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BUDGET carrier AirAsia Philippines Inc. received on Tuesday an air operator certificate (AOC) from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

The permit allows the airline to mount flights to countries where it has already been granted air rights such as Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Taiwan, Guam, South Korea, China and Japan. It has already filed to fly to other destinations in Southeast Asia.

It took nine months of thorough inspection of the airline’s application by CAAP aviation experts before the AOC was approved, said CAAP Director General Ramon S. Gutierrez.

However, AirAsia Inc. should file petitions with these countries for landing rights and airport slots before it can publicly announce what countries it will be able to service.

“We need this AOC before we can start commercial flights in the region from Clark. After today, we will be busy seeking approvals from these countries,” said Chief Executive Officer Marianne Hontiveros. “Hopefully, we can start by March.” The airline company said it has already spent P11 million for securing the AOC.

In the meantime, AirAsia will begin its domestic operations by next month. “We will start with the domestic routes first because it is much easier as we don’t’ have to seek further approvals. We are eyeing Kalibo, Davao and Puerto Princesa. But hopefully, we can announce our roll out plans within the next two or three weeks for our regional destinations,” said Hontiveros.

AirAsia Inc. was supposed to mount its inaugural flight in September last year. Delays cost the airline “a lot of money” but it vowed to recoup forgone revenues by “making sure we operate efficiently.”

Based on its original plan, AirAsia Inc. hoped to service 857,000 passengers on its first year of operation. Two-thirds of which would come from regional flights and a third from domestic operation.

AirAsia is now officially a commercial air carrier, with an initial fleet of two A320s. Two more will be delivered this year. By 2013, Hontiveros said an additional three or four more are scheduled for delivery. “On our fourth or fifth year of operations, we would have grown our fleet to 14 to 15,” Hontiveros said, adding that the company does not see itself competing with other low-cost carriers Manila, but hoped to develop the market in Central Luzon.

AirAsia Inc., registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in March last year, aims to engage primarily in the business of air transportation in the Philippines and abroad for passenger and cargo.

（马尼拉7日讯）亚洲航空（AirAsia，5099，主板贸服股）菲律宾子公司菲律宾亚航，将在数周内启用两架空巴A320型客机。

另外，菲律宾亚航也证实获得菲律宾监管单位批准从克拉克机场起飞，预计最早将会在3月15日前飞往达沃市。

菲律宾亚航总执行长马丽尼柯迪文指出，放眼5年内扩大机队，从今年杪的4架增至16架。

菲律宾亚航也计划飞往国外，包括香港、韩国、台湾、澳门和日本等。

随着菲律宾亚航今年三月开始起飞，马丽尼柯迪文预计，今年搭客将达85万7000人次。她说，公司将尽力提供最低票价。

菲律宾亚航去年8月获得暂时营运执照，但未有正式航空营运证书。

据了解，菲律宾亚航40%股权为当地企业家宏提伟罗斯、安东尼亚和迈克所有，他们原计划去年10月取得上述证书，但无法如期完成。

New Singapore Airlines (SIA) low-cost long-haul carrier Scoot announced today Gold Coast as its second destination after Sydney and confirmed its intention to launch services in Jun-2012. Scoot has decided to launch with two routes to Australia because the process of securing authorisations for China, which Scoot has said will also be served within its first year, is longer and more unpredictable. Gold Coast was selected over two other Australian airports on Scoot’s short list, Adelaide and Brisbane, because of Gold Coast’s excellent track record of success with LCCs, including Asia’s two existing low-cost long-haul carriers – AirAsia X and Jetstar. Gold Coast is also the largest airport in Australia currently lacking a link with Singapore.

Gold Coast is the fifth largest international airport in Australia behind Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth (see Background information). Among Australia’s top airports it has by far the highest LCC penetration rate. Currently LCCs account for 98% of total capacity (seat) at Gold Coast, including 90% of international capacity and nearly 100% of domestic capacity.

Gold Coast is eager to attract more long-haul carriers and the airport is always an attractive choice for LCCs. AirAsia X and Jetstar are now Gold Coast’s only two long-haul carriers. AirAsia X currently offers five weekly flights to Kuala Lumpur while Jetstar operates five weekly flights to Osaka and a daily flight to Tokyo Narita.

Flights to New Zealand now account for 40% of Gold Coast’s total international capacity and are operated with narrowbody aircraft from three carriers – Jetstar, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand. Jetstar now has a leading 51% share of total capacity at Gold Coast Airport (includes domestic and international) while Virgin Australia (which is still considered an LCC although it has shifted to a hybrid model) has a 41% share.

Scoot will initially serve Gold Coast with five weekly flights, which should give it about a 15% share of international capacity (seats) at the airport. Scoot says it will launch the route in Jun-2012 but has not yet set an exact launch date. Scoot announced in Dec-2011 Sydney as its first destination, which is also expected to be launched in June but has also not yet been allocated a specific launch date.

Scoot to launch with Sydney in Jun-2012, followed shortly by Gold Coast

Scoot will have two 777-200s in its fleet by the time it begins operations in June. While it will have sufficient aircraft to launch both routes simultaneously, Scoot is planning to launch Sydney a few days ahead of Gold Coast as the carrier would prefer to perfect its operation with one route, using its second 777-200 as a spare, before moving to a two-route schedule. June is an ideal time for Scoot to launch services because in Singapore there is a month-long school holiday in June.

Scoot will not be able to begin ticket sales until it secures its air operating certificate (AOC), which it expects will be awarded by the end of March. The carrier will be conducting proving flights over the next several weeks using a 777-200 dry leased from SIA. After the proving flights are completed and its AOC is in hand, Scoot will send its first 777-200 to SIA Engineering for retrofit.

Scoot’s first aircraft is scheduled to enter the hangar at the beginning of April and be completed by early to mid May. The second aircraft, which will not take as long to retrofit as the first aircraft, is expected to be completed by early June, allowing Scoot to launch services in mid to late June with two aircraft.

The retrofit process involves installing new economy class and recliner-style business class seats, both of which are being supplied from Germany’s Zim. Scoot is also hoping to equip its aircraft with a wireless in-flight entertainment system although it has not yet decided if it will be able to offer this from the beginning as it continues to negotiate with potential vendors over availability dates and pricing.

While in the hangar for retrofit, all of Scoot’s aircraft, which are being purchased from SIA, will also undergo a heavy maintenance d-check. Scoot has booked four consecutive maintenance slots at SIA Engineering, meaning its third 777-200 should be completed by the end of June and its fourth aircraft by the end of July. This will allow Scoot to launch two more destinations in 3Q2012.

At least one and potentially two of these destinations will be in China. Scoot is also looking at selecting one destination in Korea or Japan.

More complex Chinese regulations make it easier for Scoot to launch with Australia

Scoot decided against selecting China for either of its first two destinations partly because China prohibits foreign carriers from selling any tickets on China routes until it secures a Chinese landing permit. Scoot can’t lodge an application with Chinese aviation authorities for a landing permit until it receives its AOC. This is also the case with Australia, but in Australia airlines are allowed to start selling tickets before the AOC is secured and the landing permit application is even submitted.

There is always a risk the landing permit will not be secured in time, but with Australia the process is much more predictable and should be quicker than China or other potential Scoot countries such as Japan. Given Scoot is a new airline subsidiary from a well established airline group, rather than a completely new airline, it is a safe bet the carrier will have all the approvals it needs to launch Sydney and Gold Coast services in June.

China can be unpredictable and bureaucratic but once it receives its AOC, Scoot will immediately begin the process of securing the required approvals from Chinese authorities. Scoot should be in a position where it can announce its first Chinese destination in April or May. Scoot will still have to refrain from beginning ticket sales to China until the landing permit is in hand, which would likely not be until mid-2012, allowing for a launch of services to China sometime in 3Q2012 if everything goes smoothly.

Additional destinations in Australia are highly unlikely this year unless Scoot runs into serious regulatory hurdles in China and other North Asian countries. But the carrier could potentially add a third Australian destination in 2013 or 2014 as more 777-200s are added to its fleet.

South-east Asia’s largest budget carrier AirAsia said on Friday that its joint venture entity AirAsia Japan has won approval from Japanese authorities to begin commercial flights.

Malaysia’s AirAsia and Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced in 2011 that they had formed a joint venture to establish a low-cost airline that will be based in Tokyo.

AirAsia said it expects to launch commercial flights to international and domestic destinations in August.

‘The Company targets this joint venture to begin operations at the latest by August 2012 but could be earlier subject to aircraft availability,’ it said in a statement.

由马来西亚亚洲航空公司（AirAsia）和全日空航空公司（All Nippon Airways Co.）联合成立的廉价航空公司亚航日本（AirAsia Japan）已获得国土交通省航空局颁发的航空运营许可证。

　　亚航日本以东京成田机场为基地，将于今年8月投入运作日本国内航线，并计划于10月1日开始运营国际航班。从2013年开始，亚航日本将使用空中客车A330客机执飞泰国、印尼和新加坡的航线。

　　全日空首席执行官伊藤真一郎（Shinichiro Ito）表示：“廉价航空公司在国内市场的全面运营，标志着日本航空史新时代的来临，我们的目标是刺激整个行业的消费需求”。我们认为，亚航日本将会使航空出行更加容易，为人们提供便捷、高效的出行选择。”