvent”, amid a collapse in travel demand resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Noting that the carrier “continues to burn cash at an alarming rate”, he wrote: “Qantas is now so desperate that it is willing to risk universal ridicule just to get its hands on more cash at any cost.” Sharp also charged that under Joyce’s watch, Qantas “has chalked up one of the biggest corporate losses in Australian history”, and that while Qantas “likes to brag how strong it is” financially, it was a “disturbingly similar” sentiment shared by Virgin Australia right before it entered voluntary administration. Story has more.<br/>