Bayon Air welcomes first aircraft + Vietnam to auction RKA plane + ANA to expand into Cambodia

[geovalin]

Bayon Air welcomes first aircraft

Wed, 17 December 2014

Eddie Morton

Cambodia Bayon Airlines received its first aircraft on Monday, aviation industry news outlet World Civil Aviation Resource Net reported.

The company’s first Chinese-made Modern Ark 60 (MA60) aircraft arrived at Phnom Penh International Airport after receiving approval from aviation authorities on December 1.

“We have done everything here and just can’t wait to welcome your arrival. Safe flight dear beloved!” Bayon Air wrote on its Facebook page on Monday.

Bayon Air purchased 20 MA60 aircraft at a cost of $450 million from state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) on August 22. Bayon Air is a subsidiary of Bayon Holding Limited, which is wholly owned by AVIC and China Easter Air’s Joy Air – an airline based in China’s Shaanxi Province.

The Phnom Penh-based airline aims to launch thrice-weekly domestic flights to Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, and later plans to expand its fleet to include Airbus A320 aircraft and flights to China.

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Vietnam to auction RKA plane

Thu, 18 December 2014

Eddie Morton

Vietnam is set to sell off an abandoned Boeing 727-200 aircraft that belonged to the now-defunct Cambodian carrier Royal Khmer Airlines (RKA).

Vietnamese media yesterday reported that the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) is taking steps towards auctioning off the aircraft, which was leased to little-known operator Air Dream when it was abandoned at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport in May 2007.

“On December 15, CAAV sent a text to Cambodian authorities to inform them of the decision to liquidate or relocate the Boeing 727-200 parked at Noi Bai airport,” Liu Van Doan, head of Vietnam Airlines’ legal department was quoted saying on Vietnamese online news site Nguoi Dua Tin yesterday.

“This decision to auction the aircraft was made after sending written notifications three times, asking the owner to move it out of the airport and pay the fees related to the use of the parking time. But no one received.”

The aircraft made a single journey from Siem Reap to Noi Bai Airport in May 2007 before being abandoned. Since then, it has racked up more than $605,000 worth of parking fees at Boi Nai International Airport, Vietnamese media reported.

The CAAV will deduct the parking costs from the proceeds made of the sale of the Air Dream-branded 727-200.

Keo Sivorn, director general at Cambodia’s State Secretariat of Civil Aviation said the aircraft was not the responsibility of the local aviation authority.

“This aircraft does no longer belong to the Cambodian registry because they [RKA] deregistered a long time ago,” he said.

Second-hand Boeing 727-200 aircraft, which were in production during the 1970s and early 1980s, are currently selling for between $200,000 and $2.4 million, according to global aircraft sales website, Globalaircraftmarket.com.

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ANA to expand into Cambodia

Mon, 15 December 2014

Eddie Morton

Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) is considering expanding its operations to Cambodia, according to the latest analysis from the Australian-based Centre for Aviation (CAPA).

A CAPA December 11 report states that ANA is considering new Cambodian destinations in an effort to increase its 14 per cent share of the Japan-Southeast Asia market.

“ANA CEO Osamu Shinobe told CAPA at last month’s Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) Assembly of Presidents in Tokyo that Cambodia and Malaysia are under consideration,” the CAPA report states.

“Kuala Lumpur and Siem Reap would be logical new destinations for ANA as they are popular spots for Japanese tourists and also have potential sixth freedom traffic [the right of an airline to carry passengers or cargo from a second country to a third country by stopping in one’s own country] to North America. The Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, which has more business traffic than Siem Reap, could be a possibility.”

ANA’s arrival would mark the first Japanese airline to establish a direct, non-stop route between Tokyo’s Narita airport and the Kingdom.

The Cambodia plans are just part of ANA’s continued effort to improve its position against its primary competitor, Japan Airlines, according to CAPA. ANA has increased its Southeast Asia seating capacity by 44 per cent since December 2012.

“ANA has been looking over the last two years to supplement its position in Southeast Asia, which it sees as a key growth market, through strategic acquisitions,” CAPA states

ANA has services to Bangkok, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Manila, Singapore and Yangon.

Norinda Khek, spokesman for Cambodia Airports confirmed that ANA had expressed interest in a Cambodia expansion.

“A team of ANA made a visit three months ago and had talks with our commercial and operations teams. At this point, we have no knowledge of their plan to service Cambodia any time soon,” Khek said.

Ho Vandy, co-chair of the Public and Private Sector Tourism Working Group similarly said ANA had been eyeing the Kingdom, but no official proposals had been made public.

“To be sure, if ANA does bring direct flights to Cambodia . . . it will increase Japanese tourism. Since 2005, Japanese tourists have been a big part of the tourism market and it is natural to assume there would be a non-stop service for them.”

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/ana-expand-cambodia